Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[Toadman]

Soooo...around here in Scandiland, the second wave is going on strong..

Stricter measures have been passed (Read: Restaurants close at 23.00hrs) but otherwise only mask recommendations in the public, be it transports or spaces. The general vibe is that the gov & media is taking a "serious" fatherly position but no one, even them are taking this as "seriously" as in the spring. This mainly due to the death rate staying so low and reluctance to jeopardize the economy that has been ticking along surprisingly well, considering everything.

It seems that everyone is just trucking along with this NewNorm.

Current 14 day average : 2607 --- Deaths 2
Spring Max: 14 day average : 1932 --- Deaths 142

Until the NewNorm gets much worse than the OldNorm of 6 months ago.

[gravitylover]

They might be able to help.
.

I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if they offer services that aren't disastrously expensive to have a part time aide go in and spend time with him where he is now and help out. Traditional aides are horribly expensive and just out of reach at this point on top of what it already costs. Even just a couple of hours a day of stimulation would go a long way. Thanks.

[old goat]

I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if they offer services that aren't disastrously expensive to have a part time aide go in and spend time with him where he is now and help out. Traditional aides are horribly expensive and just out of reach at this point on top of what it already costs. Even just a couple of hours a day of stimulation would go a long way. Thanks.

I don't know. There might even be volunteers, especially for a Holocaust survivor, although obviously the Covid makes that less likely.

[Skidog]

I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if they offer services that aren't disastrously expensive to have a part time aide go in and spend time with him where he is now and help out. Traditional aides are horribly expensive and just out of reach at this point on top of what it already costs. Even just a couple of hours a day of stimulation would go a long way. Thanks.

While my example is from a hospice situation, we asked the hospice how much it would be to have an aide 24/7. Prices were WAY too high. We asked one of the aides directly, and she did it on the side, great jamaican lady, for like $14/hr....you just have to ask...everybody loves tax free cash and the night shift isnt typically horrible in a hospice situation.

Hope it works out man, shitty situation to deal with during all the fucking mess.

[Toadman]

We're doing so well compared to the third world.

It is what it is.

[old goat]

Given the heroism of nurses these days it seems odd that Ratched on Netflix and Fargo both feature evil nurses. (Two of them in Ratched as far as I've watched--and I do love watching Judy Davis.)

[funkendrenchman]

It's just the flu...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/healt...ess/index.html

[goldenboy]

It's just the flu...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/healt...ess/index.html

Yeah, exactly...

I just released my podcast episode with Jay, his life has been 100% upside down for 7 months. We get to Covid around 21:45, although it's a pretty good interview complete with plane crashes onto the Kahiltna if anyone wants to listen to the whole thing.https://crestedbutterealestateagent....ng-haul-covid/

[old goat]

"Lindsey Graham declared that emergency unemployment benefits would be extended 'over our dead bodies' (actually 215,000 other people’s dead bodies, but who’s counting?)." Paul Krugman, NYT, Oct 12. One of the better lines I've heard lately.

[LongShortLong]

I’m not really concerned if they are outliers or statistical noise in relation to the country. My concern is that my older parents live in the outlier.

100% valid. Hope they stay healthy.

I was trying to get at the concept that small cities are like neighborhoods in a big city. In a big city, one neighborhood with high numbers gets averaged out with 50-100 other neighborhoods. At the level of that one neighborhood or small city, I definitely feel for those who live there, wish them good health and speedy outbreak control.

[Benny Profane]

Even though I road bike a ton, I cant stand spin classes, but, who in the hell would go to one these days?

https://twitter.com/TorontoStar/stat...998970369?s=20

[The SnowShow]

"Lindsey Graham declared that emergency unemployment benefits would be extended 'over our dead bodies' (actually 215,000 other people’s dead bodies, but who’s counting?)." Paul Krugman, NYT, Oct 12. One of the better lines I've heard lately.

What a cunt. Go Harrison!

[The SnowShow]

Yeah, exactly...

I just released my podcast episode with Jay, his life has been 100% upside down for 7 months. We get to Covid around 21:45, although it's a pretty good interview complete with plane crashes onto the Kahiltna if anyone wants to listen to the whole thing.https://crestedbutterealestateagent....ng-haul-covid/

Thanks for posting. Crazy.

[bennymac]

The Swedish COVID-19 Response Is a Disaster. It Shouldn’t Be a Model for the Rest of the World

https://time.com/5899432/sweden-coro...q-sjWe7RBkvw2o

a study published Oct. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which pointed out that, of the countries the researchers investigated, Sweden and the U.S. essentially make up a category of two: they are the only countries with high overall mortality rates that have failed to rapidly reduce those numbers as the pandemic has progressed.

[bodywhomper]

Thanks for posting that^^^.

I thought this piece was well done regarding the great barrington agreement and renewed attempts for herd immunity: https://youtu.be/V0MamflGLlM

[JaytaeMoney]

The Swedish COVID-19 Response Is a Disaster. It Shouldn’t Be a Model for the Rest of the World
Sweden and the U.S. essentially make up a category of two: they are the only countries with high overall mortality rates that have failed to rapidly reduce those numbers as the pandemic has progressed.

Why pick the arbitrary date of June 7? If you look at Sweden's mortality rate since July 7 instead of June 7 then Sweden's mortality rate is much lower. Fast forward another month to August 7 and it's under 5 deaths per day for the entire country. Their current 7-day average daily deaths is 2. They are not in the same category as the USA when discussing a failure to reduce mortality.

[schuss]

Why pick the arbitrary date of June 7? If you look at Sweden's mortality rate since July 7 instead of June 7 then Sweden's mortality rate is much lower. Fast forward another month to August 7 and it's under 5 deaths per day for the entire country. Their current 7-day average daily deaths is 2. They are not in the same category as the USA when discussing a failure to reduce mortality.

"Let's advance the dates far enough the data looks better"

[Lemonade]

"Let's advance the dates far enough the data looks better"

couldn’t the opposite also be said?

[jono]

If the Time piece is right there is every reason to expect that Sweden has undercounted deaths by never testing people who died after being denied access to hospitals. They've claimed schools are no problem while children have been in ICUs at massively higher rates, so the trend isn't a great defense of their integrity.

[altasnob]

I'm a fan of how Sweden has handled the pandemic and here is why. They came up with a plan and have stuck with it. Yes, that plan has cost them lives. But it will always be a balance between saving lives and having a normally functioning society. Politicians will not admit this publicly, but it is true. Sweden requires masks, encourages social distancing, and restricted large gatherings. Other than that, society functions as normal and has done so throughout the pandemic. This is their rules at the beginning of the pandemic, and this is their rule today.

This is what kills me about America's response and specifically Washington State (which is doing about as well as anywhere in America). Public parks and playgrounds were closed at the beginning of the pandemic. Now, with numbers as bad as they were early in the pandemic, parks are open. What changed? Same thing with restaurants, museums, movie theaters, ect (closed in the beginning but open now). The public loses faith in the policy makers when they appear to be arbitrarily imposing and removing restrictions. I like that Sweden has been consistent in their approach throughout. This is extremely important to gain and maintain the public's faith. Gaining and maintaining the public trust is the most important aspect of pandemic control. This cannot be overemphasized.

At the end of the day, we should follow Sweden's model (masks, social distancing, restrictions on large groups). After that, what happens, happens. I would love to revisit my statements a year or two from now because at the end of the pandemic, I think people will argue that Sweden actually took the correct response to the pandemic, particularly when looking at Western democracies.

[glademaster]

Well that post should set us up for a few solid pages of vitriolic back-and-forth here today. Match, meet gasoline.

[The AD]

This is what kills me about America's response and specifically Washington State (which is doing about as well as anywhere in America). Public parks and playgrounds were closed at the beginning of the pandemic. Now, with numbers as bad as they were early in the pandemic, parks are open. What changed? Same thing with restaurants, museums, movie theaters, ect (closed in the beginning but open now). The public loses faith in the policy makers when they appear to be arbitrarily imposing and removing restrictions.

"...with numbers as bad" is not really accurate. Yes, the total number of new cases is going back up, but hospitalizations and deaths are both far lower. Which is more important? Obviously you don't want new cases to spike, but I think there's a solid argument to be made that not overwhelming hospital resources is more important.

[The SnowShow]

"...with numbers as bad" is not really accurate. Yes, the total number of new cases is going back up, but hospitalizations and deaths are both far lower. Which is more important? Obviously you don't want new cases to spike, but I think there's a solid argument to be made that not overwhelming hospital resources is more important.

But hospitalizations and deaths lag behind a rise in cases. People don’t seem the grasp that. You have to get ahead of it before hospitals are overwhelmed.

[The AD]

But hospitalizations and deaths lag behind a rise in cases. People don’t seem the grasp that.

True, but even when cases spiked to new highs in July deaths were roughly half what they were in March. All I'm saying is you need to look at more data than simply the number of new cases. Percent of positive tests and total number of tests is also important as well as hospitalizations and deaths, and the government response needs to consider all these factors.

I also don't think it makes sense to simply continue policies that were established at the beginning of this pandemic when we're getting more information about the virus continuously.

[JaytaeMoney]

"Let's advance the dates far enough the data looks better"

At least you can do that in Sweden. They have reduced their 7-day daily average deaths 98% from their peak. If the USA did that we'd be seeing about 50 deaths per day (7 day avg) instead of 723.