I heard this morning on the radio that the Italian plan was to not rely on or believe China’s tests but to test every arrival to have more reliable information. And to test for variants.
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Another reminder that none of the Trump people, TFG foremost, ever cared about America or the American people, or thought that their job was governing and administering the nation, instead of just ruling.
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That explains my November.
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Ye gods, no!
Sorry to hear.
I hope you are feeling better!
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Thanks!
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That sounds… problematic, to put it mildly. Let’s hope this turns out to be some kind of a mistake or misunderstanding.
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My every couple weeks trip to Home Depot at 6 am for supplies.
All of the plexiglass shields have been removed from all the cash registers and service desk.
I get that those did not protect customers but they did protect employees somewhat.
Why remove them? The major expense has been covered, they don’t impede anyone but they may just help keep employees healthy.
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If I’m standing 2 feet away from a customer who refuses to wear a mask and that customer sneezes, personally, I like something between me and that spray of snot.
It’s just another one of those swiss cheese slices.
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We went over this 2½ years ago
COVID is spread by aerosols not ballistic droplets
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What about other diseases? It’d be nice if our response to the specific COVID threat could result in spaces that are more generally healthy
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The virus rides on the large particles that we spew in addition to the aerosols.
Masks and screens are meant to keep your germs as close to you as possible.
But your right, that information has been known for years.
Per the CDC
Infectious exposures to respiratory fluids carrying SARS-CoV-2 occur in three principal ways (not mutually exclusive):
Inhalation of air carrying very small fine droplets and aerosol particles that contain infectious virus. Risk of transmission is greatest within three to six feet of an infectious source where the concentration of these very fine droplets and particles is greatest.
Deposition of virus carried in exhaled droplets and particles onto exposed mucous membranes (i.e., “splashes and sprays”, such as being coughed on). Risk of transmission is likewise greatest close to an infectious source where the concentration of these exhaled droplets and particles is greatest.
Same thing for RSV
RSV can spread when
An infected person coughs or sneezes
You get virus droplets from a cough or sneeze in your eyes, nose, or mouth
You have direct contact with the virus, like kissing the face of a child with RSV
I’ve never seen those clear shields set up in a way that would prevent this. Did your Home Depot have stalls for the customers in line? Around here it’s just one panel that separates the cashier from the customer when they’re face to face.
But I get the frustration about them being taken down. From the NYT article, I understand the concerns about airflow patterns, but I think that applies more to classrooms and other places where everyone was really compartmentalized. Not when it’s just a few flat panels spread out pretty far.
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As far as actively and directly preventing transmission, things like plexiglass shields are performative.
Insofar as transmission prevention is about changing behaviour and reminding people to take care and be alert about such things, performative things are really important.
Plexiglass shields at the checkout don’t stop aerosol particles from moving around. But they do serve as a continual reminder that this is not normal.
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Home Depot had something like this up, mostly to protect the cashier from non mask wearing individuals. Home Depot and my pharmacy had shields that went up higher and longer. Of course particles can get around or over or under but the goal isn’t 100% stoppage, it’s lower the odds.
@catsidhe Actively preventing? No, nothing completely prevents transmission but each individual measure fills the gaps and holes of other measures.
Plexiglass by itself? Nope. Plexiglass and one person wearing a mask? Better. Plexiglass and both people wearing a mask? Even better.
All of those things plus vaccinations, distancing, staying home when sick, etc etc…? Way better.
No layer is perfect, stack them all up and we’re on the way to stopping or at least slowing this thing way down.
I don’t agree it’s performative, it’s one slice of cheese to fill the holes left behind by other methods.
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Yesterday I caught myself nearly saying “last day of 2020”… still…
Happy New Year, everyone.
Random mental health note: my wife and I enjoyed Jonah Hill’s documentary about his very pro-active therapist, Phil Stutz, on Netflix. I found Stutz’s ideas to be refreshing, a different and practical perspective on some timeless ideas.
Here are some tidbits. Variant XBB.1.5, nickname “Kraken”, now accounts for 40% of cases in the 
.
Via researcher Jeff Gilchrist in Ottawa 
who keeps a nice summary site that has a lot of practical information. He has an interesting thread on immune response to COVID.
And here’s a tidbit on long COVID.
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Re Gilchrist’s thread, so much for the idea some people have of building up one’s immunity to Covid by going ahead and catching Covid. 
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