Do you need to vent about things COVID-19?

[Luna Bliss]

41 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

Not only is he governing Kentucky straight into a presidential bid in a few years, he's a total hottie as well.

Total proof the South is not all bad!   

[Luna Bliss]

38 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I still think the US will come out of this with some explaining to do

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/americans-are-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures/609532/

[Adam Spark]

Covid pet peeve #1: "Its just a flu" and all that needs to stop. NOW. We should be taking lessons from this and trying to lower flu deaths, and yet we have something way worse going on and people are saying "its just a flu". I'm not going to type what I want to say to these people.

Pet peeve #2: I kind of wish the media would move from telling us case numbers and start telling us active infection numbers instead. That paints a much better picture. If you have 100 cases and 98 are recovered, that's a whole different ball game than 100 cases with 2 recovered. Its not hard to figure out, but telling us mounting case numbers without highlighting how many are recovered is making people panic way too much. In Canada, we have case numbers that are more than double the number of those currently infected. That is a big indicator of how we are doing that doesn't get talked about. We need to stay concerned and keep the fight up, but we also need to know our actions are working too.

[Maryanne Solo]

Last year, after an official dept of health flu vaccination, I caught "the" flu THREE times.
The first two times were just, normal, annoying, 7 sneezes in a row, cough your guts out, snot bubble flu. 🤧

However the THIRD time was an entirely different beast, seemingly, clean out of the blue.
Within 20 minutes of arriving at a friends place for our regular friday night gathering..
I was flat out on the couch. shivering, sweating and shaking. I couldn't even stand up straight.
Goodness knows how I eventually managed to drive the 24kms home but somehow I did.
(not that I remember the drive).

I ended up being bedridden for at least 3 days whereupon I spat the dummy and went to my Doctor.
She arranged all sorts of steroidy inhalers and yukky drugs I had never heard of before.  
Fortunately i recovered quickly and never looked back. 

I think we all better get used to this pox ridden new age of freak-show diseases 8-/ 
I hadn't had the flu for over twenty years up until recently.
Maybe I'll have to move back to the tropics and lounge around in pools and on beaches again.
That worked wonders it seems! 😹 

 

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Adam Spark said:

Covid pet peeve #1: "Its just a flu" and all that needs to stop. NOW. We should be taking lessons from this and trying to lower flu deaths, and yet we have something way worse going on and people are saying "its just a flu". I'm not going to type what I want to say to these people.

Pet peeve #2: I kind of wish the media would move from telling us case numbers and start telling us active infection numbers instead. That paints a much better picture. If you have 100 cases and 98 are recovered, that's a whole different ball game than 100 cases with 2 recovered. Its not hard to figure out, but telling us mounting case numbers without highlighting how many are recovered is making people panic way too much. In Canada, we have case numbers that are more than double the number of those currently infected. That is a big indicator of how we are doing that doesn't get talked about. We need to stay concerned and keep the fight up, but we also need to know our actions are working too.

I just watch the numbers myself:  https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

By the same token, I don't actually trust most of the numbers anyway.

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[Seicher Rae]

I'm actually on hiatus from the Forum at the moment but when I read this I got so mad that I had to share it and the only place I could think of was this thread. Grrrrrr. I wish these idiots would realize that viruses don't have politics! And politicians are not health experts! South Dakota now has one of the biggest clusters? South Effing Dakota? Population 1000? FFS. Meanwhile, in my thinly populated area, one with a governor I cannot stand, our gov at least  finally recognized the social distancing thing a while ago, and recently our apartment building received notice that we're on lockdown almost like the hospitals per state order... no visitors except family and essential deliveries. Gatherings of more than one person in any public area are terms for eviction! Oh, an extra fun thing about the SD fiasco? It may be the start of a meat shortage, like... bacon! Forced shutdown AND no bacon? More FFS. And I realize that photos are often picked for publication if they are unflattering, but this SD governor looks possessed (which would explain a lot about Trump supporters).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/south-dakotas-governor-resisted-ordering-people-to-stay-home-now-it-has-one-of-the-nations-largest-coronavirus-hot-spots/2020/04/13/5cff90fe-7daf-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html

South Dakota’s governor resisted ordering people to stay home. Now it has one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hot spots.

By 

Griff Witte 

April 13, 2020 at 8:06 p.m. EDT

As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota’s top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home.

Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a “herd mentality.” It was up to individuals — not government — to decide whether “to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.”

And besides, the first-term Republican told reporters at a briefing this month, “South Dakota is not New York City.”

But now South Dakota is home to one of the largest single coronavirus clusters anywhere in the United States,  ...

click the link for the full article

[Lyssa Greymoon]

11 minutes ago, Seicher Rae said:

And I realize that photos are often picked for publication if they are unflattering, but this SD governor looks possessed (which would explain a lot about Trump supporters).

This is what the inside of a middle school science textbook looks like, governor 💩4🧠.

[FairreLilette]

I saw an article that said people are abandoning pets because of COVID-19.  

Cats and humans have different "colds".  We do not eat cats in America.  Virus and bacteria is in meat and then humans can be infected.  

This isn't really spreading to cats, is it?  Ohmygaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  *cries* Abandonment.  ohmygoooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[So Whimsy]

Just got this on the marketplace:

 

This website is under heavy load

We're sorry, too many people are accessing this website at the same time. We're working on this problem. Please try again later.

 

Too many people having too much time, thanks Covid.

[Ceka Cianci]

Day 12 of isolation:

Get Me OUTTA HERE!! \o/

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, FairreLilette said:

I saw an article that said people are abandoning pets because of COVID-19.  

Cats and humans have different "colds".  We do not eat cats in America.  Virus and bacteria is in meat and then humans can be infected.  

This isn't really spreading to cats, is it?  Ohmygaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  *cries* Abandonment.  ohmygoooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cats can get coronavirus, but there are still no indications at all that we can catch it from them.  So far, dogs can't even catch it.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/08/coronavirus-study-finds-cats-not-dogs-can-catch-the-virus/

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Seicher Rae said:

Gov. Kristi L. Noem

Images of darts float through my mind when I view the photo you posted...lol

Killing people because you fear being taken over by the gubbermint?    

[Madelaine McMasters]

1 hour ago, Seicher Rae said:

And I realize that photos are often picked for publication if they are unflattering, but this SD governor looks possessed.

It's not her expression that bothers me, it's that plaid shirt.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Madelaine McMasters

[Seicher Rae]

Coronaviruses are not uncommon, and scientists/veterinarians have long known that cats can get coronavirusES, in fact it used to be that if you tested a bunch of random cats for antibodies to coronavirus that most would come up as having had an exposure. Scientists/veterinarians have long been working on a cure/vaccine for a specific feline coronavirus, one that causes a devastating illness called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). They have been working for DECADES to get a test specific for FIP, which is caused by an enteric (gut) coronavirus (FeCV) but they cannot. The test only shows that the cat has been exposed to a coronavirus, not the specific FeCV that causes FIP. FIP vaccines also have proven to be impossible so far. It is this knowledge that makes me very wary that scientists are going to be quick with a human vaccine/antibody test for SARS-CoV that has any degree of efficacy or specificity.

It is really rare that viruses jump species (zoonoses). It is sad to see that this one jumped from bats to humans to cats and ferrets. Thanks @LittleMe Jewell for that link to the SJ Mercury News.

[Selene Gregoire]

Move back to the home rez in SD? No thanks. I'd like to live a while longer.

[Aryna Markova]

On 4/6/2020 at 7:50 PM, Pixie Kobichenko said:

My vent is kind a self-centered but also I’m trying to be altruistic.

I had my gallbladder removed on March 13 under emergency surgery. Since then my pre-existing epigastric hernia has at least doubled  in size and I’m in constant pain from it now.  I noticed last night in the mirror that I have a very visible shadow from the bulge that wasn’t there a month ago.  

 I am avoiding all solid food and only drinking and shakes and powdered soup because anything solid makes the discomfort way worse.

I am unsure of what to do.
I don’t want to go to the emergency room and potentially expose myself and via that route also my family to the virus.  We also care for 3 houses around us of elderly folks who can’t drive.  I really don’t want to expose them.

& also I don’t want to take up a hospital bed from someone who needs it because they’re actually dying.

but I’m also unsure as to whether I’m in a serious Situation, because I have a high tolerance for pain- So I’m never really sure exactly how bad things are for me.  Previously I had to have emergency surgery for sepsis and to remove all of my internal lady bits. I’ve had to have surgery on my shoulder to piece it back together after falling in the shower.  On both of those occasions I had no idea how bad things were.

so that’s my complaint.

 

As a person who has had much trouble with the gastric system...do NOT PUT THIS OOF! It is life threatening to ignore this and really...going to the hospital is probably the safest place you can go with the screening they do now. Don't let a condition that can be fixed now degenerate into something that can kill you..believe me I have nearly died twice from gastric issues and it is not fun at all..pain you cannot imagine.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

I am crying at all the milk being dumped that would normally go to schools and all the produce farmers are dumping.. And my neighbors campfire blowing smoke right into my rv and making my asthma (which I do not have) surface itself.  

I am also mad that some  of my rl facebook friends are becoming alarmingly stupid/combatant  as the conspiracy theories abound.

[Qie Niangao]

Yesterday in the New York Times Opinion section: "The Huge Cost of Waiting to Contain the Pandemic."

It's just a projection, but you know it's gotta be something like this.

An absolute precondition of reopening anything needs to be sensitive criteria for closing back down on a moment's notice of renewed transmission.

[Aryna Markova]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:00 AM, FairreLilette said:

I saw an article that said people are abandoning pets because of COVID-19.  

Cats and humans have different "colds".  We do not eat cats in America.  Virus and bacteria is in meat and then humans can be infected.  

This isn't really spreading to cats, is it?  Ohmygaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  *cries* Abandonment.  ohmygoooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw an article out of China within the last couple of weeks....Dogs are no longer considered a 'renewable food source' and have been reclassed as pets.....cats however were not so lucky....

[Seicher Rae]

Scanning the headlines in my morning email from the Washington Post and in the same email I see these separate topics in the headlines:

• The death rate in the USA for the coronavirus is now at 5%.
• More news about the South Dakota Smithfield plant that didn't do anything to protect its workers and so now SD has one of the biggest clusters of coronavirus in the country and the GOP governor still doesn't want to do anything about isolation.
• Trump tweeted to "liberate" several states... The states that are following the "Trump Coronavirus Guidelines for America"? There's more than a little disconnect there and...
• Five of those states had protests against stay-at-home orders, and all of the photos show mobs of angry white people in MAGA hats, jammed together, no masks.

More people are going to get sick and die from this disease. Can we just have it be the nay-sayers and folks who think they are exempt from viruses be the ones who get infected? If only life were that fair...

 

[AyelaNewLife]

Anyone that doesn't understand basic statistical concepts shouldn't be allowed to talk about this outbreak. For example:

• "Death rate" based on # of confirmed cases is useless as a statistic. No country has widespread enough testing to make that calculation. Methodology varies wildly from country to country (and even within many nations), but almost without exception the population which is tested is significantly more likely to have a severe infection than an asymptomatic case (ie most of them) or with very mild symptoms than the general population. It's self-selecting, and makes the "death rate" measure near useless.
• Deaths/cases (although we have no remotely accurate way of measuring cases, so we go with deaths here) per capita is the only measure that matters. Yes, the UK has more deaths than any other EU nation. We also have more people than all but Germany, and they're hoarding testing reagents thus could clamp down much more efficiently. Belgium is currently far worse on a deaths per capita measure than us, and that's what matters.
• Daily death tolls have one use, and one use only - to monitor trends. That becomes useless if you mix up the methodology part-way through this outbreak, especially if you intend to add highly unreliable and varied data with a lag time of between hours and days into the mix. So yes, anyone calling for care home deaths to be added to the daily hospital deaths total is an idiot. Total suspected deaths has a use as a separate measure, and will by its very nature require a lag time of probably a week and looking at week-long snapshots in order to be useful.

I could go on. But in short - it would really help if the media could stop sending their political editors to Covid-19 press briefings, but instead send health/science editors who at least understand highschool-level statistics.

Edited April 18, 2020 by AyelaNewLife

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, AyelaNewLife said:

Anyone that doesn't understand basic statistical concepts shouldn't be allowed to talk about this outbreak. For example:

• "Death rate" based on # of confirmed cases is useless as a statistic. No country has widespread enough testing to make that calculation. Methodology varies wildly from country to country (and even within many nations), but almost without exception the population which is tested is significantly more likely to have a severe infection than an asymptomatic case (ie most of them) or with very mild symptoms than the general population. It's self-selecting, and makes the "death rate" measure near useless.
• Deaths/cases (although we have no remotely accurate way of measuring cases, so we go with deaths here) per capita is the only measure that matters. Yes, the UK has more deaths than any other EU nation. We also have more people than all but Germany, and they're hoarding testing reagents thus could clamp down much more efficiently. Belgium is currently far worse on a deaths per capita measure than us, and that's what matters.
• Daily death tolls have one use, and one use only - to monitor trends. That becomes useless if you mix up the methodology part-way through this outbreak, especially if you intend to add highly unreliable and varied data with a lag time of between hours and days into the mix. So yes, anyone calling for care home deaths to be added to the daily hospital deaths total is an idiot. Total suspected deaths has a use as a separate measure, and will by its very nature require a lag time of probably a week and looking at week-long snapshots in order to be useful.

I could go on. But in short - it would really help if the media could stop sending their political editors to Covid-19 press briefings, but instead send health/science editors who at least understand highschool-level statistics.

Unfortunately, everything is politics these days.  Besides, the media pretty much always prefer that things sound as dramatic and dire as possible - makes better headlines.

 

[Qie Niangao]

2 hours ago, AyelaNewLife said:

• Daily death tolls have one use, and one use only - to monitor trends. That becomes useless if you mix up the methodology part-way through this outbreak, especially if you intend to add highly unreliable and varied data with a lag time of between hours and days into the mix. So yes, anyone calling for care home deaths to be added to the daily hospital deaths total is an idiot. Total suspected deaths has a use as a separate measure, and will by its very nature require a lag time of probably a week and looking at week-long snapshots in order to be useful.

Wow, maybe there's some local reason that deaths in long term care facilities are different from those in hospitals, but here in Canada it would be impossible to "monitor trends" without counting those deaths -- because they are the trend!  Early-on, incidents of CV19 were pretty much exclusively among international travellers, then those in close contact with travellers, then broader contacts and community spread. And then it started entering long-term care homes, and exploding. To somehow exclude those deaths on the grounds of methodological purity would be to miss a huge expansion in the deadliness of this disease -- which seems only to artificially minimize the pandemic.

Maybe that's not what's being suggested.

[Mollymews]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

Maybe that's not what's being suggested.

i think Ayela was meaning that care home deaths be recorded separately from hospital deaths for monitoring/tracking and remedial action purposes, and then combined into the total death count.  Ayela did tho chuck in the word idiot as if this was something important to relate, and detracts a wee bit from the more factual parts being expressed   

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

5 hours ago, AyelaNewLife said:

• Daily death tolls have one use, and one use only - to monitor trends. That becomes useless if you mix up the methodology part-way through this outbreak, especially if you intend to add highly unreliable and varied data with a lag time of between hours and days into the mix. So yes, anyone calling for care home deaths to be added to the daily hospital deaths total is an idiot. Total suspected deaths has a use as a separate measure, and will by its very nature require a lag time of probably a week and looking at week-long snapshots in order to be useful.

Wow, maybe there's some local reason that deaths in long term care facilities are different from those in hospitals, but here in Canada it would be impossible to "monitor trends" without counting those deaths -- because they are the trend!  Early-on, incidents of CV19 were pretty much exclusively among international travellers, then those in close contact with travellers, then broader contacts and community spread. And then it started entering long-term care homes, and exploding. To somehow exclude those deaths on the grounds of methodological purity would be to miss a huge expansion in the deadliness of this disease -- which seems only to artificially minimize the pandemic.

Long term care facilities are also places where you would expect a higher than average death rate overall.  There have been various rumors that even if a death was not specifically known to have been caused by COVID-19 or by complications from it, if the person is positive for the virus, or tests positive after death, it is still counted as a COVID-19 death. Basically, if a person tests positive for the virus and dies by pretty much any health condition, it is classified as a COVID-19 death, whereas if the person was asymptomatic before death, it is much more likely that their death was not specifically COVID-19 related.