Coronavirus

[Nik]

I really thought I'd seen the height of selfishness in this pandemic but the articles about Snowbirds who chose to spend the winter in some of the worst hit States complaining about the travel restrictions is really pushing things to a new level.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I really thought I'd seen the height of selfishness in this pandemic but the articles about Snowbirds who chose to spend the winter in some of the worst hit States complaining about the travel restrictions is really pushing things to a new level.

The clowns that travelled over Christmas that wanted to get sick pay when they came back to Canada to isolate are right there!

 

[Nik]

I really thought I'd seen the height of selfishness in this pandemic but the articles about Snowbirds who chose to spend the winter in some of the worst hit States complaining about the travel restrictions is really pushing things to a new level.

The clowns that travelled over Christmas that wanted to get sick pay when they came back to Canada to isolate are right there!

I mean, anyone who's travelling right now with the exception of people with family emergencies or being required to by work aren't doing themselves any favours in my eyes.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

People have a hard time seeing past the end of their nose. So, what appears to be small problems to you and I, are the largest problems in their lives right now. They view it as life or death for them as well. It's selfish, but that's human nature.

But, like, I get selfishness. I appreciate it is a function of the human condition and that any planning needs to account for the fact that there are selfish people in the world.

The thing that frustrates me is that people who are acting against their own interests and the public interest. Or, if you prefer, people who are acting in their own short term interest without caring about their long term interest.

Like, we by now that not being strict in our lockdown measures and lifting them too soon just means we're going to need another lockdown in the future. We know that not doing our best to stamp it out will cost the government more in the long run when things need to shut down again. But it's pulling teeth to get some people and governments to look at anything other than their own immediate interests regardless of the damage it's doing.

I agree with everything you are saying.

My point is, people think their reasons for breaking the rules, or putting people at risk are more important than others reasons for breaking the rules. It's a vicious cycle. I can't bring myself to get upset anymore about it. I just put my head down and go about my business.

 

[Arn]

The more people piss about now the longer the virus will be about and the longer restrictions will be in place. I don?t get how people can?t just take some short term pain for quicker long term gain.

I was amused when I got my monthly email from google maps telling me that I had visited two ?cities? this month, both within about a 6 mile radius of my house and labelling them as ?highlights?

 

[OldTimeHockey]

I really thought I'd seen the height of selfishness in this pandemic but the articles about Snowbirds who chose to spend the winter in some of the worst hit States complaining about the travel restrictions is really pushing things to a new level.

Yup. Idiots. All of them.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

I was listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson on a Podcast earlier this week. He said something that made so much sense about both climate change, and COVID.

He said if CO coming out of vehicle's exhausts was coloured red, people would be much more aware of the poison cars are pumping into atmosphere and would probably be more willing to accept that it perhaps isn't a good thing.
In regards to COVID he put it this way: The virus is invisible. It's a silent, invisible killer. If it was a giant monster that lived on the outskirts of town and was constantly reaching in and eating our grandparents, people may be more willing to believe there was a problem.

It's the whole "seeing is believing" thing. Pretty sure there's something memorable from the bible that goes along the same lines.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I really thought I'd seen the height of selfishness in this pandemic but the articles about Snowbirds who chose to spend the winter in some of the worst hit States complaining about the travel restrictions is really pushing things to a new level.

The clowns that travelled over Christmas that wanted to get sick pay when they came back to Canada to isolate are right there!

I mean, anyone who's travelling right now with the exception of people with family emergencies or being required to by work aren't doing themselves any favours in my eyes.

Totally with you on that.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/WiredUK/status/1359486630587949060

People with weakened immune systems provide viruses like Sars-CoV-2 with a unique environment. Instead of clearing an infection quickly, an immunocompromised person might only partially wipe out an infection, leaving behind a population of genetically-hardier viruses that rebound and begin the cycle all over again. In these people, a virus can evolve at remarkable speed. ?The whole time, their immune system is effectively beating [the virus] up. So the virus has a chance to learn how to live with the human immune system,? says Emma Hodcroft, a postdoctoral research at the University of Bern in Switzerland who works on Nextstrain ? an open-source project that tracks the genetic changes of Sars-CoV-2 and other pathogens.

[...]

But the real problem isn?t chronic infection ? it?s a situation where the pandemic is so out of control that the virus has endless opportunities to mutate into new variants. That situation is a reality in the UK and in dozens of other countries with dangerously high case rates. ?These are all edge cases, but if you have enough people infected over a long time, you run the risk of hitting those edge cases,? says Hodcroft. It is not surprising that some of the most worrying new variants ? from Brazil, South Africa and the UK ? emerged from parts of the world with relatively high levels of transmission. ?When you have millions of people infected, with millions of viruses replicating in each one, there are lots of chances for the virus to explore new mutations and combinations,? says Lauring. ?If we had control of the virus, we wouldn?t be seeing as many variants pop up, because there wouldn't be as many opportunities for evolution to happen.?

This is why we should try to prevent infections, even if they end up asymptomatic or not-dead.

 

[cabber24]

https://twitter.com/WiredUK/status/1359486630587949060

People with weakened immune systems provide viruses like Sars-CoV-2 with a unique environment. Instead of clearing an infection quickly, an immunocompromised person might only partially wipe out an infection, leaving behind a population of genetically-hardier viruses that rebound and begin the cycle all over again. In these people, a virus can evolve at remarkable speed. ?The whole time, their immune system is effectively beating [the virus] up. So the virus has a chance to learn how to live with the human immune system,? says Emma Hodcroft, a postdoctoral research at the University of Bern in Switzerland who works on Nextstrain ? an open-source project that tracks the genetic changes of Sars-CoV-2 and other pathogens.

[...]

But the real problem isn?t chronic infection ? it?s a situation where the pandemic is so out of control that the virus has endless opportunities to mutate into new variants. That situation is a reality in the UK and in dozens of other countries with dangerously high case rates. ?These are all edge cases, but if you have enough people infected over a long time, you run the risk of hitting those edge cases,? says Hodcroft. It is not surprising that some of the most worrying new variants ? from Brazil, South Africa and the UK ? emerged from parts of the world with relatively high levels of transmission. ?When you have millions of people infected, with millions of viruses replicating in each one, there are lots of chances for the virus to explore new mutations and combinations,? says Lauring. ?If we had control of the virus, we wouldn?t be seeing as many variants pop up, because there wouldn't be as many opportunities for evolution to happen.?

This is why we should try to prevent infections, even if they end up asymptomatic or not-dead.

Doctors should be allowed to script a COVID vaccine to jump cues for those in need. Not just make the vaccines available to people in high-risk environments.

 

[L K]

https://twitter.com/WiredUK/status/1359486630587949060

People with weakened immune systems provide viruses like Sars-CoV-2 with a unique environment. Instead of clearing an infection quickly, an immunocompromised person might only partially wipe out an infection, leaving behind a population of genetically-hardier viruses that rebound and begin the cycle all over again. In these people, a virus can evolve at remarkable speed. ?The whole time, their immune system is effectively beating [the virus] up. So the virus has a chance to learn how to live with the human immune system,? says Emma Hodcroft, a postdoctoral research at the University of Bern in Switzerland who works on Nextstrain ? an open-source project that tracks the genetic changes of Sars-CoV-2 and other pathogens.

[...]

But the real problem isn?t chronic infection ? it?s a situation where the pandemic is so out of control that the virus has endless opportunities to mutate into new variants. That situation is a reality in the UK and in dozens of other countries with dangerously high case rates. ?These are all edge cases, but if you have enough people infected over a long time, you run the risk of hitting those edge cases,? says Hodcroft. It is not surprising that some of the most worrying new variants ? from Brazil, South Africa and the UK ? emerged from parts of the world with relatively high levels of transmission. ?When you have millions of people infected, with millions of viruses replicating in each one, there are lots of chances for the virus to explore new mutations and combinations,? says Lauring. ?If we had control of the virus, we wouldn?t be seeing as many variants pop up, because there wouldn't be as many opportunities for evolution to happen.?

This is why we should try to prevent infections, even if they end up asymptomatic or not-dead.

Doctors should be allowed to script a COVID vaccine to jump cues for those in need. Not just make the vaccines available to people in high-risk environments.

We don't have a steady supply to be doing that.  As much as I care about my patients and colleagues, without strict criteria this would be a system that would also be grossly abused because how do you define those in need.

Does the 85 year old trump a 55 year old with obesity, diabetes and hypertension.  Is my 55 year old renal transplant patient higher priority than my 72 year old patient with vasculitic renal disease? 

You really need standardization within your immunization program when you don't have enough vaccine to go around.

 

[Nik]

A worthwhile thread about our current challenges regarding variants and the role of schools in the spread:

https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1359682142897401861

 

[Bender]

A worthwhile thread about our current challenges regarding variants and the role of schools in the spread:

https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1359682142897401861

I don't get the magical thinking that was there surrounding schools. There was never any reason to think children couldn't pass it on to others, so why expose them at all and continue the chain of transmission? And now with VOCs they are much more vulnerable, especially with none of the safeguards that were recommended. All of this was predictable, especially by virologists who knew that high rates of transmission would eventually lead to fitter variants of the virus. 

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/colindmello/status/1359982093200195585
Cool cool cool.


Edit: longer version of the question and answer
https://twitter.com/cbcfletch/status/1359977426239905795

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/ChrisGNardi/status/1360216561039122432

 

[Bender]

https://twitter.com/ChrisGNardi/status/1360216561039122432

This would be hilarious if it just wasn't so tiring to read over and over.

 

[Nik]

https://twitter.com/CTVToronto/status/1360329574136115200

This moron is pre-blaming the people of the province for the inevitable third failure of his idiotic strategy despite the projections of his own government saying it will be disastrous.

 

[dappleganger]

https://twitter.com/CTVToronto/status/1360329574136115200

This moron is pre-blaming the people of the province for the inevitable third failure of his idiotic strategy despite the projections of his own government saying it will be disastrous.

I will also blame the citizens of Ontario. Myself included.

 

[Bender]

https://twitter.com/CTVToronto/status/1360329574136115200

This moron is pre-blaming the people of the province for the inevitable third failure of his idiotic strategy despite the projections of his own government saying it will be disastrous.

It's like a park ranger bringing people into a dried out forest, lighting a match and saying it's up to everyone else to prevent forest fires.

The worst part about this is we are so insanely close to driving cases down to a point of being manageable, especially with vaccines on the way. Why are Steve Smith'ing this?

 

[Nik]

The worst part about this is we are so insanely close to driving cases down to a point of being manageable, especially with vaccines on the way. Why are Steve Smith'ing this?

It's the same answer as the other two times. This government, the party it represents, simply does not care how many people get sick and/or die if it means the business interests of the people who give them money are spared even a momentary hiccup.