Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[frorider]

In March, as the virus spread in the U.S. before many states instituted stay-home orders, the TSA told Brainard and other managers they could not require officers to wear masks and refused to tap its stockpile of more than 1 million N-95 masks. The agency did not institute measures like pandemic-related training, contact tracing, installing plastic screens to separate TSA employees and passengers, or mandating the use of hand sanitizer and frequently changing gloves.

“While we understand the situation, at this time, you cannot issue N-95s,” TSA leadership wrote in a mid-March email shared with NPR. “Waiting two or more weeks for them may be too late,” agency official Robert Krekorian wrote back.

Since then, more than 700 TSA employees have tested positive for COVID-19, the agency reports. Five staff members and one screening contractor who contracted the virus have died.

I guess TSA was saving masks for a viral pandemic or something

[skaredshtles]

Just back from the Grocer. 30% masks if that.

And a new twist, mothers with 3-5 kids clogging up the fucking aisles and blocking access to the shelves.

Ain't you guys got curb-side grocery delivery? That is the shizzle.

[bodywhomper]

Not wearing mask>more cases and deaths>shut down reimposed>businesses fail, economy collapses.

I guess that's 4 thoughts, not two : - )

I think another important variable for businesses and our economy will be related to decisions made by our education systems in the fall.

[old goat]

From the Wapo
"Arizona reported another record single-day case count on Friday as the state’s infection rate and number of hospitalizations continued to rise.

The 3,246 cases announced Friday, out of 15,031 tests, represent an increase of more than 700 infections from the record set Thursday. Additionally, the number of hospitalizations rose from 1,667 on Thursday to 1,832 on Friday.

State health officials report the number of positive cases on a weekly basis. On June 14, they reported that 18 percent of recent diagnostic tests were positive. While the health department has not yet updated its website with the past week’s percentage of positive cases, the numbers of cases and tests reported Friday seem to indicate a 20 percent positivity rate.

The rate at which tests in Arizona come back positive has been climbing steadily since early May, when 5 percent of samples tested positive. The state defines its positivity rate as the percentage of people who received positive test results out of the number of people who have been tested in the state.

Arizona — as well as South Carolina and North Carolina — has reported a notable increase in coronavirus hospitalizations since Memorial Day. As of Thursday, 85 percent of Arizona’s inpatient hospital beds and 84 percent of its ICU beds were occupied."

Don't worry--the pandemic isn't spreading, they're just doing more tests. #penceisanidiot

[Mazderati]

SC with back-to-back days of 1,000 new cases. That's something around 10% of all cases in the state in two days.

[KQ]

....

[mcphee]

I'm getting my tires rotated right now in Modesto. NO ONE in this tire shop has a mask on. WTF?

If you're talking about the techs in the shop wrenching, cut them some slack. Wrenching and heaving lifting for 8-10 hours a day is very difficult wearing a mask. Bring some disinfectant wipes for your steering wheel and door handles. Don't touch your wheels and tires lol. And for the love of god, don't bird dog your tech from less than 6 ft away.

We had a policy in our shop for the first few weeks of mask regulations that we had to wear one at all times in the building, no exceptions. This was even before the weather started to warm up and our safety glasses would fog up, it fucks up your field of vision directly below you and it became unbearably hot when you'd struggle getting shit loose. When you're needlessly hot you get frustrated. When you're frustrated you start working faster just to get it over with. When you're working faster just to get it over with you're chances of getting hurt increase. For the first time in my career, upper management listened to us when a VP came in to see how we were doing. Unheard of in this organization.

We only allow in people with active projects and procedures to prove or videos to be taken, so 6-10 of us in a group of 40. Everything else is done remote with Vis Mockup. If you're at your work station with no one around, no mask. If you're on your machine wrenching, no mask. If someone comes to your bay to ask a question, we're wearing masks. When i leave my bay, my mask goes on. If someone needs help and you need to work together, no masks but we're wearing face shields.

What are the collective's thoughts on gray areas?

[frorider]

Agree, tire shops usually have the entire 4th wall open and hudge ceilings. The front end mgr and cash register lieutenants lying to you about the car being ‘almost done’ are a different story.

[The SnowShow]

From the Wapo
"Arizona reported another record single-day case count on Friday as the state’s infection rate and number of hospitalizations continued to rise.

The 3,246 cases announced Friday, out of 15,031 tests, represent an increase of more than 700 infections from the record set Thursday. Additionally, the number of hospitalizations rose from 1,667 on Thursday to 1,832 on Friday.

State health officials report the number of positive cases on a weekly basis. On June 14, they reported that 18 percent of recent diagnostic tests were positive. While the health department has not yet updated its website with the past week’s percentage of positive cases, the numbers of cases and tests reported Friday seem to indicate a 20 percent positivity rate.

The rate at which tests in Arizona come back positive has been climbing steadily since early May, when 5 percent of samples tested positive. The state defines its positivity rate as the percentage of people who received positive test results out of the number of people who have been tested in the state.

Arizona — as well as South Carolina and North Carolina — has reported a notable increase in coronavirus hospitalizations since Memorial Day. As of Thursday, 85 percent of Arizona’s inpatient hospital beds and 84 percent of its ICU beds were occupied."

Don't worry--the pandemic isn't spreading, they're just doing more tests. #penceisanidiot

85% of hospital beds and 84% of ICU beds are already full....before this huge increase of cases this week??!! AZ is absolutely fucked and the national leadership could care less. WTF? Is this Making America Great Again GOP? How can they just keep ignoring this shit??!!

[iceman]

They have no other plan.

[old goat]

If you're talking about the techs in the shop wrenching, cut them some slack. Wrenching and heaving lifting for 8-10 hours a day is very difficult wearing a mask. Bring some disinfectant wipes for your steering wheel and door handles. Don't touch your wheels and tires lol. And for the love of god, don't bird dog your tech from less than 6 ft away.

We had a policy in our shop for the first few weeks of mask regulations that we had to wear one at all times in the building, no exceptions. This was even before the weather started to warm up and our safety glasses would fog up, it fucks up your field of vision directly below you and it became unbearably hot when you'd struggle getting shit loose. When you're needlessly hot you get frustrated. When you're frustrated you start working faster just to get it over with. When you're working faster just to get it over with you're chances of getting hurt increase. For the first time in my career, upper management listened to us when a VP came in to see how we were doing. Unheard of in this organization.

We only allow in people with active projects and procedures to prove or videos to be taken, so 6-10 of us in a group of 40. Everything else is done remote with Vis Mockup. If you're at your work station with no one around, no mask. If you're on your machine wrenching, no mask. If someone comes to your bay to ask a question, we're wearing masks. When i leave my bay, my mask goes on. If someone needs help and you need to work together, no masks but we're wearing face shields.

What are the collective's thoughts on gray areas?

Sounds like you're doing it right--the best you can. There's a reason most operating rooms are kept way too cold from the patient's point of view. The masks and gowns are hot, even with no one besides the circulator working physically hard. (I kept it warm when the belly or the chest was open because people can lose a lot of heat that way, but it wasn't popular with the other people in the room.)

If the rules are too draconian no one follows any of them.

Heard someone on the radio today--forgot what kind of work place but talked about mandatory masks but not gloves--they said if you wore gloves you had to change them each customer. Finally someone gets it.

[Bozo T. Clown]

Published in Nature Medicine so peer-reviewed. Bodes ill for a vaccine, or at least the vaccine will have to contain or induce the production a lot of antigen, or maybe a booster. We'd better hope for a vaccine--the feds are unfunding research on treating the disease.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/h...sultPosition=6

"Maybe the virus is trying to really reduce antibodies, and a vaccine will be great because it wouldn't do that."
"There are many other viral proteins, and one of them may be causing some issue with B cells. Who knows?"
https://www.microbe.tv/immune/immune-32/

Will the spike protein by itself be an effective vaccine antigen? Will whole inactivated virus be worse or better? The spike protein, and other proteins to be named later? Will the vaccine platform be important? Adjuvants? Will it depend on who gets the vaccine?

Merck’s Julie Gerberding, a ‘vaccine optimist,’ on Covid-19 and what comes next
https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/09/...ie-gerberding/


How Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody cocktail cuts the risk of resistance
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/resear...isk-resistance

Monoclonal antibody treatments are moving into clinical trials. Since fish tank cleaner got "Emergency Use Authorization", any that are reasonably effective might be available, in some supply, in a few months.

[The SnowShow]

Texas with 4,497, Florida, AZ and Cali all with over 3,200, Tenn, SC, NC, Georgia, all with over 1,000 today.

[Dantheman]

If you're talking about the techs in the shop wrenching, cut them some slack. Wrenching and heaving lifting for 8-10 hours a day is very difficult wearing a mask. Bring some disinfectant wipes for your steering wheel and door handles. Don't touch your wheels and tires lol. And for the love of god, don't bird dog your tech from less than 6 ft away.

We had a policy in our shop for the first few weeks of mask regulations that we had to wear one at all times in the building, no exceptions. This was even before the weather started to warm up and our safety glasses would fog up, it fucks up your field of vision directly below you and it became unbearably hot when you'd struggle getting shit loose. When you're needlessly hot you get frustrated. When you're frustrated you start working faster just to get it over with. When you're working faster just to get it over with you're chances of getting hurt increase. For the first time in my career, upper management listened to us when a VP came in to see how we were doing. Unheard of in this organization.

We only allow in people with active projects and procedures to prove or videos to be taken, so 6-10 of us in a group of 40. Everything else is done remote with Vis Mockup. If you're at your work station with no one around, no mask. If you're on your machine wrenching, no mask. If someone comes to your bay to ask a question, we're wearing masks. When i leave my bay, my mask goes on. If someone needs help and you need to work together, no masks but we're wearing face shields.

What are the collective's thoughts on gray areas?

Sounds entirely reasonable.

Texas with 4,497, Florida, AZ and Cali all with over 3,200, Tenn, SC, NC, Georgia, all with over 1,000 today.

Over 500 in UT today, highest single-day count to date.

[Core Shot]

I'm getting desperate for masks here. This and the mouse shit are going to kill me before the 'rona gets a chance.

Attachment 331939

You’re not alone. For some reason mold loves glue lam beams and joists.

I used to have a biz that sprayed those with antimicrobials and encapsulate with paint.

[Core Shot]

yeah, need N95 for mold and the hanta.

No
P100. Way better seal. Paper masks are a joke.

[PNWbrit]

^this. Trump said wearing a mask "looks weak." Because yanno, your lips and nostrils should be strong enough to kick the virus' arse.

Needing two hands to lift a glass of water looks far weaker.

[Mazderati]

Trump campaign requiring all rally attendees sign a waiver they will not sue if exposed to coronavirus. MAGA.

[riser4]

Trump campaign requiring all rally attendees sign a waiver they will not sue if exposed to coronavirus. MAGA.

Telling. More worried about being sued than killing his supporters.

[PB]

And yet thousands willingly place their lives and the lives of their loved ones in the tiny, palsied hands of the anti-christ.

[The SnowShow]

23 Clemson players, 8 KSU players test positive.

[Mazderati]

And yet thousands willingly place their lives and the lives of their loved ones in the tiny, palsied hands of the anti-christ.

Very tiny.

[Benny Profane]

23 Clemson players, 8 KSU players test positive.

And yet America whines that baseball players are greedy.

[frorider]

MAGA.

[The SnowShow]

MAGA.

And yet they’ll just spin it as:
A) the flu
B) More testing, more cases
C) It’s going down. These graphs you see are Fake News.