COVID-19

[26th-Z]

On 10/19/2020 at 12:05 PM, conedodger said:

Before this is over, all of us will know someone. I’m sorry for your loss... 

Three friends of mine have contracted the virus.  One of them died.  Sorry for your loss AK260. 

[AK260]

Thanks for the kind words gents. It’s been a tough couple of weeks, but life has to go on. Nothing EVER prepares you for losing a parent.

 

It is strange how people still think it’s not real or play Russian roulette with theirs and other people’s health / lives.

 

I do estimate - and I say this with a positive mindset - that this thing will be with us for at least 5 years. The positive being, knowing this fact, we accept and adapt to a new normal and make it work with our lives.

 

This is my logical unemotional view:

 

Q3 next year we have a fully tested (albeit rushed) vaccine, but it won’t be widely available and prioritised in its dispensation. Most likely the very wealthy and societal / political elites first then the old and infirm, then Jo Public.

 

With a wider availability there will undoubtedly be a backlash with as yet unknown or more severe side effects than anticipated. Therefore many people would likely reject it in the near term - who wants to be a guinea pig, right?

 

Then there is the challenge of getting it to everyone within our respective borders once considered safe.

 

That’s all lovely, but what about other parts of the world following similar timelines and widespread availability? Those people who will cross borders either as business people, tourists or refugees etc who may not have had the means or availability to be immunised.

 

This is of course assuming big pharma does not get a greedy gold rush mentality and governments having a strong degree of influence and not being complicit. An example is a recent Covid home test kit that is available in your local pharmacy (great I thought) but at £120 a test it’s not practical for the “average” wage earner to use effectively unless heavily subsidised.

 

Certainly the challenges posed by the likes of my buddy who are anti-vaxxers can’t be addressed overnight without major unrest and human rights challenges coming to the fore.

 

Meanwhile, the big corporates etc are busily farming jobs to low cost offshore locations to reduce the impact of Covid on profit margins. Equally realising that remote working is really quite effective and real-estate / business travel isn’t as essential as previously envisioned. So our previous world equilibrium has been greatly upset and unlikely to return.

 

Having ran a global offshoring programme for a large European bank where we took 6000 jobs to India in 2 years, I saw first hand the issues that resulted with many of those jobs coming back to onshore low cost locations. A discussion for another time.

 

So, fore armed with acknowledging this reality of a new normal, we must strive to keep ourselves and others as safe as humanly possible while walking life with practical feet.

 

[Pilgrim]

I agree with your analysis of the time line. People have a lot of wishful thinking and many fail to think this through.

Viruses don't go away. We have to live with this from now on, like we do with the flu virus. Not a year, not 10 years, but from now on.

I think there will be vaccine(s) by the end of the year, but they won't be well distributed for months, and given our for-profit health care system, they won't be priced for low income people to take them. Because of this, there will be an increased rate of CO-19 infections among low income groups for a long time.

The stupidity of people who fight using masks and distancing will continue. The anti-vaxxers will add to the non-compliant numbers and claim everything from "principle" to "gummint plot to pollute our precious bodily fluids" (see also: General Jack. D. Ripper, Dr. Strangelove.)

I'm not planning to do much traveling other than in my own car for the next year or so. If multiple vaccines come out, I may, just may, decide to use air travel, but I want to see a track record first.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Pilgrim

[w3wilkes]

On international travel... Back in the 50's when I was an Army brat my dad got stationed in Germany. At that time there were a series of shots the whole family had to have to go from the USA to Germany and then again to come back to the US. It may be that this type of restriction would be implemented again when a vaccine becomes available. No vaccine - you're not allowed to enter the given country.

[Pilgrim]

That is a GREAT idea!!  I'd like to see the same thing before you board an airplane.

 

[240260280]

**** China

[Mark Maras]

 I had an interesting conversation with an old friend who wears a bandanna but can't (his words) wear a mask. When questioned about no mask he said he has panic attacks when he dons a mask. Knowing that he came from a screwy abusive family I asked him what his reaction would be if I came up behind him and put my hands over his nose and mouth? His reaction was OMG, don't ever do that I don't want to hurt you. He'd had that happen many times as a child to the point of passing out. As it turns out, his mask phobia may be caused by childhood trauma. 

[Mark Maras]

 Although COVID19 spreads mostly through the nose and mouth, scientists now conclude the greatest risk comes from assholes.

[siteunseen]

Do you people not read the news? Trump has ended the pandemic! He's "rounded the curve" more times than Mario Andretti.

Washington, D.C. (WTRF) — The White House’s Office of Science and Technology listed “ending the COVID-19 pandemic” as one of the top accomplishments of the Trump administration’s first term.

A release from OSTP said, “From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic the Trump Administration has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, industry, and government to understand, treat and defeat the disease. “

Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, the office’s director, said, “President Trump has solidified America’s standing as the most scientifically and technologically advanced nation the world has ever known”.

[jfa.series1]

Just stop the testing and this all goes away!

[240260280]

It is exploding all over the planet.  Leaders have nothing to do with it,.... it is the people and their actions to blame.

i.e. if you think Biden is suddenly going to save the day you are fooling yourselves.... only you can protect yourself.

[siteunseen]

16 minutes ago, 240260280 said:

It is exploding all over the planet.  Leaders have nothing to do with it,.... it is the people and their actions to blame.

i.e. if you think Biden is suddenly going to save the day you are fooling yourselves.... only you can protect yourself.

Your actions control your destiny. Everything else is just a suggestion.