Coronavirus thread

[Todd]

Google for instance the character string

bbc coronavirus vaccine tracking microchips

One hit:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/06/05/coronavirus-vaccine-bill-gates-microchip-conspiracy-theory-false/3146133001/

That Yahoo link, unlike the one I included, does not appear to provide a hot link to the actual survey results.  In the article I linked, if one reads the article, one will read a misrepresentation of Democrat views on the vaccine and why some of them will not get vaccinated.  Surely the article you cited is accurate and not at all misleading. 

Anyway, of course there are dumbshits who believe in vaccine conspiracies.  That's just another reason why it's important to get vaccinated when a safe vaccine becomes available.

[T. D.]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/05/dr-fauci-agrees-the-us-has-the-worst-coronvirus-outbreak-in-the-world-the-numbers-dont-lie.html

The U.S., which accounts for less than 5% of the world population, leads all other countries in global coronavirus infections and deaths. The nation represents more than 22% of global coronavirus deaths and more than 25% of infections as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

We're Number One!

[71 dB]

We're Number One!

Not the only thing the US is number one:

- Number of incarcerated citizens per capita
- Number of adults who believe angels are real
- Defense spending

[Todd]

We're Number One!

Unless you combine Europe and treat it as a whole, in which case they lead with 205,000+ deaths.  But you don't do that for a reason.

[71 dB]

I don't think those anti-vaxxers (dopey though they are) are such a big part of it.
A very large percentage of Republicans polled say that they will not be vaccinated because the vaccine will contain Bill Gates-implanted tracking microchips. No shit, I'm totally serious.

Oh, you are so right! My mistake. I forgot the "real" reason. Who knows, maybe Soros is tampering the vaccine so that anyone who gets it will turn into a zombie communist!   

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Here's a testing anecdote:

My brother lives in Queens, NY, practically at the COVID epicenter. He just spent 2 months upstate (Ulster Co.) to get a break. Four days before returning, a cafe from which he had often purchased take-out closed (I assume for 2 weeks) because an employee had become ill with COVID symptoms (results unknown). My brother and his family all got tested. In New York, a state which brags about testing prowess, the results took a week to come back. Fortunately negative so far (still waiting on one).

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-fauci-wrong-europe-us-covid-013527485.html


Also, from Bloomberg:

Australia's Victoria Tightens Lockdown (1:16 p.m. HK)
Australia's Victoria state tightened restrictions and declared a state of disaster after its outbreak showed no signs of abating three weeks after capital Melbourne was put under lockdown.

State Premier Daniel Andrews announced 671 new cases in the past 24 hours with seven deaths. More than 380 people were in hospital, with 38 in intensive care.

Andrews said he would declare a state of disaster from 6 p.m. tonight, which would give police added powers. Metropolitan Melbourne would be under a curfew limiting movement between 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The new restrictions will be in force for six weeks.

Shows how approaches differ...in most US states, those Victoria numbers would be "odd lots" and no one would bat an eyelash.

TD, so sorry about the health scare to your brother (and his family?).  I have heard (a few days ago) that it no longer mattered whether one lived in a city vs. the country as the results in less-populated counties has been on the rise--not just in the more populated areas.  Hope that all is well for him and any family and you too.  Note:  from what I caught via radio, I believe that it has to do with people vacationing elsewhere then coming back home.  I imagine that this would vary due to how much people are going outside of their local area.

Best wishes,

PD

[71 dB]

Unless you combine Europe and treat it as a whole, in which case they lead with 205,000+ deaths.  But you don't do that for a reason.

I think it was me who teached people here to compare the US to the entire Europe instead of small Finland. See how it's working? 
Yes, if we take the Europe as a whole, it's not so rosy. I admit it because I am principled.

North America (population similar to Europe) as a whole is at about 227,000 deaths.

[BasilValentine]

Unless you combine Europe and treat it as a whole, in which case they lead with 205,000+ deaths.  But you don't do that for a reason.

Perhaps a good reason?: Europe isn't a single, strongly centralized political unit like the U.S. (used to be before Trump ) So, if ones point is to highlight the relative effectiveness of health policy and mitigation measures undertaken by different governments, then a nation to nation comparison adjusted for population makes more sense.

[Todd]

Perhaps a good reason?: Europe isn't a single, strongly centralized political unit like the U.S. (used to be before Trump )

No, that's not the reason.

[Que]

I don't quite see justification for claiming the U.S. is "the worst." The U.S. has the most deaths, but the U.S. also has a larger population than every other country except China and India. Per capita numbers are more relevant, and apparently we are number 8. Oddly, Belgium is the worst. One thing against the U.S. is that for the other developed countries Covid-19 infections have been dropping while in the U.S. they have continued to increase dramatically. Eighth from the bottom is pretty bad and we may yet achieve the worst deaths, per capita.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/05/899365887/charts-how-the-u-s-ranks-on-covid-19-deaths-per-capita-and-by-case-count

Size creates a strong distortion of the real picture. For a long time the infection will be locally concentrated, so a large population evens out bad local numbers. This is why a small country like Belgium scores high while the situation in Italy and Spain was actually as bad, if not worse. Numbers don't tell in what stage the epidemic is in (behind Europe) or whether the spread of the infection has been successfully contained  (not, unlike most European countries).

Coronavirus: How the pandemic in US compares with rest of world (BBC)

There is a lot of uncertainty about number of deaths. The most reliable method is to look at the statistics and determine the number of "excess deaths" compared to previous years.

Q

[Todd]

Coronavirus: Los Angeles to shut off water and power to party houses

I thought shutting off water was a human rights violation.  Not any more, I guess. 

[71 dB]

Coronavirus: Los Angeles to shut off water and power to party houses

I thought shutting off water was a human rights violation.  Not any more, I guess.

More interesting to me is to know how do they "spy" people to know where and when parties are kept?
Is it based on neighbours calling the police about loud music?

[prémont]

Coronavirus: Los Angeles to shut off water and power to party houses

I thought shutting off water was a human rights violation.  Not any more, I guess.

Is it a human right , if you are ill with corona, to spread it to anybody else as much as you like?

[71 dB]

I don't quite see justification for claiming the U.S. is "the worst." The U.S. has the most deaths, but the U.S. also has a larger population than every other country except China and India. Per capita numbers are more relevant, and apparently we are number 8. Oddly, Belgium is the worst. One thing against the U.S. is that for the other developed countries Covid-19 infections have been dropping while in the U.S. they have continued to increase dramatically. Eighth from the bottom is pretty bad and we may yet achieve the worst deaths, per capita.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/05/899365887/charts-how-the-u-s-ranks-on-covid-19-deaths-per-capita-and-by-case-count

I don't think the US is "THE worst" in handling the coronavirus, but it's among the countries which have handled it poorly. Countries are different. Some countries are densely populated, some other countiries are not. Some countries are isolated, some other counties are not. For example Africa has been hit by Covid-19 so far very little compared to Europe or the US. Having the exact same coronavirus measures in every country would give different results because countries are different. Densely populated Belgium in the middle of Europe needs drastically stronger measures than for example sparsely populated Finland to have the same results in controlling the spread of coronavirus. Every country and also every region within countries need to adjust their measures accordingly (for example so that the R number is 0.8 or lower). In many places this is easy and hardly anything has to be be done. Wash your hands and do some social distancing and that's it. In large cities it takes more effort.  The US has failed to follow this principle as a whole and that puts the US among the countries which have handled the crisis poorly. The US could have done much better (say have "only" 1/4 of the death rate is has).

[Todd]

Is it a human right , if you are ill with corona, to spread it to anybody else as much as you like?

A perfect example of whataboutery. 

[prémont]

A perfect example of whataboutery.

You  may call it whatever you want. But in fact it is a simple question, which can be answered as such.

[Todd]

You  may call it whatever you want. But in fact it is a simple question, which can be answered as such.

Incorrect. 

International treaties and domestic case law prohibit arbitrarily shutting off water, which is deemed a human right.  In the case of Los Angeles, the city is using coercive power to violate human rights.  People will leap to defend the action.  That is the best thing about public health.  It is the best tool in the toolbox to get the populace to embrace authoritarianism.  And they get to feel righteous while doing so.

[prémont]

Incorrect. 

International treaties and domestic case law prohibit arbitrarily shutting off water, which is deemed a human right.  In the case of Los Angeles, the city is using coercive power to violate human rights.  People will leap to defend the action.  That is the best thing about public health.  It is the best way tool in the toolbox to get the populace to embrace authoritarianism.  And they get to feel righteous while doing so.

As I understand it it's only about a very local shutting off of the water. People will be able to get water from elsewhere.

[Todd]

As I understand it it's only about a very local shutting off of the water. People will be able to get water from elsewhere.

And so authorities shutting off water becomes acceptable.  That's how things go.

[arpeggio]

You can also get the water shut off if you do not pay your water bill.

We can shut off water to the poor and homeless but it is immoral to shut off water to rich brats.

Another false equivalency brought to you by Todd.