Coronavirus

[ARM]

... cases in WI hit an all time record the other day, though hospitalizations are at 50% of the the peak last November, so the vaccine is having a positive effect of keeping people out of the hospital ...

You're lucky. In Minnesota, many areas are out of ICU beds, although much of that problem is staffing rather than physical space.

Little did we suspect that this thing could impact our lives to this extent when we first heard of it. Beyond the health impact, all of the supply chain problems that have resulted, etc.

[robertearle]

You're lucky. In Minnesota, many areas are out of ICU beds, although much of that problem is staffing rather than physical space.

Little did we suspect that this thing could impact our lives to this extent when we first heard of it. Beyond the health impact, all of the supply chain problems that have resulted, etc.

Total number of COVID patients in hospital in Wisconsin today hit the highest number since Late Dec 2020. Dane County had been doing better - higher vaccination rates - but has had a jump in hospitalizations the last couple days. Areas in the north and west - bordering Minn - are at or near zero beds.

You can pick different parts of the state - but not individual counties - with the pulldown at the upper left, and the data on the page fills in for that area.

https://www.wha.org/COVID19Update

[Timothy A]

You're lucky. In Minnesota, many areas are out of ICU beds, although much of that problem is staffing rather than physical space.

Little did we suspect that this thing could impact our lives to this extent when we first heard of it. Beyond the health impact, all of the supply chain problems that have resulted, etc.

Don't even get me going on work orientated supply chain issues.....There is another problem that may or may not be related and that is cost of materials. Everyone is jacking their prices up, I'm talking 15-30 percent since September. And I get to pay more and wait a lot longer for product. At least customers have been understanding on both because everyone knows what is going on. And even if it's an internal snafoo that screws up a project, we just blame the supply chain and covid when really it was Bob who dropped the ball. LOL on that one.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Don't even get me going on work orientated supply chain issues.....There is another problem that may or may not be related and that is cost of materials. Everyone is jacking their prices up, I'm talking 15-30 percent since September. And I get to pay more and wait a lot longer for product. At least customers have been understanding on both because everyone knows what is going on. And even if it's an internal snafoo that screws up a project, we just blame the supply chain and covid when really it was Bob who dropped the ball. LOL on that one.

Bob from accounting?

[Timothy A]

Bob from accounting?

Yeah who else would screw up like that?

Dane County did indeed extend the mask mandate to 1/3/22 as they should have based on their principles. I was really looking forward to cheering against the rodents without a mask.

My wife and I spend last Thursday - Sunday AM in Appleton shopping and I was surprised at how many people were wearing masks, maybe 25% in Watts I would call a anti-mask city. That county is about 65% vaccinated, so 25% masked is probably too low a number. We made the mistake of going to Scheels right after lunch Saturday, talk about a super spreader set-up. Hobby Lobby Friday afternoon was also crazy busy. We had pizza delivered to the hotel Friday night to avoid the crowds and Saturday we ate supper early at a sleeper good restaurant.

[vicb]

Saw on the ABC evening news today (and as reported on the RPI thread earlier) that a breakout of COVID19 including the Omicron variant on the Cornell campus has led the school to send the kids home, suspend athletics and conduct final exams on line. Will be interesting to see how this will effect whether students will be allowed back on campus in January and their winter sports programs going forward.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...hut-down-covid

[Timothy A]

On a positive note, Pfizer has a pill that will probably be approved by 1/1 that will greatly reduce the impact of the bug on the body if you take it with a certain timeframe of having symptoms. That is the game changer we've been needing since the "vaccine" we've taken is not terribly effective (when compared to other 100% effective vaccines like measles, polio and the like.) The end is near.

[Lindsay]

The vaccine is excellent! The folks dying and being hospitalized due to Covid are overwhelmingly not vaccinated.

if the pill works to help people sick with Covid, sounds like a good thing. I hope the end of it is near, I have no idea.

[Cornholio]

And hence the reason both Middlebury and Cornell need to be called out - the vax is preventing deaths, the new variants, even if more virulent, and not as deadly, especially to college-aged adults. The mental-health harm done by closing campus and athletic events (for the athletes), the water-downed education given "on-line, along with, to be frank, ripping off the parents and students by not giving them a full college experience yet charging full college costs, is quite disgusting in my opinion. I really hope that the next institution that has the outbreak (and they all will) will simply state - 'we are all vaxed and will 'monitor' the infected but not shutdown'. Somebody in a leadership position in higher education has to do the right thing here.

[Timothy A]

I really hope that the next institution that has the outbreak (and they all will) will simply state - 'we are all vaxed and will 'monitor' the infected but not shutdown'.

Yes.

And the omricon version is less severe but more spready than the others, so Watts the big deal? Get the shot and don't worry.

[Timothy A]

And hence the reason both Middlebury and Cornell need to be called out - the vax is preventing deaths, the new variants, even if more virulent, and not as deadly, especially to college-aged adults. The mental-health harm done by closing campus and athletic events (for the athletes), the water-downed education given "on-line, along with, to be frank, ripping off the parents and students by not giving them a full college experience yet charging full college costs, is quite disgusting in my opinion. I really hope that the next institution that has the outbreak (and they all will) will simply state - 'we are all vaxed and will 'monitor' the infected but not shutdown'. Somebody in a leadership position in higher education has to do the right thing here.

And Cornell has 97% vaccination rate. What is their logic?

[robertearle]

And Cornell has 97% vaccination rate. What is their logic?

If I understand it (and I could be wrong) fall classes are already over, with only tests left to be taken. So do the tests online, try to kill off a pretty large outbreak, and then decide what to do about the spring semester that won't start for another month or whatever. I strikes me as there's less here than the headlines imply.

[Cornholio]

Tell that to the women's basketball team who had their game cancelled for Sunday. I am afraid this is the start, not the end, of the covid shutdown process. This will not be over in one month; most outbreaks are at least a few months in duration.

[Timothy A]

Tell that to the women's basketball team who had their game cancelled for Sunday. I am afraid this is the start, not the end, of the covid shutdown process. This will not be over in one month; most outbreaks are at least a few months in duration.

The hospitalization rate on omnicron is very low. Let's use logic and not fear.

[ARM]

The hospitalization rate on omnicron is very low. Let's use logic and not fear.

It's a complicated problem, though. If you start out testing positive and assuming that you have Omicron, but then it turns out that you actually have Delta, that makes it harder to manage. People wind up in the hospital quite regularly from Delta. I wish as much as you do that this was in our past and we didn't have to deal with it anymore, but that doesn't seem to be where we're at.