COVID-19 (Wuhan Novel Coronavirus) Pandemic Master Thread

[moko]

They are not required to mask. You going to pretend they are safe?

no idea. As one epidemiologist put it to me, "we're all part of the world's biggest science experiment".
Since wearing a mask is at best a small discomfort that everyone can get used to fairly quickly, I'm big proponent of enforcing masks since experts tell that that has the best potential for stopping the spread.
I personally still wear a mask. My rational is similar to my rational for wearing a seatbelt. Although a seatbelt hasn't saved my life or prevented injury in 33 years, I still wear it because it's at best a tiny, tiny discomfort which has the potential to save my life. (Seatbelts actually have a longer history of saving lives than masks do)
When asked by someone in Lakewood why I'm wearing a mask, I responded , if I'm wrong, I've gone through minor discomfort and look a bit strange. If your wrong then people will start dying. "

[Lurker]

I have a question for people in the NY/NJ area. There was understandably a lot of noise NY/NJ to "go back to normal" since Pesach, maybe even before. Many of those pushing for mass normalization pointed to states with low case counts who were reopening, such as FL, TX, and AZ, as proof that it could and should be done.

The question is really in 3 parts:
1) Given what we're seeing now from states that reopened, do you still feel as strongly for mass reopening vs slow reopening?
2) As @avromie7 stated elsewhere, you need infected people in order to spread the virus. Considering how many people were infected in NY/NJ 6 weeks ago, and what we see 6 weeks later from states which had low infection rates at the time, do you think not opening NY/NJ back then turned out to be the right move, even inadvertently?
3) Given the spread in certain states now and the lack of mask laws in those states, did NY have it right all along, even if the enforcement was done horribly?

[avromie7]

I have a question for people in the NY/NJ area. There was understandably a lot of noise NY/NJ to "go back to normal" since Pesach, maybe even before. Many of those pushing for mass normalization pointed to states with low case counts who were reopening, such as FL, TX, and AZ, as proof that it could and should be done.

The question is really in 3 parts:
1) Given what we're seeing now from states that reopened, do you still feel as strongly for mass reopening vs slow reopening?
2) As @avromie7 stated elsewhere, you need infected people in order to spread the virus. Considering how many people were infected in NY/NJ 6 weeks ago, and what we see 6 weeks later from states which had low infection rates at the time, do you think not opening NY/NJ back then turned out to be the right move, even inadvertently?
3) Given the spread in certain states now and the lack of mask laws in those states, did NY have it right all along, even if the enforcement was done horribly?

My position has been and continues to be - open up everything with some restrictions that have a very high ROI. Possible examples would be no massive events and masks in high traffic areas like groceries as well as protecting the vulnerable.

I don't think it's wrong to allow people to pretty much get back to normal even if it means a spike in cases as long as it doesn't overwhelm the hospital system. If people want to be more cautious they're more than welcome and maybe even encouraged.

[S209]

My position has been and continues to be - open up everything with some restrictions that have a very high ROI. Possible examples would be no massive events and masks in high traffic areas like groceries as well as protecting the vulnerable.

+1

[Lurker]

My position has been and continues to be - open up everything with some restrictions that have a very high ROI. Possible examples would be no massive events and masks in high traffic areas like groceries as well as protecting the vulnerable.

I don't think it's wrong to allow people to pretty much get back to normal even if it means a spike in cases as long as it doesn't overwhelm the hospital system. If people want to be more cautious they're more than welcome and maybe even encouraged.

AZ is almost at hospital capacity. If NY had gone back to normal 6 weeks ago, given the rate of infection spread we're seeing in open states, you don't think NY hospitals would have been overrun?

[S209]

AZ is almost at hospital capacity. If NY had gone back to normal 6 weeks ago, given the rate of infection spread we're seeing in open states, you don't think NY hospitals would have been overrun?

Likely not. A very large percentage of people have antibodies, and many of the more vulnerable would stay vigilant as they have been.

[avromie7]

AZ is almost at hospital capacity. If NY had gone back to normal 6 weeks ago, given the rate of infection spread we're seeing in open states, you don't think NY hospitals would have been overrun?

If this would have been done smart from the beginning and opened up 6-8 weeks ago, I would be ok with some more restrictions being returned for a short while if the spread gets too bad. At this point I don't want any government power grabbing regardless of why or how important they claim it is.

I don't know the specifics of AZ, but keep in mind 20%+ of NYC already got the virus by then, that's a significant portion of the population that is no longer susceptible.

[B.D.Da'ehu]

If this would have been done smart from the beginning and opened up 6-8 weeks ago, I would be ok with some more restrictions being returned for a short while if the spread gets too bad. At this point I don't want any government power grabbing regardless of why or how important they claim it is.

As I've said before. Why would you not make an educated and responsible decision? Blaming authorities is great, but to use that as a reason not to listen to any restrictions "regardless of why or how important they claim it is" seems to be stupid and childish.

[avromie7]

As I've said before. Why would you not make an educated and responsible decision? Blaming authorities is great, but to use that as a reason not to listen to any restrictions "regardless of why or how important they claim it is" seems to be stupid and childish.

I would make my own decision based on the circumstances, we learnt the hard way not to allow the government to decide for us.

[S209]

I would make my own decision based on the circumstances, we learnt the hard way not to allow the government to decide for us.

You learned the hard way, or you felt that way all along and are now using confirmation bias to reach a conclusion you already had?

[avromie7]

You learned the hard way, or you felt that way all along and are now using confirmation bias to reach a conclusion you already had?

There was a time I believed the shutdown was a good idea.

I hope that answers your question.

[S209]

There was a time I believed the shutdown was a good idea.

I hope that answers your question.

If true it does

[PlatinumGuy]

Super-spreader event at an Oregon church infected 236 people

https://apnews.com/b2d7a8af05e862dc3e1d1c3d0cf0afd0

[CountValentine]

They going to blame this on increased testing?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/icu-beds-in-short-supply-across-florida-as-state-struggles-with-coronavirus-spike/ar-BB15G4qS?li=BBnb7Kz

[S209]

They going to blame this on increased testing?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/icu-beds-in-short-supply-across-florida-as-state-struggles-with-coronavirus-spike/ar-BB15G4qS?li=BBnb7Kz

No no, those are all people giving birth in the ICU who happened to test positive for COVID. They’re being hospitalized with COVID, not from COVID.

/s

[CountValentine]

No no, those are all people giving birth in the ICU who happened to test positive for COVID. They’re being hospitalized with COVID, not from COVID.

/s

Thanks for clearing that up. 
For the last couple of weeks all I heard was all the new cases are because of the great job they are doing with testing.

[avromie7]

They going to blame this on increased testing?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/icu-beds-in-short-supply-across-florida-as-state-struggles-with-coronavirus-spike/ar-BB15G4qS?li=BBnb7Kz

No no, those are all people giving birth in the ICU who happened to test positive for COVID. They’re being hospitalized with COVID, not from COVID.

/s

What capacity do they normally operate at?

[PlatinumGuy]

Thanks for clearing that up. 
For the last couple of weeks all I heard was all the new cases are because of the great job they are doing with testing.

Watch the RNC getting moved again and Florida flipping blue.

[Lurker]

What capacity do they normally operate at?

As of April 7, they had a little over 40% available.

[Lurker]

Watch the RNC getting moved again and Florida flipping blue.

Regardless of the RNC being here or not, there is a real chance of the flip happening.