• covid, here we go again..

    From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to All on Sat Nov 14 22:26:00 2020
    Hello!


    How's everyone fairing with the covid situation in your area?

    Here in Canada, in just the last week the media has been in
    ecstasy reporting how the cases have sky-rocketted and it's
    the worse than ever it was! -- in a tone to suggest that we're
    all gonna die from this thing.

    Tonight there was a special feature reviewing the cases in a
    long term residence where about 17 elderly all died within a
    few months - purportedly because of covid. But the *star* of
    the show was a careworker who worked their and developed a
    pretty bad case of covid and nearly died herself.

    Fine. Covid can be deadly. But one case is not all cases!

    There never seems to be any reports on how the vast majority
    of people sailed through this thing or how bad their sysmptoms
    were.

    It's just bad bad bad... we will die.

    Every morning when I drive to work along a lone 4km stretch of
    backroad, I pass a person walking their dog. There are no
    houses and other people around and this person is wearing a
    mask!

    I *still* see people alone in their cars, driving, and wearing
    a mask!

    I think there is another virus that has superceded covid.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.46
    * Origin: (2:221/1.58)
  • From Richard Menedetter@2:310/31 to August Abolins on Sun Nov 15 12:15:24 2020
    Hi August!

    14 Nov 2020 22:26, from August Abolins -> All:

    How's everyone fairing with the covid situation in your area?

    Austria has one of the worst second waves.
    We managed the first one really well, but now deaths are sharply rising.

    Here in Canada, in just the last week the media has been in
    ecstasy reporting how the cases have sky-rocketted

    Aehmm ... could that be because the ACTUAL NUMBERS skyrocketed???
    That is actually the JOB of media to people aware of this!!

    and it's the worse than ever it was!

    Indeed same here.
    But it has NOTHING to do with the media, it has to do with a VIRUS spreading!

    in a tone to suggest that we're all gonna die from this thing.

    I am not following Canadian media, but I would doubt that that is what they are reporting.
    The media here are truthfully reporting that the death number sharply increase, and that the hospital capacity is around 90%.

    MANY people will die, and much, much more if hospitals are out of capacity, and they need to decide which of the 8 people they got in, can use the 2 remaining beds for example.
    The others will very likely die.

    Austria has an excellent health system, and I do NOT want our doctors in a situation where they have to decide whom to help and whom to likely kill (due to not having enough resources to help all patients!)

    There never seems to be any reports on how the vast majority
    of people sailed through this thing or how bad their sysmptoms
    were.

    Not???
    There are many here.
    Many young people have very mild symptoms.
    That is actually also the issue. They do not feel too sick, and infect many others, that can potentially die!
    And many old people will have a more severe form.

    But there are MANY exceptions from the rule.
    There are some 20 and many 30 year olds dying, and there are old people that only have flu like symptoms, and get well soon.

    The point being is that MANY people will die if you go above hospital capacity. Just take a look at Italy or Spain in the first wave.
    They had huge numbers of people dying.
    Those deaths were unnecessary and could have been easily prevented if people act in an informed way!

    It's just bad bad bad... we will die.

    We all will definitely!
    Most of us will not die of Covid.
    But if we take this not seriously enough many, many will die NOW that would have otherwise lived much longer.

    Every morning when I drive to work along a lone 4km stretch of
    backroad, I pass a person walking their dog. There are no
    houses and other people around and this person is wearing a
    mask!

    So what???
    If he feels safer that way, good for him!

    I would not do it, because the risk looks manageable to me.
    But aerosols can stay long time in the air.
    So if somebody sneezed there minutes ago, you CAN infect yourself.

    Why do you have any issue with it?
    As long as he does not force you to wear a mask, he is free to do what he wants.

    I agree that wearing a mask in a car where you are alone is a bit strange.
    But in general it is better to be safe than sorry.
    Wearing a mask is not hurting you, but not wearing a mask in contaminated air can kill you.

    I think there is another virus that has superceded covid.

    Stupidity of people that play with the life of others you mean?
    I agree, that is really sad ;)

    To come back to a much more nuanced point ... schools.
    That is a tough one, as it has many implications.

    According to the science I have seen the pupils are not likely to infect others, as their virus count in their throats is usually very low.
    So here it would make sense to KEEP pupils in school, as long as the TEACHERS (that can very easily spread Covid) wear masks.

    Anyhow as you have seen my opinions differs from yours, if you have any scientific data that tells otherwise, please feel free to point me to it.

    CU, Ricsi

    ... The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
    --- GoldED+/LNX
    * Origin: If it works, I didn't do it. (2:310/31)
  • From Charles Pierson@2:221/6.21 to Richard Menedetter on Sun Nov 15 06:51:03 2020
    Hello, Richard Menedetter.
    On 11/15/20 12:15 PM you wrote:

    How's everyone fairing with the covid situation in your area?
    Austria has one of the worst second waves. We managed the first
    one really well, but now deaths are sharply rising.

    I have no idea about how many cases there are around me, and honestly it doesn't really matter.

    It's been about a year since this strain of coronavirus has been identified in humans. There has been a lot of information, both correct and incorrect circulating about it,

    It basically boils down to scientists and medical people are working on treatment, please stand by.

    A person is either going to get the virus or not. There are things you can do to lessen your chances of contracting the virus.

    My wife and daughter both work in healthcare, as caregivers for elderly or ill people at home. When this started, my wife's patient was an elderly gentleman with pretty much every underlying health condition you could think of to make him more suseptible.
    One of our grandaughters has severe asthma.

    We took whatever precautions we felt were necessary to limit exposure.

    My wife and daughter basically lived as shut ins. Go take care of their patients, then go home. Another grandaughter quit her job at the airport to not potentially bring it home to her mom or sister.

    I basically did all the shopping for 2 households for months. I have respiratory issues myself, but I also have an aversion to crowds, so keeping away from people isn't a problem for me.

    What all of that means is that yes, there is a virus out there that we didn't know about much longer than a year ago. Yes, it's contagious. Yes, it affects some people worse than others. No, there isn't a vaccine or cure yet. But YES, it is being worked on, and there are things that people can do to lessen their chance of catching or spreading it, without mass panic.


    --
    Best regards!
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    --- Hotdoged/2.13.5/Android
    * Origin: Houston, Tx (2:221/6.21)