All 20 Apple Stores in France to Close Again Under Third Lockdown

[RalfTheDog]

And you can thank the brilliant decisions to get the bureaucracy the hell out of the way from the previous administration for even having a vaccine to roll out. That one bright spot is the only one that matters as you basically point out yourself. (BTW, it wouldn't have to be the only bright spot if therapeutics were given any serious consideration from our autocrats.)

First off, the reason the rollout in my state has been so good is, my state has a low population, but it has been given the same number of doses as real states by the federal government. As to therapeutics, Hydroxychloroquine kills more COVID-19 patents than it protects. There are several treatments that work and are being used. Dexamethasone is a fantastic treatment in later stage COVID-19. It works by turning down the immune reaction after it is done taking out the virus, but before it starts eating the patent. Another fantastic treatment is monoclonal antibodies. That treatment is only effective if given very early in the diseases progression. While it is fantastic early, you can't pump enough antibodies into a person to make a difference later in the viruses progression. There are too many virons in the blood and the person's own antibodies would far outnumber the foreign ones. Don't get me started on that plant being promoted by the guy who owns a failed pillow factory.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Lol... well I'd be willing to bet it's not the 500K plus that died here in the US..... You'll be ok.

One of the common symptoms of COVID-19 is a soul crushing depression. The virus does nasty things to your brain chemistry. Your endorphins tend to drop significantly. I a am one of those guys who can drink a bottle of Tabasco for breakfast. When I had the virus, a drop of mild hot sauce would make me feel like I could smelt iron in my mouth. Don't get me started on what the virus does to dopamine and serotonin levels. The nightmares I had were things that should not be talked about in public.

I would say, COVID-19 is quite probably causing a great deal of mental illness without the lockdown.

 

[siddavis]

Curious as to what you believe is an effective strategy in the absence of any vaccine. There seems to be two stark choices:

(a) Starve the virus of opportunity of transmission (lockdown) with the aim of relieving pressure on the health services until such time as a vaccine can reduce the symptoms and maybe suppress transmission.

(b) Let it rip and devil take the hindmost. It remains anyone's guess what the attrition will be with an ineffective and overburdened health service but say between 1-3%, disregarding the collateral damage of the lack of attendance to other ailments like cancer.

Only problem with (b) is that it isn't a simple choice between survival and death. There are numerous walking or not so walking wounded in its wake. Added to the fact that Covid is not a one time hit and there are records of people weathering their first infection tolerably well only to succumb to a second.

And the data for this You are going to have to show us your workings because our experience in Europe is showing the complete opposite.

Again, we are presented with just as you describe, stark choices. Why does a strategy have to be either full brakes with chocks on the wheels, or pedal to the floor with nitrous boosters? No room for a more nuanced and targeted approach? Just like everything else, our handlers have only given us 2 choices, and to have any discussion of anything else is prohibited - you WILL be canceled. This comes from both sides really, but I think we can all agree who controls the levers of discussion in the media and on social platforms.

We are well over a year into this. We were originally told 2 weeks to "flatten the curve". FLATTEN, not eliminate. Health services (including PPE and all the goes with it) HAVE caught up. Long ago, we all did our part to make this happen. Yet we are still told that lockdown is the way... still no real discourse with presentation of data from the authorities. I there is absolutely ZERO discussion about the costs of this type of response - human and economic which of course go hand in hand. Printing money is not a strategy, it is irresponsible.

Data? Here you go: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJr...wNTBlLTExMDUtNDk1ZC1iNzUzLWRhOGRiZTc5MGVmNyJ9

 

[RalfTheDog]

Again, we are presented with just as you describe, stark choices. Why does a strategy have to be either full brakes with chocks on the wheels, or pedal to the floor with nitrous boosters? No room for a more nuanced and targeted approach? Just like everything else, our handlers have only given us 2 choices, and to have any discussion of anything else is prohibited - you WILL be canceled. This comes from both sides really, but I think we can all agree who controls the levers of discussion in the media and on social platforms.

We are well over a year into this. We were originally told 2 weeks to "flatten the curve". FLATTEN, not eliminate. Health services (including PPE and all the goes with it) HAVE caught up. Long ago, we all did our part to make this happen. Yet we are still told that lockdown is the way... still no real discourse with presentation of data from the authorities. I there is absolutely ZERO discussion about the costs of this type of response - human and economic which of course go hand in hand. Printing money is not a strategy, it is irresponsible.

Data? Here you go: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJr...wNTBlLTExMDUtNDk1ZC1iNzUzLWRhOGRiZTc5MGVmNyJ9

Now, we are trying to stop the mutations. In less than two months, we can have this virus effectively gone forever. Vaccinations are going at a fantastic pace. In the last two months, that pace has exploded. The problem is, when you are half vaccinated, that is the time you are most likely to see new resistant variants of the virus pop up. We have taken half the bottle of antibiotics. We are starting to feel better. If we as a people stop taking the treatment, only the strongest, most resistant bugs will be left. If we allow the resistant variations to spread, we will never be done with the economic cost of this virus. Every few months, it will explode in a new wave; Each bigger and more deadly than the last.

As it is, B.1.1.7 tends to target younger and healthier people. Think of the economic cost of that. The P.5 variant can bypass natural immunity. If you have had COVID-19 in the past, you don't have much real protection. When they are treating P.5 patients with monoclonal antibodies, they need four times as much to provide benefit. At the moment, the vaccines are doing a respectable job of fighting these mutations off. (Pfizer is doing a fantastic job of it.) The next ones to pop up, the vaccines may not work at all.

 

[sw1tcher]

All of these stories are unfortunate and I certainly don't want to imply that the virus shouldn't be taken seriously. However, in each case it appears that a younger person living with older parents was the source of the infection. Of course, if you have to live with older relatives you should be extremely careful.

A lot of people in their 20's and 30's do not live with older relatives.

Also, all of these examples are from July long before vaccines started rolling out which are gradually protecting the vulnerable in the U.S. In other countries where the rollout is disastrous like EU member states then more caution is needed.

@barkomatic

Here's something more recent.

Local bar opening in rural Illinois was tied to at least 46 new Covid cases, CDC says

The case provides more evidence of how weddings and gatherings at restaurants and nightclubs have the potential to become super-spreading events.

www.cnbc.com

Note that part about how a student who went to a bar infected other students, or how a bar attendee infected people at work.

One bar attendee who later tested positive identified 26 close contacts they had while attending school for indoor sports practice or in-person instruction. Two student athletes also tested positive, which led local officials to close the school district after more than a dozen staff members were potentially exposed.

Another bar attendee worked at a long-term care facility where three more cases were identified days after the event, a staff member and two residents. At least one resident was hospitalized before being released the same day, none were vaccinated.

By Feb. 26, 12 people in eight different homes who were in contact with people who were at the bar that night tested positive for Covid-19, including five school children, according to the study.

“This investigation further demonstrates that inconsistent mask use and inadequate physical distancing in an indoor environment can increase transmission risk,” the CDC wrote. “SARS-CoV-transmission originating in a business such as a bar not only affects the patrons and employees of the bar but can also affect an entire community.” ​

This is how Covid-19 spreads when you think going to a bar is no big deal.

Even if a lot of people in their 20's and 30's do not live with older relatives, they may work with older people or care for them.

 

[ArPe]

Message to France:

Get the vaccine.

Homeopathy is a scam with no ingredients.

Apparently that post pissed off 6 homeopaths. Maybe if I dilute that post 1 billion times then it will have more strength ??