Corona Virus: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:45 am

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:07 am 6ABC

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was admitted to the hospital after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, sources told ABC News.

The 76-year-old personal lawyer to the president was admitted to Georgetown Hospital in Washington on Sunday. It is unclear when exactly Giuliani tested positive or the details of his condition.

Late Sunday, Giuliani posted on Twitter saying he was "feeling good."

If he was admitted, he's not "feeling good." But now I believe he really has it.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:49 am

Im not sure. Trump was admitted and he had nothing wrong with him due to COVID.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:23 am

Sure it could be staged, but now you're drifting into hoax/conspiracy territory with no evidence. I was willing to entertain that idea only for as long as the only information was from trump. I expect that Rudy's in there to receive the full trump treatment.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:35 am

Change the oil, rotate the tires, dust off the Abby Normal brain.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:43 am

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:49 am Im not sure. Trump was admitted and he had nothing wrong with him due to COVID.

All the reports were that when Trump was admitted he wasn't in great shape (high fever, trouble breathing). The fact that he recovered quickly is likely because he had care and access to experimental drugs that aren't available to most folks.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:31 am

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:14 am AZ Central

The Arizona Legislature will close for a week "out of an abundance of caution" after Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's personal attorney, possibly exposed several Republican lawmakers to COVID-19.

The president announced Giuliani had tested positive for the virus Sunday, less than a week after the former New York City mayor visited Arizona as part of a multistate tour aimed at contesting 2020 election results. He was later admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center.

Giuliani spent more than 10 hours discussing election concerns with Arizona Republicans — including two members of Congress and at least 10 current and future state lawmakers — at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix last Monday. The 76-year-old led the meeting maskless, flouting social distancing guidelines and posing for photos.

He also met privately with Republican lawmakers and legislative leadership the next day, according to lawmakers' social media posts.

In unrelated news, surely, 97% of the prostitutes in Phoenix are quarantining.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:30 am

https://twitter.com/EmmaVigeland/status ... 1874205698

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:34 am

So is the poop emoji.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:23 pm

David Wallace-Wells with a thought-provoking piece in tomorrow's NY Magazine: We had the vaccine the whole time.

Somewhat misleading headline, but I'd be interested in hearing thoughts on the 'create the groundwork vaccines for all known virus families now' thought process. I've seen that postulated elsewhere (Ars interview with NIH vaccine official, for one).

It seems that the cost of such a program going forward--even for all known potential variants--is a drop in the bucket and would be clearly, objectively, supremely, wonderfully no-brainer material. So I'm guessing there's either an obvious catch that I'm not seeing, or we'll just choose to be dumb and carry on as per normal just because.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:51 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:23 pm David Wallace-Wells with a thought-provoking piece in tomorrow's NY Magazine: We had the vaccine the whole time.

Maybe the true vaccine was the friends we lost along the way.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:56 pm

Would require one or more of the following:

Risky bet from a corporation to spend time and money on developing the "groundwork" vaccine. No clear path to big bucks if it becomes a public health emergency and you have to share the recipe. Better to wait on an emergency and get a huge infusion of no-strings-attached gov cheese.
Government funding of developing the groundwork. Could happen if it makes the right people rich. See above.
Government funding of academic institutions to develop the base. We aren't that America anymore.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:42 pm

No Thanksgiving spike yet.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:45 pm

That's odd. People started travelling in large numbers around the 24...so that's almost 2 weeks.

I mean, give it a few more days, but if there isn't any spike, what would that mean?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:50 pm

Little Raven wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:45 pmI mean, give it a few more days, but if there isn't any spike, what would that mean?

It's coming. There's always a delay in test reporting on Mondays (after a weekend) and it wouldn't surprise me to learn testing centers are backed up from last week. NJ is hitting new positive testing records daily since last week but that's also partially because we're able to test more now than we could back in April. Not sure what's happening in other states (and their ability to handle surge demand). One of our counties here in NJ has been so busy, they just launched a test at home option (the first in the state).

I'd be amazed if there wasn't a spike.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:20 pm

Florida

State police raided the home of a former Department of Health data scientist who is accusing Florida officials of wrongfully firing her for refusing to manipulate COVID-19 statistics.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement served the search warrant at Rebekah Jones’ Tallahassee home Monday morning in connection with an investigation into who hacked the state’s internal notification system with a message urging state employees to come forward with information about Florida’s handling of the pandemic.

The alert read: “It’s time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead. You know this is wrong. You don’t have to be a part of this. Be a hero. Speak out before it’s too late.”

Jones, a vocal critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic, tweeted a video of agents entering her home Monday morning with guns drawn.

https://twitter.com/GeoRebekah/status/1 ... 7900145665

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 10:44 pm

That’s some scary, police state shit.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:02 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:50 pm
Little Raven wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:45 pmI mean, give it a few more days, but if there isn't any spike, what would that mean?
It's coming. There's always a delay in test reporting on Mondays (after a weekend) and it wouldn't surprise me to learn testing centers are backed up from last week. NJ is hitting new positive testing records daily since last week but that's also partially because we're able to test more now than we could back in April. Not sure what's happening in other states (and their ability to handle surge demand). One of our counties here in NJ has been so busy, they just launched a test at home option (the first in the state).

I'd be amazed if there wasn't a spike.

MA is also setting daily case records -- or was, last week. We've plateaued for the past few days. I heard today that holiday travel was down by 80% YOY. Maybe Americans...actually listened?

Nahhh. Our new field hospital took its first cohort of covid patients today. It's being used to siphon non-critical cases away from the hospitals. Another one's being readied.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:54 am

We're definitely seeing a spike in ICU COVID. It may be part of a general upward trend rather than an event spike but we're 3X a month ago on the ICU.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:58 am

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:50 pm
Little Raven wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:45 pmI mean, give it a few more days, but if there isn't any spike, what would that mean?
It's coming. There's always a delay in test reporting on Mondays (after a weekend) and it wouldn't surprise me to learn testing centers are backed up from last week. NJ is hitting new positive testing records daily since last week but that's also partially because we're able to test more now than we could back in April. Not sure what's happening in other states (and their ability to handle surge demand). One of our counties here in NJ has been so busy, they just launched a test at home option (the first in the state).

I'd be amazed if there wasn't a spike.

Anecdotally on the way to an appointment on Saturday we passed three urgent care clinics and they had long, long, long lines outside.

Edit: COVID Act now is showing a spike fwiw in NJ. Approximately ~40 / 100K cases per day on November 30th and the last date recorded showed ~50 / 100K cases. A 25% increase is pretty spiky to me.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:09 am

Trump administration passed up opportunity to buy more of vaccine by committing during the summer.

The Trump administration opted last summer not to lock in a chance to buy millions of additional doses of one of the leading coronavirus vaccine contenders, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until manufacturer Pfizer fulfills other international contracts.

The revelation, confirmed Monday by people familiar with the matter, came a day before President Donald Trump aimed to take credit for the speedy development of forthcoming coronavirus vaccines at a White House summit Tuesday.

Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to be endorsed by a panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers as soon as this week, with delivery of 100 million doses — enough for 50 million Americans — expected in coming months.

Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100 million doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more.

This summer, the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke about the matter on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Days ahead of the vaccine’s expected approval, the administration is reversing course, but it is not clear that Pfizer, which has since made commitments to other countries, will be able to meet the latest request on the same timeline.

The Pfizer vaccine is one of two on track for emergency FDA authorization this month, the other coming from drugmaker Moderna.

The Trump administration insisted late Monday that between those two vaccines and others in the pipeline, the U.S. will be able to accommodate any American who wants to be vaccinated by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:12 am

The Emperor Never Had Clothes

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:41 am

malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:09 am Trump administration passed up opportunity to buy more of vaccine by committing during the summer.

Why would they buy vaccines for a fake virus? That would just be incredibly wasteful.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm

What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:04 pm

To be (un)fair, Maine had fewer than 500 new cases yesterday.

A record for the state, but only 0.005 per 100,000. It's just a new way of saying everything's fine. Just close your eyes and drink the death cult kool-aid.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:14 pm

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:17 pm

Daehawk wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:14 pm

I saw a guy at the grocery store yesterday with a mask that said, "This Mask is Useless." At first I was like, "dumbass," but after further thought, "that's fine, actually." If that's the form of protest, no problems with it.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:21 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:17 pm I saw a guy at the grocery store yesterday with a mask that said, "This Mask is Useless." At first I was like, "dumbass," but after further thought, "that's fine, actually." If that's the form of protest, no problems with it.

I don't know that it's fine but it's I accept that as exercising 1st amendment speech I don't agree while being respectful enough for me not to hold you with most contempt possible. So there's that.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:48 pm

LordMortis wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:21 pm
LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:17 pm I saw a guy at the grocery store yesterday with a mask that said, "This Mask is Useless." At first I was like, "dumbass," but after further thought, "that's fine, actually." If that's the form of protest, no problems with it.
I don't know that it's fine but it's I accept that as exercising 1st amendment speech I don't agree while being respectful enough for me not to hold you with most contempt possible. So there's that.

Pretty much this. Will seeing that mask allow me to mark you as probably not the brightest bulb? Yes. Do I thank you for putting on the big-boy pants and wearing it? Also yes.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm

Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985

I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm

malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985
I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.

In SC, we've been averaging around 2000 cases per day over that period, which is 40/100,000. I think they picked the levels so everything under the number could be rounded down. Stupid, but technically true.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:55 pm

In what world did ND have 0 cases per 100,000 reported between the 29th and the 6th?

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavir ... th-dakota/

They have to report less than 8 cases per day to round down to 0 per day from even the most generous rounding.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:59 pm

stessier wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm
malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985
I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.
In SC, we've been averaging around 2000 cases per day over that period, which is 40/100,000. I think they picked the levels so everything under the number could be rounded down. Stupid, but technically true.

I feel strange having to point this out, but 40/100,000 does not round to 0.00/100,000. Even on the batshit scale that they've chosen, it would round to the 49.64 color.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:02 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:59 pm
stessier wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm
malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985
I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.
In SC, we've been averaging around 2000 cases per day over that period, which is 40/100,000. I think they picked the levels so everything under the number could be rounded down. Stupid, but technically true.
I feel strange having to point this out, but 40/100,000 does not round to 0.00/100,000. Even on the batshit scale that they've chosen, it would round to the 49.64 color.

Not if it's ranges. 0 to <49.64 is blue, no rounding.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:04 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:02 pm
Zaxxon wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:59 pm
stessier wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm
malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985
I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.
In SC, we've been averaging around 2000 cases per day over that period, which is 40/100,000. I think they picked the levels so everything under the number could be rounded down. Stupid, but technically true.
I feel strange having to point this out, but 40/100,000 does not round to 0.00/100,000. Even on the batshit scale that they've chosen, it would round to the 49.64 color.
Not if it's ranges. 0 to <49.64 is blue, no rounding.

True, but in that case the map's still batshit, as that'd be a stupid way to represent something that's not close to 0.00. I know we all knew this already, but it's just one more layer of derp.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:05 pm

As someone in that Twitter thread mentioned, what they likely mean (but who knows since it's Fox News) that states colored in blue had a range of cases per 100K that fell between 0 - 49.63. Of course, that's not what the graphic shows and that's a completely disingenuous way to show that information even if that's what they meant.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:08 pm

The whole thing is a nightmare of bad faith data visualization. Why are there 6 buckets? They've given four of the colors to 5 states. In other words outliers. It's propaganda.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:13 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:02 pm
Zaxxon wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:59 pm
stessier wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:32 pm
malchior wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:19 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 1:01 pm What the fuck?

https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar/stat ... 9333929985
I never would have thought that pattern inconsistencies in data loading would be valuable as propaganda. Well that's new.
In SC, we've been averaging around 2000 cases per day over that period, which is 40/100,000. I think they picked the levels so everything under the number could be rounded down. Stupid, but technically true.
I feel strange having to point this out, but 40/100,000 does not round to 0.00/100,000. Even on the batshit scale that they've chosen, it would round to the 49.64 color.
Not if it's ranges. 0 to <49.64 is blue, no rounding.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:21 pm

The numbers don't jibe. The 7-day average for North Dakota hasn't been below 49.64/100k since 23 Sep. Even just cherry-picking that specific date range, using the low counts from two weekends, doesn't bring the numbers close to that threshold.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:30 pm

Bizzare and false. See here

Indiana, NE, SD, UT and some other states have more new cases per capita than CT and TN, for example.

And rounding down cases is just blatantly misleading.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:37 pm

Max Peck wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:21 pm The numbers don't jibe. The 7-day average for North Dakota hasn't been below 49.64/100k since 23 Sep. Even just cherry-picking that specific date range, using the low counts from two weekends, doesn't bring the numbers close to that threshold.

The last time Utah was at 49.64 (a weirdly specific grouping) was Oct 22, according to this. We're currently sitting at 97.6, as of yesterday.

It does help me better understand why those who live in the Fox News bubble don't think it's nearly as big of a deal though.