deirdre
Senior Member.
they arent anti vaxxed, they are vaxxed just not boosted.
COVID-19 Coronavirus current events
- Thread starter Arugula
- Start date
Mendel
Senior Member.
unsupported speculation of the insulting "young people these days" kind, contradicted by your own anecdote
in Germany and the UK, you're obliged to report positive self-tests
if you have a job ("young & healthy"), I think it's unlikely you'd keep it secret
FatPhil
Senior Member.
But in Estonia, you can have a free anonymous test come back almost instantly as very positive, and then just go back home and live your life as you were (namely self-isolating, as we suspected we'd had it anyway, but wanted to make sure before committing to or cancelling a get-together), not on any record that could be used statistically (as I could visit any number of the facilities any number of times, and accumulate any number of results, whilst being but a single case (or a single non-case, depending on when I chose to waste everyone's time and test kits)).
Our privacy-lobby is very powerful. Anything that was considered a possible impediment to people getting tested was removed. Of course, you then have to rely on everyone being properly socialised and both using this facility and knowing how to behave on receipt of a positive, which was far from the case. This just means we gave all the demographic segments the ability prove how responsible they were, and entirely predictable demographics failed.
Ann K
Senior Member.
Agreed. The booster was first recommended and first available for senior citizens and those with underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable. It seems possible that a lot of younger people heard that initial message and said "OK, then I don't need a booster." Nevertheless, the reported difference between boosted and not boosted is small compared with the unvaccinated.
deirdre
Senior Member.
as opposed to YOUR unsupported speculation?
i did not say anything like that.
sorry for being balanced.
the article is about New York City
really? somewhere in this thread is an article about unsalaried people going to work sick because they don't get sick pay.
here's another
Article: Two-thirds of service workers surveyed in the months leading up to the Omicron surge said they did not stay home when they were feeling sick and went to work ill. The numbers highlight the precarious situation for workers without sick leave, Harknett said. They also show the pressure of chronic short staffing, threats from bosses and the possibility of losing pay that also causes people to keep going to work, she said.
as far as MY alleged speculation:
Article: Am I required to report a positive result to local health authorities?
No, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the federal agency recommends that people isolate and inform their health-care providers.
...
But a newly released national survey of nearly 11,000 people finds that 31% of those who tested positive at home for the virus that causes COVID-19 did not follow up with a more accurate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at their doctor’s office or a testing facility, and thus are likely not captured in official data.
...
Their use is particularly frequent with people 18 to 24 years old, city dwellers, Democrats, and the well-educated, the Northeastern study found.
Researchers surmise that younger people just don’t go to the doctor as much and are more inclined to favor home tests. Higher usage among young adults also could be traced to the possibility that the coronavirus has been spreading more among younger people, or that they’re more likely to be exposed to it.
“In general younger people are engaging in more interactive behaviors, and they are at lower risk of dying if they get sick, but they are at higher risk of getting sick,” Lazer says.
i'll "contradict" myself again for balance (vs cherry picking data that supports my personal opinions):
Article: New York City now has the data to exemplify this: While 77 percent of all city residents have received either the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot or two doses of the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, only about 36 percent had received a booster shot as of Friday.
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JMartJr
Senior Member
It may also be that folks with a second booster feel safer against severe symptoms and so tolerate greater risk of infection as they go about their lives?
derwoodii
Senior Member.
Current report from down under
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-04/covid-19-case-numbers-states-territories/101299004
Here's a quick wrap of each Australian jurisdiction's latest COVID-19 statistics today — Thursday, August 4.
Bit more data and graphs
Australia has passed the grim milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03...ls-how-covid-19-spreads-in-australia/12060704
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-04/covid-19-case-numbers-states-territories/101299004
Here's a quick wrap of each Australian jurisdiction's latest COVID-19 statistics today — Thursday, August 4.
- Victoria — nine deaths, 723 cases in hospital
- New South Wales — 33 deaths, 2,213 cases in hospital
- Northern Territory — no deaths, 56 cases in hospital
- Tasmania — four deaths, 95 cases in hospital
- Queensland — 31 deaths, 745 cases in hospital
- ACT — three deaths, 147 cases in hospital
- South Australia — three deaths, 356 cases in hospital
- Western Australia — two deaths, 367 cases in hospital
Bit more data and graphs
Australia has passed the grim milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03...ls-how-covid-19-spreads-in-australia/12060704
econ41
Senior Member
"We" managed very well in the early stages. Helped by firm political and bipartisan support. Small population, island geography. Easy to lock the doors. And strong cultural support of "we look after us" rather than "my rights are supreme". BUT strong restrictions could not be maintained even with both cultural and political support.
And we are strained in labour shortage limits due to work absences - affecting logistics of manufacturing and delivery. Supermarket shelves at least seemingly empty. More at nuisance levels - choice limitations rather than zero available. (Yesterday's example my wife had to go to an alternate shop to get eggs - and had to take the only size available.)
So with high vaccination rates, the epidemiological decision is "live with it". I have no additional insight into the high death numbers.
derwoodii
Senior Member.
down in OZ covid vector settings public health controls & laws have pretty much expired or been removed, Mandatory vax for most work places dropped masks optional in public transport isolation not required for pos+ test or close contact.
We lost 594 per mill pop or 15,475 dead vs US 3,256 per mill pop - 1,090,289 dead..
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/10/14/australia-covid-regulations-autumn-wave/
We lost 594 per mill pop or 15,475 dead vs US 3,256 per mill pop - 1,090,289 dead..
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/10/14/australia-covid-regulations-autumn-wave/
It’s finally happened: Australia’s mandatory isolation periods for those infected with COVID-19 have, as of today, been scrapped.
While those who have tested positive for the virus can’t visit high-risk settings like hospitals and aged and disability care facilities for seven days post infection, there are no legal rules on staying away from public spaces, taking public transport or wearing a mask.
Ann K
Senior Member.
@derwoodii
Best of luck, but in spite of my fully-vaccinated status I still avoid crowds, with reason. Here's an article on the new variants arising, different ones in different parts of the world.
Best of luck, but in spite of my fully-vaccinated status I still avoid crowds, with reason. Here's an article on the new variants arising, different ones in different parts of the world.
https://fortune.com/well/2022/10/15...s-fall-winter-pandemic-epiidemic-endemic-xbb/
It’s autumn again, which means COVID cases are on the rise.
But for the first time in the pandemic’s history, the variants that make up the mounting wave look drastically different, depending on where you are in the world.
In England, Omicron spawn BA.5.2 is the most prevalent variant, with a long list of competitors relatives vying for dominance. In the U.S., once globally dominant BA.5 is still leading the way. But it’s steadily decreasing as BA.4.6—dubbed “Aeterna” by some on the Twitterverse—rises, with BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 on its heels. And in Singapore, cases of XBB, or “Gryphon”—a combination of two Omicron variants that can evade immunity and antibody treatments—are surging.
Mendel
Senior Member.
Article: Twitter’s Covid-19 misinformation page was updated with a note saying that as of Nov. 23, the platform would no longer enforce its policies against spreading misleading information on the virus and vaccines
“Nowhere near enough was being done to stamp out medical misinformation on social media previously; but this step, along with re-platforming voices who wish to sow confusion and increase mistrust in medicine, will do more harm,” said Jack Resneck Jr., the president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. He also urged patients to seek out accurate medical information, including from their own physician.
Jenna Sherman, a program manager at health information research nonprofit Meedan, said she worries other social media platforms follow suit and reduce their Covid-19 misinformation enforcement as well.
excerpted, as usual
Mendel
Senior Member.
China
Article: Several local governments in China encouraged people with mild cases of COVID-19 to go to work this week, another sign of the difficulty the country faces as its rollback of virus-containment measures sets off a wave of infections — and a growing number of deaths.
The moves appear to be in response to worker shortages that have affected medical care and food deliveries.
They also reflect the the difficulty officials face in trying to revive an economy that was throttled by pandemic restrictions, and now that they have been lifted, is being slowed by workers falling ill.
China had long hailed its restrictive “zero-COVID” approach of lockdowns, quarantines and compulsory testing as keeping case numbers and deaths relatively low. Yet the policy placed China’s society and the national economy under enormous stress and prompted rare anti-government protests, apparently convincing the ruling Communist Party to heed outside advice and alter its strategy.
Now, unofficial reports suggest a widespread wave of new coronavirus cases, and relatives of victims and people who work in the funeral business have said deaths tied to COVID-19 are increasing.
China, despite fully vaccinating 90.3% of its population, has only given a booster dose to 60.5%. China needs to prioritize giving boosters, especially to those over 60, to avoid large numbers of deaths, Kang said.
Case and death counts in every country are thought to underestimate the true toll of the virus, but there are particular concerns in China. Chinese health authorities count only those who died directly from COVID-19, excluding deaths blamed on underlying conditions such as diabetes and heart disease that raise risks of serious illness.
The wording of "only" 60.5% boosted struck me, so I looked up comparison data.
Article: 
Particularly the bottom graph suggests that China has delivered 3 vaccine doses in numbers comparable to European countries, but hasn't been pursuing additional boosters recently; England has obviously given many people second boosters (4th doses) this autumn.
Article: At a press briefing on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. agency needs more information on COVID-19 severity in China, particularly regarding hospital and intensive care unit admissions, “in order to make a comprehensive risk assessment of the situation on the ground.”
“Vaccination is the exit strategy from omicron,” WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said.
Ryan said the explosive surge of cases in China was not exclusively due to the lifting of many of the country’s restrictive policies and that it was impossible to stop transmission of omicron, the most highly infectious variant yet seen of COVID-19.
He said vaccination rates among people over age 60 in China lagged behind many other countries and that the efficacy of the Chinese-made vaccines was about 50%.
Ryan also suggested China’s definition of COVID deaths was too narrow, saying the country was limiting it to people who have suffered respiratory failure.
“People who die of COVID die from many different (organ) systems’ failures, given the severity of infection,” Ryan said. “So limiting a diagnosis of death from COVID to someone with a COVID positive test and respiratory failure will very much underestimate the true death toll associated with COVID.”
Even though China undercounts Covid deaths, the lockdown policies have kept these much below the rest of the world:
Article:
One of the hypotheses expounded in 2020 was that lockdowns are a net benefit to the economy by keeping people healthy. Given the reports above, it'll be interesting to see how easing the restrictions affects the Chinese economy.
Leifer
Senior Member.
Dr Drew Pinsky is back fighting "official" Covid information (again).
About 2 1/2 years ago, he fervently denied that Covid19 was even a public health concern, akin to the flu, was overblown, and would have less impact than the Flu. He later admitted he was wrong, and apologized. (see my post HERE)
Now he's back with almost weekly podcasts and LIVE YouTube streams. Here was today's title, a few hours ago.....
13,000 views and 179 comments in 4 hours. He does have a following. He also seems very logical, but only occasionally voices his doubt about certain claims. He continually emphasizes that he himself is not a vaccine denier, because he recommends vaccines to his clients who are in the at-risk population, including Cov19 vax and boosters. But then he makes sure to point-out that his views on Covid vaccines and boosters is slowly (or swiftly) changing, and is intrigued by his guests and their ideas/claims, and believes that perhaps all vac/boosters should be halted, and await further study.
His podcast does seem to be primarily one-sided conversations -- guests are consistantly on the side of mRNA vaccine opponents and deniers of the CDC guidelines and it's personnel (Faucci). Add to that, his co-host is Dr Kelly Victory who some would call a full-fledged vaccine denier/opponent and anti-masker. She managed to find her way onto QuackWatch (LINK) . and she believes there is a big gov't and pharma cover-up. She is also a firm believer that the recent "sudden deaths" rumors, are true.......so-much-so, that when she was asked, "Why hasn't the media reported on this ?" , she replied, "but heck, the media DOES know about it, they are told not to report on it !!" (paraphrased by me).
Actually let's go to the episode where she said that..... (watch just 60 seconds of this clip)....
...to which I commented,
"Mrs Kelly claims that even the 'media' knows the "real truth" and therefor, for some reason refuses to report on it. Wait, now reporters (even independent ones) are towing a vaccine lie ? This idea that "even the reporters know it" is the famously overused excuse for nearly every conspiracy theory......and simply makes no sense. If there was to be a GIANT cover-up involving hundreds of thousands of people as well as many Gov't agencies + private corps.....this would be a REPORTER'S DREAM to expose it."
About 2 1/2 years ago, he fervently denied that Covid19 was even a public health concern, akin to the flu, was overblown, and would have less impact than the Flu. He later admitted he was wrong, and apologized. (see my post HERE)
Now he's back with almost weekly podcasts and LIVE YouTube streams. Here was today's title, a few hours ago.....
13,000 views and 179 comments in 4 hours. He does have a following. He also seems very logical, but only occasionally voices his doubt about certain claims. He continually emphasizes that he himself is not a vaccine denier, because he recommends vaccines to his clients who are in the at-risk population, including Cov19 vax and boosters. But then he makes sure to point-out that his views on Covid vaccines and boosters is slowly (or swiftly) changing, and is intrigued by his guests and their ideas/claims, and believes that perhaps all vac/boosters should be halted, and await further study.
His podcast does seem to be primarily one-sided conversations -- guests are consistantly on the side of mRNA vaccine opponents and deniers of the CDC guidelines and it's personnel (Faucci). Add to that, his co-host is Dr Kelly Victory who some would call a full-fledged vaccine denier/opponent and anti-masker. She managed to find her way onto QuackWatch (LINK) . and she believes there is a big gov't and pharma cover-up. She is also a firm believer that the recent "sudden deaths" rumors, are true.......so-much-so, that when she was asked, "Why hasn't the media reported on this ?" , she replied, "but heck, the media DOES know about it, they are told not to report on it !!" (paraphrased by me).
Actually let's go to the episode where she said that..... (watch just 60 seconds of this clip)....
Ed Dowd Exposes "Sudden Adult Deaths" Increase & New mRNA Data w/ Dr. Kelly Victory – Ask Dr. Drew
Source: https://youtu.be/ZAoIYJKMEgc?t=1546...to which I commented,
"Mrs Kelly claims that even the 'media' knows the "real truth" and therefor, for some reason refuses to report on it. Wait, now reporters (even independent ones) are towing a vaccine lie ? This idea that "even the reporters know it" is the famously overused excuse for nearly every conspiracy theory......and simply makes no sense. If there was to be a GIANT cover-up involving hundreds of thousands of people as well as many Gov't agencies + private corps.....this would be a REPORTER'S DREAM to expose it."
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Mendel
Senior Member.
I don't doubt people are told not to report it (those who try to), simply because it's misinformation, and reporting it would ruin the reputation of any serious news outlet.
JMartJr
Senior Member
That is certainly possible, but on the off chance that any publisher/editor making such decisions is following this thread, I'd suggest that an even better policy would be to investigate such erroneous claims thoroughly including gaining a good understanding of the position of those pointing out that they are wrong, and then report fully on what you have learned. Ignoring misinformation is not a good strategy, simply labeling it as such and moving on with minimal understanding is not all that great either. Clearly understanding and explaining the situation may not work either -- it is hard to unfool people determined to be fooled -- but would be worth a try.
Mendel
Senior Member.
your suggestion still gives misinformation a platform
I'm not going to second-guess any editors, and I wouldn't suggest they have "minimal understanding"
to me, the best thing to do is to report on correct facts
Mendel
Senior Member.
an editor doesn't get paid for teaching people who want to report Covid misinformation
editors get paid for producing news
deirdre
Senior Member.
so does Metabunk. and Snopes. and every other fact checker website.
Ann K
Senior Member.
You're basically confused, if you can't tell "give a platform" from "topple a platform".
deirdre
Senior Member.
or you are confused about what JMart said.
JMartJr
Senior Member
Dang, never had so much trouble being understood -- or perhaps having so much trouble understanding. Editors do indeed get paid to produce the news. I'd say part of that is to make sure that they, and/or their reporters, understand the facts of the news and pass that understanding along to their readers/viewers. Sometimes that happens, which is great, but often it does not on stories about COVID science, UAP, bigfoot sightings, etc. In some of these cases, misinformation is passed on, as with coverage of the Navy UAP vids by the NYT and others, touting how inexplicable they were before making much of an effort to see if they could explain them. In other cases they label misinfo as misinfo based on an authority telling them so, but when they don't explain explain it clearly at least hints that they do not understand the story well enough to tell it.
I think it is useful to have information on WHY disinfo is wrong; why erroneous claims are in fact erroneous, why the egregious conspiracy theories make no sense. I don't think MetaBunk is doing a disservice to the truth by taking on this role, I don't think this site provides a platform for disinfo. If more editors, reporters, etc. did that, this site would be lot less busy -- and I mean, I'd miss y'all, but on balance their being less bunk left to flourish un-answered out there would be a Good Thing.
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