At least in Evansville and the surrounding small towns, the mask mandate itself is and has been meaningless. When cases spike and the news reports deaths, people mask up... small towns, not so much even then.Well, definitely agree on the current Indiana metrics.
I'm still on the fence about whether or how the mandated precautions make a difference. But, I also don't know if Hoosiers' behaviors change on their own volition based on what is happening.
And, the big unknown is the mutation (or mutations) with a higher R factor.
What for many is a 4-day holiday weekend, Thanksgiving, affects even the 7-day average. But, I think most of us experience the huge pile of work Monday and then play "catch-up" for several days.When the weekend/holiday numbers are about half of the 5 day average, that's statistically relevant.
I know, I know, this is probably my own personal windmill-tilting WRT reporting standards.
That along with everything else to come for the next four years. Sunshine and rainbows for everyone.I speculate that after tomorrow the vaccinations will be reported to be going great everywhere in the U.S.
We have members here who support this type of thing
Then compare California to Florida. A state without those draconian restrictions, and a much larger elderly population.It looks to me like Sweden is over the hump.
And then there is california with tons of draconian restrictions on the people and businesses.
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And puppy's. There should be puppy's.That along with everything else to come for the next four years. Sunshine and rainbows for everyone.
Canada's healthcare capacity has been whittled to the minimum because of socialist healthcare. 1,500 hospitalized for COVID and a couple hundred in ICU... brought the entire Quebec province to its knees. Live Free is right on that, indefensible.
And, we had, maybe still have, members here who thought/think Sweden's herd immunity experiment in the spring worked this summer and early fall. It did not.
It looks to me like Sweden is over the hump.
And then there is california with tons of draconian restrictions on the people and businesses.
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Just to be clear, Sweden's cases went exponentially up the epidemic curve until they implemented... mitigations.Sure, but Sweden has 1/4th the population of California. But, both are having the same kinds of patterns regardless of mitigations. Everybody's spiking. Not everybody has the same mitigations. Everybody's kinda tapering off. The only way to stop the spread is for every individual to live in isolation. And that's just not practical.
Vaccines are probably not going to eliminate covid. Mitigations are not going to eliminate covid. Masks certainly aren't going to eliminate covid. I think we should focus on treatment, increase hospital capacity. Possibly have dedicated "covid" centers in large metro areas that are equipped to handle these peaks. We should look for innovation to help us deal with it especially in the more vulnerable populations. Every individual should take some personal steps and act responsibly to prevent them from being a spreader, to a reasonable extent. But other than that. Let 'er rip. No shutdowns. No mandates.
How may years do we need to wear masks? I know we're supposed to believe they've prevented millions of deaths and all but they can also make the wearer sick, our bodies aren't designed to suck in the same moist air we're exhaling for hours on end. Perhaps sucking in used air doesn't bother you, congratulations.And, despite the caterwauling, Indiana was locked down for about 6 weeks, late March through early May. If donning a mask to go into the local Dollar General is an existential crisis for someone, then, gee, I don't know what to tell them.
How may years do we need to wear masks? I know we're supposed to believe they've prevented millions of deaths and all but they can also make the wearer sick, our bodies aren't designed to suck in the same moist air we're exhaling for hours on end. Perhaps sucking in used air doesn't bother you, congratulations.
Because people don't wash their hands and stay home when sick during the flu season. I can't count the number of times I sent team members home with the flu.I have yet to see anyone provide any explanation as to why we've never been able to eliminate the seasonal flu yet all of these minor inconveniences (like earning a living) are apparently are going to magically work this time? How many years down the road until that happens?
What happens when they finally admit that the masks aren't doing anything? Six weeks on lockdown and mask mandates and nothing has improved, there is no end in sight, there is no optimism that what the experts are saying is going to accomplish anything.
Link? I've seen empirical studies that the UK and Denmark variants are marginally more communicable... but nothing about a 10x (or any x) more deadly strain.New strains popping up every couple of weeks 10x more deadly than before.