I just wanted to copy that. And read it again. Because itâs so on point. 
Yes Republicans, all sorts of mask-less, oblivious idiots are currently milling about in close proximity, sharing water droplets, and theyâll be glad to start spending money again, but theyâre not a majority. So whatâs next after opening up some states? Forcing people at gun point to get out and go shopping?
This is a matter of confidence in your society. You need to be confident that the shopkeepers have used proper cleaning protocols. You need to be confident that people with symptoms are not going shopping too. You need to be confident that people wonât crowd you, or lick the cooler doors, or scream at someone spraying droplets everywhere. Most of all, you need to be confident in your government, that their decision to open is based on a sound evaluation of the current situation in your area.
The current POTUS, and some of his gubernatorial toadies, have built a political career on undermining confidence in government and society. It is hard to see reopening being a success until we get rid of these guys.
My friend who works in hospital administration (but has also been on the front lines swabbing hundreds of suspected covid-19 patients) is coming around to this way of thinking as well. Those of us who are well insulated from the worst of it, by being able to shelter at home and still make money to pay the bills, have no idea how utterly overwhelmed and exhausted the medical community is, and they see no end in sight because they understand how long it will be before a vaccine and/or prophylactic treatment is ready. Flattening the curve was crucial, but now, keeping it flat means they may have to work under these conditions for the next TWO YEARS, not just a few more months. Theyâre starting to push for community-wide antibody tests, with a goal of pinpointing who the at-risk are and quarantining only them.
And that is why I, a high-risk individual, do the grocery shopping locally in Chicago and bring it out to the 5 young adults sheltering at my dadâs place in rural Indiana. The few times Iâve ventured out to local stores to see how theyâre handling things there, Iâve seen that itâs not safe at all, so the âkidsâ are instructed to stay on the property and I (and two other parents, who also work and shop in Chicago) will bring supplies to them once a week.
@anon29537550, have a look at this paper. Pre-print, very quick analysis. Doesnât replace epidemiology, but informs current debate about children and possible infectiosity.
I urge you to put the link below through gTranslate after reading, because the paperâs findings already were reported in the media with some spin. Drosten, as lead author, is trying to emphasise what the data doesnât tell us, and addressing some of the shortfalls.
this is driven by a political choice though. if the federal government had been serious, or was now serious, about the response to the virus: medical stressors would be lower and support higher.
by starving hospitals of supplies, not working across borders to move support personnel around, and standing by as corona has spread: the administration has brought this long painful lock down, overworked medical staff, upon us.
so now, people are (understandably so) getting ragged from the lockdown, and wanting try (say) the swedish wayâŠ
only there will be no federal support still. and the administration will still be trying to undermine whatever response the states have.
there is no âsweden modelâ here. not till (and if) biden wins, and maybe not even then.
i donât have any answers. just cautioning that there isnât a viable alternative to what weâre doing right now. even while acknowledging that what weâre doing isnât sustainable forever.
Elderly Trump voters = Fox viewers.
My wife and I are at home normally, and for now my job is still paying me. My parents are old and my mother is on immunosuppressants for arthritis. We decided to shop for them, and we try to go less frequently than once a week to ship for everyone. We deliver to their carport and maybe chat for a few minutes at 10â with masks on, and then everything is washed it wiped down. Iâll do this for as long as I need to to protect them, but they are basically the people Sweden killed off quickly in order to get to where they are now.
We do take out a couple of times a week to support a few local restaurants, and my wife helps a woman with her small urban farmstand once a week, since her husband died recently, and also runs a vegetable exchange, but all with people who are trained in safe produce handling. My wife went to a farmerâs market last week, but it became quickly clear that we need a way to figure out which farmers are Trumpie YouTube Shit-Bats, and which are decent people we can safely do business with.
Since aircraft travel affects weather, I wonder also if our models can cope with its absence.
Possibly the most important feature of the Swedish approach is the willingness to act in a socially responsible manner. You donât need a laundry list of restrictions if people can resist being dicks. Some countries should be able to do this. Depressingly, I canât see this in the US.
Sweden gives us interesting information on vectors of infection. For example, being out in the streets (or even stores and restaurants) with appropriate distancing didnât keep them from bringing the R_0 down. However, situations with close or prolonged contact do spread infection. Using this information in influencing or regulating public behavior will be a very different process in the US than it has been in Sweden, but at least it gives something to aspire to.
Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO Executive Director for Health Emergencies Programme, participated in a briefing on Wednesday and praised Swedenâs approach of voluntary participation of its citizenry in social distancing and using its public resources to support this in response to a question from a Swedish journalist as to whether Sweden might be a better position than other countries going forward because its no-lockdown approach has gotten the population closer to herd immunity (about 40 minutes into the briefing). This section of his comments has been highlighted by right- and libertarian-leaning press and organizations:
âSweden has put in place a very strong public health policy around physical distancing, around caring and protection for people in long-term facilities and many other things. What it has done differently is that itâs very much relied in its relationship with its citizenry and the ability and willingness of citizens to implement physical distancing and to self-regulate, if you want to use that word. And in that sense, they have implemented public policy through that partnership with the population.â
I donât read anything in this excerpt of his comments that the WHO is touting Sweden as a model for other countries to follow, but then I donât follow either of those religions. Further along in his comments (see my transcript following) he does say Sweden could be a model for a lockdown-free society IF we are willing to change a lot about how we live. But Iâm pretty sure the NY Post, Fox News, the Times (UK), and the Foundation for Economic Freedom, which are four of the top five search results on âWHO Sweden modelâ are genuinely advocating for Swedenâs type of government and social structure, which has allowed Sweden to take this different approach.
If anyone is interested, his remarks continue (emphasis added):
âThey have been doing the testing, they have ramped up their capacity to do intensive care quite significantly, and their health system has always remained within its capacity to response to the number of cases they are experiencing. Like many other countries in Europe, Sweden has experienced many many clusters of disease in long-term care facilities, but that is unfortunately and tragically not a unique event in Europe. Many countries across Europe have experienced the same tragedies over the last number of months, and thatâs something that really needs to be looked at very carefully all over Europe, even as the numbers go down. Our elderly, our older citizens, are still dying in large numbers in many nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and more needs to be done to protect and stop those clusters and prevent the disease spread in those settings.
With regard to this concept of herd immunity, I think weâll wait ⊠I believe zero prevalence [not sure I heard this correctly] studies are underway in Sweden, as well as many many other countries, and Maria [Dr. Maria Van Kerkove, Technical Lead Covid-19, also on the panel] can speak to that, because WHO with our partners have done a large review of all the sero-epidemiological studies that are underway and some of the results that are available. But I would say that the general outcome, even in areas of fairly intense transmission, the proportion of people who have sero-converted, who have antibodies in their blood is actually quite low, which is a concern, because it does mean many of the vast majority of people remain susceptible, so chances of the disease rebounding or returning is quite high, especially if control measures, lockdown-type control measures are released too quickly without being replaced by case finding, contact tracing, testing, and strong community compliance. I think, if we are to reach a new normal, I think in many ways Sweden represents a future model of if we wish to get back to a society in which we donât have lockdowns, then society may need to adapt for a medium or potentially a longer period of time, in which our physical and social relationships with each other will have to be modulated by the presence of the virus. We will have to be aware the virus is present, and we will have to as individuals and families and communities do everything possible on a day-to-day basis to reduce the transmission of that virus. And that may mean adjusting the way we live our lives. And I think maybe in Sweden theyâre looking at how that is done in real time. So I think there may be lessons to be learned from our colleagues in Sweden, but again I want just to emphasize, Sweden has not avoided controlling Covid-19. Itâs taken a very strong strategic approach to controlling Covid-19 across all of the elements of society. What it has done differently, is that it really really has trusted its own communities to implement that physical distancing, and that is something what remains to be seen in whether that will be fully successful or not.â
Nothing he says even remotely reflects the direction the US is taking, governmentally or societally, that would allow the Swedish approach to be applicable here. I wish it were so. I wish I had trust in my government. I wish I believed that enough of my fellow citizens are listening to the evolving science on Covid-19 and acting accordingly. I hope itâs better where your family is, but itâs damn scary where I am.
This is so sad. I am not affraid, but I am very sad.
SĂŁo Paulo, last april: 1,654 people were buried in the largest cemetery in Latin America. Photographer recorded graves opening on 1st of April and the graves almost completely occupied on 1st of May.
As G1 revealed, there was an 18% increase in the number of burials in April in the city. Compared to March, the number of burials in Vila Formosa increased by 50%.
I never said anything different.
I apologize for linking to the Post, I mainly read about Sweden in the local papers, but theyâre in Norwegian so I only post links to them when I have no alternative.
Oh goody. Cities are starting to end mask-wearing guidelines in response to threats of violence against innocent store employees, who will now face increased risk of exposure.
at the store where i work, masks are required. and there are times when people are clearly unhappy.
yesterday, my co-worker had to explain that, yes, even a âquick tripâ requires a mask. and, after handing that person a mask, had to run after them to explain they had to⊠you know⊠actually wear the mask.
weâve only had a few â maybe three â incidents with visibly sick people who want to shop ( theyâre not allowed to - we will shop for them if they call us ) or for people who donât want to wear masks. no fights or anything, but people have been kicked out.
im still crossing my fingers that i donât get sick from the person who had a coughing fit the day before we implemented mandatory masks. they were obviously ill, but nobody noticed until after they were in my line. 
somewhat off point⊠there are quite a few people wearing scarves as masks â or pulling up a turtleneck to cover their face. and probably an equal number who have masks slid down to only cover their mouth.
for some reason, that last one that bugs me most. you took the trouble to get and wear a mask, but for some reason you think germs donât come out your nose. sigh
I hope you donât get sick, either! Iâm so sorry.
