March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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Dave
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Dave »

lake_wrangler wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:50 pm By the way, what is the size limit for attachments? This is the largest I can manage to slip by the limits, and I wish I could have uploaded some larger ones, to see the details more...
Currently, it's set to a limit of 3 attachments, each being no more than 256kB.
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lake_wrangler
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by lake_wrangler »

Dave wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:29 pm
lake_wrangler wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:50 pm By the way, what is the size limit for attachments? This is the largest I can manage to slip by the limits, and I wish I could have uploaded some larger ones, to see the details more...
Currently, it's set to a limit of 3 attachments, each being no more than 256kB.
Thanks. I knew about no more than 3 attachments, but didn't know about the size limit. Or rather, I figured there was a size limit, i just didn't know what it was.

256 KB is not very big...
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AnotherFairportfan
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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No, it's not - especially if you prefer PNG to JPG format
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hit pause on progressing to further reopening phases and issued an executive order to expand hospital capacity as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise in the state. Businesses that have been allowed to open so far will be allowed to remain open at a limited capacity, Abbott said Thursday.

“The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses,” he said in a statement. “This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business.”

Abbott also suspended all elective surgeries in Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties, and could add more counties to this suspension at a later date.

Public health experts have deemed Texas’ reopening strategy as too quick and reckless, and the state has not followed federal guidelines on testing or contact tracing. The state saw a record-breaking 5,551 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Wonder if they're classifying abortions as "elective" surgeries?
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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Texas rolls back its reopening a day after pausing plans as coronavirus cases rise
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that he will roll back some of the state’s reopening as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.

“As I said from the start, if the positivity rate rose above 10%, the State of Texas would take further action to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said in a press release. “At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars.”

The order includes the following:

All bars and similar establishments that receive more than 51% of their gross receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages are required to close at 12:00 p.m. Friday. These businesses may remain open for delivery and takeout, including for alcoholic beverages, as authorized by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Restaurants may remain open for dine-in service, but at a capacity not to exceed 50% of total listed indoor occupancy, beginning Monday.

Rafting and tubing businesses must close.

Outdoor gatherings of 100 or more people must be approved by local governments, with certain exceptions.
Explaining exponential growth to a politician is an exercise in futility.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Dave »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:01 pm Explaining exponential growth to a politician is an exercise in futility.
Not necessarily. Even a king can learn to understand this, although it does sometimes require divine intervention, and a remarkably large amount of rice pudding.

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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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The United States hit 2.5 million documented COVID-19 cases this weekend, bringing the number of people known to have contracted the disease worldwide to more than 10 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

The United States leads the grim statistics, with both the highest number of cases and the highest number of deaths, at over 125,000.

The pandemic has been more effectively contained in China and Europe by way of strict measures including lockdowns and mandatory mask wearing, which are not in place across much of the United States.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by lake_wrangler »

AnotherFairportfan wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:58 am
We're Number One!
[/align]
Sure, but only in absolute numbers... if you take the number of cases per 100,000 people, you are actually 12th:

Qatar 3,277.03
San Marino 2,057.12
Bahrain 1,510.66
Vatican City 1,498.13
Chile 1,422.78
French Guiana 1,158.76
Andorra 1,106.58
Kuwait 1,052.37
Mayotte 919.3
Peru 847.45
Armenia 831.69
USA 796.69

(and Canada is about 43rd - 19th, in absolute numbers... but hey, Québec is the province with the highest number of cases in Canada, and Montreal and surrounding area is the highest in cases in the province... so I guess I don't get to brag too much...)
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Alkarii »

A lot of folks also forget a few minor details, like the size of the US when compared to most other countries, our population size and density, and also how many tests are performed. Someone who only has a mild case and lives in an area that hasn't been hit that hard probably won't bother getting tested.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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Still, one out of every four cases worldwide is in the US.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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Another good reason to have more Statistics in High School. Rate vs Quantity and confounding factors are a mystery to many people.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Warrl »

Alkarii wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:52 am A lot of folks also forget a few minor details, like the size of the US when compared to most other countries, our population size and density
And the non-homogeneity of our population density. The nationwide population density is in two digits per square mile if I remember correctly, but the majority of the US population live in counties with four-digit population density - and at least some of those counties are similarly non-homogenous. (King County, Washington, average population density is over 2,000 even though roughly a third of the county is national forest and wilderness area with essentially no population at all.)
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced indoor dining will be postponed indefinitely as the city enters Phase 3 on Monday, citing the surge in COVID-19 infection rates across the nation. “Indoors is the problem more and more. The science is showing it more and more,” de Blasio said Wednesday, noting that outdoor dining will be expanded as NYC continues to loosen virus restrictions. “I want to make it very clear. We cannot go ahead at this point in time with indoor dining in New York City.”

The mayor added he would work with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to determine when indoor dining will be allowed—a decision that may be further delayed by Cuomo’s belief that COVID-19 “storm clouds” are “on the horizon.” “This is not over. This can still rear its ugly head anywhere in this nation and in this state,” Cuomo said at a Wednesday press briefing. “Citizen compliance is slipping. The government is supposed to be enforcing compliance. That is not happening on a sufficient basis.”

The governor also slammed President Donald Trump and lawmakers in states that are seeing surging COVID-19 cases—like Florida and Texas—for loosening virus restrictions too early. “[Trump] denied the reality of the virus,” Cuomo said, adding that “reality wins.” “Come clean with the American people and admit the threat of this virus. Admit that you were wrong.”
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Atomic »

And in other views:

The Most Powerful Argument Against Forced Universal Masking

TL;DR: Forced masking is obstructing/delaying herd immunity. Focus on the most at-risk groups (elderly, etc).
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by lake_wrangler »

Atomic wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 10:24 am And in other views:

The Most Powerful Argument Against Forced Universal Masking

TL;DR: Forced masking is obstructing/delaying herd immunity. Focus on the most at-risk groups (elderly, etc).
Funny you should say that...

It seems the Québec government wants to make mandatory the wearing of the mask when traveling by public transit. To take effect in two weeks.

I suppose that I won't have to wear it while driving, seeing as we are still keeping the driver area separate from the passengers, who are entering through the back doors of the busses. But when I take the subway to go start a work shift somewhere other than the garage, I suspect I'll have to wear one.

Fortunately, my ever so generous employer has provided all of their employees with two washable masks (sent by mail, even). What luck!

...

...

Oh. Wait...
2020-07-03-120602.jpg
2020-07-03-120602.jpg (92.25 KiB) Viewed 6557 times
Once again, I go and prove that one size DOES NOT fit all... :roll:
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Atomic »

Note also that increased testing = increased reporting > "increased infections." Showing positive for COVID antibodies does not directly translate to more illness, just that you've been exposed and your immune system responded. Depending on whose numbers you believe, the Exposed:Sick ratio may be from 20: to 100:1 or higher.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

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Hi Ho Silver!!, Away!
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by Dave »

Atomic wrote: Fri Jul 03, 2020 2:25 pm Note also that increased testing = increased reporting > "increased infections." Showing positive for COVID antibodies does not directly translate to more illness, just that you've been exposed and your immune system responded. Depending on whose numbers you believe, the Exposed:Sick ratio may be from 20: to 100:1 or higher.
It's best not to conflate antibody tests (which show evidence of past infection by a coronavirus... not always necessarily COVID-19) with PCR tests for the virus itself (which show current infection by the virus). A positive test of the latter sort probably means that you're contagious, even if you haven't yet (or never do) develop symptoms.

There are three sorts of numbers which I believe serve as a good index of How Bad Things Are (or Aren't) in any given area:
  • The percentage of virus tests which come back "positive".
  • The number of hospital admissions for COVID (or "pneumonia and fever"). Include here the number of people who seek admission for these things but are turned away because no hospital beds are available (as happened in Italy).
  • The number of deaths from these causes.
None of these numbers depends on the number of tests being done.

There are quite a few states in which all three of these numbers are either steady, or climbing.
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Re: March 12, 2020 (aka COVID-19 thread)

Post by AnotherFairportfan »

I'm pretty sure that the number of cases has increased by as much as an order of magnitude compared to the increase in testing.
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