Coronavirus

[GeddyWrox]

[mikechamp]

Interesting article for those who are still wondering why we haven't seen a more positive effect from sunlight:

Why didn't summer kill the coronavirus?

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in March, White House officials’ hopes seemed high that summer would stem the tide of COVID-19. During an April 24 White House coronavirus task force briefing, William Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, touted “emerging evidence” that reportedly showed SARS-CoV-2 would die more quickly in the presence of sunlight and humidity.

Scientists were dubious that this would have a major effect, pointing to countries with already-warm weather that were then experiencing outbreaks. Now mid-July, with over 3.4 million U.S. cases and record-breaking daily cases in some of the warmest states, scientists are realizing their predictions were right — and are shining a light on what the officials may have missed.

Rachel Baker, a postdoctorate fellow at the Princeton Environmental Institute, was one of three authors of a study published May 15 in the journal Science on how SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — may be affected by climate. In it, she and her colleagues concluded that summer was unlikely to have a major effect on the spread of COVID-19. Their findings did not inherently contradict Bryan’s; they too found that the virus may be weakened by sunlight and warmth. But their research contained a pivotal missing piece: that a virus with zero immunity is more powerful than both.

“When you have a new virus and the population lacks any immunity to that virus, it’s just going to spread really well, and the climate is not going to matter much,” Bakers tells Yahoo Life. “We made that prediction in May and are now seeing all the cases come up in Florida and Texas, these places that are very warm, have lots of UV light, all these kinds of climate variables that people were saying might slow down the virus. But that ended up not being the case. It was sort of sad but interesting to see those predictions come true.”

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-did ... 00360.html

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

That article seems like one cherry picked stat (30% higher mortality 555 deaths/1M pop vs 425 though one is rising much more rapidly than the other), one statement of what someone believes (Sweden will have a huge 2nd wave), one statement about the economy with no facts given (it's taken a hit), and one story about an 80 year old that died.

I'm not saying the author is right or wrong, simply they proved little to nothing.

The truth probably requires a little more thought. Currently they have the 7th highest death rate per million (bad), though they're currently seeing almost no deaths per day with the 7 day rolling average at 3 (good) which equates to 99 in America when population is accounted for. And their new cases per day is in the 400 range (also, mostly good).

If they have a big 2nd wave and no other countries do, or if this pandemic ends in a couple months, then yeah, their approach is likely going to be looked upon unfavorably. The ink is far from dry at this point though, no?

[Jocephus]

crossed 71k cases yesterday, new record. woooooooo...............

[GeddyWrox]

So much winning.

[Leroy]

It is a little confusing. If masks are good and I'm not saying they are not, why are stores saying they will be required in two weeks? Shouldn't they just do that now?

[Gashouse]

It is a little confusing. If masks are good and I'm not saying they are not, why are stores saying they will be required in two weeks? Shouldn't they just do that now?

That doesn't make sense to me either.

[GeddyWrox]

Because so many people have screamed about "mai freeeeedums" that they don't have the balls to do it immediately. They are hoping that phasing into it will ease the backlash.

[Leroy]

Well people are gonna be upset in two weeks too.

I think Menard's here announced on July 1 that they were going that way on July 13. So let's say I hate the mask idea. Do I run out the day before to get my crescent wrench? Or do I wait until the 13th, make a scene and get arrested?

[thrill]

It is a little confusing. If masks are good and I'm not saying they are not, why are stores saying they will be required in two weeks? Shouldn't they just do that now?

Reminds me of the first flight I took back in May, in which it was announced that starting the next day masks would be required on all flights. I thought the funniest part was that it was a Monday morning flight. Why would you start a policy on a Tuesday and not a Monday?