Coronavirus - are you afraid?

[Blank]

The U.S. doesn't have waves. It has temporary plateaus as we continue to ascend to new heights.

So true.

To answer the original question, I'm not afraid of the virus. I'm afraid of other people. Stupidity and selfishness is more deadly than a virus.

[Beguile's Mistress]

And stupidity and selfish run rampant through portions of our population but then so do caring, helpfulness, and intelligence.  We just need the balance to shift so there is less of the former and more of the latter.

[Beorning]

On the continuing topic of governmental (mis)handling of the pandemic:

Back here, our government managed to shoot itself in the foot once more - by causing problems for people, of course. It's all because of November 1st, which is a religious holiday when many, many people visit cemetaries (even in other cities), meet the family etc. For many weeks, there have been appeals for the government to order the cemetaries closed this year, so that all that COVID-spreading migration and gatherings wouldn't take place. But our government kept reassuring: no, we can handle it, there's no reason to close the cemetaries.

Then, there came last Friday... and shortly before noon, our PM annouced the cemetaries *will* be closed. From October 31st to November 2nd.

Now, this is a *good* decision... the problem is, why announce it so insanely late? Some people were already on route to their destinations. More importantly, what about all those vendors who sells cemetary flowers, candles, etc.? They have all made huge stocks in preparation for the November 1st. You can imagine all of them are quite angry right now... I mean, the government kept saying they won't be doing anything like that! And then, they did it anyway. And, if some leaks are to be believed, nobody in the government actually stopped to think how such a decision would impact all the cemetary-related businesses. They just didn't think it would any problem!

So, yeah. Our government isn't really dealing with the pandemic sensibly...

[Oreo]

Found it interesting in my local news. Apparently the most cases of flu in our county since 2005, was in 2018 and we had 19 deaths from flu. This year we have had 32 deaths so far from Covid. (smallish county of 180,000)

[TheVillain]

For myself, No. I'm young enough and in good enough shape that if I got CoVID it wouldn't be a good time but I'd be fine. I'm acting about half-again as paranoid as I actually feel because I actually recently had a kid right before the CoVID story officially broke in March. In fact a lot of my friends and family suspect that I already had it and was asymptomatic, there was some flu-like symptoms passed around my wife's work back in late January. She got it, I didn't.

But my parents and parents-in-law only recently started taking it seriously after learning that they know a few people who've died from CoVID, so I got to watch their backs too for them.

[Oniya]

So, my sister/landlord was over earlier today, and was talking with Mr. Oniya, since I wasn't up yet.  She told him that she was 'concerned' that my 'social isolation may have weakened [my] immune system', and that I 'should get out more'.

First off, my entire social calendar got cleared because of the fucking pandemic.  (I was going to go to Shore Leave with Mr. Oniya and Little Oni - also, the local anime con.)

Secondly, if you're concerned that my immune system is weakened, why the hell would you suggest I 'get out more' - when there's a fucking pandemic?!

For the record, other than my typical seasonal allergies, the only serious illness I've had in years was a case of the shingles over a year ago.

[Hrairoo]

I don't even understand that. "Your immunity is weakened, so, you should expose yourself"

¯\_(•︣ _> •᷅)_/¯

[Oreo]

Te only part I agree with is the actual stepping outside for at least 5 minutes each day to get some sunshine.

[CrownedSun]

I went to a walk to a park not so long ago, but quickly got uncomfortably by how many people were milling about in clumps without masks. It's kinda like, "This is why we can't have nice things."

[Beguile's Mistress]

A story on our local late news talked about llama nanobodies being used to fight C19 and people were asked if they would take that.  As usual some said yes and some said no.

But...

I got this weird idea of scientists building a stockpile of these nanobodies and the deploying them all over the world ala Bond villains to get past people voluntarily taking the stuff. 

[TheGlyphstone]

...you mean antibodies?  Cause im having a hard time picturing microscopic llamas being used to fight Covid.

[Beguile's Mistress]

*laughs*  I mean nanobodies taken from llamas.  Supposedly a few of these critters are all that is needed to take out a host of C19.

https://www.upmc.com/media/news/110520-shi-llama-nanobody

[TheGlyphstone]

I didn't even know those existed. Neat!

[Aiden]

This shit slaps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2s0nB2VPvs

[Avalon29]

I um, really don't know how to respond to this. The ND governor is saying it's okay for infected nurses to keep working as long as they don't show symptoms. This just seems like an incredibly short sighted and horrible decision.

https://apnews.com/article/turkey-smoking-health-coronavirus-pandemic-39a50092db7eca3ce879cfda46001f66

[Dashenka]

The end is nigh... For Covid 19. Thank God.


The Sputnik vaccin is promising: 
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54905330

AstraZeneca also said they could start vaccinating with their vaccin as early as january 2021 (earlier if the WHO and governments work fast, which they won't.) They're currently in phase 3 of testing on a group of 10,000 volunteers as well and they also claim to have a 90+% effectiveness.




Really positive news I'd say.

[Blythe]

The end is nigh... For Covid 19. Thank God.


The Sputnik vaccin is promising: 
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54905330

AstraZeneca also said they could start vaccinating with their vaccin as early as january 2021 (earlier if the WHO and governments work fast, which they won't.) They're currently in phase 3 of testing on a group of 10,000 volunteers as well and they also claim to have a 90+% effectiveness.




Really positive news I'd say.

I'd seen a few other companies with a similar effectiveness rate in their trials--still, I'm excited to see multiple places coming up with potential vaccines this way, so here's hoping that the Sputnik one can get out of the final stages of testing with flying colors! It's a much needed dollop of hope in these times.

[Dashenka]

Just read about Pfizer as well.... Let's hope we can start 2021 positive..

[TheGlyphstone]

Positive is the last thing we want right now.....

[clonkertink]

Plus, having multiple vaccines on offer is going to drive down prices, so enough people can get vaccinated for herd immunity.

Hopefully this will also reduce the anti-vaccination paranoia out there, too. That'd be nice.

[Oniya]

Just read about Pfizer as well.... Let's hope we can start 2021 positive..

Or with less positive (infection results)

[stormwyrm]

Cautious optimism more like. There are way too many promising medical treatments that wind up failing after the preliminary studies. I haven't seen any real scientific papers that actually describe the safety and effectiveness of these vaccine candidates based on the phase three clinical trials, only a lot of press releases.

The Pfizer vaccine sounds a little bit problematic since it requires refrigeration at -80°C. Medical freezers that can get that cold are rare and expensive. It sounds like a costly and tedious logistical exercise to do properly, especially since it seems like it has to be administered in two doses.

[Blythe]

Plus, having multiple vaccines on offer is going to drive down prices, so enough people can get vaccinated for herd immunity.

This is the biggest reason I'm so excited to see Sputnik's--I was aware of Oxford & Pfizer already.

I also wanted to see multiple nations with good vaccine development, because distribution is going to be a major hurdle given how widespread COVID-19 is. The more countries with vaccines that make it past trials, the better!

So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed with the hopes we see these ones in their final trials make it through!

[Dashenka]

When two major pharmaceuticals (and the Russians) claim successes, I'm more than cautiously optimistic. I'm very optimistic.

Means that if they are right (and why would they lie about it) we can all go on holiday again in spring and summer and we can all live our normal lives again even sooner than that and we can salvage what's left of the economy and some people's mental state of health


I also have a friend in India who says India is basically useless at everything... but when there's a vaccin, they can produce it by the thousands of gallons...

[Haibane]

The USA has today hit and passed the horrific landmark of a quarter of a million dead.