Coronavirus: Discussion and Information

[Haibane]

And thus the QRaccoon conspiracy was born.

[Iniquitous]

Maybe there's something we don't know? Maybe there are extraterrestial raccoons hiding all around us, directing things secretly... 

Sign me up for one!

[Beorning]

And thus the QRaccoon conspiracy was born.

Ha! And they thought that extradimensional lizardmen were scary! Meanwhile, all the time David Icke was preaching nonsense, the real enemies were pulling the governments' strings... with their little, nimble, twitchy hands...

[Azuresun]

Things like this are why I've moved from disliking anti-vaxxers to actively loathing them.

I thought I reached the depths of grief when I carried my baby girl through the hospital, down the elevator, out the back door past the dumpsters, and to the waiting funeral home van.
But I was wrong. One of my wife’s “friends” took screenshots of our announcement of Ellie’s stillbirth and then she posted them alongside an earlier post about being vaccinated.
It was the perfect recipe for a viral post that would promote her views on vaccinations.
But it was a lie—a post hoc fallacy.
They don’t know that Ellie’s stillbirth was a result of a marginal cord insertion complicated by placenta previa resulting in fetal vascular malperfusion. But they don’t care either.
So now, on top of grieving the loss of our daughter, we get to read atrocious posts, comments, and messages from strangers all over the world.
I support your right to an opinion, but damn you for using my little girl as a prop to promote your agenda.
***I’ve made this public so all the folks now stalking us can see it.***

[Haibane]

Pure evil. They know its a lie. They know they are peddling lies. They know what they are doing must hurt people terribly, yet they still do it. Shame on them.

I strongly believe we need laws enacted and penalties in place to criminalise lies of this magnitude that cause especial distress.

[Humble Scribe]

Got my first vaccine dose just now. Oxford AstraZeneca. I can feel the microchips working already - I'm told dose 2 allows you to receive MS Teams calls without needing a phone. 

[Haibane]

Regimes that refuse to make public or doctor C-19 death figures.

Russia. Excess mortality rates over 2020 place the possible C-19 death count at a number in excess of 450,000, possibly even nearer 500,000. Official figures give a number under 95,000.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56454701

Tanzania has officially reported only a handful of cases and deaths but tens of thousands are thought to have died there, with the country's President Magufuli thought to be a recent casualty, although denied by government sources.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56242358

[Haibane]

*sigh*

And the deaths keep on mounting. What is WRONG with people? Why don't people get it that this virus kills?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56476904

[TheGlyphstone]

*sigh*

And the deaths keep on mounting. What is WRONG with people? Why don't people get it that this virus kills?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56476904

Even by American standards, Florida is notorious for ignoring the dangers of the virus.

[stormwyrm]

Even by American standards, Florida is notorious for ignoring the dangers of the virus.

Good grief... they have nearly two million cases and more than 31,000 deaths. They already have more than triple the number of cases and very nearly triple the number of deaths compared to my country, which is already the second worst-hit in Southeast Asia. The government here is run by a bunch of corrupt poltroons and nincompoops but even they didn't manage to screw things up that badly!

[Oniya]

Florida is in possession of Ron DeSantis (who is 'positioning himself as Trump's heir to the White House') and Matt Gaetz (the guy who mocked the virus in the early days of the pandemic by wearing an old-fashioned gas mask to Congress).

Stonekettle often waxes eloquent about how screwed up Florida is (he has to live there, to his chagrin.)

[Lilias]

Stonekettle is the person to follow for updates on Florida. Margaret and Helen (@HelenPhilpot) for Texas.

[Beorning]

Question: are churches and other places of worship locked down where you guys live? Because our government here locks more and more things down... and yet, the churches are open. Even though the Easter is coming and quite a few epidemiologists are almost literally begging for the churches to close...

[Mechelle]

Yes, they are open in Britain, but with covid restrictions, so capacity is limited and people from different households should not mingle.
In other covid news, I had my first vaccine dose (Astra Zeneca) at the Manchester Tennis Centre today.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Some of our churches are still closed completely, some are under C19 restrictions and some are doing outdoor services over loud speakers in the parking lots.  We did Ash Wednesday services in the auditorium with people lined up like the security line at the airports with social distancing and the line extending out into the parking lot.  After the last person made it into the building they closed the doors and when no one else showed up they locked the door and the deacon went home. 

We have six churches in our parish and each church did ashes in order to keep the crowds down. 

[Dhi]

Local Dharma Lotus temple is closed, as there's no feasible way to carry out Buddhist services with social distancing. Congregation were asked to celebrate Lunar New Year privately, as it fell during the highest spike to date.

Other, looser Buddhist centers where households can socially distance remain open.

[stormwyrm]

Question: are churches and other places of worship locked down where you guys live? Because our government here locks more and more things down... and yet, the churches are open. Even though the Easter is coming and quite a few epidemiologists are almost literally begging for the churches to close...

This will be the second year in a row that churches have been shut during Holy Week here in the Philippines. This in a country that is upwards of 90% Roman Catholic. Our local bishop still hasn't rescinded the dispensation on Sunday Mass attendance, even though there have been sporadic reopenings where 10% to 50% capacity has been permitted for religious services. Now though, with COVID-19 cases growing again in what looks like yet another major wave, no in-person religious services are permitted within Metro Manila and the four neighbouring provinces. Looks like we'll be attending live streams of Holy Week masses the way we did last year. I've only been to in-person masses twice last year since the lockdowns began.

[Haibane]

As most of you will know I am staunchly pro-NHS and welfare state generally. Definitely liberal and probably somewhat socialist in some of my politics. I am not anti-private healthcare as those who can afford it should do so, but I am anti-private healthcare only. This story outlines how many lives can be saved and how the machinery of organisation can work so well only under a state healthcare system. Such an event would be quite impossible in a country that has only private healthcare.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56508369

[Oreo]

Our churches were released from lockdown because the courts ruled it was interfering with freedom of religion. Personally I think it is a disgrace to gather for church and endanger others. Mad as heck that hubby is cheering over the news. Ending my rant here because I would be venting the rest of the day.

[Haibane]

I too think its strange in these times that church gatherings are given special precedence over other gatherings, such as at restaurants and bars ... and protests (!). Its all people breathing inside close(ish) small spaces, so why does religion grant a special status?

[Oreo]

Especially given that church meetings could easily be had on the internet. Just me, but as a Christian I feel it's my moral imperative to be an exemplar when it comes to public safety. It breaks me when I see 'self' over the masses.

[Beorning]

I too think its strange in these times that church gatherings are given special precedence over other gatherings, such as at restaurants and bars ... and protests (!). Its all people breathing inside close(ish) small spaces, so why does religion grant a special status?

Not only breathing, but - in the case of Catholic mass - people actually putting fingers into other people's mouths...

I admit the fact that the churches are allowed to stay opened over here is really infuriating to me. I mean, for a year now our government has been hitting everyone else with all kinds of restrictions, sometimes even on a day-to-day basis. All kinds of businesses and places of culture need to stay closed - and there are no consultations, attempts of fine-tuning the restrictions depending on a specific business type's nature etc. All right, maybe it *is* the only solution... but why, then, are the churches exempt from it? Why, when it comes to churches, our governments actually feels obliged to negotiate matters with the bishops..?

The situation over here is getting *critical*. We've hit the bar of 30 000 infections per day! Now, Easter is coming... and yet, the only thing our government did about the possibility of mass infections at churches during Easter celebrations was "consulting" with the clergy. And, eventually, imposing some stricter limits on attendance. Limits I fear just won't be followed in some parishes!

Really, the restrictions on churches were revealed today... and already we have one bishop proclaiming that they are unacceptable, that churches are "places of spiritual and physical healing" and should remain open. With that kind of mentality among parts of the clergy, how many priests at churches are going to stick to the restrictions, then?

Not too long ago, there was an ugly situation at one town where the masses were regularly conducted without following even the previous version of sanitary restrictions. One parishioner got angry about it and informed the police. The reaction? The priests in charge of the parish publicly condemned "the squealer"! And the rest of the parish launched a hate campaign against this person!

With this kind of attitude among some Catholics, how can the churches stay open now? And yet, they are open... while the country hits the pandemic bottom...

[Oreo]

Beorning, that literally brought me to tears. I'm all stuffy now. We have a church here in our county that is actually trying to get people sick so they can heal them. <_< https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article246511415.html

[stormwyrm]

Not only breathing, but - in the case of Catholic mass - people actually putting fingers into other people's mouths...

The bishops' conference here put an end to that practice in a hurry soon after the pandemic got started. I was never comfortable with it myself, and have always received communion in the hand as soon as it was permitted as an option in the late 1980s. Now it is the only option when the churches are open.

I admit the fact that the churches are allowed to stay opened over here is really infuriating to me. I mean, for a year now our government has been hitting everyone else with all kinds of restrictions, sometimes even on a day-to-day basis. All kinds of businesses and places of culture need to stay closed - and there are no consultations, attempts of fine-tuning the restrictions depending on a specific business type's nature etc. All right, maybe it *is* the only solution... but why, then, are the churches exempt from it? Why, when it comes to churches, our governments actually feels obliged to negotiate matters with the bishops..?

The situation over here is getting *critical*. We've hit the bar of 30 000 infections per day! Now, Easter is coming... and yet, the only thing our government did about the possibility of mass infections at churches during Easter celebrations was "consulting" with the clergy. And, eventually, imposing some stricter limits on attendance. Limits I fear just won't be followed in some parishes!

That is quite the contrast with the way the Catholic Church in the Philippines has faced the pandemic. At one point last year the government inadvisedly relaxed restrictions even as doctors and scientists warned that this was premature and that hospitals and health care workers were groaning under a huge influx of new cases. The Church responded by keeping the churches closed for in person services even though they were allowed to reopen at reduced capacity, and kept masses at online streaming only for a couple of weeks more, which helped shame the government.

There has been some resistance within the church to these restrictions being imposed of course, and perhaps some compromise might be acceptable, but not right now when daily case numbers have surged past 8000, higher than they have ever been. I am heartened to see that at the very least the bishop of my own diocese has wisely decided not to try to agitate for reopening.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/21/metro-manila-churches-holy-week-covid19.html
https://cubaonews.dioceseofcubao.ph/wp/2021/03/21/diocese-of-cubao-declares-two-weeks-lockdown/

[Haibane]

Stories like Bethel make my heart weep. A cruel, twisted part of me thinks, "well, if you attend services like that and fall ill, you deserve all the suffering you incur" but of course these are spreader situations and innocent people in the street, in offices and retail suffer because of the un-Christian actions of a few.

The way that Bethel has insinuated itself into the controlling fabric of the community is a little insidious as well. Funding local community policing for example and bailing out the local councils.

And if Redding is such a poor county, where does all this vast amount of money come from? Might not distributing some of these riches to the poor via homeless or low-income support centres be a more useful activity than saving a local shopping mall?