DeltaT13

I disagree. Hand sanitizer is around every turn. I use it a dozen times a day (just out of habit now). There are probably 50 hand sanitization stations in my work place. It's at the entrance to every store. Peoples hands are probably the cleanest they've ever been. All I see everywhere are people cleaning their hands. If anything I feel like people are completely underestimating normal talking, that's what is spreading this. Not coughing, not sneezing, just regular old conversation.

Not completely, but I think it means that this mode of transmission accounts for a miniscule amount of spread. I have kind of agreed with this since the beginning. Surfaces are not virus friendly, and each touch inherently has less of the virus on it as some is left behind, some is destroyed, and some is transferred to a new surface. I try my best to not touch my eyes and mouth with my hands these days which I'm sure also helps in the rare circumstance that I have enough on my hands to cause an issue. Additionally, I would expect it takes more virus to get infected via your eyes or mouth than via inhalation.

From the article: At present, health authorities recognize three vehicles of coronavirus transmission: the small droplets from speaking or coughing, which can end up in the eyes, mouth or nose of people standing nearby; contaminated surfaces (fomites), although the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that this is the least likely way to catch the virus, a conclusion backed by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (ECDC) observation that not a single case of fomite-caused Covid-19 has been observed; then finally, there is transmission by aerosols – the inhalation of invisible infectious particles exhaled by an infected person that, once leaving the mouth, behave in a similar way to smoke. Without ventilation, aerosols remain suspended in the air and become increasingly dense as time passes.

Thought this was an interesting article. Be smart as we migrate indoors for the long winter. https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-10-28/a-room-a-bar-and-a-class-how-the-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html

There is certainly a lot of pain coming down the tracks but nowhere near the fear mongering scenario you just typed out. The whole world is in this mess together. If this was somehow just a US problem I might agree with you, but the US is literally too big to fail at this point. If we go down, everyone goes down, and that just isnt happening....

Agree, Trump takes Florida and PA but loses popular vote by nearly 10 million votes this time around.

I got my first antibody test in May at Well Now. It was a very smooth and well run process. https://wellnow.com/ This test was covered in full under the CARES act. I'm not sure if that is still how it works. Even without the CARES act, this is what I'm finding online "COVID-19 tests are available at no cost nationwide at health centers and select pharmacies. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensures that COVID-19 testing is free to anyone in the U.S., including the uninsured. Additional testing sites may be available in your area." My second antibody test and nose swab occured when I was admitted to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy in Late July.

While it doesnt sound fun to be tested weekly, the alternative hasnt exactly been a picnic and things appear to be spiraling into uncharted territory as we speak. In a perfect scenario, weekly testing could potentially knock this thing out in 6-8 weeks, so it's not like we would have been testing everyone forever. For the record, I've had two antibody tests and one nose swab so far. Can confirm the nose swab is no fun but only takes 10 seconds. Negative on all 3.

You say we are missing key points and then make a summary that basically says we should be testing more and testing is probably the key to beating this thing. We appear to be in agreement. Not sure why you can't just say "yeah, more testing would be good"....thats the gist of it.

Alright, just checking to see where you stand. If the government told me in February that a new virus was spreading and it was hard to spot because it sometimes spreads asymptomatically, therefore they would begin an aggressive plan to test each American as frequently as possible with the end goal of testing every available US citizen once a week until things were under control I would have felt very relieved to know there was a plan and they were on top of things. I don't see why Americans would have been against that. If the government offered that plan in lieu of shut downs, who wouldnt be onboard. Testing is and always will be the best option for managing this virus in its first year. And testing has been pretty poor thus far.

Do you believe we've been testing too much? Do you think testing is the only reason we have cases? Do you think 132 million tests is an impressive feat over 7 months from one of the most powerful nations on earth? Do you see testing as a way to get a better grip on the situation or do you think testing is bad and creating the problem?

Yeah, why would the US want get behind a cohesive plan that actually addressed the problem and solved it ****Enormous eye roll*** I'm not advocating for tanks rolling down the streets, but we could have enacted the defense protection act to manufacture tests and set up locations for testing. And we could have at least had a leader that didnt want to bury the issue instead of facing it head on. Who gives a **** how many cases we have, just start finding them and fix the problem.

Lockdowns aren’t necessary if we had a leader that didn’t think testing was the enemy. Testing is the solution. From day 1, there should have been a full scale military style effort to establish mass testing across the country. We should have developed a way to test at least 100 million people per week coast to coast. Test test test. Set up every available facility to test and create a system where it’s somewhat random to weed out the completely symptom free spreaders. Once you find positive case you lock them down for 10-14 days or hospitalize them Testing and contact tracing could beat this thing in 6 weeks if we didn’t have a moron hell bent on trying to keep the numbers low and denying we have a crisis. 7 months in and we have only tested 132 million people total?! Roughly one third of this country. Absolutely pathetic. We should be testing the entire country almost once a month by this point. That’s how you beat it.

I feel bad for these stars that get stuck in Buffalo. We just eat up talent and destroy dreams. Eichels whole career is a lost cause in Buffalo, I would love to see him go somewhere and excel.

I mean he just made fun of Biden for wearing a mask.... 11 days ago he said "Coronavirus affects virtually nobody" I mean you have to find a little bit of humor and irony when someone is that ****ing stupid.....I don't want him to die. But you reap what you sow....

These things have been around forever. Takes very special circumstances to be harmed by them though. A few dozen people die from them each year but it’s almost always from swimming in very warm somewhat stagnant water. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boy-contracts-rare-brain-eating-amoeba-article-1.1426134%3foutputType=amp This was a particularly sad one https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/cdc-brain-eating-amoeba-found-at-whitewater-center-after-teens-death-lauren-seitz/ Having them in the water system has happened before in the south and was Identified when people using Neti pots and didn’t boil the water first died from them. You have to ram them up your nose in large numbers to get sick from them, so it’s not an immediate threat to most but definitely concerning never the less. https://www.pharmacist.com/article/brain-eating-amoeba-death-highlights-importance-safe-neti-pot-use It’s made me think twice before jumping into a freshwater pond. Thankfully they haven’t been reported in Upstate NY

In Rochester, some of the gyms are saying that it will be by appointment only. You will reserve a specific block of time for when you can be there. You have to reserve these several days in advance. At least that's how they plan to start back up. We'll see where it goes from there. I've only worked out at home for the past 20 years so no effect on me, but I feel for all my friends who are struggling to find a routine without the gym. I'm hoping things work out for you all.

Tree loss is always so heartbreaking for me to watch. Those trees across the road were probably 50-70 years old. They will never be fully replaced in anyones lifetime living there now. Also, I always picture Derechos as having one very strong push of intense winds followed by lesser gusts. I'm completely amazed to see that this storm had many rounds of severe winds over a 30 minute period. I don't even understand how that happens in a storm like this. I always say I want strong storms, but thats a hard no for something like that. Just devastating...

If the whole country wasnt in such disarray, the Derecho event would be getting a lot more attention. Probably one of the most powerful derechos in our lifetime to ever hit the US. Iowa needs federal assistance big time. https://littlevillagemag.com/caught-in-the-storm-in-cedar-rapids-brian-johannessen/

Doesn’t get much more real than this. Absolutely fierce looking storms/derecho and they are still getting organized!

Well what if all the private mail delivery places went under and folded? Seems like it would be wise to have a backup system in place as mail delivery is about as critical as it gets.

It should be viewed as a service, just like the Navy, the marines, the red cross, etc etc. Why do we expect them or even care if they turn a profit? Our roads and sewer systems don't make any money, but we sure as hell need them and use them. It's time to stop pretending the post office is a business and treat it like the service it is.

It’s actually up 2,400% since Monday. An 8k investment Monday morning would have been $200,000 if you sold it yesterday at its peak.

The post office is actually something affected by; and useful during a pandemic. You can throw funding at them forever and I’ll think it’s money well spent

Didn’t want to imply the dems were innocent. That just happens to be an unsightly budget from the GOP considering the current state of affairs. Millions of people could be evicted because of something completely out of their control. The government has to step up in that situation. Not buy new planes and warships. If there was finally going to be a bill with no extra fat, now is the time to do it.