Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[MontuckyFried]

Attachment 325915

Isn't that just another day in Florida anyway? HUDGE elderly population. I remember my FL residing grandmother (who dead now) complaining to me about her assisted living community back in the 90s. Had a nursing home on one side of it. She was like "People are dying here every day! I see them hauling people out on gurneys all the time! Oh, the humanity!!!" I was like "Grandma, it's cuz they're old." Anyway, Death hanging out in Florida's just business as usual over there.

...also, I didn't know FL had mountains as seen in the top left pic.

[The SnowShow]

I think the most effective way to manage COVID is for anyone with any symptoms, including just a fever, to self-quarantine. There are obvious issues like pre-or-asymptomatic carriers, lack of sick leave, or dumbasses, but just staying home slows the spread enough for the health care system to get by. Then social distancing, maybe masks too, makes lockdowns unnecessary. Unfortunately we'd rather beggar-our-neighbour than cooperate.

This. Add testing and contact tracing on top of that and maybe the situation would be manageable?

[glademaster]

Sounds like 171M qualified. 80M were sent direct deposit. So 91M signed by Cheetolini.

Wow, and that right there is another symbol of the massive, systemic income inequality in this country. One has to assume that most of those 91M receiving a check don't have access to a bank. America!

[huckbucket]

This. Add testing and contact tracing on top of that and maybe the situation would be manageable?

Yet another example of why my brain hurts. How does one contact trace the more than 650K known active infections? SK's effort with a few thousand was very impressive. I'm going to assume it's impossible for us.

[The AD]

Anytime someone mentions SK I think "why is everyone so interested in Saskatchewan?"

[The Tortoise]

You'd have to download an app to your phone.

I can't see much of America being ok with that.

[The AD]

One has to assume that most of those 91M receiving a check don't have access to a bank.

Huh? Not following.

[Benny Profane]

Attachment 325915

They forgot on a golf course with a senior foursome in one of those giant retirement communities. Should have made him the caddy.

[dunfree]

But how can you spend money on a business that's closed?

How many businesses are closed by decree vs. lack of demand?

The states that saw protests have a variety of approaches and a variety of closures. What is constant is a lack of demand AND supply issues.

upper left picture looks like Santa monica

[glademaster]

Huh? Not following.

If you have a checking account, odds are that the IRS already had your routing and account numbers, because it's the fastest/easiest way to pay your taxes/receive your refund. If that's the case (and you qualified), you received your $1200 via direct deposit last week.

It's an assumption, but I'm postulating that many of those 91M people waiting for a check in the mail are "unbanked."

[The AD]

If you have a checking account, odds are that the IRS already had your routing and account numbers, because it's the fastest/easiest way to pay your taxes/receive your refund. If that's the case (and you qualified), you received your $1200 via direct deposit last week.

It's an assumption, but I'm postulating that many of those 91M people waiting for a check in the mail are "unbanked."

In my case if I get a refund I apply it to next year's taxes, so I've never signed up for IRS direct deposit. I'll bet there are a whole lot of people out there who don't trust the IRS with their banking info.

[dunfree]

And as for those “organic” protests, here’s one that nobody showed up for
https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2...ouse-park.html
#MAGA definitely not political

[Dhelihiker]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/healt...udy/index.html

this could be an instant game changer.

(CNN) Far more people may have been infected with Covid-19 than have been confirmed by health officials in Santa Clara County, California, according to a study released Friday in preprint.

The study used an antibody blood test to estimate how many people had been infected with Covid-19 in the past. Other tests, like those performed with nasal swabs or saliva, test for the virus' genetic material, which does not persist long after recovery, as antibodies do.
"We found that there are many, many unidentified cases of people having Covid infection that were never identified with it with a virus test," said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and one of the paper's authors. "It's consistent with findings from around the world that this disease, this epidemic is further along than we thought."
The study estimated that 2.49% to 4.16% of people in Santa Clara Country had been infected with Covid-19 by April 1. This represents between 48,000 and 81,000 people, which is 50 to 85 times what county officials recorded by that date: 956 confirmed cases.
A preprint study is a draft version of a study released to the public that hasn't been peer-reviewed for publication in a journal. CNN has reached out to the Santa Clara County Public Health Department for comment.
Similar efforts to estimate local antibody prevalence have launched in places like Miami-Dade County, Florida; San Miguel County, Colorado; and Los Angeles, California. The National Institutes of Health has a similar effort underway as well.
Bhattacharya said information from these studies will not only give researchers a better idea on antibody prevalence, but they will also vastly improve projections and disease modeling. Experts have said it's clear there have been more people infected than we've tested for, but it's unclear how much higher that number could be.
"All of the projection models have this as an input: how many people have been infected today," Bhattacharya said.
"It just helps us plan better," he added. "Before, we were making policy in the dark."
A Stanford University study used antibody tests to determine the prevalence of coronavirus infections in Santa Clara County, California.
A Stanford University study used antibody tests to determine the prevalence of coronavirus infections in Santa Clara County, California.
The research may also give a more realistic sense of how deadly the virus really is.
"If I get the infection, how likely is it I'm going to die? That number depends on knowing how many people have had the infection -- not just actively have it now, but have had it and recovered from it," Bhattacharya said.
If 50 times more people have had the infection, the death rate could drop by that same factor, putting it "somewhere between 'little worse than the flu' to 'twice as bad as the flu' in terms of case fatality rate," Bhattacharya said.
But he cautioned that the flu and coronavirus are still quite different. For one, we don't yet have a vaccine for Covid-19.
Doctors suspect, though, and are still trying to prove beyond a doubt, that antibodies to Covid-19 mean one is immune down the line.
The study in Santa Clara County recruited participants largely using Facebook ads targeted by zip code to sample various parts of the community. The study tested 3,330 adults and children.
"They had about five different tents set up and you just kind of drove through and they pricked your finger, took a blood sample and took down your information," one of those participants, Tony Huston, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his podcast, "Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction."
"I think it's human nature to want to know if you've had it or if you have the antibodies," Huston said.

[Benny Profane]

If you have a checking account, odds are that the IRS already had your routing and account numbers, because it's the fastest/easiest way to pay your taxes/receive your refund. If that's the case (and you qualified), you received your $1200 via direct deposit last week.

It's an assumption, but I'm postulating that many of those 91M people waiting for a check in the mail are "unbanked."

I think it's been estimated at 40%. Imagine the sharks at the bottom waiting with scams to grab that money, especially TV preachers.
They do have one advantage, though. Munchin has announced that he thinks it's ok that banks can allow seizure of that money in accounts for various debts, so many of the banked may never see the money. The cash checking people can avoid that for a big fee.

[glademaster]

In my case if I get a refund I apply it to next year's taxes, so I've never signed up for IRS direct deposit.

Fair enough. Would you agree that most people who qualified for that federal aid aren't doing that with their refund though?

[Benny Profane]

And as for those “organic” protests, here’s one that nobody showed up for
https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2...ouse-park.html
#MAGA definitely not political

Staten Island, of course.

[Mazderati]

Number of US unbanked was 20.5MM people as of 2017; US underbanked was 65MM people.

https://economicinclusion.gov/surveys/2017household/

[huckbucket]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/healt...udy/index.html

this could be an instant game changer.

That paper has been making the med twitter rounds as the poster child for shoddy work. Just saying.

[The AD]

Fair enough. Would you agree that most people who qualified for that federal aid aren't doing that with their refund though?

I would, but I wouldn't assume most people waiting for a physical check don't have a checking account.

[glademaster]

I would, but I wouldn't assume most people waiting for a physical check don't have a checking account.

Well now that's perfectly reasonable. Why'd ya have to go and do that?!

[ate'em]

I've gotta say ...

I can usually visualize the path out of complex situations like these even if the outcome is negative. For CV19, I just can't wrap my head around all of the moving parts and uncertainly of their direction. Hurts my brain.

This

[Ted Striker]

Why can’t the protesters wear masks and spread out a bit?

Because most of them believe it isn't real. Or at least not real enough.

That may be but you're delusional if you think a democratic administration would have handled the distribution of assistance any better.

That's just the both sides argument, which in this case is so demonstrably false. Neither the Obama nor Bush administrations would have slowed the printing of checks to put their god damned names on them. Neither would've waged a partisan political war with state governors. Neither would've referred to supplies and equipment as "ours" and "theirs".

This is beyond "heck of a job Brownie", because it's intentional.

[CarlMega]

For the life of me, I cannot grasp why heeding experts and trusting in the established institutions have fallen out of style. Wanna know why they recommend something? They'll walk you through the body of evidence, show you the variables / knowns and unknowns and make predictions you can later evaluate and ultimately reapply to make even better predictions. Isn't seeing it all with transparency and demonstration comforting? These are the people who brought you all of modern medicine, all of your technology - landed us on the fucking moon.

Everyone peddling an 'alternative' has some cloak and personal agenda. Every fucking time. Buying in benefits them not you - and asks for your blind allegiance and compliance. As soon as it starts with "what if..."... fucking head for the hills. These people have brought us nothing - not once. No deliverables ever. How is there comfort in that? Is the confirmation bias that compelling and satisfying? I guess it is. I wish it was surprising.

[glademaster]

Because most of them believe it isn't real. Or at least not real enough.



That's just the both sides argument, which in this case is so demonstrably false. Neither the Obama nor Bush administrations would have slowed the printing of checks to put their god damned names on them. Neither would've waged a partisan political war with state governors. Neither would've referred to supplies and equipment as "ours" and "theirs".

This is beyond "heck of a job Brownie", because it's intentional.

You did cherry-pick my post to exclude the part that agrees with the majority of what you said. Regardless, I do agree with the majority of the points you make, no argument there.

[Ted Striker]

upper left picture looks like Santa monica

Yeah, FL is literally the lowest state. There is no high ground near any of the beaches.