“I don’t think you’re ever going to get widespread compliance with wearing masks, unless you have a higher level of scientific evidence to support the recommendation.”
I don’t think science is going to change anyone’s mind at this point. People would scream fake news, it doesn’t matter.
However people will listen to the political leaders whom they love. That’s all we need, leaders encourage people to do the right thing.
Thx. It will be my first time in like forever (in college I gave it a go once.)
H think I should just order a bread machine - but where is the satisfaction in that?
Ugh, I am so sorry about this. Is your son working in finance? Glad to hear he will be ok and good with budgeting.
Ooh, ooh, ohh I know! ?♂️
Since I’m wallowing in our bad news today so I’m sitting around posting on CC!
Another thing many in my area are saying. That the virus is mutating and becoming less lethal as fewer are dying.
I commented that maybe it’s because younger people are being infected instead of nursing homes. And that the medical system is getting better at treating the coronavirus.
Nope that is not it, the virus is mutating to a less lethal form.
I’m banging my head here!
@Nhatrang, no he’s an engineer. Been working in a oil and gas exploration dependent industry. It’s been decimated so many cut backs, layoffs.
Thanks though for the sympathy. We are in shock.
We shouldn’t directly compare the terrible numbers of identified cases in Texas and Florida to the horrific April numbers in New York. Texas and Florida should be testing more, but they are undoubtedly finding a lot more of the cases than were identified in New York during their worst times.
We should instead try to figure out how the numbers tell us about underlying reality. (This is what we should do in all cases.) What fraction of the people in Texas are currently infected? What fraction of New Yorkers were infected, during the worst of it? Texas doesn’t have a lot to be happy about, but their infection prevalence has got to be a good deal lower than New York’s was. They’re identifying a higher fraction of their cases.
@“Youdon’tsay” SC is likely doing something similar to what’s described in Nashville article in terms of option for k-12 students. the districts can decide individually on what to offer and there is a hybrid option but feedback from parents was bad. At some point it is suggested that families respond with their chosen option and it will serve as registration of sorts. If you start doing virtual, you can’t change to in person unless a slot opens up - at least that was scenario suggested by state planning group. D is third grade teacher. Hasn’t heard her districts plan yet.
Back-and-forth talks over just what to do with North Carolina’s anti-mask law broke down early Friday morning at the legislature, leaving an odd status quo in place.
For now, masks are legal, with the state’s anti-mask law temporarily suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But that runs out Aug 1. Come then, it will be against the law for adults to wear a face mask in North Carolina, despite an order from Gov. Roy Cooper requiring them to wear face coverings in a wide range of public situations.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/after-midnight-legislature-punts-on-nc-s-anti-mask-law/19162551/
In the business world, we would say that they lack “leadership” - someone everyone or most everyone believed in and trusted who could set the course forward and set a good example to show everyone what it would take to get through the crisis.
WRT weight gain during the pandemic - I thought it was funny when I heard someone say, “you’ve heard of the freshman 15? I have the COVID 19.” 
At first I lost weight because of all the office candy I wasn’t eating. Then I gained it back because of eating more around the house. Then I lost it again because (and I highly recommend this to all of us here on the thread) - I made a rule that I can only read the big COVID CC threads while biking on the exercise bike.
I imagine that will be fixed by August. Either that or I can envision some lawyers chomping at the bit to have a go at it.
A gov’t can’t and shouldn’t be able to force the public to take risks during a pandemic. It’s one thing to allow it. Quite another to mandate it.
Every state is different and every state has been given the ability to set the standard for their local area. They are able to adjust to the circumstances they are living in the current time and plan for the future. I think that is much more appropriate than a blanket one size fits all. What I like even better is what many states are going where they are allowing local officials to have more control over their particular circumstances. In many states some areas can be open more than others and vise- versa. Obviously there will be people that agree or disagree with each areas tactics. Ultimately those areas leaders should be contacted and given feedback both good and bad. I think it’s much better to handle these varied responses on a local level.
@scmom12 , that’s what I think makes most sense, let people choose per their comfort level. I follow someone on Twitter with kids in the Nashville schools, and she didn’t like that flexibility, seeing it as “making parents choose.” But I know people in my hometown with compromised kids who want that kind of flexibility and absolutely would freak if a decision was made for them.
Good grief. The schools can’t win.
I do understand one aspect of the Nashville woman’s complaint … those who can afford to hire nannies and tutors and whatever will opt to keep their kids home, and those who can’t are “forced” to send their kids to school and incur greater risk.
I’m sure if she had the authority this SAH would not just be advisory.
“In Harris County, which is home to Houston and is the third-largest county in the U.S. with nearly 5 million residents, officials had created a four-level threat system to gauge the spread of the virus. On Friday, Ms. Hidalgo, a Democrat, announced that she was setting the county’s threat level to red, the highest level.
The governor was insistent about reopening. And then the cases soared.
“Ms. Hidalgo also issued a stay-at-home advisory for the county, urging residents to avoid nonessential personal and business travel. Local officials in Texas can only issue advisories and not orders, because the governor, whose virus orders supersede local ones, previously lifted a statewide stay-at-home mandate.
“Today, we find ourselves careening toward a catastrophic and unsustainable situation,” Ms. Hidalgo said at a news conference, adding that the current hospitalization rate was on pace to overwhelm the hospital system “in the near future.” Since June 13, she said, the number of Covid-19 patients in county hospitals has doubled, including patients in both intensive care and in the general population.“
“The curves that show our capacity running out in a matter of days or just a few weeks
are conservative estimates,” she said.”
Someone several pages ago was wondering if Gov. Cuomo was offering to help states now going through a crisis – the answer is yes, he has:
https://www.wamc.org/post/cuomo-offers-help-states-high-covid-rates
The article gives details of his offer.
You made me laugh! That would work for me (if I owned an exercise bike) as I’m addicted to the COVID threads on CC!
I do have a farm, and am out feeding 10 horses and one donkey twice a day, which is how I exercise.
@deb922, so sorry to hear about your son.
My D, also an engineer, works for a large international firm that shared earlier this week that her region will layoff 7%-10% of their staff by July 31. She thinks/hopes she’ll be okay but, of course, can’t know for sure and, even if she is, her group is tight knit and she can’t imagine how things won’t change in a negative way. She’ll spend this weekend updating her resume.
These are tough, tough times in so many different ways.
I’m with you @MarylandJOE In a state as large and varied as Texas, it makes no sense to make Houston act like Hico, but my frustration and others’ is that the governor won’t let local and county officials exercise local control.
I would like, for instance, a mask-wearing mandate if your city/town hits some metric. So then, yeah, if your West Texas town has a low positivity rate or whatever, then you don’t have to abide by it. But they have to stick with it. What has so many of us frustrated is that he says we’ll reopen if we hit this and that metric, and then when we don’t he reopens anyway. It was ridiculous and is why we are where we are.
re: weight I made the decision at the beginning of quarantining that instead of baking, which I love, and eating, which I also love, I would channel my energy into stepping up my workouts and eating healthier. I was working out 3x/week before quarantine and am at 6x/week. I gained some weight the weeks I was at my parents’ home while my dad went into hospice and then died the week before quarantine. I’ve lost that weight plus a few more while gaining so much muscle. It’s been fun and a healthier way to channel stress. My BMI is still above 30, but I’m not far from it!
I agree. New York (and every state back in March and April) were EXTREMELY undercounted. Florida and other states are currently probably undercounted also, but at a much lower factor. There is no comparison to New York in March and April - I tend to agree with Dr Redfield that the New York numbers can be multiplied by 10 to get a better picture. I don’t think that the undercount factor is the same now.