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You put it correctly, as in a big IF. Right now without federal government assistance, state and local authorities are reluctant to push for restrictions that would strongly affect the economy, so not much is going to change there. Also, it is obvious that there is a large portion of the population that aren't taking universal precautions for a number of reasons and not much is going to change there either until the horrors of the disease personally affects them.

The infectious disease specialist at our local hospital told staff earlier this week that if the public doesn't begin doing a better job of taking precautions soon, the cases will begin to double every week. Sounds like a little bit of a stretch.Thoughts?

Where is Congress is the ultimate question? They're playing political games while the whole country suffers. Trump actually (at least publicly) asked for Congress to write up a relief package. His problem is that he has lost any political clout he had with Republicans in the Senate, while they cat fight with Pelosi. Not that a relief package would fix the pandemic, but it would sure as hell make it easier for people to shelter-in-place and keep some small businesses open.

Concerning an earlier discussion about the logistics of moving quantities of the vaccine at -95°, I spoke with the local health department today and it is going to be a problem, as there is already a shortage of dry ice. Also, their latest projections are for the Pfizer vaccines to be available to healthcare workers by late December and long-term care facilities either then or shortly after. Locally, these will be administered by local hospitals, IF they can get resources needed to keep the vaccine at the needed temperature. Hopes are that the Moderna vaccine will be approved and it will be made available to the general population after the front line workers and high risk are inoculated. After that occurs, local health departments (at least in this area) will set up points of distribution for mass inoculations, based on availability. Very detailed plans are already being put together for this event. All of that being said, it is being planned with the anticipation that the vaccines will be approved for release and that no hiccups occur. EDIT: Oh, and I spoke with the local hospital's safety director and all of this regional hospital's facilities are basically full. There are still ICU beds available, but the general population beds are packed.

Well, the overflow in rural hospitals has begun in this area. A friend who is the the head of safety at the local hospital called our Agency Friday about accessing some dividers. Tomorrow I'm going to help him move some beds from the nursing school at the local university to the hospital to squeeze in more patients. And this is just the beginning.

After case numbers began to rise dramatically in Europe, England and France shut down pubs, restaurants, gyms. Also, Germany and Spain performed targeted shutdowns in hotspots. This New York Times graph shows the effectiveness of these actions compared to the U.S. Their governments are providing economic aid to soften the blow. Meanwhile, a political health vs. economy stare-down is occurring in the U.S., and cases are skyrocketing. As long as Washington remains in a deadlock, the pandemic will rage on and eventually the economy will take a huge hit anyway. I say that because people who follow the science will refrain from shopping and eating out more than necessary. As the anti maskers get sick or see their relatives get sick, they will slowly realize that this is a serious situation, as their numbers dwindle due to illness and death. This is on top of businesses who can't keep enough employees to operate due to illness to the employees and their families. It will be made worse due to inadequate medical attention because the medical profession is being overwhelmed. Not only will illness outstrip their capacity, those in the medical field will also be depleted due to illness and burnout. Therefore, I feel the only way to stop a catastrophic outcome is for the government to close restaurants, gyms, bars, etc., along with Washington once again providing some economic aid to businesses and individuals. Everyday that this does not occur brings the U.S. closer to economic collapse.

I've received flu shots every year for 20 years and every year my body reacts differently, from just a little sore around the injection point to full-blown flu symptoms (non debilitating). As you know, each year they pick the strains they think are going to be most prevalent in the upcoming winter to include in the vaccine. Since everybody's immune system is unique, each person's symptoms will vary in response in a particular year's strain of vaccine and I'm sure it will be the same with the covid vaccine.

I don't like the way Indiana has determined county-by-county restrictions using the metrics map, which uses the 7-day positivity rate and cases per 100,000 people in each county. Namely, the arbitrary number limits of people allowed to gather in social settings. A particular head-scratcher is that churches are exempt. Does that mean as a Christian, I'm immune? Just joking, but why is it okay to have more people in a church than, say, a business or restaurant? If the government is really serious about stopping the spread and are sold out on the restrictions, then make it a blanket restriction and not play footsies with certain entities.

I got tested 2 weeks ago and got my results in 2 1/2 days. I just got tested again yesterday morning and they said that due to an increase in the number of tests to not expect my results for 4-6 days. I got tested a second time due to exposures to two people last week who are positive.

OOhhh, Hoosier with a winter prediction.

Because it won't be widely available in a couple of months. The first batches will go to front-line workers (health care, first responders,etc.). Then it will sent to long-term care facilities and other high risk groups, then law enforcement, fire, dispatchers. During that time, mass production will be ramping up and I don't look for wide distribution until April at the earliest. Secondly, even though early tests are encouraging, it's true efficacy it still unknown.

I'm tired of it too. Imagine the chaos, the massive number of illnesses and deaths, if everyone ignored the science like these guys.

I see that North Carolina is bumping up against 3,000 new cases a day, higher than the spring. Meanwhile, their neighbors to the north instituted a mandate of no gatherings larger than 10 people. The paradise of the Southeast is not looking much better than the rest of the country at present.

I'm an old fart, so I remember the old daytime Jeopardy. I thought the same thing when the show was resurrected after Art Fleming was the host until 1975. If you get a chance, you should find a You Tube of the old show from the 60's - 70's. EDIT: Here is final old Jeopardy

Yes, I thought the same. They are still going to air all of the shows he taped. I believe that takes it up to around Christmas.

Locally, our tests have a 48-72 hour turnaround. I don't think that's bad considering the numbers being tested. Also, in Indiana, I can get tested daily if I so desire. However, I don't know how government can force frequent testing. A percentage of the population won't even wear a mask. Do you think people with that mindset will agree to the government requiring frequent testing?

This is water under the bridge. Pointing fingers now is a waste of time, but the CDC and Fauci were throttled by the White House. I watched several of the briefings, and after Fauci spoke strongly on multiple occasions, the President would blow him off, attempt to minimize what he said, and in fact got pissed with him. Anyway, like I said, too late now. I would love to see the CDC be released to do their job the way it should have been done in the first place.

The large Northeast IN regional hospital (including seven satellite hospitals) I mentioned in an earlier post is at 81% capacity (1,067 total beds), which equates to 203 beds available. I couldn't find the number of ICU beds, but they do have 163 "special care" beds, which I would assume most of which are ICU beds. Anyway, they have 30 ICU beds available. It's not going to take many more serious cases and there's going to be trouble. I'm not only speaking from a healthcare standpoint, but also a financial one. Most of the area businesses and and industries utilizes PPOs and HMOs for their employees and use this large regional hospital. If they can't get a bed, a patient will have to go out of network (if they can find an open bed)for treatment, which would result in much higher patient costs. There are only three other hospitals in this 10 county area, one large, one medium, and one small one.

This may have already been mentioned, but local health departments are being overwhelmed in attempting to conduct contact tracing. I'm speaking of rural counties in Northeast IN and Northwest OH. Many have just about given up due to the shear numbers. That alone shows that it is beginning to spiral out of control.

I was once again in Wal Mart a few minutes ago, and once again counted 27 people without masks in 6 minutes, probably the same people who will scream the loudest when restrictions are reinstated. Look people, it's simple: If you want to continue to go shopping and keep the economy going, wear a damn mask. I need to stop shopping there. It will get me banned from here.

I went to a test site last Thursday in the late afternoon and got my negative result on Sunday morning (2 1/2 days).

Wow, seven of the top 11 in new cases. Oh, and we can't leave KY out at No. 16

I was speaking with the safety director of a large regional hospital today and they are getting concerned with the growing numbers and in fact two of the smaller hospitals are full.

My next door neighbor had to be hospitalized last night due to difficulty breathing. He tested positive and was symptomatic. He is 59 and fairly healthy other than he was a smoker, but quit less than a year ago.

Most of our subforum is not faring well, but almost all of the southern 2/3s of Wisconsin with over 56 per 100,000 daily cases, wow.