Covid-19 pandemic

[ursus arctos]

I don't think that applies equally to all "administrations". It does tend to apply to to those with a strong libertarian or "pro-business" slant, but France, Italy and some of the Aussie states strike me as strong examples of a different approach

[Etienne]

I've seen it mentioned earlier in the thread as well as elsewhere that in England, but not Wales and Scotland, if you catch Covid for the second time you aren't going to be picked up in the cases stats. Which renders them increasingly unreliable.

[San Bernardhinault]

Maybe true. I've seen it happen in California and Massachusetts - which are meant to be on the less libertarian end of the spectrum in the US, but perhaps that's damning with desperately faint praise.

[ursus arctos]

As you know, Caifornia is a weird state politically (and otherwise) and I think that Newsom has been spooked by recent polling in the recall.

Massachusetts may be more like New York, in which the "demands" of certain businesses with close links to the Governor and State House trump broader ideology (see, e.g., Cuomo telling employers to being everyone back to the office to appease his friends in commercial real estate).

There are a lot of individual factors at play in various jurisdictions, which is a real challenge for any kind of sensible public health policy.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Walking through the square mile back to the station, Leadenhall is as rammed as ever, no distancing, no masks.

It's like nothing has happened.

Of course I walked by on the other side of the road and tutted quietly. I am British, after all.

[San Bernardhinault]

Oh, absolutely. California was opening up early before Newsom even went to the French Laundry - but, yes, there are all kinds of weird things at work in California politically. And things of course are different region by region within California and unsurprisingly worse in Orange and San Diego than in, say, the Bay Area.

Massachusetts hasn't been as bad, but with a Republican governor it's not 100% about common sense. The thing that happened here that was weird is that they said "Everything is going so well that not only are all restrictions lifted, but we aren't even going to bother reporting every day like we have for the last 18 months" - and pretty much on that day, the case counts started rising again and have been skyrocketing since and they haven't even bothered to go back to the old reporting schedule, let alone actually doing anything about infections.

[S. aureus]

Here there seems to be an attitude that's a combination of being tired of having to make any sort of adjustment in one's life, depending on who you are either not believing in vaccines (and covid) or not caring if unvaccinated people die (as it's their own fault), and being ignorant of how much disease is currently floating around (possibly willfully).
And I don't understand recall elections.

[S. aureus]

I'll also note in passing that my mother-in-law appears to have actually paid attention to my comment that I didn't think it was a good time to take the kids clothes shopping as the levels of covid round here are roughly where they were last Thanksgiving, and instead taken them furniture and craft supply shopping. And for a dine-in meal.

[Amor de Cosmos]

No one likes us apparently.

The border US/Canada land border is due to open next week. Everyone has assumed this would be reciprocal, but apparently not. US visitors will be allowed into Canada, but Canadians won't be allowed into the US. No reason given as yet.

Also. The UK is allowing US and European visitors with no restrictions, but Canadians will still have to quarantine for two weeks. Again, no reason given.

[Uncle Ethan]

I don't think that applies equally to all "administrations". It does tend to apply to to those with a strong libertarian or "pro-business" slant, but France, Italy and some of the Aussie states strike me as strong examples of a different approach

Indeed, the New South Wales outbreak, hastened by a ramshackle approach to lockdown has the Morrison government (Commonwealth) doing all sorts of backflips. Previously highly critical of full on lockdowns in Victoria and WA in particular in response to even one case of community transmission Morrison and Co now claiming this is the best approach and has been all along.

Of course in reality it is the appalling vaccine rollout that has seen NSW so vulnerable to the delta strain.

[S. aureus]

Apparently the CDC are struggling to persuade people to wear masks. Maybe if they hadn't been such idiots about masks before they'd have an easier job...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/healt...mask-guidance/

(while acknowledging that the problem isn't all, or even mostly, their fault).

[Patrick Thistle]

Things take a turn

https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1421041498670440453?s=19

[DPDPDPDP]

Isle of Man up date. -

There are 14 people in hospital with Covid. 125 new cases have been detected which brings the number of active cases to 1,611. None are pending investigation. One person is still in ICU.

Not surprisingly overall case numbers are falling significantly. Hospital,admissions up to 14 from 8 a few days ago. Thankfully still only 1 in ICU.

[Discordant Resonance]

Similarly, Covid hospital numbers in Ireland have more than doubled in the last fortnight to 169, but ICU patients have fallen by three today, to 23, and remain virtually changed over the same period - reflects that 75% of infections have been under-40s, as this is the last cohort awaiting a second jab.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Positive tests in the UK continue to fall, but are still at nearly 30k, while hospitalisations continue to rise, to nearly 6k.

[Amor de Cosmos]

There's growing pressure to make vaccines a requirement here, especially after Alberta's bone-headed decision yesterday. I'm really not sure why this wasn't done earlier. I don't recall whether polio, or BCG vaccines were optional back in the day, but I sort of doubt it.

[San Bernardhinault]

There are increasing vaccine requirements among employers in the US. Including the Federal Government. And the missus had her first one for some corporate shindig she's going to next month.

It feels absolutely essential now that vaccine access here is universal and therefore a requirement is not exclusionary.

The biggest problem we're going to have here is that there don't seem to be any formal databases or formal digital records kept. I think the pharmacies and doctors offices probably kept their own records, but there's no centralised database that people can refer to. So everyone's going to be relying on increasingly tatty and beaten up little pieces of flimsy card as the proof.

[Patrick Thistle]

Polio vaccines were heralded as life saving because every village had someone who had been crippled by it and it was every parents' fear. The success of vaccines in reducing childhood death and disfigurement is one reason why antivaxtwats get an audience because people don't see the danger any more.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah I remember when the Salk vaccine was introduced. I was only a kid but it seemed there was almost cheering in the streets. Mind you Thalidomide burnrd a lot of that goodwill.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The biggest problem we're going to have here is that there don't seem to be any formal databases or formal digital records kept. I think the pharmacies and doctors offices probably kept their own records, but there's no centralised database that people can refer to. So everyone's going to be relying on increasingly tatty and beaten up little pieces of flimsy card as the proof.

Indeed. Something more permanent is required. Here there's an online provincial program that will provide you with more specific and durable information (it's also downloadable so it can be carried on phones.) But I don't know how widespread it is, or even how many people know about it.

[scratchmonkey]

The biggest problem we're going to have here is that there don't seem to be any formal databases or formal digital records kept.

Every US state has a digital database of every shot given, and to whom -- I found this out as I'm a giant idiot who put his vax card through the wash two days after my second shot. I just had to request the information from California's Immunization Records Team and I got a digital document showing when and where I got my shots.

NY has even exposed their database to an app that you can use for free to show that you've had your shots.

[Satchmo Distel]

Florida is not making masks compulsory in schools, as of 22nd July:

https://www.local10.com/news/florida...elta-variants/

[Patrick Thistle]

Mrs Thistle has come down with a sore throat and chesty cough which might just be Sticky Niece Disease (youngest niece loves to gives big cuddles then hack a cough into the face of the person cuddling her, and her hands are always sticky) but might not. So we've got some home tests running and a PCR booked at the drive through tomorrow.

[Patrick Thistle]

Mrs Thistle's home test was negative. We hope the PCR tests are the same tomorrow.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Yay! and Boo!!!! to the sticky niece. Why are all the vectors of disease small and Cute. I was watching this documentary the other day called Outbreak.....