How Is Covid-19 Impacting Life in Your City?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by someone123

One of the telltale signs a lot of people are being irrational is the vaccines drop the risk of serious illness by maybe 10-30x but that hasn't changed the outlook for a lot of them.

^ People are idiots. You're allowed to say it

[someone123]

Another aspect of this is that Canada publishes data on the border crossings. The positivity for fully-vaccinated border crossers lately has been a little under 0.2%. In other words, 500 PCR tests must be done to find 1 positive. That's $75,000 at current prices around here.

(Meanwhile in BC we do ~0 random PCR testing of the population that isn't crossing borders. We don't act as if catching 1 positive is worth $75,000.)

People will say "yeah but that person could be the next superspreader!". Sure. But what are the probabilities? If it's 1 in 20 superspreaders you're spending $1.5M per superspreader prevented (N.B. 1 ICU trip is $50,000). This seems like implausibly high odds given vaccination and all the other measures in place; I'd guess that a lot of vaccinated people transmit to 0 others. A trucker coming up then going back might be in that category. Furthermore the PCR test doesn't necessarily catch somebody at peak infectiousness; some won't be infectious at all.

This post of a few facts from the government and mild calls for more rationality/risk calculations would probably be quite controversial in the Canada covid thread.

[Acajack]

One thing about the vaccination app is you always have to remember to keep your phone charged up.

[woodrow]

Originally Posted by 10023

How do you get this if you’re not from New York and were vaccinated elsewhere (in the US and/or abroad)?

Go to the App Store. To be clear, this does not verify that what a person uploads is not false, it is simply a place to put a pic of your ID, vax card, and multiple covid tests. It is simple because it is all there, in one place.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by someone123

Another aspect of this is that Canada publishes data on the border crossings. The positivity for fully-vaccinated border crossers lately has been a little under 0.2%. In other words, 500 PCR tests must be done to find 1 positive. That's $75,000 at current prices around here.

(Meanwhile in BC we do ~0 random PCR testing of the population that isn't crossing borders. We don't act as if catching 1 positive is worth $75,000.)

People will say "yeah but that person could be the next superspreader!". Sure. But what are the probabilities? If it's 1 in 20 superspreaders you're spending $1.5M per superspreader prevented (N.B. 1 ICU trip is $50,000). This seems like implausibly high odds given vaccination and all the other measures in place; I'd guess that a lot of vaccinated people transmit to 0 others. A trucker coming up then going back might be in that category. Furthermore the PCR test doesn't necessarily catch somebody at peak infectiousness; some won't be infectious at all.

This post of a few facts from the government and mild calls for more rationality/risk calculations would probably be quite controversial in the Canada covid thread.

I’ve definitely seen a lot of increased calls to eliminate the test.

It’s extra silly as flights to Canada have vaccine mandates on them now so literally everyone walking through a Canadian airport is vaccinated.. what’s the point then? Even the land border has the US requiring proof of vaccination, meaning that unless you have been in the US since before the reopening of the border, you will have to have been vaccinated. So why are we forcing travellers to spend insane amounts of money and risk to test fully vaccinated individuals?

The whole thing is stupid. And people are starting to figure it out, I imagine once November 8 rolls around the pressure will really mount to eliminate the requirement.

I’m planning a winter vacation to California in March, I hope the testing requirement is lifted by then. I’ll do it if I have to, but it’ll be a giant pain. Otherwise it’ll be weekend visits to Michigan where I can grab my test in Canada on the Friday before I go. Still annoying but not the end of the world.

[mrnyc]

known euro rise:

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/...-covid-global/

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by 10023

Eventually we just have to stop caring if people have Covid. Get vaccinated and there’s a 99.99% chance you’ll be fine (as opposed to the 98.7% chance pre-vaccination). If you’re very old it’s another thing to worry about, but we’re all going to die. Enough already.

no.

absolutely fey, blithe and incorrect.

the truth is common sense — get vaxxed, wear your mask indoors around others, stop your unmasked whining and spreading disease, stop your murdering and making others sick as you likely have, and quit being a burden on public healthcare costs. oh and stop larping.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

no.

absolutely fey, blithe and incorrect.

the truth is common sense — get vaxxed, wear your mask indoors around others, stop your unmasked whining and spreading disease, stop your murdering and making others sick as you likely have, and quit being a burden on public healthcare costs. oh and stop larping.

None of this post sounds to me like common sense. Just a cranky man yelling

[10023]

Originally Posted by woodrow

Go to the App Store. To be clear, this does not verify that what a person uploads is not false, it is simply a place to put a pic of your ID, vax card, and multiple covid tests. It is simple because it is all there, in one place.

Ok, but no one outside of the US has a “vax card”. They’ve got a QR code or an email or a letter or something.

[10023]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

no.

absolutely fey, blithe and incorrect.

the truth is common sense — get vaxxed, wear your mask indoors around others, stop your unmasked whining and spreading disease, stop your murdering and making others sick as you likely have, and quit being a burden on public healthcare costs. oh and stop larping.

I’m vaccinated. That’s all I will do. I’m not continuing to wear a mask indoors forever. If someone else is unvaccinated, that is their own problem.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by 10023

Ok, but no one outside of the US has a “vax card”. They’ve got a QR code or an email or a letter or something.

Right. The problem is there isn't a "standardized" QR code, or app yet that is universally accepted. Coming to France, I had to sign up for their QR/app. Heading to Spain next week, and I have to sign up for theirs too.

I know that there's an EU-wide one, but I haven't checked in a while on if US folks can sign up for that.

Again, it would be nice if there was just one app everyone could use, but then again, we've only had the vaccines for less than a year, so I'm not surprised we are still sorting all of this out.....

[10023]

Originally Posted by twister244

Right. The problem is there isn't a "standardized" QR code, or app yet that is universally accepted. Coming to France, I had to sign up for their QR/app. Heading to Spain next week, and I have to sign up for theirs too.

I know that there's an EU-wide one, but I haven't checked in a while on if US folks can sign up for that.

Again, it would be nice if there was just one app everyone could use, but then again, we've only had the vaccines for less than a year, so I'm not surprised we are still sorting all of this out.....

If you have the French one it will work in Spain. And you don’t need it in Spain except for nightclubs and music venues (I am there now).

The French one also works in Italy, but if you go to a restaurant or bar in Italy there’s about a 1 in 5 chance they actually check it. I love the Italians.

[eschaton]

Son (eight) had a COVID scare this week, which effed up the last two days.

Sunday he started having a runny nose, which then advanced into a cough and a sore throat. No fever, just minor cold symptoms.

In the morning on Monday, he was still the same. We gave him a home COVID test, which came out negative, but school protocol requires a test from a medical provider, so I had to take him to the pediatrician for a PCR test around 8:30. He stayed home, watched cartoons, and napped, while my wife and I both worked from home, contemplating what it would be like if we needed to do this for the next 2-3 weeks.

Tuesday he was feeling better, and we managed to fix the firewall on his school-issued laptop so he could participate in school virtually. I went into work because I had things that needed to be printed out/mailed, while my wife worked from home. Getting him into class was challenging, because we knew all the systems last year during virtual school, but they don't have good protocols established for just dialing in to in-person classes. By the middle of the day we got back the negative test result. Printed it out, and sent it in with him this morning.

I hope I don't get called to pick him up. Technically school protocol says "symptom free for 24 hours" and he still does have a very mild cough (like he coughs once every 30 minutes).

[the urban politician]

^ We had a similar issue with our kids last week.

My wife (also a doctor) mutually agreed on this sad fact:

We were both more scared about our kid testing positive for COVID and its implications on him being forced to isolate at home, and us having to figure out childcare, than on the actual implications of COVID making him sick.

That's how silly and overwrought our dealing with this disease in children has become. It is a disease that is so relatively harmless to children that the heavy handed interventions are more damaging and scary than the disease itself.

[Steely Dan]

i've already had to deal with the "young child with runny nose or cough so you have to get them a PCR test and then wait 2 days for result before you can send them back to school" 5 times so far this school year (3x for my daughter, 2x for my son).

my kids have seasonal allergy issues every fucking fall and spring. keeping them home from school for 2 days every single goddamn time they have a runny nose or mild cough is simply untenable.

it would be nice if our stupid fucking planet would find a way to rediscover its damn mind.

but i fear that the "we must never let anyone anywhere ever get sick again" fear mongers have won.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it would be nice if our stupid fucking planet would find a way to rediscover its damn mind.

It will when enough people wake up to how stupid this all is and start demanding some return to common sense.

[10023]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Son (eight) had a COVID scare this week, which effed up the last two days.

Sunday he started having a runny nose, which then advanced into a cough and a sore throat. No fever, just minor cold symptoms.

In the morning on Monday, he was still the same. We gave him a home COVID test, which came out negative, but school protocol requires a test from a medical provider, so I had to take him to the pediatrician for a PCR test around 8:30. He stayed home, watched cartoons, and napped, while my wife and I both worked from home, contemplating what it would be like if we needed to do this for the next 2-3 weeks.

Tuesday he was feeling better, and we managed to fix the firewall on his school-issued laptop so he could participate in school virtually. I went into work because I had things that needed to be printed out/mailed, while my wife worked from home. Getting him into class was challenging, because we knew all the systems last year during virtual school, but they don't have good protocols established for just dialing in to in-person classes. By the middle of the day we got back the negative test result. Printed it out, and sent it in with him this morning.

I hope I don't get called to pick him up. Technically school protocol says "symptom free for 24 hours" and he still does have a very mild cough (like he coughs once every 30 minutes).

This is not a “Covid scare”, this is a “ridiculously overbearing school district scare”.

Do they expect people to go through all this BS every time a kid has a cough now? Jesus Christ.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i've already had to deal with the "young child with runny nose or cough so you have to get them a PCR test and then wait 2 days for result before you can send them back to school" 5 times so far this school year (3x for my daughter, 2x for my son).

my kids have seasonal allergy issues every fucking fall and spring. keeping them home from school for 2 days every single goddamn time they have a runny nose or mild cough is simply untenable.

it would be nice if our stupid fucking planet would find a way to rediscover its damn mind.

but i fear that the "we must never let anyone anywhere ever get sick again" fear mongers have won.

Question answered, I guess.

But no, we cannot let them win. And I think the majority are on the other side. We just need to keep telling the obsessives, like some of our fellow SSP forumers, to go pound sand (or lock themselves in the basement if they prefer).

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by 10023

Do they expect people to go through all this BS every time a kid has a cough now? Jesus Christ.

yes, they do.

and it's fucking insanity.

young children have runny noses and/or mild coughs for like 20% of their existence up until around age 10 or so. it's called developing an immune system.

but apparently we're going to try to legislate good old fashioned childhood runny noses out of existence because the world has lost its damn mind.



newsflash dipshits of planet earth: a 100% risk-free world is completely impossible.

life IS risk.

[JManc]

It's not just kids. My wife had a couple sniffles and colds over the past year and she wasn't allowed back in the office until she submitted a negative PCR test. Covid has highlighted the stupidity of bureaucracy not too mention the fucking morons in charge.