BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[Larry]

45 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

In the car game, we basically emptied the clip on spiffs and bonuses to keep our staff healthy, intact and well-compensated over the last year.   And there was some PPP involved, but not that much.

 

Very few got sick.

Nobody died.
We didn’t spend a whole lot of time talking about anybody being “selfish”.

This March was the 3rd most profitable month since 2009.  Folks got PAID.

 

Anyway, find good people and pay them.  Watch what happens.

 

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

The hospital where roommate works has been told that well, cancelling all elective procedures because it wasn't safe caused the hospital to lose money last year.  Therefore all of the staff's normal annual raises are cancelled for the next year.  

 

At a time when the nurses are also having extra work dumped on them, because they're short of nurses.  A nationwide shortage.  

[Larry]

Deleted.  Beaten to it.  

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Larry

[Springfield]

1 hour ago, Hersh said:

 

Let me address one thing too. The reason I mentioned reflecting on it is because the expectations here are high for the both of you. I think 90% of the people here are thoughtful compassionate people so that's my expectation. If I see a take that seems out of line from what I know about one of you totally anonymous friends, I will say something. 

I was speculating too and you are right, we should wait and see what is wanted. I'm hoping that the government is a bit proactive on that front. Would be a nice change. Hell, just waive all their taxes for a couple years plus a little student debt relief and it's done. 

I do try to be compassionate.

 

I have no problem with nurses getting special privileges or accommodations during this, or as a result of this. I do have a problem with the threat of refusing to work if certain demands are not met.

 

I hope this is all just an exercise in thought and nothing ever comes of it and we can go along thinking that nurses are great for what they’ve done and the sacrifices that they’ve made.

[TheGreatBuzz]

 

For what its worth, military gets Hazardous Duty pay, Imminent Danger pay, and other special pays based on situations.  Don’t know if that affects anyone’s views.

[China]

Michigan’s outbreak worries scientists. Will conservative outposts keep pandemic rolling?

 

When Kathryn Watkins goes shopping these days, she doesn’t bring her three young children. There are just too many people not wearing masks in her southern Michigan town of Hillsdale.

At some stores, “not even the employees are wearing them anymore,” said Watkins, who estimates about 30% of shoppers wear masks, down from around 70% earlier in the pandemic. “There’s a complete disregard for the very real fact that they could wind up infecting someone.”

 

Her state tops the nation by far in the rate of new COVID cases, a sharp upward trajectory that has more than two dozen hospitals in the state nearing 90% capacity.

 

Michigan’s outbreak could be an anomaly or a preview of what will happen in the nation as it emerges from the pandemic. Will pockets of COVID denialism and vaccine resistance like that in Hillsdale — where the local college newspaper ran an opinion piece against the shots — serve as reservoirs for a wily virus, which will resurface to cause outbreaks in nearby cities and states?

 

“That’s a million-dollar question right now,” said Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs for the National Association of County and City Health Officials. “Whatever is going on there could happen in other places, especially as things start to reopen.”

 

Some public health experts are alarmed: “In more rural or conservative communities where COVID denialism and the behavior that comes with that is coupled with vaccine hesitancy, you’re less likely to get vaccinated and more likely to do things that spread the virus,” said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the former executive director of the Detroit Health Department and now a senior fellow at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

 

Multiple factors contributed to Michigan’s outbreak — El-Sayed calls it “a cauldron of bad dynamics.” But its magnitude is unparalleled, even as other states are also seeing increases, attributed in part to challenges like pandemic fatigue and political and economic pressure to fully reopen.

 

Deaths from COVID in Michigan are up 219% since March 9, weekly state data shows. Hospital admissions are increasing, affecting a growing number of young people. Positive test rates are at their highest levels since last April. Dozens of outbreaks, including clusters related to youth sports, K-12 schools and colleges, are ongoing. If there is any good news, it’s that the proportion of deaths among those 60 and older is declining, which is attributed to a high vaccination rate among that age group.

 

Fueling the trajectory in Michigan, experts say, are a highly contagious variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, known as B 1.1.7; public mobility returning to pre-pandemic levels; and optimism about vaccine rollout, leading people to drop their guard. The state, like some others, also loosened restrictions in March, allowing more people inside restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TradeTheBeal!]

Friend in Bogota tells me that ICU capacity is at 90+%, all sporting events are cancelled until mid-May and an 8PM curfew starts tonight.  
 

Edited April 26, 2021 by TryTheBeal!

[China]

A third of the passengers on a flight from New Delhi tested positive for COVID-19 — now experts are debating the risks of pandemic travel

 

Rashida Fathima’s anxiety levels spiked as she boarded the red-eye flight from New Delhi to Hong Kong with her family. Covid-19 cases were surging in India, and the plane was packed almost to capacity.

 

Within two weeks of landing, Mrs. Fathima, her husband and two children tested positive for the coronavirus at their quarantine hotel. More than a third of the passengers on flight UK6395 — 52 so far — have tested positive, the most from any plane arriving in the city. The cluster is stirring debate among health experts in Hong Kong over how they got infected, and highlights the struggle facing the aviation industry as it seeks to get people traveling again.

 

Speaking from the hospital, Mrs. Fathima said she feared her family picked up the infections on the April 3 journey, despite wearing masks almost the entire time and avoiding using the restrooms on board.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

3 hours ago, Springfield said:

I do have a problem with the threat of refusing to work if certain demands are not met.

 

Just out of curiosity, are all workers forbidden from attempting to negotiate the terms of their employment, or just some?  

 

Is there a rule somewhere that says that when the commodity that's being negotiated over, is me, then the negotiation consists entirely of "Take this or leave it"?  (And "not take it" isn't an option, either?)  

[Larry]

2 hours ago, China said:

Will conservative outposts keep pandemic rolling?

 

[China]

3 minutes ago, Larry said:

 

 

That's not the woods.

[visionary]

 

[GhostofSparta]

6 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

When should they demand changes and what should they do if things don't change?  

Look, it's really very simple:
 

-Don't take any action or demand changes before there's a peak demand for your services. At that point, you're clearly not worth the changes you're demanding.

-Don't take any action or demand changes during the peak of demand for your services. At that point, you're just selfish and holding people hostage with your selfishness.

-Don't take any action or demand changes after the peak of demand for your services. At that point, you've proven you don't actually need what you're demanding because you've been able to make do without it. Plus, if you try to cash in after you've selflessly sacrificed to make sure people don't suffer/die, then I'll assume you're just selfish and suddenly have to stop supporting you for this reason. You made me do it, really.

 

TL:DR-Never.

 

Does that clear things up for you?

[Springfield]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

 

Just out of curiosity, are all workers forbidden from attempting to negotiate the terms of their employment, or just some?  

 

Is there a rule somewhere that says that when the commodity that's being negotiated over, is me, then the negotiation consists entirely of "Take this or leave it"?  (And "not take it" isn't an option, either?)  

Well, if that worker is using a once in a century oddity to attempt to negotiate their terms of employment then I’d think they were in the wrong.

[visionary]

 

[Dan T.]

 

 

 

Here's David and Leila Centner, owners of the Centner Academy.

 

[visionary]

 

[visionary]

 

[China]

Meet the Anti-Mask Michigan ‘Scientist’ Stoking the Fourth Wave

 

By the time Kristen Meghan Kelly, a 38-year-old Michigan mom and self-described “health freedom advocate,” hit record on her phone’s camera, the confrontation outside the Hudsonville School Board meeting was in full swing.

 

In a 22-minute video from April 15 that has been shared widely on Facebook, Kelly explains that she’s been denied entry to the public meeting despite what she says is a “medically recognized” disability and PTSD diagnosis that prevents her from wearing a mask. When another parent questions that explanation, she switches tack and launches into a “science”-based assault on masking.

 

“I am actually an exposure scientist,” Kelly says to the other parent, who’s off-screen.

 

“Oh, an exposure scientist,” the parent can be heard saying, as she laughs.

 

“Yes, I’m an industrial hygienist, and I actually travel around the country testifying in front of governors. I’ve opened up Texas and North Dakota,” Kelly says.

 

If Kelly has her way, she told The Daily Beast, she’ll also further loosen COVID-19 restrictions in her own state of Michigan—despite a raging outbreak that is testing the state’s hospital system and threatening the lives of more young people than ever before.

 

“We’re not going to stay silent,” Kelly said.

 

Although parents at the school board meeting may have laughed off her credentials, Kelly has enjoyed an increasingly robust platform in anti-mask circles in recent weeks. And this activism, public health officials fear, could cause big problems—especially in Michigan, which has become the country’s worst COVID hotspot.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

Mother ****er, can't you wait a bit longer?

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by visionary

[just654]

Hogan lifting the outside mandate is in line with CDC. Don’t see a problem with it at all.

[Larry]

9 minutes ago, just654 said:

Hogan lifting the outside mandate is in line with CDC. Don’t see a problem with it at all.

Pretty sure the CDC guidelines mentioned small groups, of vaccinated people. 

[tshile]

Re: nurses

 

there’s a lot going on there and if you’re a regular there’s a good chance you read some of my rants at the start of the pandemic. 
 

it’s hard to have the conversation without discussing details you cannot discuss in public. 
 

there are valid gripes from some awesome nurses. There are bull**** gripes from some pathetic nurses. Some of the valid gripes are caused by the pathetic nurses. Some of it is on the administration side - either poor decisions or no balls to stand up for the right thing. 
 

I would have fired a lot of people. Or at least, as many as it took for the rest to realize this isn’t highschool and no one has the time to **** around with you. 
 

others deserve a damn medal. 
 

it’s complicated and unless you lived it through the pandemic it’s hard to imagine how you could really understand because you’re missing at least 50% of the picture. 
 

I’d love something somewhere to turn up public as an example. 
 

until then - just keep in mind there a lot going on that’s not being said. 

[just654]

4 minutes ago, Larry said:

Pretty sure the CDC guidelines mentioned small groups, of vaccinated people. 

Yes, and in the press conference he stated that small groups with unvaccinated should still where the mask. At some point we have to move forward. This is a starting point and in line with CDC guidance. Transmission outside is way less.

[tshile]

9 minutes ago, just654 said:

At some point we have to move forward.

That’s exactly what we’re doing. Moving forward

 

schools are opening back up for more days for more children. Mask mandates are being relaxed. Vaccine numbers look solid (minus the “hesitancy” crowd), venues are opening back up - hell I’m headed to Denver to see Rezz at red rocks end of summer and my wife and I feel completely safe about it (and she was meeting weekly with cdc officials on covid so she’s kinda in the know of things and has been from the start)

 

what we need is patience and recognition of the crisis we just went through. 
 

and some understanding that “back to normal” is a thing for many of us but for a number of people their life was seriously damaged from the economic impact and we need to start figuring out how bad that is and what to do about it. 

[just654]

That is what I am saying. Is not like Hogan relaxed the masks indoors. It’s outside it is a step in the right direction. I don’t understand the outrage.