Be Very Afraid!

Be Afraid.
Be Very Afraid!

​

The surge is happening.
And it doesn't matter if you live in FREE Dakota
or The Fauci Dakota.
What does matter?
Really.


Moi
We're All gonna die!

Across an immense, unguarded, ethereal border, Canadians, cool and unsympathetic,
regard our America with envious eyes and slowly and surely draw their plans against us.​

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/face-mask-trial-didnt-stop-140030352.html

But no matter how the researchers sliced and diced their data, they could not find a strong signal that the volunteers in the mask group were more protected than their counterparts in the control group.

 

Yes, but that says nothing about the reason for wearing masks. We wear masks to protect those around us. They wear masks to protect you.

Wear masks. Short of a total lockdown, if you don't want a total lockdown, they are the most effective defense we all have until the vaccine is available next spring.

If someone else isn't wearing a mask, they are putting YOUR life at risk.

If you don't wear a mask, you could kill the people around you.

Wearing a mask does appear to provide some protection for the wearer. But the evidence is preliminary. But it isn't a binary question either. If masks reduce the amount of virus to which you are exposed, and studies show that they do, you might not get nearly as sick or die, than if you get a heavy exposure. The evidence for this is found in medical workers who get large levels of exposure, get very sick and die quickly. The more you can limit exposure, the greater your chance of survival.

 

@HereWeGoAgain

Check out the differences between North & South Dakota
Mask rules and this week's infection rates.
Different rules, the same infection rates.
But, don't take my word for it. Check it out.


Moi
Deus vult!

​

 

Our local case trend has been rather stable since mid-november but the deaths have been down. Haven't had any local deaths reported since the 10th and have only had 3 this month so far. There is a reporting lag on the deaths in my state though. Takes 2-3 weeks. There have been an additional 3 deaths in the other parts of the county this month so it comes out to 5. The city and the county are each averaging around 20 new cases a day. That will change after next week. Popular travel weeks/weekends usually bring a good 2 week surge in cases.

 

Yessir, we all gonna die. I can't wait to see how the miracle vaccine plays out considering Covid-19 apocalypticism is now Americas' long awaited third party.

 

Case numbers based upon the notorious PCR tests are meaningless.

Only the true believers in the church elevate them to being meaningful, as predicted.

 

These two small state populations overwhelmingly populated by visitors, particularly the kinds that have huge partys place like Turgis and other events, places where handwashing, masks, social distancing and people who supposedly have no hugs, kissing, fighting, and are sharing bottles of booze, crack pipes, doobies, and sex with friends and the army of hookers who follow these events!

Statistically, there can be very little difference when the numbers of transients are much larger than the socially active local residents.

 

Fear drives the pandemic. The land of the free requires masks be worn during flu season. The home of the brave are huddled in their homes afraid of their own shadows.

 

Odd. I am playing bridge with 3 other people scattered around the globe after removing my mask after picking up munchies, and my feet are up on a ottoman while enjoying a fantastic scotch whiskey. The shadows are watching me bid 3 with NoTrump. This will be a exciting game!

 

Back in July a poster from Texas was bragging how well Texas was doing. they weren't taking no advice from NY. They were warned that if they didn't change soon they'd see their numbers soar. Here we are mid December and NY has less than half the daily deaths as Texas despite a larger population and Texas is near to passing NY on deaths per million. Don't get complacent because a vaccine is starting up. It's still many months before it's generally available, we don't know how long it lasts and far too many say they'll refuse it anyway to produce a herd immunity which could eliminate the threat.

Wearing a mask is an inconvenience but a far less inconvenience than lock downs.
Wearing a mask is an inconvenience but a far less inconvenience than death.
You can get used to wearing a mask just as you get used to wearing pants. Babies cry and struggle against wearing pants, grownups don't think twice.

It's hard to get used to losing loved ones because you had to have a big Thanksgiving gathering.
It's hard to get used to spending Christmas admitted to or visiting an ICU because you had to have a big Thanksgiving gathering.
Christmas will never be the same after you lose a loved one because you had to have a big Christmas gathering.
You can get used to being dead.

If everyone did as advised they wouldn't need to be forced to later.

 

Did your partner respond with 5? I haven't played in years but I'll always remember my last hand. I opened 2 NT and my partner Immediately went to 6 NT. He apparently wanted to finish. The small slam put us over the top.

 

And in Australia, because of our discipline and social adhesion we are mask and Covid free. The more compliant the populace following health guidelines the better the outcome. I.e. true freedom is earnt

 

I used an analogy from a 70s ad campaign for an oil product. The mechanic compares what happens when you don't change your oil frequently with their product. Smooth running car, "pay me now", car needing a new engine, "or pay me later".
It's the same in this. If everyone wore masks, washed their hands and stayed home at the first sign of sickness there would be little, or in your case and where I am as well, no virus transmission and life goes on as normal. But the more that resist the inconvenience of masks and staying home the worse the aftermath. The United States with arguable the best hospital system in the world is in the top 10 for deaths/million. That shouldn't be and wouldn't be if people worked together.

 

Yes, but put you out on the street or in the park with others without a mask, and you would be most uncomfortable. So uncomfortable you might be described as fearful. Put you inside a building without a mask and you might experience high anxiety.

 

Best of luck to all the good people of Australia!

 

@Eleuthera

Summer helps!

 

You mozzed us!

 

Be Very Afraid

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-reports-first-case-more-212206027.html

California reports first case of more contagious COVID-19 strain; more states expected​

Wed, December 30, 2020, 3:01 PM PST
SAN DIEGO – California has reported its first case of a more contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in the United Kingdom – the second confirmed case in the U.S.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking in an online conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said the case was confirmed in Southern California Wednesday afternoon.

"Because there is no travel history, we believe this is not an isolated case in San Diego County," Fletcher said. He urged residents to stay at home for New Year's celebrations, citing the region's already strained healthcare system.

Colorado reported the first known case of the variant in the U.S. on Tuesday and was investigating a second possible case . . .


When do we close the airports and highways
quarantine California!
Conversely, Californians look at it as quarantining
the world from "us".

BTW when did the new strain become "more contagious"?
Not as much $ terming it the milder strain.
Or the less contagious strain.


Moi

Quarantine ​

 

No point, because it is everywhere already.

Not just in California, not the USA, but across Canada and Europe.

Only a few comparative cases are can be tested enough to determine this new strain.

There are certainly more strains as well. This is what happens when there are far more cases of any disease - there are more opportunities for mutation and changes.

 

More precisely, sunshine and Vitamin D and zinc help immensely. Sadly that wee bit of wisdom is never transmitted by the mainstream media. They prefer to focus on fear-mongering. At least here in the US. Likely it's the same in Australia.

 

Warning:

Certain PCR essays and rapid tests that have only one target, the S (spike) gene target, may not able to diagnose cases when it's the B.1.1.7 strain and may return a false negative, given that of the 17 mutations in this new strain, 8 occur in the S gene. Other mutations occur in the ORF1a/b, ORF8 (generally not used for tests) and the N genes. While these mutations impact some of the other genes, it's the S ones that are concerning, for diagnosis. The 69-70 deletion of the S gene will invalidate tests that use this target,

Most have more than one target but some have just one. I actually do not know if there are tests with only one S target used in America. The ones I do know, are fine. Anybody in other countries should make sure that their tests do use either more than one gene or a gene that is not the S gene.

The LabCorp test uses 3 regions of the N gene (nucleocapside gene).
The one made by Therapak for home collection also uses the N gene.
The Roche Cobas 6800 uses two genes, the E gene (envelope) and the ORF1a (open reading frame)
The Hologic Aptima TMA uses two regions of the ORF1a/b.
The Abbott test targets the RdRp (RNA dependent RNA polymerase) and the N genes
The LDP test targets the RdRp and the E genes
The Cepheid Xpress targets the E and N2 genes
The Quest targets the N gene only

-----------

Now, here is the interesting part: the problem above can also be used for the good. Take a test like the Thermo Fisher one. It does use the S gene and it's affected by the 69-70 deletion. But it also uses the N gene and the ORF1a/b. So the test would still come back positive but would have what we call an S gene drop out. It would come back positive for the N gene, positive for the ORF1a/b, but negative for S. So, what does it mean? That the patient has the B.1.1.7 strain!!! This is a cheaper and faster way of diagnosing the strain, rather than genomic sequencing.

 

I forgot to say: the CDC Multiplex test for flu and Covid-19, targets the N gene for the Covid part.
I looked up a few international ones. Found one in Korea (KH Medical) and one in Germany (Altona) that use the S gene.

 

The Lucira home test (prescription) targets the N gene only (two non-overlapping regions of the N gene).
The Allume home test (over-the-counter) also targets the nucleocapside itself (not the gene) so it should be fine, too.

 

Well, CF, thank you very much, although I was overloaded after about halfway through (or sooner) your description!

Fortunately, I am hoping a vaccine shot will come open in the coming couple weeks - on Fridays my main hospital client lets family and contractors get to get a opportunity of excess shots unused by primary caregivers for use for less critical workers.

It would nice to be these discussions to be more theoretical and pleasantly informative, for me.