Coronavirus Discussion

[Lagie]

1 hour ago, Astreya said:

I really hope you will still manage to stay clear of this drat virus!

As do I!

 

131 new cases yesterday, 104 of those on my island (positivity rate 20.1%) for a new total of 16,273 cases. 1 additional death takes that total to 312 (only 29 yrs old). 

134 people (down 12) in hospital, 11 (down 4) of those in the ICU.

[HeatherMarie]

Goodness @sleepymuggle that's horrible.  I think a lot of people have suddenly found out who their *true* friends are during this pandemic, unfortunately.  I hope your mom's partner does okay through the rest of all this.

 

A church friend recently posted that her oldest kid has tested positive, and the younger kid may possibly have it as well. ..... And their whole family has been attending church service every week and hugging on everyone. 😟 I'm very very thankful neither me or mom has been back to church since this stuff started (she watches the service online).  (And honestly I don't really blame them, especially the kids, and our church is a very affectionate bunch in general... I do feel like that kind of contact *should* be formally restricted at the church though...)

 

Updated stats.... Okay well I'll just paste this here because ICK. 

Spoiler

 

[purplehaze]

Stats for the past week here in Maryland. Positivity rate is increasing -- was below 3% last month. The good news, I guess, is that over 60% of the population is fully vaccinated.

 

 

[Kestra15]

On 8/13/2021 at 10:37 PM, Lagie said:

Darn. Sorry they did that to you. *hugs*

 

Well... Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation (though it was SUNNY all day as an unexpectex treat) - one of our coworkers will be off for two weeks, having tested positive, so guess what we ALL got to do today??? Thank goodness I had coverage at my shop and even better, the rapid test came back negative.

The coworker in question wears an XXXL shirt, swaggers about the place likes he owns it, and never wears his mask inside in spite of a legal mask mandate here. (And he's fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca.)

So while we went and got tested, the offices all had to be disinfected, and the disinfectant triggered my asthma on our return. *headdesks*

That sucks.

 

Sorry to hear about it sleepymuggle, though I would question the worth of said friends.

 

We've spilled out of our COVID-19 Pod and still have incoming cases. Some long months ahead.

[Astreya]

It seems if you put down your guard even a little, this drat virus takes advantage!

 

And up goes the curve:

Spoiler

Source: https://www.n-tv.de/infografik/Coronavirus-aktuelle-Zahlen-Daten-zur-Epidemie-in-Deutschland-Europa-und-der-Welt-article21604983.html

 

Fortunately at the moment the hospitalisations and deaths haven't gone up as much, but as usual this will be only a matter of time, particularly as the number of vaccination is slacking. 

 

The positivity quote of the laboratory conducted PCR tests is going up, too.  It was only 0.81% six weeks ago, three weeks ago it was already 2.37% and last week we already reached 3.95% again:

Spoiler

Source: https://www.n-tv.de/infografik/Coronavirus-aktuelle-Zahlen-Daten-zur-Epidemie-in-Deutschland-Europa-und-der-Welt-article21604983.html

 

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As of today, Sunday, August 15, 09:30 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 131 (+13) active cases, while 10 650 (+1)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 293 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 156 (+14) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 38.9 (+2.8).

 

Currently 7 (+-0) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+1) of them in intensive care.

There have been 130 879 (1st jab, 62.0%) and 112 303  (2nd jab, 53.2%) vaccinations so far.

[Source: Stadt Oberhausen]

[Lagie]

6 hours ago, Kestra15 said:

We've spilled out of our COVID-19 Pod and still have incoming cases. Some long months ahead.

That sucks.

 

1 hour ago, Astreya said:

It seems if you put down your guard even a little, this drat virus takes advantage!

Totally!

 

158 new cases Friday, 119 of those on my island (positivity rate 28.9!%) for a new total of 16,431 cases. 1 additional death takes that total to 313 (50 yrs old). 

142 people (up 8) in hospital, 13 (up 2) of those in the ICU.

 

The person with Covid at work sent a voice message to the staff chat today. He sounds really horrible, says his breathing is fine but keeps pausing to speak which says to me it's not, and gee whiz, he actually sounds vaguely remorseful about not having been wearing his mask. Our shelter was already in dire straits financially and because of him, they've had to pay for 17 staff to get Covid tests.

[Kestra15]

So I had a look to see what was in the public domain before I said much more about work. I also tried writing this five times this morning before bed and kept accidentally deleting it, so was too angry to try again! For context my city is 467,000 in size.

 

- Approx 410 cases per 100,000,

- Around 2,000 new cases the last seven days, with 240 yesterday alone,

- Approx 75 hospitalisations of which 15 are on ICU, more than 10 requiring ventilation,

- 40% aged 20-29 and 35% aged 30-59,

- 74% of the population have had a single dose, and over 50% have had two doses,

- 635 deaths due to COVID-19, 3 in the last week.

 

It is grimly reassuringly that many of our ICU cases are unvaccinated for one reason or another, and the vaccinated ones are generally having a lot of comorbidities that would make them susceptible to any systemic disease of note. We've only got one completely fit-and-well cases, rather than a year ago when we were just getting full of young, healthy people. But the flip side is that means despite less people being in hospital, a greater proportion need ICU care because they are completely unprotected. So for us the nightmare continues.

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Kestra15

[Kaini]

It has now been recommended that immune-suppressed people get a booster of the vaccine. So third shot here I come! I'm happy to get it. Anything to be safer and keep the people around me safe.

[Lagie]

I missed a Covid update today but was able to watch it later.

 

One of our (unvaccinated) physicians died today. Two others and a nurse are now part of the hospital numbers. Only 50% of our healthcare workers are vaccinated. Dr. Dahl-Regis was basically pleading with the rest to go and get theirs.

 

Of the 60+ age group, a mere 20% are vaccinated. There are a newborn and mother in hospital with Covid.

 

The mixed-vaccine option is now available as we now have Pfizer vaccines available. Third vaccines are not yet available unless recommended by your physician due to being immuno-compromised.

 

Two demonstrative charts on the efficacy of vaccines:

Hospitalizations:

Deaths:

[Kestra15]

9 hours ago, Lagie said:

I missed a Covid update today but was able to watch it later.

 

One of our (unvaccinated) physicians died today. Two others and a nurse are now part of the hospital numbers. Only 50% of our healthcare workers are vaccinated. Dr. Dahl-Regis was basically pleading with the rest to go and get theirs.

 

Of the 60+ age group, a mere 20% are vaccinated. There are a newborn and mother in hospital with Covid.

 

The mixed-vaccine option is now available as we now have Pfizer vaccines available. Third vaccines are not yet available unless recommended by your physician due to being immuno-compromised.

 

Two demonstrative charts on the efficacy of vaccines:

Hospitalizations:

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

 

Deaths:

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

 

I never understand why healthcare workers refuse vaccination unless they have a decent reason not to (i.e. allergies or contra-indicated). Honestly the moment we could get our vaccines there was uproar from our staff when they would only allow enough for about a quarter of our staff (where over half our bed capacity was COVID-19) instead favouring the (non-vulnerable) admin staff working from home first...

[Astreya]

@Kestra15

I often wonder how stupid many people in charge are (re your Covid ward).  I guess it's the Peter principle at work: “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their maximum level of incompetence.”

 

@Lagie

Your charts really should ram the fact home how sensible the vaccinations are!

 

At the moment my home town tries to get more people vaccinated by offering more mobile vaccination teams that go to shopping centres, mosques and markets where they try to catch as many walk-in customers as possible.

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As of today, Monday, August 16, 11:30 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 134 (+3) active cases, while 10 651 (+1)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 304 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 160 (+4) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 38.9 (+-0.0).

 

Currently 7 (+-0) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+-0) of them in intensive care.

There have been 131 441 (1st jab, 62.3%) and 114 509  (2nd jab, 54.3%) vaccinations so far.

 

--------------

As of today, Tuesday, August 17, 11:00 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 122 (-12) active cases, while 10 663 (+12)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 350 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 160 (+-0) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 38.0 (-0.9).

 

Currently 9 (+2) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+-0) of them in intensive care.

There have been 131 695 (1st jab, 62.4%) and 115 291  (2nd jab, 54.6%) vaccinations so far.

 

--------------

As of today, Wednesday, August 18, 13:00 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 152 (+30) active cases, while 10 667 (+4)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 352 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 194 (+34) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 51.2 (+13.2).

 

Currently 9 (+-0) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+-0) of them in intensive care.

There have been 131 865 (1st jab, 62.5%) and 115 694  (2nd jab, 54.8%) vaccinations so far.

[Source: Stadt Oberhausen]

Edited August 18, 2021 by Astreya

[Lagie]

4 hours ago, Astreya said:

Your charts really should ram the fact home how sensible the vaccinations are!

I hope so! They were printed in the paper today, in the article with this headline:

 

 

107 new cases Saturday, 81 of those on my island (positivity rate 28.6!%) for a new total of 16,538 cases. No additional deaths.

134 people (down 8) in hospital, 13 (no change) of those in the ICU.

 

131 new cases yesterday, 113 of those on my island (positivity rate 22.3%) for a new total of 16,669 cases. No additional deaths.

142 people (up 8) in hospital, 15 (up 2) of those in the ICU.

[HeatherMarie]

23 hours ago, Kaini said:

It has now been recommended that immune-suppressed people get a booster of the vaccine. So third shot here I come! I'm happy to get it. Anything to be safer and keep the people around me safe.

 

I can't even describe how glad I am that it's finally been officially recommended. And the vaccines are so much more widely available now (at least around here), I actually found out about the booster- recommendation when I checked our local grocery store's website (they have a pharmacy and are offering third shots). My mom wants to check with her doctor before getting it (as is recommended), but yeah, looking at the guidelines of who should get a third dose my mom literally has multiple risk-factors listed. 

 

@Lagie  Where you live, are healthcare workers not getting vaccinated because of vaccine limitations/availably, or is it just people being stupid? I feel like that's a whole different level of ridiculous, to be a healthcare worker literally seeing people dying from covid all around you and yet still not getting the vaccine??

 

 

[Lagie]

On 8/16/2021 at 6:03 PM, HeatherMarie said:

Where you live, are healthcare workers not getting vaccinated because of vaccine limitations/availably, or is it just people being stupid? I feel like that's a whole different level of ridiculous, to be a healthcare worker literally seeing people dying from covid all around you and yet still not getting the vaccine??

Stupidity, unfortunately. We have plenty of vaccines available.

 

(Wed...)

 

55 new cases Monday, 24 of those on my island (positivity rate 47.4% 😮 ) for a new total of 16,724 cases. No additional deaths.

137 people (down 5) in hospital, 19 (up 4) of those in the ICU.

 

This came through the work chat this morning:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PMH is one of our two hospitals, the government-run one. Samaritan's Purse has set up a 14 bed tent outside to help.

 

And here's today's headline:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, in the middle of all this, 300 healthcare workers, including those from the overfull morgue, are staging a 'sickout' because of not receiving an honorarium from the government for being on the front lines. *headdesks*

Edited August 18, 2021 by Lagie
Updating

[Astiana]

Lagie, all that is just ...  ... there really aren't any adequate words at all. I really hope you get it all quietened down ASAP (in hope rather than expectation). 
 

On your point about not being vaccinated -  it's partly misinformation and how fast it is spreading that's the problem. I read a Guardian report the other day (afraid I can't find the link, d'oh) about how it has managed to spread. The basic idea is that similar to a scam/fraud scenario, the 'mark' (in this case re covid conspiracy theories) gets pulled in and then is so ashamed that they just dig in deeper.

It's not exactly alike, but I can see the similarities. The result? Someone called a cooler (a mark's "trusted" person, who was put in place to befriend the mark) has to change their mind THEN that cooler can change the mark's mind - an outside 'agent' won't be able to influence the mark to any real degree as they're not in the mark's "network" of influence. I hope that makes sense.
 

(Here - not as dire but still pretty ... ok ... very ... bad - cases up above 30k again - we're bumping around 20-30k per day. Hospitalisations up, deaths up ... ambulance services in some places are being helped by military because they're under so much pressure ... yep. For a so called developed country ... ye gods, we're in a mess - and going into the autumn, schools will be going back in about 3 weeks ... Not Fun). 

[trystan]

it's not just the immunocompromised that are eligible for boosters:

from CNBC:

U.S. will begin wide distribution of Covid booster shots next month, saying vaccine protection wanes over time

 

Quote

The United States will begin widely distributing Covid-19 booster shots next month as new data shows that vaccine protection wanes over time, top U.S. health officials announced Wednesday.

It’s now “very clear” that immunity starts to fall after the initial two doses, and with the dominance of the delta variant, “we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” according to the statement signed by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and other U.S. health leaders.

 

on the one hand, i can get my booster in december.  on the other hand, there are places in the world where people haven't even had shot #1.... 

[Lagie]

125 new cases yesterday, 101 of those on my island (positivity rate 37% 😮 ) for a new total of 16,849 cases. Three additional deaths take that total to 316.

145 people (up 8) in hospital, 19 (no change) of those in the ICU.

[Astreya]

@Lagie

The situation at your place really saddens me, particularly as it appears that things just don't seem to want to get better.  Please continue to stay safe!

 

@trystan

The Health Minister of NRW just said in a press conference that a third Covid booster will be available for vulnerable people (for starters) here, too.  The other Länder (=states) haven't agreed one this yet as far as I know.

 

And the number continue to rise in all areas in Germany.

Spoiler

Source: https://www.n-tv.de/infografik/Coronavirus-aktuelle-Zahlen-Daten-zur-Epidemie-in-Deutschland-Europa-und-der-Welt-article21604983.html

 

--------------

As of today, Thursday, August 19, 10:30 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 160 (+8) active cases, while 10 672 (+5)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 419 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 194 (+34) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 48.4 (-2.8).

 

Currently 13 (+4) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+-0) of them in intensive care.

There have been 132 828 (1st jab, 63.0%) and 117 303  (2nd jab, 55.6%) vaccinations so far.

[Source: Stadt Oberhausen]

Edited August 19, 2021 by Astreya

[trystan]

35 minutes ago, Astreya said:

@trystan

The Health Minister of NRW just said in a press conference that a third Covid booster will be available for vulnerable people (for starters) here, too.  The other Länder (=states) haven't agreed one this yet as far as I know.

well that's good.

 

on the other hand, now we have covidiots like Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. who's tested positive for covid, but is asymptomatic.  he's had three doses of the vaccine and still got it. and now he's on a treatment of monoclonal antibodies.  this is the guy that is anti-mask mandates  anywhere in the entire state of Texas.  but this is how he reacts to the virus?  he's a hypocrite, with a capital HYPOCRITE!

 

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/17/texas-governor-greg-abbott-positive-covid/

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-08-16/texas-supreme-court-sides-with-gov-abbott-temporarily-upholds-mask-mandate-ban

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/17/texas-gov-abbott-who-banned-mask-mandates-tests-positive-for-covid.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/abbott-texas-coronavirus-mask-mandates/2021/08/18/f005e18a-0028-11ec-85f2-b871803f65e4_story.html

 

[Kestra15]

Hopefully boosters will start in the UK in September. I'll be front of the queue if I can. I'm literally the first person at work to get the flu jab every year it roles out, so C-19 will be no different!

[Lagie]

22 hours ago, Astreya said:

@Lagie

The situation at your place really saddens me, particularly as it appears that things just don't seem to want to get better.  Please continue to stay safe!

 

 

And the number continue to rise in all areas in Germany.

  Reveal hidden contents

Source: https://www.n-tv.de/infografik/Coronavirus-aktuelle-Zahlen-Daten-zur-Epidemie-in-Deutschland-Europa-und-der-Welt-article21604983.html

 

Thanks. You, too!

 

114 new cases yesterday, 99 of those on my island (positivity rate 20.2%) for a new total of 16,963 cases. Fourteen (!) additional deaths take that total to 330 (ages 33 through 75). 

149 people (up 4) in hospital, 16 (down 3) of those in the ICU.

 

And ... our PM called a snap election yesterday (for Sept 16th), so now we have just under a month of election stupidity to contend with. I really hope he gets re-elected as the other guy's useless.

[purplehaze]

The school district where my granddaughter lives has a mask mandate for starting the school year. Earlier this week hundreds of parents with their kids staged a very loud, angry protest in front of the school board demanding that they be allowed their "freedom". This is what we are teaching our kids about personal responsibility and care for others? We don't want to wear masks so we shouldn't have to, even in the midst of a deadly plague where people are dying every day of what is now pretty much a preventable illness? My freedom is more important than your life? It makes me sad -- and angry!

[Astreya]

@Kestra15

That's very prudent! My parents will definitely be in the front row for the 3rd booster, too. (But then, they are well over 80 by now). It seems people under 60 will only be considered if they are immune compromised of have severe co-morbidities here for now.

 

@purplehaze

This is really sad to read. And the problem is that kids who get indoctrinated to adhere to selfishness like this will usually become adults and voters who cry for this, too.

 

@Lagie

We have the big federal election ("Bundestagswahl") on 26 September 2021, so everything here is in campaign mode, which doesn't make things better at all. As Angela Merkel decided to resign after the election, we currently have three new main contenders who nobody really wants and who make stupid mistake after stupid mistake.

 

Meanwhile the numbers continue to rise...

--------------

As of today, Friday, August 20, 10:15 GMT+2, my home town (population 211 000) has 193 (+33) active cases, while 10 687 (+15)  people are considered to have recovered. 375 (+-0) persons sadly died. 477 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 11 255 (+48) people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 62.2 (+13.8).

 

Currently 13 (+-0) persons are treated in hospital, with 2 (+-0) of them in intensive care.

There have been 133 000 (1st jab, 63.0%) and 117 586  (2nd jab, 55.7%) vaccinations so far.

[Source: Stadt Oberhausen]

Edited August 20, 2021 by Astreya

[HeatherMarie]

9 hours ago, purplehaze said:

The school district where my granddaughter lives has a mask mandate for starting the school year. Earlier this week hundreds of parents with their kids staged a very loud, angry protest in front of the school board demanding that they be allowed their "freedom". This is what we are teaching our kids about personal responsibility and care for others? We don't want to wear masks so we shouldn't have to, even in the midst of a deadly plague where people are dying every day of what is now pretty much a preventable illness? My freedom is more important than your life? It makes me sad -- and angry!

 

7 hours ago, Astreya said:

 

@purplehaze

This is really sad to read. And the problem is that kids who get indoctrinated to adhere to selfishness like this will usually become adults and voters who cry for this, too.

 

This is so frustrating and heartbreaking. I realize all the pandemic-stuff takes precedence over 'smaller' issues but seriously at this point many of these parents should be charged with neglect or willful endangerment. Looking specifically at the people who refuse to wear masks, don't make their kids wear masks, but take their kids to large group settings with other unvaccinated and unmasked people. I just... It makes me angry. I can't imagine acting like that when a child depends on me to protect them.

 

With the new booster recommendations I'm wondering if this will become a flu-vaccine type of thing, where you need to get it every year. 

 

Stats for today:

Spoiler

 

[Lagie]

11 hours ago, purplehaze said:

The school district where my granddaughter lives has a mask mandate for starting the school year. Earlier this week hundreds of parents with their kids staged a very loud, angry protest in front of the school board demanding that they be allowed their "freedom". This is what we are teaching our kids about personal responsibility and care for others? We don't want to wear masks so we shouldn't have to, even in the midst of a deadly plague where people are dying every day of what is now pretty much a preventable illness? My freedom is more important than your life? It makes me sad -- and angry!

*shakes her head* It's unfathomable they care so little about their own kids.

 

166 new cases yesterday, 106 of those on my island (positivity rate 33 ! %) for a new total of 17,129 cases. No additional deaths.

157 people (up 8) in hospital, 16 (no change) of those in the ICU.