COVID-19 Updates

[jsharr ★]

I was not able to find a belt at the store in East Texas.  Walked into a Boot Barn close to my office.  They asked me if I had a mask.  I said no.  They asked me if I wanted to buy a mask.  I told them I would shop somewhere else. 

Should have told them last boot store I walked into sold me three pairs of boots and two hats and did not offer to sell me a mask to wear.

[Randomguy]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I was not able to find a belt at the store in East Texas.  Walked into a Boot Barn close to my office.  They asked me if I had a mask.  I said no.  They asked me if I wanted to buy a mask.  I told them I would shop somewhere else. 

Should have told them last boot store I walked into sold me three pairs of boots and two hats and did not offer to sell me a mask to wear.

You should have just worn the mask, you know.

[Prophet Zacharia]

On 5/20/2020 at 9:41 PM, maddmaxx said:

Maryland announces single-day high of 1,784 new coronavirus cases.

Maybe they had a little cold spell? Surely it will all clear up as the weather warms.

[Prophet Zacharia]

5 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I was not able to find a belt at the store in East Texas.  Walked into a Boot Barn close to my office.  They asked me if I had a mask.  I said no.  They asked me if I wanted to buy a mask.  I told them I would shop somewhere else. 

Should have told them last boot store I walked into sold me three pairs of boots and two hats and did not offer to sell me a mask to wear.

Texas is mask free? We are still mask mandated in all store settings.

I had gotten away from tracking my county’s daily Covid cases while working from home, but based on my update today, we’ve hovered at 30 new cases a day for the past month. I was hoping for less, TBH.

[jsharr ★]

6 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

You should have just worn the mask, you know.

Yep, but I forgot to bring one.

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Texas is mask free? We are still mask mandated in all store settings.

I had gotten away from tracking my county’s daily Covid cases while working from home, but based on my update today, we’ve hovered at 30 new cases a day for the past month. I was hoping for less, TBH.

We have 333 active cases in a county of 1.1 million.  5 cases total reported in my zip code.  

[Prophet Zacharia]

16 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Insiders at Moderna sold $30 million worth of stock immediately after they publicized favorable vaccine PR and the stock rose.

It’s not insider trading if they sell after a public announcement. It’s insider trading if they sell before a public announcement. Unless that means they know the vaccine is a pig and won’t actually work and are getting out ASAP.

[Randomguy]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Yep, but I forgot to bring one.

You didn't just pull your underwear up over your nose?

[Prophet Zacharia]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

We have 333 active cases in a county of 1.1 million.  5 cases total reported in my zip code.  

Is that a “no, weren’t not mandated to wear a mask” or “I don’t feel like I need to wear a mask, our rates are low”?

[Randomguy]

7 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

It’s not insider trading if they sell after a public announcement. It’s insider trading if they sell before a public announcement.

I know, I didn't say it was insider trading, but that it was insiders that were trading.   I can see why you thought that, though.  Anyway, they probably have been waiting to take money out a while, but it seems a fishy thing to pull that much out after that announcement if the value was going to keep chugging upward, as it would if they had supreme confidence in the vaccine.   My point is don't bet on the fanfare of this one, if the vaccine was as close as they have said, there would have been a massive spike in valuation that would have been worth waiting for for the company insiders.

[Prophet Zacharia]

Just now, Randomguy said:

I know.  They probably have been waiting to take money out a while, but it seems a fishy thing to pull that much out after that announcement if the value was going to keep chugging upward, as it would if they had supreme confidence in the vaccine.   My point is don't bet on the fanfare of this one, if the vaccine was as close as they have said, there would have been a massive spike in valuation that would have been worth waiting for for the company insiders.

Yeah, I amended my post, probably as you were responding to me. It’s probably a bad sign, IMO.

[jsharr ★]

5 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Is that a “no, weren’t not mandated to wear a mask” or “I don’t feel like I need to wear a mask, our rates are low”?

Not mandated to wear masks.  Up to each establishment.  My friends with the ice cream parlor have banned people wearing gloves, even though they are only doing curbside still.

I am healthy.  I am not coughing.  I stay away from people.  I do not linger.  I would have gone to the belts, chosen one, paid and walked out.  

I was not in violation of any state, county or city code.

[jsharr ★]

9 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

You didn't just pull your underwear up over your nose?

I forgot them as well.

[Prophet Zacharia]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I was not in violation of any state, county or city code.

I am not criticizing  you, just asking what’s what in various regions.

[maddmaxx ★]

13 hours ago, jsharr said:

We have 333 active cases in a county of 1.1 million.  5 cases total reported in my zip code.  

 

[Randomguy]

More haircuttery in the news:

 

A hairstylist with coronavirus worked for eight days this month while symptomatic, exposing as many as 91 customers and coworkers in Missouri, health officials said.

The case highlights the threats of community spread in the United States as businesses reopen after weeks of restrictions to combat the spread of coronavirus.

 

In this instance, the 84 customers exposed got services from the hairstylist at Great Clips, said Clay Goddard, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. In addition to the customers, seven coworkers were also notified of exposure.

It's unclear when the stylist tested positive but the infection is believed to have happened while traveling. The stylist worked May 12 through Wednesday, health officials said Friday. At the time, businesses such as barbershops and hair salons were allowed to operate in the state.

[Mr. Silly]

23 hours ago, jsharr said:

We have 333 active cases in a county of 1.1 million.  5 cases total reported in my zip code.  

 

23 hours ago, jsharr said:

Not mandated to wear masks.  Up to each establishment.  My friends with the ice cream parlor have banned people wearing gloves, even though they are only doing curbside still.

I am healthy.  I am not coughing.  I stay away from people.  I do not linger.  I would have gone to the belts, chosen one, paid and walked out.  

I was not in violation of any state, county or city code.

Things are bad in Texas and getting worse.

[maddmaxx ★]

North Caroline, largest number of new cases in the last month.  

Governor of Arkansas says his state is entering second wave

 

[Dirtyhip]

2 hours ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

 

Things are bad in Texas and getting worse.

Especially since it seems that not wearing a mask is like a badge of honor or a statement by certain people.  <====not saying what those certain people are.    

It is like that here too.  If you wear a mask you are "sheeple" or "living in fear" etc.  I am not living in fear, but I don't need to get this horrible thing.  It is not good at all.  Some people fare ok.  Some people get organ failure issues, permanent lung problems or die.  None of it is good.   I wear my mask.  

[sheep_herder ★]

I am going to be 'blunt' and maybe make a few folks mad, but I really can't imagine 'anyone' getting upset enough to walk out of store, just because someone asked them if they wanted to buy a mask.  What the hell is this world coming to?  Time to go feed sheep in the rain.  Have a Good Evening folks!!

[Allen ★]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

Especially since it seems that not wearing a mask is like a badge of honor or a statement by certain people.  <====not saying what those certain people are.    

It is like that here too.  If you wear a mask you are "sheeple" or "living in fear" etc.  I am not living in fear, but I don't need to get this horrible thing.  It is not good at all.  Some people fare ok.  Some people get organ failure issues, permanent lunch problems or die.  None of it is good.   I wear my mask.  

Masks have become completely political here.  
You don’t see them for the most part. 

[Wilbur ★]

We have had 4 days of increasing numbers in Ontario.   Last weekend people acted as if the virus miraculously went away.  My money is on increasing numbers for the next two weeks. 

[Dottleshead ★]

On 5/22/2020 at 1:53 PM, jsharr said:

I was not able to find a belt at the store in East Texas.  Walked into a Boot Barn close to my office.  They asked me if I had a mask.  I said no.  They asked me if I wanted to buy a mask.  I told them I would shop somewhere else. 

Should have told them last boot store I walked into sold me three pairs of boots and two hats and did not offer to sell me a mask to wear.

They don't want the poison. Don't blame them. Just go to whatever shop. 

[jsharr ★]

Our numbers are decreasing 

[Dottleshead ★]

I'm suffering through this.

[Dottleshead ★]

12 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Our numbers are decreasing 

Die-ing off?

[jsharr ★]

Just now, Dottles said:

Die-ing off?

Some.  Majority covering

[Dottleshead ★]

Living in this wet hell hole of a state sux. Just look at all that coronavirus.

[Allen ★]

Our rate of infection is up. Of the tests in the drive through testing about 10% are coming back positive. 
We have about 200 active cases in the county, 70 in one nursing home. 
A few churches are going to be having live services. Some are limiting congregation sizes by taking online reservations. 
Masks are very controversial. Walmart staff has masks, neither local owned shops do though. Same with local restaurants. Masks are pretty rare on staff. It’s hit or miss in the local shops downtown. Nowhere that I know is requiring anyone to wear a mask to enter.  

Economically downtown is hurting, but business is improving. More people are going out. My hair cut lady is booked up for months. 

Athens, the town over, is still a ghost town. No UGA students is crushing them economically. Small business is starting to fold. For rent signs are starting to pop up in shop windows. A lot is depending on if students return in the fall.  

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

2 hours ago, jsharr said:

Our numbers are decreasing 

Aren’t you pretty close to Dallas? 

Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 172 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 8,649, with 210 total deaths to date.

 

[jsharr ★]

7 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Aren’t you pretty close to Dallas? 

Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 172 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 8,649, with 210 total deaths to date.

 

Yes.  I am in Collin County.

[Bikeguy]

4 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Dallas County Health and Human Services is reporting 172 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total case count in Dallas County to 8,649, with 210 total deaths to date

2,635,516 people live in Dallas County.     210 total deaths to date that's 0.008%.   

14,101 deaths in Dallas County in 2010.  

[jsharr ★]

10 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

2,635,516 people live in Dallas County.     210 total deaths to date that's 0.008%.   

14,101 deaths in Dallas County in 2010.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavirus/after-a-week-with-no-new-fatalities-collin-county-reports-2-covid-19-deaths/2374911/%3Famp  
 

cases dripping in n my county

[Prophet Zacharia]

8 minutes ago, jsharr said:

cases dripping in n my county

I’ll assume that is “dropping”? That is good news, I had the sense that Texas (and Dallas in particular) was on the upswing. I think my community is similar to yours in recent infections.
We met up with friends tonight for the first time since February. But stayed 6’ away. 

[Further]

Pretty much everyone is wearing masks around here, but a lot of people are wearing them around their chin  

[Dottleshead ★]

This seems safe.

Quote

The project will compress what is typically 10 years of vaccine development and testing into a matter of months, testimony to the urgency to halt a pandemic that has infected more than 5 million people, killed over 335,000 and battered economies worldwide.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-vaccine-exclus/exclusive-u-s-plans-massive-coronavirus-vaccine-testing-effort-to-meet-year-end-deadline-idUSKBN22Y2L3

[dinneR ★]

This is a helpful guide to risk.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/23/861325631/from-camping-to-dining-out-heres-how-experts-rate-the-risks-of-14-summer-activit

[Ralphie ★]

Shit. There is a bottomless well of bad news on how much damage this virus can do. I am dreading the transition from mostly worry-free sheltering in place to having to constantly worry again.  

[maddmaxx ★]

42 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Shit. There is a bottomless well of bad news on how much damage this virus can do. I am dreading the transition from mostly worry-free sheltering in place to having to constantly worry again.  

Not to worry, people die from lots of things.      It will go away.  Social media says so.

[Prophet Zacharia]

1 hour ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Shit. There is a bottomless well of bad news on how much damage this virus can do. I am dreading the transition from mostly worry-free sheltering in place to having to constantly worry again.  

No worries here.

 

[Prophet Zacharia]

Or here!

 

[maddmaxx ★]

https://www.businessinsider.com/nearly-half-of-reopen-america-twitter-accounts-are-bots-report-2020-5

[Razors Edge ★]

On 5/22/2020 at 5:14 PM, jsharr said:

My friends with the ice cream parlor have banned people wearing gloves, even though they are only doing curbside still.

"Banned people wearing gloves"??????

On 5/22/2020 at 5:01 PM, Prophet Zacharia said:

Texas is mask free? We are still mask mandated in all store settings.

To my knowledge, VA has never had a mask requirement.  Like TX, it is up to the establishment, and only a few places implemented that - like Costco on a national level.

My reading of the rules here are that many small businesses could be open - almost as "normal" since we have a non-essential 10 folks at one time rule here.  I have almost never been in a "boutique" store on a weekday where there are over 10 shoppers.  A mall might have that sort of throughput, but even a chain store here like L'Occitane or The Paper Source would be pressed.  Not likely to have to turn folks away.  Restaurants or coffee shops or the Apple store, of course, but not smaller shops.  I think many of the retail stores near me are reacting to a decrease in foot traffic - especially when the big stores shut, so that even though their routine customer traffic was well below 10 at a time, they would have been seeing only one or two at a time and that wouldn't pay the payroll???

[maddmaxx ★]

2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

"Banned people wearing gloves"??????

To my knowledge, VA has never had a mask requirement.  Like TX, it is up to the establishment, and only a few places implemented that - like Costco on a national level.

My reading of the rules here are that many small businesses could be open - almost as "normal" since we have a non-essential 10 folks at one time rule here.  I have almost never been in a "boutique" store on a weekday where there are over 10 shoppers.  A mall might have that sort of throughput, but even a chain store here like L'Occitane or The Paper Source would be pressed.  Not likely to have to turn folks away.  Restaurants or coffee shops or the Apple store, of course, but not smaller shops.  I think many of the retail stores near me are reacting to a decrease in foot traffic - especially when the big stores shut, so that even though their routine customer traffic was well below 10 at a time, they would have been seeing only one or two at a time and that wouldn't pay the payroll???

6 foot separation between tables or walk ways at outdoor restaurants.  Possibly on the 2nd of June that may move indoors but that severely limits the capacity.  And yes they will still be wearing masks even there as science still indicates that the mask helps knock down coughs and sneezes better than anything.

[MickinMD ★]

On 5/20/2020 at 9:41 PM, maddmaxx said:

Maryland announces single-day high of 1,784 new coronavirus cases.

 

The quoted statistics now include as NEW cases anyone who just was determined to have ever had C19.  Even the CDC, which knows far better, is doing this.

So if someone had it in March and didn't know it and the antibodies were just detective today, they'll be listed as a new case of C19!

It's insane!  Night after night the TV newscasters are moaning that the total number of C19 cases keeps going up. DUH!!!!

That sounds like a line for Homer Simpson!  Do they think there's any way the total could go down?

Meanwhile, the most important data are not given to us.  For example, in Maryland we're told that most deaths occurred in nursing homes. Separately, we're told that in my age group 60-69, there have been 5511 cases and 338 deaths in MD.  But how many of them are nursing home patients? 50? 300?  How many are those are like me with type-II diabetes who can take 2-3 mile walks without being unusually tired?  Are my chances of dying if I catch it 1 in 16 (338/5511) or more like 1 in 200?  Both are worth being careful but the first is a lot more frightening.

[MickinMD ★]

The overall numbers of Maryland are confusing.  The number of hospitalized C19 patients (acute and critical) have dropped from 1707 on 5/6 to 1290 on 5/24, dropping for each of the past 8 days and for 16 of the last 18 since 5/6.5

But the number of new cases and daily deaths has not been dropping much.  The % of tests that are positive has dropped from 27% on 5/10 to 16% on 5/24.

The doctors at Johns Hopkins are saying that there will almost surely be a strong seasonal drop by Summer and the soaring rates in South America seem to indicate we will get whacked again in the Fall.

So I wonder if, despite scenes like Ocean City, MD crowds, Florida crowds, Texas crowds, etc., we might get a drop in spite of it due to Summer coming where the powers that be declare back to normal is ok, only to see us get hit worse in November - which is what happened in Philadelphia after it decided parades, etc. were fine during the Spanish Flu Pandemic in the Fall of 1918.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

So if someone had it in March and didn't know it and the antibodies were just detective today, they'll be listed as a new case of C19!

That's likely due to trying to make "testing" look more common than it is?  If you add the testing for an active infection plus the testing for past infection, then it looks like you are doing more testing than you really are????  Well, you are testing, but to two different ends - one for an existing outbreak and another for historical reasons.

1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

Night after night the TV newscasters are moaning that the total number of C19 cases keeps going up. DUH!!!!

That sounds like a line for Homer Simpson!  Do they think there's any way the total could go down?

I don't necessarily see that - at least not on the news I watch (PBS News Hour or BBC America among others).  Generally, they're pretty wise in how they discuss the issue, but I could see how on other programs, there is not the same level of interest in telling a full picture vs a quick drive-by "status check" sort of thing? 

[Prophet Zacharia]

3 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

6 foot separation between tables or walk ways at outdoor restaurants.  Possibly on the 2nd of June that may move indoors but that severely limits the capacity.

Our restaurants and bars are all still take-out only. There is talk we may enter into the “green phase” by 6/5, but Erie County, which is a week ahead of us going from red to yellow phase, is having a fleury of new cases. So I don’t see myself much in a hurry to do much.
 

Did some landscaping this weekend. Everyone at the stores were masked, standing 6’ apart in line, and they only let two people in at a time to pay at the smaller landscaping supply places I went to. They were crowded, though.

[Dottleshead ★]

13 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

Our restaurants and bars are all still take-out only. There is talk we may enter into the “green phase” by 6/5, but Erie County, which is a week ahead of us going from red to yellow phase, is having a fleury of new cases. So I don’t see myself much in a hurry to do much.
 

Did some landscaping this weekend. Everyone at the stores were masked, standing 6’ apart in line, and they only let two people in at a time to pay at the smaller landscaping supply places I went to. They were crowded, though.

For the most part people are doing the same here but like anywhere you get your cavalier mofos.  But all in all folks seem to get it.... even while most of us are wishing/wanting to get out.  We drove to central Washington yesterday and there were some stores directly disobeying government orders.  Not many.  I guess these folks feel like they're going to go out of business if things continue the way they are or if they open anyway and lose their license -- they're going to go out of business anyway.  Or maybe they're just defiant asshats? Anyway, we went into town and dropped some buckage at a few places.  Doing my job being a patriot.

[MickinMD ★]

I hope all these Marylanders (and others) who are risking being part of what certainly will be a spike in COVID-19 cases don't die and affect my State Pension.

Otherwise, at least it raise the avg. IQ of Maryland!

This is one of those "Mama Told Me Not to Come" situations:

The caption for this Sunday 5/24/20 picture from CBS News (this is around 5th St. & The Boardwalk, looking N, away from the Pier):

Fewer people visited the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, on Sunday as temperatures fell from the day before and clouds filled the sky.

This is Saturday, around 9th St. & The Boardwalk, looking S toward the Pier: