Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #96

[jjenny]

Summer vacationers from EVERYWHERE here.
I wish everyone could see the NYT graphic charts by state.... they are so revealing.

Florida IS being underreported, for sure......

Florida Coronavirus Map and Case Count

Fl also infects them and ships them back to their home states (I mean, tourists get infected in Fl and return back to their home states where they are counted as covid positive). So of course the numbers of infected there are underreported, and they are still going through the roof.

 

[jjenny]

What gets me is that in this country, at this time, we are living like exactly like we did before the pandemic: The all star game: full crowd, I am a horse racing fan- all tracks are back to allowing full crowds back (like to Saratoga Springs NY which opens today). I am sure none of these people will be wearing masks. I just don't get it. I partially blame the national media: if you watch the Today show they continue to talk and act like the pandemic is over and we can and should just live our lives like there is no pandemic. I stopped wearing my mask when going to the grocery store but I may have to re-think that.

I wouldn't go to a grocery store without a mask.

 

[jjenny]

87% of U.K. adults have had one dose, 67% have had both. Yes, lots of vaccinated people are catching Delta, though on the whole they seem to be experiencing fairly mild symptoms (anecdotally, amongst my friends, most have had headaches and fatigue with a general run down feeling, this can last for weeks).

I dread to think what would have happened here if our vaccine rollout wasn’t decent, Delta is seeking out the vulnerable and unvaccinated and spreading much more easily through close contacts. It is, frankly, worrying and depressing, and on a practical level, extremely disruptive.

As for travel within Europe: yes we can, with restrictions, but we probably shouldn’t. I can’t actually believe they’re letting us in!! They’ve had enough of a heads up about what Delta has done here - you all have. Remember those videos from Italy early last year where they warned us to take it seriously? And we all went nahhhh, won’t happen here. Well… that.

Yep, in low vaccinated countries, like Russia, delta is killing a lot of people. So vaccinations are preventing a lot of deaths in UK (even if they can't prevent all infections). By the way, Russia is finally making vaccinations mandatory for a lot of professions, so their vaccination rates are increasing (unlike US).

 

[nhmemorymaker]

What gets me is that in this country, at this time, we are living like exactly like we did before the pandemic: The all star game: full crowd, I am a horse racing fan- all tracks are back to allowing full crowds back (like to Saratoga Springs NY which opens today). I am sure none of these people will be wearing masks. I just don't get it. I partially blame the national media: if you watch the Today show they continue to talk and act like the pandemic is over and we can and should just live our lives like there is no pandemic. I stopped wearing my mask when going to the grocery store but I may have to re-think that.

One of my favorite phrases while living through the heaviest times of Covid..."its like waiting for a level 5 hurricane"... sunny and bright, but we know what's coming.

I don't think this right now.... but I do feel we are on a precipice of some sort, but it is still too foggy to see it.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

87% of U.K. adults have had one dose, 67% have had both. Yes, lots of vaccinated people are catching Delta, though on the whole they seem to be experiencing fairly mild symptoms (anecdotally, amongst my friends, most have had headaches and fatigue with a general run down feeling, this can last for weeks).

I dread to think what would have happened here if our vaccine rollout wasn’t decent, Delta is seeking out the vulnerable and unvaccinated and spreading much more easily through close contacts. It is, frankly, worrying and depressing, and on a practical level, extremely disruptive.

As for travel within Europe: yes we can, with restrictions, but we probably shouldn’t. I can’t actually believe they’re letting us in!! They’ve had enough of a heads up about what Delta has done here - you all have. Remember those videos from Italy early last year where they warned us to take it seriously? And we all went nahhhh, won’t happen here. Well… that.

87%. Wow, just wow.

The AMerican media might really be screwing this up. They are sooo quick to announce that all Delta cases are unvaccinated people... they state it ALL....the..... time. This is their way to try to get more people to get vaccinated.

But this could really boomerang if more and more vaccinated people get Delta Covid....

 

[WildOrchid]

I cannot for the life of me understand. I have asked questions of people who still (STILL!) believe Covid is just the flu. I’ve asked questions of people who think masks are taking away freedom. I’ve tried so hard to see another point of view, even if I disagree. I can’t. For a very long time, this will impact the way I think about friends who I used to cherish. It’s hard to grasp the enormous gap in thinking with so many I once respected. I’m sorry if that’s judgey. But I (and many here) see the oncoming freight train AGAIN and nothing is being done to change the track. In my area, it’s like living on an island. I’m glad I have my kids, my SO, and my dogs.

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[CoverMeCagney]

87%. Wow, just wow.

The AMerican media might really be screwing this up. They are sooo quick to announce that all Delta cases are unvaccinated people... they state it ALL....the..... time. This is their way to try to get more people to get vaccinated.

But this could really boomerang if more and more vaccinated people get Delta Covid....

Don’t forget almost ALL cases in the UK are the Delta variant. It’s difficult to work out just how many vaccinated people are dying, because the vast majority have had at least one shot so it kinda skews the figures a bit.

The vaccines DO work, folks, we are so much better off for having it. It’s just not a guarantee that we won’t catch it, rather that we are much less likely to end up seriously ill or dead.

Just grab the jab!

 

[IceIce9]

In the clinics where I work we have seen a startling increase in COVID cases in fully vaccinated people. Delta variant is real!

We were stunned yesterday when we received a message from the lab that 100% of the COVID tests we performed the day before were positive. All but one test were fully vaccinated patients.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

In the clinics where I work we have seen a startling increase in COVID cases in fully vaccinated people. Delta variant is real!

We were stunned yesterday when we received a message from the lab that 100% of the COVID tests we performed the day before were positive. All but one test were fully vaccinated patients.

It’s very real. My area is slightly above the national average for cases, but I know more people with Covid now, than in the whole rest of the pandemic put together. I’m also seeing it spread within households more than previously.

My friends husband (one jab) caught it at the pub from an unknown source, so did 3 of the 5 friends he was out with. His wife, double Pfizered long ago, caught it despite him being pretty much locked in the spare bedroom lol. Then one kid got it, now the other has it too, despite all the precautions they thought they had taken.

This has led to:

My friends school class and colleagues being sent home to isolate (she’s a teacher).
Her husbands colleagues all having to isolate (construction).
Both kids school friends/classes having to isolate.
Plus any friends and family they saw in the few days between pub and onset of symptoms.

Total isolating because of that one night in the pub? Maybe 80 - 100? Times that by the other 3 guys who caught it and potentially passed it on? Add to that the parents of young children who now have to miss work to be at home with their isolating kids. This is what I mean by disruptive. One night out. It’s crazy.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

I realise I sound like a proper little doom-monger with these tales of Covid woe. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I am lucky and grateful that I can be safe at home all day every day if I want. There are far worse scenarios up and down the country and I should be happier, I’m just not.

I saw a FB meme saying “Covid is like a background app draining everyone’s battery” and it really does feel like that!

 

[WildOrchid]

This is a very fitting description. It describes the never-ending heaviness I feel even on days when I’m happy. I’m so grateful for this forum and you posters. It’s a respite even if it’s sad.

I realise a sound like a proper little doom-monger with these tales of Covid woe. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I am lucky and grateful that I can be safe at home all day every day if I want. There are far worse scenarios up and down the country and I should be happier, I’m just not.

I saw a FB meme saying “Covid is like a background app draining everyone’s battery” and it really does feel like that!

 

[jjenny]

87%. Wow, just wow.

The AMerican media might really be screwing this up. They are sooo quick to announce that all Delta cases are unvaccinated people... they state it ALL....the..... time. This is their way to try to get more people to get vaccinated.

But this could really boomerang if more and more vaccinated people get Delta Covid....

They are not saying all delta cases are unvaccinated people (and if they do they are dead wrong). What they are saying that almost all dead (or hospitalized) from delta are un-vaccinated. One can get infected with delta even if vaccinated, but one likely won't die (unlike un-vaccinated). But it doesn't mean one can't die if vaccinated (just that a chance is less).

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I realise I sound like a proper little doom-monger with these tales of Covid woe. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I am lucky and grateful that I can be safe at home all day every day if I want. There are far worse scenarios up and down the country and I should be happier, I’m just not.

I saw a FB meme saying “Covid is like a background app draining everyone’s battery” and it really does feel like that!

I hear you xX

 

[anneg]

DH and I have been dining out with other vaccinated friends for months now. We don't wear masks to our local Farmers Market anymore (it's outdoors) or to the grocery store or drug store. But as many of you are saying, probably it's time to think about getting back to masking routinely in the face of the Delta variant.

Our church is hoping to reopen fully in September. We have only had two in-person worship services so far, one in June and one in July, with masks required and people distanced in the sanctuary. DH and I sing in the choir and all the choir members are hoping to be able to return to singing at in person services in the fall. But as discussed in this thread, the news is disturbing. Sigh.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Our main player supermarkets here are not going to lift the wearing of masks in store, which becomes legal from next Monday. The company where I work is doing the same.

Quite extraordinary that businesses are quietly showing the government how they feel about measures being lifted next week. It's madness. No one I have spoken to wants it.

Sainsbury's and Tesco to encourage mask-wearing from Monday

 

[Lilibet]

Our church is hoping to reopen fully in September.

We’ve been on Zoom worldwide since March 2020 with no end in sight for now. I’m really fine with it and hope it continues for the sake of those of us who have infirmities, even when in-person starts up again. I’m a huge Zoom fan as it’s enabled us to have visiting speakers from all over the country and world. And I “visited” a congregation in Ireland and “attended” a friend’s wedding in Thailand.

 

[weepingangel]

Update on breakthrough cases in massachusetts as of today
Dozens of Vaccinated Residents Have Died of COVID in Mass.: What to Know About Breakthrough Cases
More at link

Public health officials have tracked 4,450 "breakthrough" cases of COVID-19 among Massachusetts residents fully vaccinated against the disease, representing about one-tenth of 1% of the roughly 4.2 million people immunized.

About 92% of the infections in vaccinated residents did not require hospitalizations, while 303 people, or 6.8%, were hospitalized, according to state Department of Public Health data through July 10.

The Boston Herald reported the breakthrough data on Tuesday based on a public records request.

Seventy-nine vaccinated residents in Massachusetts died from COVID-19, either without being hospitalized or following a hospital stay, DPH said. That death toll reflects 1.78% of the 4,450 confirmed breakthrough cases and 0.0019% of the 4,195,844 people fully vaccinated as of July 10.

71 People Dead, 268 Hospitalized in Mass. Breakthrough Cases: Report
More at link
At least 71 people have died with COVID-19 in Massachusetts even though they were fully vaccinated, according to a newspaper report, as the more contagious Delta variant continues to spread.

The so-called breakthrough cases — cases where fully vaccinated individuals test positive for coronavirus — have so far been rare, but are possible.

As of June 19, a total of 3,907 breakthrough cases had been reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Boston Herald reports. Of those, 71 people died and 268 people were hospitalized.

Nationwide, more than 4,100 fully vaccinated people were hospitalized or died with coronavirus as of June 25, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccines are highly effective but don't block every infection and efficacy rates decrease slightly for variants like alpha and delta. It is unclear, however, if the reported breakthrough cases were caused by variants.

The CDC stopped counting breakthrough infections in May. Instead, federal health officials are only tracking vaccinated patients who end up in the hospital or those who die from COVID-19.

Though the metrics remain near their recorded low points in Massachusetts, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising in Massachusetts as the Delta variant continues to spread.

 

[anneg]

We’ve been on Zoom worldwide since March 2020 with no end in sight for now. I’m really fine with it and hope it continues for the sake of those of us who have infirmities, even when in-person starts up again. I’m a huge Zoom fan as it’s enabled us to have visiting speakers from all over the country and world. And I “visited” a congregation in Ireland and “attended” a friend’s wedding in Thailand.

Cool! Our church doesn't use Zoom for virtual services; instead we have separately recorded parts of services (music, sermon, children's moment, etc.) that are put together into a single video during the week, then aired on YouTube at 10 a.m. Sunday. We have also had guest speakers and panels (some were recorded via Zoom, I think).

We have really liked the online services over the past year+, and as you say, they are great for those with infirmities. One reason I like them is that I can hear/understand the sermons and other spoken portions so much better than I can in the church. But it was wonderful to attend the two recent services, and it will be sad if we have to return to online-only church. That said, I'm confident our leaders will do whatever is necessary to keep the staff and congregation safe from Covid.

 

[Lilibet]

Cool! Our church doesn't use Zoom for virtual services; instead we have separately recorded parts of services (music, sermon, children's moment, etc.) that are put together into a single video during the week, then aired on YouTube at 10 a.m. Sunday. We have also had guest speakers and panels (some were recorded via Zoom, I think).

We have really liked the online services over the past year+, and as you say, they are great for those with infirmities. One reason I like them is that I can hear/understand the sermons and other spoken portions so much better than I can in the church. But it was wonderful to attend the two recent services, and it will be sad if we have to return to online-only church. That said, I'm confident our leaders will do whatever is necessary to keep the staff and congregation safe from Covid.

Yes, safety is the bottom line, not $. It sounds like you have some nice, well-organized things going on. One thing we’ve loved about Zoom is the ability to go onto “breakout” rooms and visit in smaller groups afterward. So, we still get to socialize…except for hugs!

 

[anneg]

Yes, safety is the bottom line, not $. It sounds like you have some nice, well-organized things going on. One thing we’ve loved about Zoom is the ability to go onto “breakout” rooms and visit in smaller groups afterward. So, we still get to socialize…except for hugs!

Oh, I like that idea!