Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #99

[BetteDavisEyes]

Pro mask and pro vax people are definitely doing what they can to protect themselves and their families! But I hope where masks are mandated in schools that those who protest and complain about it will keep their kids home or send them to private schools where they don’t have to wear masks. If they don’t want to comply, they should be willing to pay the cost.

Those who won’t vax or mask where mandated seem to feel that those of us who are “frightened sheep” should just stay home so they can be freeeeeee!
JMO

Last school year, local parents who wanted their children to experience in-person learning were clamoring to enroll students in private or parochial schools that remained open. Some were able to find openings; others were placed on lengthy wait lists. In recent weeks when local school districts were considering mask mandates, parents threatened to remove their children from public schools and enroll them in private schools hoping to escape mask mandates. Not going to happen!

In the tri-county area surrounding Detroit, Oakland and Wayne counties have issued mask mandates for all students and personnel in public, private, and parochial schools. Macomb County is still on the fence, although some districts have imposed mask mandates in their schools. I check daily for updates on the schools and/or districts across Michigan that have issued mask mandates, and the list continues to grow. Some Michigan schools opened last week, some open this week, and everyone will be back in school the week after Labor Day. With parents protesting vehemently on both sides of the mask issue, I have a feeling that things are going to get ugly.

Tracking Michigan school districts, colleges requiring masks for 2021-2022 school year (clickondetroit.com)

 

[TootsieFootsie]

QAnon's new 'plan'? Run for school board

 

[musicaljoke]

I have tried and tried to no success to convince my Very Smart 40 year old daughter to get a vaccine.
Yesterday after my plea, she sent me two Instagram videos about people discussing
Why it's not necessary to get the vaccine. Instagram videos! FGS sake.
Yes, she's healthy. Although it seems to me that this delta variant doesn't care about that.
She keeps telling me, "I'll be fine Mom".
She is smart, successful and busy (no children).
I try hard not to worry...

<<Hugs>> It's got to be very, very difficult to have a dear family member who refuses to follow best practices. What's the answer?

 

[nightowl1975]

Please feel free to roll and scroll. A few of us here who, like me, have lived in the US for years, are quite supportive and understand the US members here who are upset about the toll on the children.

There is no shock or surprise, there is frustration at the lack of foresight.

I definitely do a lot of scrolling past the same indignation that seems… pointless, at some point. I can’t imagine living life in such a constant state of frustration over things outside of one’s control. It’s honestly quite sad. All of it, really.

I do wish more people in the US had direct experience with life for healthcare workers throughout this pandemic. I can say from personal experience watching it, perspective tends to change once people are inside the walls of our hospital systems. Unfortunately, it’s often far too late at that point for it to matter. People truly don’t seem to grasp that medical professionals are completely tapped out of compassion and empathy.

 

[Skigh]

New Covid variant detected in South Africa is the 'most mutated variant so far' | Daily Mail Online

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

This is not true. I don’t have time to look through nearly 100 threads where it’s been discussed. Do you work in the medical field? Either way, if one feels a surgical mask is more protective than a KN95, rock on. We all make the choices we feel are best for our individual circumstances.

Informative report about mask recommendations for children: How to choose the best KN95 masks for kids, according to experts (nbcnews.com)

 

[Deleted member 158085]

<<Hugs>> It's got to be very, very difficult to have a dear family member who refuses to follow best practices. What's the answer?

My unvaccinated relatives have already been told they can't come to Christmas. I'm not turning my house into a petri dish for them. They also have to wear masks around my folks.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

I definitely do a lot of scrolling past the same indignation that seems… pointless, at some point. I can’t imagine living life in such a constant state of frustration over things outside of one’s control. It’s honestly quite sad. All of it, really.

I do wish more people in the US had direct experience with life for healthcare workers throughout this pandemic. I can say from personal experience watching it, perspective tends to change once people are inside the walls of our hospital systems. Unfortunately, it’s often far too late at that point for it to matter. People truly don’t seem to grasp that medical professionals are completely tapped out of compassion and empathy.

Unvaccinated health care workers also need to grasp that the vaccinated public who want their parents, grandparents, cancer patients, and children protected are also tapped out of compassion for them.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

My unvaccinated relatives have already been told they can't come to Christmas. I'm not turning my house into a petri dish for them. They also have to wear masks around my folks.

And I'm beyond feeling frustrated with them. That ship sailed 6 months ago, so no frustration left. I just don't give a rat's patooty about seeing them right now.

 

[otto]

New Covid variant detected in South Africa is the 'most mutated variant so far' | Daily Mail Online

This is an interesting twist:

"Scientists examined 400 people who had tested positive for coronavirus at least 14 days after receiving one or two doses of the jab - and 400 who tested positive with no vaccine.

The variant was eight times more prevalent in those who had two jabs than none. It was seen in 5.4 per cent of people with two doses - but 0.7 per cent of people without any.
...

Public Health England insisted there was no proof it is deadlier than Delta, which makes up 99 per cent of all cases in the UK.

And they also said there was no evidence that the strain renders any of the vaccines currently deployed any less effective. "
​

New Covid variant detected in South Africa is the 'most mutated variant so far' | Daily Mail Online

 

[nightowl1975]

Unvaccinated health care workers also need to grasp that the vaccinated public who want their parents, grandparents, cancer patients, and children protected are also tapped out of compassion for them.

Oh, without a doubt!

I cannot really describe the fear I had prior to being vaccinated that I might unknowingly bring covid to my patients. I was never honestly overly worried about getting it myself, but man, I didn’t want to be responsible for bringing it to them.

 

[Deleted member 263106]

Thoughts on Regen-Cov infusion and use for fully vaccinated who have break through cases?

 

[jjenny]

Thoughts on Regen-Cov infusion and use for fully vaccinated who have break through cases?

If I had a breakthrough infection I would try to get it.

 

[anneg]

Thoughts on Regen-Cov infusion and use for fully vaccinated who have break through cases?

We have two friends in their 70s who had breakthrough infections with symptoms and received the antibody infusion. They are doing well. We are the same age and would do the same if we had a breakthrough infection--which we are trying hard to avoid!

 

[MimosaMornings]

We have two friends in their 70s who had breakthrough infections with symptoms and received the antibody infusion. They are doing well. We are the same age and would do the same if we had a breakthrough infection--which we are trying hard to avoid!

I’m glad they are doing well!

I’m wondering how it was transmitted.

I had two friends in their early 70’s tell me over the weekend that they contracted Covid. No symptoms for one. Mild cold like symptoms for the other.
Both told me they were very careful so I was very surprised when I heard the news.

.....Every Wednesday night singing karaoke at a small bar. Indoors in an enclosed small space with no one wearing masks.

 

[SouthAussie]

I have a feeling that we will be watching Singapore closely. They have now hit an 80% fully vaccinated rate - it has taken them 8 months to do so - and have some plans to start opening up and allowing their residents to travel.
(Australia's goal is to get to an 80% fully vaccinated rate, also.)


Singapore has fully inoculated 80 percent of its 5.7 million people against COVID-19 ...... becoming the world’s most vaccinated country and setting the stage for further easing of curbs.

Other countries that have high vaccination rates include the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Chile, which have fully inoculated more than 70 percent of their populations.

Singaporeans will also be allowed to travel again, at least to countries that have also controlled the virus.

“We will recognise each other’s vaccination certificates. Travellers, especially those vaccinated, can get themselves tested before departure and be exempted from quarantine with a negative test upon arrival,” they said.

Singapore becomes world’s most COVID vaccinated country

 

[SouthAussie]

13 countries with no reported covid ....

American Samoa
The Cook Islands
Kiribati
Nauru
North Korea (not sure if this might be propaganda)
Pitcairn Islands
St Helena
Tokelau
Turkmenistan
Tonga
Tuvalu
Micronesia
Niue

11 of them have been vaccinating, also. (No info on vaccinations for North Korea, or Tokelau)

The places 'untouched' by COVID-19 across the world

 

[SouthAussie]

A study has been done (by ANU) to see what the differences are between people who believe false covid information and people who don't believe false covid info.

A trait shared by the people who are most likely to believe false information about Covid-19 is that they are people who rely on their first instincts to make judgments - and they are more likely to believe and share misinformation about the virus.

“Participants with higher analytic thinking levels were less likely to perceive misinformation about Covid-19 to be accurate”

The people who relied on first gut instinct to make their decisions/form impressions were significantly worse at discerning between accurate statements and misinformation.

“Simply reminding people to take their time and think through dodgy claims could help people reject misinformation and hopefully prevent them from following ineffective or dangerous advice.”

Trait shared by Covid conspiracy theorists

 

[Cool Cats]

Good for him

Sun, August 29, 2021, 2:35 PM
An 88-year-old professor in Georgia resigned in the middle of class because a student refused to wear a mask over her nose: 'That's it, I'm retired'

One of Bernstein's students said the professor on August 18 - the first day of his psychology seminar - instructed all students to wear a mask during the lesson. "No mask, no class," read a message at the front of the classroom.

Professor Irwin Bernstein told the University of Georgia's student newspaper, the Red & Black, that one of his students had shown up to his class on the second day of school without a mask.

When a peer gave the student a mask to wear in class, she did not wear it across her face properly. She said she found it difficult to breathe with the mask over her nose.

Bernstein had asked her numerous times to wear the mask correctly, he told the Red & Black. The student ignored each request, he said.

"Whereas I had risked my life to defend my country while in the Air Force, I was not willing to risk my life to teach a class with an unmasked student during this Pandemic," Bernstein, who taught psychology, said.

Bernstein tried to explain to the student that he had underlying health conditions like Type 2 diabetes that make him more susceptible to harsh COVID-19 symptoms.

But the student still wore her mask incorrectly, and minutes into the seminar, Bernstein quit.

"That's it. I'm retired," he said, according to a student quoted in the newspaper.

 

[Cool Cats]

Falling through cracks

Sun, August 29, 2021, 11:31 AM
A Texas mother with a vulnerable daughter is suing education officials and Governor Greg Abbott over a ban on school mask mandates

The Texan mother of an immunocompromised child joined a pro-mask lawsuit, saying the protection of young people's health should be prioritized, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.

Riki Graves' daughter Juliana received a heart transplant as a newborn. Now, Graves wanted Juliana to return to the first grade as safely as possible, which means masks need to be worn in classrooms, she said.

Graves told the newspaper: "Kids are dying, the ICUs are full, and our government is not doing anything to protect school kids."

The lawsuit Graves joined, which was filed on behalf of 14 immunocompromised children last week, was an attempt to overturn Governor Greg Abbott's order forbidding school boards from imposing mask mandates. The lawsuit named Abbott and officials from the Texas Education Agency as defendants.

"In spite of national and local guidance urging precaution, Governor Abbott's Executive Order prohibits local school districts from even considering whether to implement the most basic and effective COVID-19 prevention strategy in school settings," the lawsuit said.

It added that if school districts are unable to implement COVID safety measures as they deem appropriate, parents of medically vulnerable students would have to decide whether to keep their children at home or risk endangering their health.