outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

but... hasn’t everyone gotten a cold or thirteen at some point?

― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, November 27, 2020 6:16 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

*raises hand*

― Robert Gotopieces (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, November 27, 2020 6:23 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

there are 200 types of mild colds, only 4 of which are caused by coronaviruses

― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal)

One of our Thanksgiving conversations concerned colds: no one in my family's gotten one in months. I've gone 18 months. We credit the masking and isolation.

Yes, I'm generally stricken with one cold after another from the end of summer to the start of Spring, barely a sniffle so far this year.

I have certainly had low-level sinus infections, but no colds, thank gods.

I had a brutal bacterial sinus infection that required antibiotics. That's been it though

Yeah, nothing here since last Christmas and again in February. (I’m still half convinced that one of those events might have been COVID itself — it’s not without the realm of possibility — but there’s no way to know now.)

We had ONE family visit and my daughter got strep.

I had a stinking head cold in September, but aside from that, no cold/flu illnesses this year. But I caught cellulitis from a spider bite at the end of the summer and had tendinitis in my knee earlier this month. Seems better now.

i usually get a sinus infection every four months but now that i don’t go into my office anymore... nada

I stopped getting colds once I stopped working with people with kids.

I've barely seen anyone since March, and I've still had a cold for most of the year.

We've all had the sniffles here a few times since the kids went back to school in September.

I get flush every time I drink and I always temporarily get paranoid that a fever is starting even though I know why I'm flush.

having anxiety/OCD sucks lol

I've had about 4 bouts of colds (one terrible one which knocked me out but wasn't covid), or cold-like symptoms which disappear after a day or so, since March.

having kids makes me get every bug going so there better be an upside! I'm sure some of it is allergy related - something sets off a brief but kind of violent reaction.

I only get one cold a year and it’s not due yet so I can’t really say.

Teaching at a university and having a kid in preschool meant one or two of us were sick at any given moment over the last five years but everyone’s been totally healthy since my possible corona faded in late March. It’s weird to not have been to a pediatricians office for so long when we had been going every six to eight weeks.

Same here. We have a nine month old who has literally never had a cold in his life.

Absolutely deranged that closing bars and casinos before schools is considered an odd and noteworthy policy https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/28/covid-schools-open-rhode-island/

I have no idea whether schools in RI or anywhere else should be open, but I know that bars should be shut if schools are, jfc.

Thrilled to see LA county close outdoor playgrounds while keeping indoor shopping malls open btw.

That's nuts.

xp Elementary schools actually have a lower infection rate compared to the general populace in NY

Pre-school and elementary school students having lower infection rates and posing a low risk of transmission, and secondary school students having the highest rates and posing the greatest risk of transmission (of any age group) is a repeated observation in S. Korea, Israel, and Germany...

It points to an improved policy for future pandemics where in-person schooling continues for those who benefit most from it, developmentally, while middle and high-school latch key kids are toil behind laptops, in preparation for their adult drudgery.

grim but probably true

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/29/nyregion/schools-reopening-partially.html

Good

https://www.twitter.com/kate_ptrv/status/1332398737604431874

I couldn’t just walk past this Tweet, so here is some fun #dataviz

Scented candles: An unexpected victim of the COVID-19 pandemic 1/n https://t.co/xEmCTQn9sA pic.twitter.com/tVecEiX5Jc

— Kate Petrova (@kate_ptrv) November 27, 2020

Percent of wages currently subsidized by governments due to COVID:

Japan: 100% for small businesses; 80% for large firms

Netherlands: Up to 90%

Norway: Up to 90%

Germany: Up to 87%

France: Up to 84%

Italy: 80%

United Kingdom: Up to 80%

Canada: Up to 75%

United States: 0%

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) November 30, 2020

The US is such a cruel country. I hope Biden uses his bully pulpit to at least attempt to ram through more relief, but I'm guessing I'll end up donating to a bunch of fucking gofundmes instead.

Well, I burst into tears after seeing that tweet.

I'm so scared about money, guys. I have no idea what I'm going to do if this gig I'm testing for on Thursday doesn't work out. I don't make enough to live on running the workshops that I do, and all of the universities here have decimated their adjunct ranks for the spring.

<3. i'm so sorry, table. it's really fucked :(

God that's a stark reminder of how much our elected officials openly and actively hate the populace they allegedly represent.

a stark reminder of how much our elected officials Mitch McConnell and the Republicans in Congress openly and actively hate the populace they allegedly represent

fixed

Fair. I was just to incensed by seeing that in black and white to get too specific.

Aimless, it's Dems too— they could have pushed something through, but didn't. They're a bunch of spineless fucking assholes, all of them, every single one, and deserve nothing but absolute scorn.

Also, thanks Neanderthal. <3

I'm not sure what exactly the Dems can do unilaterally. Not gonna blame them for not accepting a $6,000,000,000 slush fund in exchange for a small one-time check

I have no idea what I'm going to do if this gig I'm testing for on Thursday doesn't work out.

None of us can drive the national process that's really needed to deal with what you're facing. But as inadequate as it may seem, I think ILX would respond favorably to a gofundme to help keep one of our own out of hunger or homelessness. At least it's something to consider if it comes to losing your gig.

I mean the correct thing to do would be to commit murder-suicide with their Republican counterparts and allow the US populace to distribute their collected fortunes in equal parts to every household making under 50 grand a year.

Aimless, that is very kind and thoughtful. I appreciate it very much.

Luckily, my husband makes enough that we can probably juuuuuust scrape by. It's more that I'm already not an equal contributor, so to speak, and feel really crappy about it.

it would never work, Republicans would back out of it at the last second and the Dems would commit suicide anyway out of respect for the pact

But as inadequate as it may seem, I think ILX would respond favorably to a gofundme to help keep one of our own out of hunger or homelessness. At least it's something to consider if it comes to losing your gig.

just want to second that. i think aimless was probably referring to ANY of us, not just table, but if not, i will go further and say that. don't be afraid to ask for help.

otm. and we've done it before!

It's true!

That’s messed up, table. Hang in there. <3

xps

My mom just texted me that my (adult) cousin who commented that "masks are stupid" on my daughter's instagram page is now in the ER on a ventilator.

Jfc that's bleak.

My apologies: he's in the ICU, his whole family is infected but he's the only one in critical care.

Rural deep-red state, ~1 hour from the nearest city, nobody wears masks, etc.

sounds like a very sad story. i hope it doesn't have an even sadder ending.

Yeah, I mean, I do hope he and his family recover. I also hope that he realizes that his previous stance was idiotic.

i thought this was interesting https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/covid-middle-of-nowhere/