outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

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"This is ridiculous! It's just the flu!"

"Nah, it's 20 times worse!"

"Who cares? Are you gonna live in FEAR?"

"Well, millions of people will die and hospitals will collapse"

"Fuck you, I'm still doing what I used to"

"Well ok, we'll reopen slowly, but can you wear a mask? That'll mitigate risk"

"No, fuck a mask, fascist! Reopen everything!"

"Well hey there's a vaccine now that should actually allow us to actually do that eventually, want it?"

"Fuck you, I have already compromised enough!"

Red Nerussi (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 24 February 2021 23:51 (three years ago) link

Bit of a very specific San Francisco note but a welcome one that I hope is more broadly the case: at the hospital where I work, the worst of the holiday surge meant something like almost 70 patients in ICU or close to it at one point. Per today's mailout, after a notable decline over the recent weeks, we're down to just 11. Would love to see if we can go back to single digits again by tomorrow or early next week.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:29 (three years ago) link

SFGH claimed to have discharged their last COVID patient yesterday (I think? maybe the day previous) but with indoor dining reopening, that should fill some beds back up in a week or so.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:33 (three years ago) link

We'll have to see -- we're at 20% of the city population with at least one shot at this point, and that's bound to have been a big part of this, especially with well over half of the 65-and-up populace falling into that category.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:44 (three years ago) link

I work for a healthcare system with hospitals in Oregon, Washington and Alaska and our ICU numbers are declining at a very similar rate.

Darin, Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:55 (three years ago) link

we're at 20% of the city population with at least one shot at this point

Wow, that's incredible!

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:05 (three years ago) link

i believe we're at 13% nationally?

That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:07 (three years ago) link

14%, at least according to the NY Times. Chicago is at 11.9%.

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:10 (three years ago) link

My GF is taking her mom to get a vaccine shot (Pfizer?) at this very moment... Fresno County Fairgrounds yee haw

Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:12 (three years ago) link

this is pretty unrigorous eyeballing rather than causal analysis, but this thread makes an uncontroversial observation point:

cases have bottomed out are starting to rise in some countries (continental europe, brazil)

the thread then argues this:

this is happening becuase those countries are either not able to vaccinate as fast as israel/uk/us, are not doing very rigorous lockdowns, or do not have herd immunity to the extent of, e.g. south africa, uk, usa, etc.

... which wouldn't pass peer review without more work, but makes total sense.

NEW: it’s a while since I’ve done a big international Covid thread, but this one feels important.

The first six weeks of 2021 have gone rather well in terms of humanity’s fight against Covid.

As well as the rollout of vaccines, global cases halved(!) between Jan 11 and Feb 18 pic.twitter.com/bnoxNkUZsu

— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) February 25, 2021

𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:13 (three years ago) link

yeah that passes the smell test

That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:19 (three years ago) link

The worst part is, as vaccination increases through spring and early summer, the anti-vaccers will have their asses saved by herd immunity.

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:32 (three years ago) link

I don't know - I wonder about certain ruby red pockets of the US. Will COVID be a constant in some rural areas, slowly become less lethal and eventually be renamed Hillbilly's Cough or whatever?

Darin, Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:40 (three years ago) link

can we plz not use hillbilly as a pejorative, tyia

I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:41 (three years ago) link

point taken

Darin, Thursday, 25 February 2021 18:48 (three years ago) link

SFGH claimed to have discharged their last COVID patient yesterday (I think? maybe the day previous) but with indoor dining reopening, that should fill some beds back up in a week or so.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, February 25, 2021 9:33 AM (one hour ago)

you're gonna go to jail for not calling it ZUCKERBERG San Francisco General Hospital

Canon in Deez (silby), Thursday, 25 February 2021 19:21 (three years ago) link

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/02/24/more-americans-now-say-academic-concerns-should-be-a-top-factor-in-deciding-to-reopen-k-12-schools/

going back to our earlier conversations about educators needing to be vaccinated before going back to school, this is a pretty stark and clear illustrator of who has been hit hardest and who feels safest.

http://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ft_2021.02.24_schoolreopening_03.png

That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 25 February 2021 20:23 (three years ago) link

pfft but can we really trust this anecdata from uh…Pew…

Canon in Deez (silby), Thursday, 25 February 2021 20:32 (three years ago) link

Right wing people don’t give a fuck about teacher safety, who knew

scampless, rattled and puce (gyac), Thursday, 25 February 2021 20:51 (three years ago) link

esp rich right wing people.

That data lines up very consistently with the surveys about reopening schools in our district, fwiw.

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 25 February 2021 20:55 (three years ago) link

right wing people will say "oh if you're not 'high risk' (a somewhat meaningless term considering people who weren't died from it), then get your ass to school!"

Red Nerussi (Neanderthal), Thursday, 25 February 2021 20:58 (three years ago) link

While really rich people say, I've haven't had to oversee my own children for this long day after day in... ever, so please open the schools.

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 25 February 2021 21:00 (three years ago) link

I think "all school staff who want vaccines have been vaccinated" is a much better benchmark than the nebulous guidelines put forth by the CDC.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 25 February 2021 22:15 (three years ago) link

"really rich" people have their kids in school already. It's called private school. They're open.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 25 February 2021 22:42 (three years ago) link

Yep

horseshoe, Thursday, 25 February 2021 22:52 (three years ago) link

very strange view of of "public health" in this country. either all schools should be shut because there's a communicable disease or they shouldn't be.

𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:28 (three years ago) link

yeah i had no idea private schools in the US were allowed to be open, that’s... totally insane to me

Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:29 (three years ago) link

They have the money for small class sizes, upgraded HVAC systems, etc. And no pesky teachers' unions trying to keep their members alive.

DJI, Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:30 (three years ago) link

Private schools should be banned, I’ve been saying this

Canon in Deez (silby), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:36 (three years ago) link

agree with that fwiw

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:37 (three years ago) link

yeah i had no idea private schools in the US were allowed to be open, that’s... totally insane to me

it is insane! someone needs to have a word with these people about what public health _is_.

𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:50 (three years ago) link

yeah i had no idea private schools in the US were allowed to be open, that’s... totally insane to me


Also the complete opposite of how it worked over here, lol? Eton closed before Christmas a week before it was supposed to, while the Secretary of State for Education was forcing state schools to reopen. Happened during summer and autumn as well.

scampless, rattled and puce (gyac), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:53 (three years ago) link

Private schools should be banned, I’ve been saying this

Join the transatlantic club.

Punk's not daft (Tom D.), Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:57 (three years ago) link

absolutely private schools should be banned and their wealth redistributed to public schools. but the way politicians and journalists are currently talking about teachers unions can be used to further undermine funding for public schools and create more schools on a privatized model. it's true what DJI says, private schools can afford to manage COVID risk well, and public schools can't, which is a fucking disgrace in such a rich country.

horseshoe, Thursday, 25 February 2021 23:59 (three years ago) link

i say as a traitor to the public school system, but i've seen both sides, and it would make you want to puke

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:00 (three years ago) link

fwiw easily the worst educational institution i've ever worked in (facilities, quality of teaching) was a private american ivy.

𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Friday, 26 February 2021 00:01 (three years ago) link

i'm just talking about high schools. several baltimore city high school buildings didn't have heat for multiple winter days last year.

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:04 (three years ago) link

nobody who writes about the going back to school debate for the times sends their kids to baltimore city public high schools. btw the data on Baltimore city public school families is in, and black families want to send their kids back at much lower rates than white families and Latino families.

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:06 (three years ago) link

I think the other thing that would be great would be to force all school PTA money into a district-wide pot shared by all the schools.

DJI, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:06 (three years ago) link

i know it is unreasonable to expect every American to know the kind of constraints American public schools operated under before the pandemic, but i don't think it's unreasonable to expect journalists to

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:07 (three years ago) link

(btw, the kids still attended school with the buildings unheated. the Sun ran pictures of kids in parkas, hats and gloves chilling in science class.)

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:09 (three years ago) link

people keep saying this is a rich country but it's not really anymore? it's a poor country that has become good at one thing, legitimizing massive public theft.

map ca. 1890 (map), Friday, 26 February 2021 00:10 (three years ago) link

well, three people are unconscionably rich and some other comfortable elites avoid using public services which helps contribute to their atrophy. obvs all these people are living off others' labor.

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:11 (three years ago) link

My boyfriend's kids both go to Catholic schools and they've been in-person all year, apparently no one remembers that one of the APs at his daughter's school was a healthy 40-something father and one of the first educators to die of COVID last winter/spring (admittedly before schools were doing much of anything to protect ppl).

I think the other thing that would be great would be to force all school PTA money into a district-wide pot shared by all the schools.

― DJI, Friday, February 26, 2021 12:06 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is often proposed in NYC, but never with any seriousness that I can detect. The world would end first.

Ima Gardener (in orbit), Friday, 26 February 2021 00:12 (three years ago) link

I definitely think forcing everyone to attend public schools would force public schools to be a lot better. You’d also probably need radical changes at the state level for this to be meaningful because it’s too easy for tiny municipalities to each have their own separate schools. I mean, I live in one now. But I recognize that what’s best at the policy level might be counter to the individual interest I’d pursue given the choice.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 26 February 2021 00:12 (three years ago) link

there's a podcast about that iirc

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:14 (three years ago) link

Also I don’t want to thread jack this into an Ed policy thread but I looked at the PTA idea in detail and the total amount of money raised by the handful of schools with rich PTAs is pretty small and would become not that meaningful spread across the entire city, at least in NYC. Better to just increase funding.

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 26 February 2021 00:14 (three years ago) link

yes. like, divert the defense budget.

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:15 (three years ago) link

what is more in the public interest than educating children? (i am biased.)

horseshoe, Friday, 26 February 2021 00:15 (three years ago) link


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