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CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk


Mrs Whiggins

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7 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Decreasing demand for tests? Lol. You're a cultist. 

I responded to Kev in the DT thread but in Dallas, I'm seeing County Judge Clay Jenkins tweet out that there are no lines at testing sites.  So there might actually be decreasing demand

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17 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

If you want a test you can get a test.  I think that the decline in tests being performed is likely a result of the decreasing demand for tests. Positivity doesn't really mean anything one way or the other unless all the other factors, specifically number of tests and any channeling towards testing, are controlled. 

Several of the hospitals are no longer requiring covid tests for elective procedures. They screen for symptoms and temp. I’m still sending my patients for tests but with a week between test and results they could still have contracted it after the test and before their surgery. Anecdotally at the places I work covid hospitalizations are down outside of icu 

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If you want a test you can get a test.  I think that the decline in tests being performed is likely a result of the decreasing demand for tests. Positivity doesn't really mean anything one way or the other unless all the other factors, specifically number of tests and any channeling towards testing, are controlled. 

Maybe in some places but I’ll use Alabama as an example of how that doesn’t make sense.

Governor MeeMaw’s reopening order had a requirement that all students returning to any college in Alabama must have a test within 14 days of returning to campus.

So we should have seen that spike reflected in our numbers currently.

Not only did we not see an increase, our testing numbers have plummeted.

And the Alabama Department of Public Health is getting absolute blasted today because they publicly admitted yesterday that some of the weirdness in recent data was due to new laboratories not knowing they had to report their numbers to the state.

Like, seriously?? Almost six months into this and “new labs don’t know”? C’mon. And what the fuck kind of licensing and certification system is in place here?

I’m not ready to say someone is juking the stats but something stinks.
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I can be persuaded in either direction on the lower number of tests being administered or to "both sides" of the argument simultaneously depending on the local situation. With that said, I was listening to NPR yesterday or the day before and they were discussing the issue. One expert or local official (can't remember) speculated that what they called "testing fatigue" by employers and the general public may be playing a role in the decline.

At this point, I don't really have an opinion but just wanted to contribute to the discussion with that last bit.

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What about the ridiculous delay in getting test results. I think most people exposed figure that they'll either become symptomatic and either need hospitalization or not before they get the results so what's the point. 

That's not stopping them from going places and spreading it even further instead of isolating themselves while waiting for the symptoms to begin.

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Regarding the possibility of lower testing demand I see a couple of pieces that may play a part in this.

One is that the lag for testing in this country is scandalous.  A week to 10 days to get some results?  Almost worthless as a tool to help control the spread of COVID-19.  If one devalues a product enough that consumers no longer want it that's not an indication of real demand or lack thereof.  It's a sign that the implementation of the idea is crap and needs to be addressed with the zeal and attention one pays to an emergency.

Another issue that the powers that be continue downplay the vital role testing plays in controlling things, and those powers that be can come from really interesting corners.  My wife works at a hospital and they are fairly strict on mask wearing.  However, one of her patients later tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after being in an enclosed room with her for some period of time (15 minutes or so).  The patient contacted her himself to tell her this.  Ideally, one would think, the employer would immediately order a test for her to ensure she was not contagious and help prevent possible spread to her other patients.  Right?  Right?  No.  According to the hospital her encounter did not meet "exposure criteria" and ordered no test.  She had to seek out a test on her own and thankfully the test came back negative.

In another case one of her coworker's live-in son contracted COVID-19.  Did the mother get a test?  Nope.  She said she felt fine and exhibited no symptoms and the hospital was OK with this rationale.  If scenarios like this are one of the reasons for falling testing demand then that needs to be resolved immediately.

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37 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I can be persuaded in either direction on the lower number of tests being administered or to "both sides" of the argument simultaneously depending on the local situation. With that said, I was listening to NPR yesterday or the day before and they were discussing the issue. One expert or local official (can't remember) speculated that what they called "testing fatigue" by employers and the general public may be playing a role in the decline.

At this point, I don't really have an opinion but just wanted to contribute to the discussion with that last bit.

 

33 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

What about the ridiculous delay in getting test results. I think most people exposed figure that they'll either become symptomatic and either need hospitalization or not before they get the results so what's the point. 

That's not stopping them from going places and spreading it even further instead of isolating themselves while waiting for the symptoms to begin.

 

12 minutes ago, 27-25 said:

Regarding the possibility of lower testing demand I see a couple of pieces that may play a part in this.

One is that the lag for testing in this country is scandalous.  A week to 10 days to get some results?  Almost worthless as a tool to help control the spread of COVID-19.  If one devalues a product enough that consumers no longer want it that's not an indication of real demand or lack thereof.  It's a sign that the implementation of the idea is crap and needs to be addressed with the zeal and attention one pays to an emergency.

Another issue that the powers that be continue downplay the vital role testing plays in controlling things, and those powers that be can come from really interesting corners.  My wife works at a hospital and they are fairly strict on mask wearing.  However, one of her patients later tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after being in an enclosed room with her for some period of time (15 minutes or so).  The patient contacted her himself to tell her this.  Ideally, one would think, the employer would immediately order a test for her to ensure she was not contagious and help prevent possible spread to her other patients.  Right?  Right?  No.  According to the hospital her encounter did not meet "exposure criteria" and ordered no test.  She had to seek out a test on her own and thankfully the test came back negative.

In another case one of her coworker's live-in son contracted COVID-19.  Did the mother get a test?  Nope.  She said she felt fine and exhibited no symptoms and the hospital was OK with this rationale.  If scenarios like this are one of the reasons for falling testing demand then that needs to be resolved immediately.

I can buy all of these as an explanation.  I had a similar experience at work with the powers that be not testing people who had been exposed to a coworker who had it and not even bothering to figure out how many had been exposed.  In our case, we dodged a bullet and only 3 people came down with it.

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46 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I can be persuaded in either direction on the lower number of tests being administered or to "both sides" of the argument simultaneously depending on the local situation. With that said, I was listening to NPR yesterday or the day before and they were discussing the issue. One expert or local official (can't remember) speculated that what they called "testing fatigue" by employers and the general public may be playing a role in the decline.

At this point, I don't really have an opinion but just wanted to contribute to the discussion with that last bit.

I think that "testing fatigue" makes sense as contributing to lower demand for tests. I think that there are lots of factors simultaneously at play.  @Bama Chick brings up a good one wrt back to school for the universities as well. If you have a link to that NPR piece, would be interested in having a listen.  

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2 minutes ago, kevwun said:

 

 

I can buy all of these as an explanation.  I had a similar experience at work with the powers that be not testing people who had been exposed to a coworker who had it and not even bothering to figure out how many had been exposed.  In our case, we dodged a bullet and only 3 people came down with it.

If any of you are worried about an exposure and want a test, my understanding is in Texas insurance companies are waiving the copays if the ordering physician documents exposure. You don’t need to rely on your employer. You can swing a dead cat in DFW and hit 3 clinics that are testing 

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Just had an old man Trumpkin randomly start giving me shit for wearing a mask in a store. Unfuckingreal. "You're gonna give yourself the corona. Wearing a mask makes you sick." I told him I wear one to prevent others from getting sick. "Oh, you believe that? You believe Fauci?" More than I fucking believe you. The cashier and I were just shaking our heads. I paid for my stuff and left and he was still spewing idiocracy as I walked out the door.

If he wasn't a senile old man I would'nt have been as nice.

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2 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

Several of the hospitals are no longer requiring covid tests for elective procedures. They screen for symptoms and temp. I’m still sending my patients for tests but with a week between test and results they could still have contracted it after the test and before their surgery. Anecdotally at the places I work covid hospitalizations are down outside of icu 

Several of my students told me earlier in the summer that when they were sick, their employers were requiring them to have a negative test in order to come back to work.  If employers have gotten complacent and quit doing that, it would explain the decrease in testing demand and the increase in positivity rate.

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12 minutes ago, RPM said:

Just had an old man Trumpkin randomly start giving me shit for wearing a mask in a store. Unfuckingreal. "You're gonna give yourself the corona. Wearing a mask makes you sick." I told him I wear one to prevent others from getting sick. "Oh, you believe that? You believe Fauci?" More than I fucking believe you. The cashier and I were just shaking our heads. I paid for my stuff and left and he was still spewing idiocracy as I walked out the door.

If he wasn't a senile old man I would'nt have been as nice.

Isn't the entire state under mandatory mask orders? Are they not enforcing it in Wise County?

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3 hours ago, The Royal We said:

I just wonder if they are actually doing fewer tests or if they are fudging the numbers

ancedotally, I'm not seeing the number of 'Drive through covid testing' posts that I used to. Hays County seemed like they were doing 3-4/day a month ago and now I don't really see them.

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3 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Well yeah, I think that there is a trend towards decreased demand for the PCR tests.  Given the turn around times they are basically worthless.  You can get a PCR test if you want one. Clearly fewer people are receiving the tests. That indicates to me decreased demand.

What we need in terms of testing is wide deployment of an accurate rapid point of care test. It's amazing to me at this point in the pandemic we do not have that.  We dump trillions into the stonk market, when what we need is cheap rapid point of care testing.

Oh, and go fuck yourself. 

So decreased demand because of the completely ineffective and unreliable nature of the tests? I can definitely see that. 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/13/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html

According to this polling is suggesting approx 1/3 of US adults would refuse a covid19 vaccine if a viable one is produced and released. The right wing conspiracy nuts are already pushing all sorts of nonsense about vaccines and  the republican admin is doing nothing to counteract it. This country's sheer stupidity means this virus is never going away in this country even with a perfectly good vaccine. 

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47 minutes ago, relapse98 said:

ancedotally, I'm not seeing the number of 'Drive through covid testing' posts that I used to. Hays County seemed like they were doing 3-4/day a month ago and now I don't really see them.

My mom had to go to her doctor to get a saliva test when she started not feeling well. 12 days after the test she gets a call to say it's negative. 12 days. They really are worthless at that point because for the vast majority you'll either get far worse and need hospitalization or you'll start feeling better by 12 days. 

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This is what there is actual demand for...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/opinion/coronavirus-tests.html?

A Cheap, Simple Way to Control the Coronavirus

With easy-to-use tests, everyone can check themselves every day.

By Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Michael Mina

Mr. Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and Dr. Mina is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Simple at-home tests for the coronavirus, some that involve spitting into a small tube of solution, could be the key to expanding testing and impeding the spread of the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration should encourage their development and then fast track approval.

One variety, paper-strip tests, are inexpensive and easy enough to make that Americans could test themselves every day. You would simply spit into a tube of saline solution and insert a small piece of paper embedded with a strip of protein. If you are infected with enough of the virus, the strip will change color within 15 minutes.

Your next step would be to self-quarantine, notify your doctor and confirm the result with a standard swab test — the polymerase chain reaction nasal swab. Confirmation would give public health officials key information on the virus’s spread and confirm that you should remain in quarantine until your daily test turned negative.

E25Bio, Sherlock Biosciences, Mammoth Biosciences, and an increasing number of academic research laboratories are in the late stages of developing paper-strip and other simple, daily Covid-19 tests. Some of the daily tests are in trials and proving highly effective.

The strips could be mass produced in a matter of weeks and freely supplied by the government to everyone in the country. The price per person would be from $1 to $5 a day, a considerable sum for the entire population, but remarkably cost effective.

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3 hours ago, Grade of D as in David said:

What about the ridiculous delay in getting test results. I think most people exposed figure that they'll either become symptomatic and either need hospitalization or not before they get the results so what's the point. 

That's not stopping them from going places and spreading it even further instead of isolating themselves while waiting for the symptoms to begin.

The delay is so stupid and the total disregard for pandemic strategy because $$ for the rich and votes for the GOP is just pathetic.

Our town apparently has the mask fatigue. I am seeing more people ignoring the signs and wearing a mask/bandana through the door and then pulling it down once past the entrance. Oh, and did I mention that learning how long is six feet is apparently too much math? The latest gripe going around is that "our cases are down so we don't need masks." ?????? That light switch analogy that Dr. Fauci mentioned where it isn't just something you turn off and on? Apparently a large part of the populace is in the dark about that.

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50 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Simple at-home tests for the coronavirus, some that involve spitting into a small tube of solution, could be the key to expanding testing and impeding the spread of the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration should encourage their development and then fast track approval.

sounds like something a blonde with a suspiciously baritone voice would promote.

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4 hours ago, kevwun said:

It will be a good culling mechanism.  They can do whatever the fuck they want once my family is vaccinated.  Don't care, I can go about my life again in safety and free of worry.

Este y gracias 

 

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I forgot about him acting all hard with the biker gang. What a jabroni.
That “I Guns & Titties” button is quite fetching.

Holy shit. The family member of a veteran is even more special along with the captain rank.

Kind of like Bobo and his 9-11 jacket.
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Holy shit. The family member of a veteran is even more special along with the captain rank.

Kind of like Bobo and his 9-11 jacket.

Don’t sleep on the other dude with the patch at the bottom left, saying in America, “we speak fucking English.” Awesome. The fucking idiocy, racism, misogyny, all on PROUD display.

I hate him. Hate isn’t even a strong enough word.
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I think it's reasonable to assign the lower number of tests to non-malicious reasons. A lot of people were getting tested the first time they sneezed early on and getting negatives. A lot of that has slowed down.
I also have heard of a lot of situations where a negative test still screws you over. One day care in Austin requires a week long removal from school for a NEGATIVE result from any household member. A punitive policy for families trying to be responsible. That's for a whole different thread though.

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11 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

I think it's reasonable to assign the lower number of tests to non-malicious reasons. A lot of people were getting tested the first time they sneezed early on and getting negatives. A lot of that has slowed down.
I also have heard of a lot of situations where a negative test still screws you over. One day care in Austin requires a week long removal from school for a NEGATIVE result from any household member. A punitive policy for families trying to be responsible. That's for a whole different thread though.

Hard to keep track of the cultists atm. 

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Hard to keep track of the cultists atm. 

Yeah. I mean, assuming malice is understandable with the people who run our government. They 100% are not above straight up fraud with the numbers and would go full blown China with them if they could get away with it. No doubt in my mind. But:
- Hospitalizations which is the "ball don't lie" number are trending down steadily.
- The numbers come from the counties, many of which are blue and obviously would refuse to fudge numbers.
- I've seen enough anecdotal evidence to believe there is "testing fatigue"
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1 minute ago, BradInATX said:


Yeah. I mean, assuming malice is understandable with the people who run our government. They 100% are not above straight up fraud with the numbers and would go full blown China with them if they could get away with it. No doubt in my mind. But:
- Hospitalizations which is the "ball don't lie" number are trending down steadily.
- The numbers come from the counties, many of which are blue and obviously would refuse to fudge numbers.
- I've seen enough anecdotal evidence to believe there is "testing fatigue"

The day care you mentioned is what I really don't understand.  I must be missing something. A negative tests gets you a time out?  Shit like that doesn't even make sense in Ohio. 

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2 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

The day care you mentioned is what I really don't understand.  I must be missing something. A negative tests gets you a time out?  Shit like that doesn't even make sense in Ohio. 

Maybe, but it does in Floriduh.

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On 4/10/2020 at 9:14 AM, Tuco said:

I predict football will be a major political issue.  
I could see that current social distancing will reduce the spread and eventually new hospital admittances will start coming down.  (Newly infected will as well, but since we don't have testing, it's impossible to confirm by how much.)  Some of that may be helped by warmer weather.  (I think warmer weather will reduce the viability on surfaces and the severity of reaction, both of which will reduce the spread.)  By midsummer, some of the social distancing can be relaxed to balance economic concerns.  But, until we have 1) wide spread testing - both current and antibodies, 2) effective treatments, or 3) vaccinations, we are still just a big wood pile that has just slowed the fire.  If one of those three things are not available by Fall, there shouldn't be football games with people in the stands.   But, Trump struggling with the polls, will want to demonstrate that we have beaten the pandemic.  That puts Biden and other Democrats in the position to argue against football. And there will be a lot of people who want football.  
Obama's tweet the other day - saying that we need wide spread testing before we can back to normal - was really important.  Biden tagged onto the PBS tweet about pulling back support for testing facilities, saying that testing was necessary to get back to normal. That criteria for getting back to normal needs to be established now. We need to establish a consensus on what is needed before people are voting between the medically responsible thing and football. And that's not just for the sake of the election, but also to avoid Trump killing so many more people in his stupidity and selfcenteredness. 

I think I came pretty close with this post four months ago.  I do wish the Dems had pushed some objective criteria for relaxing social distancing requirements, but the Covidiots reopened so quickly, that there was never really a discussion on how to reopen, just reactions to announcements.  

Fortunately, as with so much of this, the football thing is being driven by the conferences and the NCAA, not Dems or Trumpists.  The masks policy in stores is being driven by large box stores, like Walmart.  2020 - the year that Walmart and the NCAA were more interested than the federal government in protecting public safety.

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On 8/11/2020 at 3:04 PM, Bama Chick said:

No no no.

I fucking love college football but to compare a complete unnecessary game to the fight to defeat Hitler and fascism is NOT it.

 

One more time. Listen up.

They think you either die or you're fine if you get Covid. They think the young are largely immune with children being absolutely immune. They didn't do private research, they chose to believe the president and his propaganda team.

This is Trump. This is your brain on Trump. 

Get the picure?

 

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Harnessing the power of Idiot World to make life better in your heads!

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The day care you mentioned is what I really don't understand.  I must be missing something. A negative tests gets you a time out?  Shit like that doesn't even make sense in Ohio. 
Doesn't make sense to me either. But I'm positive it's a legit story. First hand info from the director of the center. The director hates it, but it's corporate mandated.
I guess the logic is that there are false negatives and taking a test admits exposure or symptoms. It's reckless as hell but I guess it pushes liability off of the school.
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Biden has good coverage on this.  Ford had to issue those pardons to the accomplices because the House & Senate were overwhelmingly Democrat majorities and very anti-Nixon.  Biden can let the House (and possibly the Senate, but that'll be damn tight) run a train on Trump accomplices while he spends his time on important shit like Covid-19 and ending our global embarrassment.  And then General Letitia James' case against Trump gets opened up in Albany.  And it has nothing do with Biden or the Federal Government. 

And when people clamor to have Trump taken out of Florida to answer subpoenas in New York, Biden gets to wink at the Trumpers and say, "No, no.  I'm all for state's rights.  Let New York and Florida work it out."  That's why Trump is being so nice to DeSantis right now despite the Florida Fuckup.  Trump is going to literally need him to provide Trump and his crew "sanctuary" in SE Florida while New York and the Feds build their cases.  

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2 hours ago, Lobo said:

Biden has good coverage on this.  Ford had to issue those pardons to the accomplices because the House & Senate were overwhelmingly Democrat majorities and very anti-Nixon.  Biden can let the House (and possibly the Senate, but that'll be damn tight) run a train on Trump accomplices while he spends his time on important shit like Covid-19 and ending our global embarrassment.  And then General Letitia James' case against Trump gets opened up in Albany.  And it has nothing do with Biden or the Federal Government. 

And when people clamor to have Trump taken out of Florida to answer subpoenas in New York, Biden gets to wink at the Trumpers and say, "No, no.  I'm all for state's rights.  Let New York and Florida work it out."  That's why Trump is being so nice to DeSantis right now despite the Florida Fuckup.  Trump is going to literally need him to provide Trump and his crew "sanctuary" in SE Florida while New York and the Feds build their cases.  

By this time next year trump and his crime crew will be living in a Russian embassy somewhere. DeSantis won’t be able to protect him from shit but big daddy Putin can. 

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Man, I know we all want to believe that.  And I wouldn't put it past him to try, but you can't have a full secret service detail living in a foreign country full time.  They can stay for moderate duration visits as a matter of diplomatic course, but no foreign nation would allow agents of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to just  "live" for years on end within their borders even if it was at an embassy.  Best case he could hope for would be an overseas U.S. military installation (or as he likes to refer to them in the aggregate "From these Forts").  

He will hide out at Mar-a-Lago giving speeches in "friendly" cities and pretending he's making plans to put his tremendous presidential library at the best universities with the best words.  

I still bet dollars to donuts that DeSantis makes an announcement that Florida Atlantic will be the home of the Trump Presidential Library.  It's 20 miles from Mar-a-Lago, 11 of the 16 Board of Governors members are Trump/DeSantis supporters.  It would bring immediate prestige, laughable as that sounds to us now, to a quickly emerging FAU campus.  UF, FSU, FIU.---their Presidents and alumni groups would oppose it.  Plus Trump wouldn't like the long trips to get there to steal money out of the gift shop cash register.  A place like UCF would be perfect, white trash commuter school where most people have criminal backgrounds.  But again, too far.  Nope, either it's FAU or it's simply built on private lands away from anything like Reagan's.  

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