Banning Thanksgiving
Government can't really win here. The Covid-19 restrictions only work because most people are prepared to go along with them voluntarily. If anyone tries to impose really draconian restrictions over public holidays and celebrations they simply risk a backlash that'll be unstoppable. I don't believe it would be possible to obtain mass obedience by force.
Certainly what's happening in the UK is we're in lockdown right now, in my belief mainly to empty out the hospitals before Christmas rather than because the present figures are particularly bad. The Government know a severe lockdown over the holiday period itself wouldn't be tolerated and could provoke a very large revolt. I daresay they will urge people to be sensible and only meet in small groups but I also think they're planning around a certain level of stupidity / disobedience, though of course they'd never admit that. Essentially, they're getting ahead of the game, knowing there's another spike coming.
It's already becoming obvious that a lot of people here have stopped paying attention, or caring. As someone with Type 1 Diabetes and breathing issues that's becoming a bit of a nightmare. Personally I don't really care if Christmas is cancelled but I would like to go food shopping once a fortnight without having to fight my way through morons with no concept of personal space all buying turkeys, mince pies and cheap Scotch.
Covid-19 demonstrates Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" theory of evolution. Smart people wear masks, avoid crowds, avoid physical contact, and stay at home. Not-so-smart people go barefaced, attend crowded events, make physical contact, and travel. More of the first group are likely to survive the pandemic than the second group.
At this time, evolution seems to favor intelligence and caution over ignorance and risky behavior.
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At this time, evolution seems to favor intelligence and caution over ignorance and risky behavior.
The point I'm making here is that holiday shopping is making it increasingly difficult to do NON-holiday shopping without putting oneself at risk. It has been reasonably ok up until now. I'm classified as "vulnerable" but not to the extent I've been told to shield. Now I could try booking home delivery slots but I've been trying to leave those for the people who ARE shielding, because I'm not a git. Seems I'm running out of decent options now, and that's frustrating.
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kokopelli
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Things are looking slightly better around here. Our Thanksgiving is being split into smaller dinners.
The Thanksgiving dinner that I'm going to will mainly be older people with one in his 90s. In general, members of this group don't seem to try hard to avoid covid, though.
It makes me nervous that one high school girl might be there. There is currently a big covid outbreak at the school. As of the other day, more than half of the high school faculty and staff were out with covid and some were in the hospital. Her brothers are coming home from college for Thanksgiving, but they are going to a different Thanksgiving dinner at their mother's family's ranch so she might go there with them instead.
Millions of Americans are ignoring the advice of public health experts and traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Transportation Security Administration reported that more than 1.04 million people went through airport security checkpoints Sunday, the most since mid-March, and about 1 million more went through TSA checkpoints each day on Friday and Saturday.
Millions Of Americans Traveling For Thanksgiving, Ignoring CDC Advice
The interesting thing in the article is that airlines are beefing up their pandemic protocol.
Airlines and airports are taking extra precautions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including deep cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces in airports and in airplane cabins, placing markings on floors to help people remain at least 6 feet apart and mandating the wearing of face coverings or masks at all times. Airlines also are doing electrostatic fogging to disinfect airplane cabins, and say their hospital-grade HEPA air filtration systems reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
So they are starting to address the aerosol transmission threat. And keep their passengers safe while traveling.
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Dr. Fauci: Santa Claus has natural COVID-19 immunity, pandemic won't stop Christmas gifting
The doctor adds the big man in red is actually immune to the coronavirus.
"Santa is exempt from this," Fauci told USA Today on Wednesday, "because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity."
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funeralxempire
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The doctor adds the big man in red is actually immune to the coronavirus.
"Santa is exempt from this," Fauci told USA Today on Wednesday, "because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity."
I feel like this is asking for an outbreak among mall Santas everywhere.
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"If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made... and they won't even admit the knife is there." Malcolm X
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
funeralxempire
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Thanks, now there's soda on my monitor.
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"If you stick a knife in my back 9 inches and pull it out 6 inches, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made... and they won't even admit the knife is there." Malcolm X
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is calling on residents in the state to 'uninvite' their loved ones from gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday. "This is hard, but making difficult sacrifices now will save lives," Brown tweeted. "This Thanksgiving, keep it small. Uninvite them." Along with the message was a 30-second video suggesting who people should uninvite, including 'your new boyfriend', 'your drunken uncle', ' your argumentative aunt', 'your bragging brother' and 'your vegan niece.'
In addition to rescinding family members' Thanksgiving invitations, Brown has told residents to call the cops if they see coronavirus violations. Violators could face up to 30 days in jail, up to $1,250 in fines, or both, the Oregonian reported. Brown said she would work with state police and local law enforcement to encourage Oregonians to comply with her mandate.
Source: Oregon governor urges residents to 'uninvite' family for Thanksgiving
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Author of Practical Preparations for a Coronavirus Pandemic.
A very unique plan. As Dr. Paul Thompson wrote, "This is the very best paper on the virus I have ever seen."
It's more likely a matter of his T-cells. Johns Hopkins may shortly conduct a study.
Joseph Allen of Harvard also tweets some precautions that everyone should consider for Thanksgiving, based on the understanding that this virus is in the air. They used to say this about treating water, but the same applies to air: "The solution to pollution is dilution." Open those windows and if you can, eat outside. Even if WHO is not yet admitting they were wrong, everyone else is getting the message.
Source: Doctors and Engineers Speak the Same Language on COVID-19 Transmission
It's as much about engineering as it is about epidemiology.
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Author of Practical Preparations for a Coronavirus Pandemic.
A very unique plan. As Dr. Paul Thompson wrote, "This is the very best paper on the virus I have ever seen."