Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Not quite.

To reach herd immunity for COVID-19, likely 70% or more of the population would need to be immune. Without a vaccine, over 200 million Americans would have to get infected before we reach this threshold. Put another way, even if the current pace of the COVID-19 pandemic continues in the United States – with over 25,000 confirmed cases a day – it will be well into 2021 before we reach herd immunity. If current daily death rates continue, over half a million Americans would be dead from COVID-19 by that time.

The press release name drops Rush Limbaugh in the second sentence, which speaks to the purpose of the document. Nobody who listens to Rush Limbaugh - I'm not among them - will be paying the slightest attention to this missive, so it would appear two highly-paid scientists at Johns Hopkins wanted to play newspaper columnists for a day.

But while we're on the subject, how would you like the reopen the nation? We're at 14.7% unemployment, millions more parents are working from home as nearly every child in America is getting a horseshit education via tablet or cheap, school-issued laptop, and we're staring at a long summer of poor-and-middle-class Americans - who lack home gyms and, in many cases in big cities, houses, watching TV and getting fat, lest they be shamed for milling around a park or going to a beach.

I'd think, at some point, the need to seem sciencey for the sake of it wears off, and there's some sort of middle ground to find.

My prediction is we find that right around the time higher education institutions - where most of our scientists hang out - start to acknowledge the financial wrecking ball coming to each campus without fall in-person classes. When paychecks are on the line, the tune will change.

 

That's great and all, but what do we do if a second wave crushes us?

We have to quit griping about being all sciencey and do what science tells us to. Continue social distancing, wear masks, greatly increase testing, isolate the positive, do intense contact tracing and monitoring. How to do it isn't hard, it is very basic public health. I guess that many many people have to die for the yammerheads to get the message first.

 

More on the cruise ship conundrum:

Column: The cruise ship industry is sinking. I'm OK with that

 

As somebody laid off due to C19 effects on the business, I’m all for “sciencey” approaches to a pandemic rather than saying “fuck it, some of y’all need to die so I can get a haircut.”

 

The larger problem is the testing won't happen, at least not as long as President Trump is in office. We should have testing funded and coordinated at the federal level in cooperation with the states, but President Trump is still refusing to take the action necessary to protect the American people from the pandemic. He is far more interested in diving for political cover wherever he can find it. More information, which includes real numbers regarding the spread of the virus, doesn't play well for him.

 

No, testing won't happen until the public gets up his ass about it and stays on him until he moves to take the pressure off. He always wilts when the heat goes on. Congress could do it, and will if we put enough heat on them, but the seat under the R's will have to be hot as a griddle.

 

Trump has handled this very badly, which makes the rape allegations against VP Biden even more upsetting. The election should be a landslide victory, but the rape allegations are going to make it much more difficult.

 

So what happens when the Trumpers get their way and "the economy's reopened!!!!" but...very little actually opens and no one visits what is opened?

Many Nashville restaurants to stay closed despite green light from the mayor

E3 Chophouse general manager added he is unsure if restaurant customers are ready to dine in.

“People go to restaurants to relax and enjoy themselves. How do they do that in the midst of a pandemic?” Perdue said. “We need to work that out."

Hathorne owner Stephenson, who said his first concern is safety, added that he also is unsure how he can make money. His bar generates 25-30% of Hathorne's revenue, and the city is mandating restaurant's bar areas remain closed.

 

That kind of gets to my point about self policing I made earlier this week ... just because places can open, it doesn't mean there will be big crowds. Many, many people are not ready to go out yet.

 

so thirsty for the likes how embarassing