Everyone I know has about 10 masks so always have one clean.
Everyone I know has about 10 masks so always have one clean.
95% is a good example of a high lethality virus. A more modern example is ebola which according to the World Health Organization has a 50% lethality rate.Originally Posted by Rogar
Covid definitely falls in the low lethality rate category. (Not no lethality, but low lethality.)
Or at least a box or two of the disposable ones.
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown
Of course prior to 1963 when the vaccine came out the population was lower, but I think the major difference is air travel was expensive and rare. Now we have a society where shutting the airports down to passenger travel is unthinkable even in a pandemic. The government would only advise people to stay put, but not stop them from flying all around the country to multi household Thanksgiving gatherings. There's definitely something to be said for isolationism, not only in terms of public health but the environment given the carbon impact of leisure travel, especially by plane. But don't say that in these forums where long distance travel is a sacred right, even for people dumping their student loan debts on the taxpayers.
Climate change also may contribute to the spread of pandemics. Of course maybe vaccines are developed very quickly in the future as well. At least that might happen. Most effects of climate change have NO such techno-solutions. The airlines are going to get another bailout, call it a subsidy to the fossil fuel industry though it's probably not counted as such by those who calculate such things. It should be.
I don't think travel is so much about these forums but something the well-off middle class does. The job where coworkers did it the most was the job I was paid the most. Life is somewhat more modest now, but yes some still travel, it's a well off middle class thing to do afterall! I find the middle class rather strange, but I know in American society you Don't Want to be poor, you Really don't, poor areas have 4 times more covid here compared to well off areas - it is in so many ways a bit of a death sentence to be poor, unless you can live in a cave or off the grid that's the only way it might kind of work maybe.
I visit the ocean and I am renewed and don't even need a passport or a plane. To be in such an awesome presence of the waves and the life washing ashore, I don't even want to contribute to the death of the world anymore.
The obsession with student loans, and whether a few people aren't paying them, is just as bizarre as the obsession with masks. I don't favor broad student loan forgiveness, I just don't care THAT much though.
Trees don't grow on money
There were many years that our family of 5 couldn’t afford to fly. We drove or took the train. I wasn’t jealous or judgmental about people that could. Now there’s only 2 of us and we can fly to travel. I would like to take a few more trips before I get to old.
The problem with the whole open everything up and lets get to herd immunity idea is that it ignores that only about 5% of the US population has been infected so far. If it took 10 months to get this far with all the social distancing and masks and stuff shut down, it would take another 190 months for everyone to get it if we continue to follow the public health recommendations. And if we open everything up and try to get to herd immunity by encouraging everyone to put themselves at risk of the illness then we will overwhelm our healthcare systems. In many places they are already at the edge of being overwhelmed. Once they get overwhelmed then the death rate will go through the roof. A lot of non-elderly people who get covid still need hospital care, but then survive (Chris Christie for example). If our hospitals can't provide that care people who needed but couldn't get hospital care will die needlessly. And to do so at this point just as one, probably at least two, very effective vaccines are being rolled out large scale is just idiotic.
At this point I almost think we should "open it all up", let evolution takes its course and rebuild civilization from the ashes.
With some luck the herd's overall fitness would be improved by such a challenge....
Thankfully, I have lived my life and done the things I really wanted to do before now. There are still things I would like to do but if I die.... I have had a good life. We've decided if things are not opened up by next summer, we will do more. Our time is running out.
The thing is it only does so much for evolution as most of the people if affects are past having kids. Hope the next pandemic kills those in their prime and spares the seniors maybe? If so, well we can't stop our whole society just for some young folks who could just isolate for a couple years.
Trees don't grow on money
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