All things CoronaVirus

[Typical Lax Dad]

when it's all analyzed, i do think you'll see timing had played a major role. here in the u.s. our giving the virus enough rope to keep hanging us (and minimizing effectiveness of some efforts like testing, tracing) may turn into a full intermediate term burn that a place like sweden got thru quickly.

I agree with this.

Places that were hit hard early (Italy, Spain, UK, Sweden, NYC, Seattle, SF) got serious about SD and hammered the virus down to a low level and a problem that was of a manage-able size. Different places had different profiles (density, age demographics, etc.) and so would need different and bigger/smaller measures to get the virus pushed down.

Sweden actually had some pretty favorable demographics, which made their early bad results (primarily in senior facilities) quite notable. But once they got past that early screw up, they figured out what to do and did it. I'm skeptical that their current good situation has anything to do with herd immunity (I think it was just sufficient SD as with the other Euro countries), but we'll only know that for sure in retrospect.

Seems like the USA problem is that (since it is a big country) we never did enough to get the virus down everywhere. So we seem to be stuck at roughly 1,000 deaths a day coming from an evolving number of places -- NY and NJ come down, but then are replaced by SoCal, AZ, TX and FL. Then a new bunch of places get hot -- GA, TN, MS. Rinse and repeat.

We are stuck at about 50% of our April peak (for daily deaths). In contrast, all of our first world peers are down 90-95% from their peaks.

as we're all educationally guessing...
sweden if not exhibit a is one of many, imo, that suggest a herd immunity profile being part or a very large part of slowing spread. no way of knowing for sure if it's lasting, and if then a second time around (reinfection) yields better results.. but again guesswork and past science suggests a good chance it will.

and then in the u.s.... as you note, such a large country... unless we were shutting down state borders across the country, to me it was likely other places needed to get hit. not saying it had to be the numbers we're at, don't know that. the optimistic view from there is we may be relatively close to burning through the majority of the country. at least for this round. some were early, some were relatively flat throughout, some low early and then popped... if we can get to 500 deaths per day asap that would be a win. and might be on par-ish with influenza/pneumonia deaths combo.
getting a little ahead myself, from there measures in toto of sd, masks, immunity population might be able to push it down substantially from there.

potential "natural immunity" (past coronaviruses or t-cells) aiding herd immunity that seemed plausible to me on here starting in may/early june, continues to get more play and research backing the possibility now several months later.

europe's 1st world final story may not be written yet. they weren't able to hold several hundred cases without allowing it to bloom many fold from that, but after a bump in their death tolls shortly, my expectation is they are shocked a little into controlling it with both measures and (potentially) some herd immunity helping.

one of sweden's tegnell's main theories was we're all going to end up in the same place. as they are a healthier population, his "same place" should in theory be better than some other places. which may mean the u.s. and some other first worlds have a ways to go. hopefully not too far.

You are assuming Sweden and the USA or any other comp, has the same virus strain circulating the population. I don’t “believe” that to be the case.

Unless the data has changed very recently the virulence of any given strain seems about the same. The data for that is all over the place.

The interesting line from the preprint: " The variant is located at the surface of the S1 subunit, and could possibly affect the attachment of the virion to the cell, even though it does not change the receptor-binding domain itself."

Yes that was. I am in finance, not science but that was an attention grabber.

[Cooter]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

[youthathletics]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

+1 How dare you question god.

[MDlaxfan76]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

[CU88]

New covid-19 deaths, yesterday:
Spain: 47
Italy: 13
Japan: 13
Canada: 4
UK: 16
Germany: 7
United States: 1,289

Population of countries above: 420 million
Population of United States: 328 million

[ggait]

New covid-19 deaths, yesterday:
Spain: 47
Italy: 13
Japan: 13
Canada: 4
UK: 16
Germany: 7
United States: 1,289

Population of countries above: 420 million
Population of United States: 328 million

This is really the most damning indictment.

Back in March/April, I recall posting that the USA was actually doing fairly well. Because we were in soooo much better shape than the shirt storms then going on in Italy, Spain, France, UK, Sweden. They were the clueless countries, not us.

But eventually, our first world peers got this mostly figured out and handled. Literally, every single one of them.

Six months in, we are outstanding in our own field as the single most clueless dumb ass country in the first world.

[MDlaxfan76]

New covid-19 deaths, yesterday:
Spain: 47
Italy: 13
Japan: 13
Canada: 4
UK: 16
Germany: 7
United States: 1,289

Population of countries above: 420 million
Population of United States: 328 million

This is really the most damning indictment.

Back in March/April, I recall posting that the USA was actually doing fairly well. Because we were in soooo much better shape than the shirt storms then going on in Italy, Spain, France, UK, Sweden. They were the clueless countries, not us.

But eventually, our first world peers got this mostly figured out and handled. Literally, every single one of them.

Six months in, we are outstanding in our own field as the single most clueless dumb ass country in the first world.

Yup.

[old salt]

Went to my Safeway Pharmacy yesterday & got my Super Senior flu shot & final pneumonia & shingles boosters.
To limit my exposure I got them all 3 on the same day, in the same arm. Not smart. I have body aches & a swollen hot spot on my upper arm.
Slowly improving. Live & learn.

Yeah, I hate the soreness from those yearly vaccines. Feels like they pumped warm metal into your arm.

If you get multiple shots, don't take them in the same arm. I had the same 3 in March, flu in one arm, shingles & pneumonia in the other. No ill effects.
This time, I think they were too close together. Less than an inch apart. Big red hot spot with an underlying bruise. Maybe too much vaccine for a small area to immediately absorb. Much improved today, hot spot is just warm. I never had a reaction to vaccines before. In the service we had to be readily deployable so our shot card was updated every annual physical & before each deployment.

[a fan]

Went to my Safeway Pharmacy yesterday & got my Super Senior flu shot & final pneumonia & shingles boosters.
To limit my exposure I got them all 3 on the same day, in the same arm. Not smart. I have body aches & a swollen hot spot on my upper arm.
Slowly improving. Live & learn.

Yeah, I hate the soreness from those yearly vaccines. Feels like they pumped warm metal into your arm.

If you get multiple shots, don't take them in the same arm. I had the same 3 in March, flu in one arm, shingles & pneumonia in the other. No ill effects.
This time, I think they were too close together. Less than an inch apart. Big red hot spot with an underlying bruise. Maybe too much vaccine for a small area to immediately absorb. Much improved today, hot spot is just warm. I never had a reaction to vaccines before. In the service we had to be readily deployable so our shot card was updated every annual physical & before each deployment.

I'm just happy to hear you've got all yer shots, OS! I'd like you to be around for a few more decades....

But yep, I'll give it a go. My thinking was that I have to lift 55 lb bags etc. all day, so having one arm sore is better than two!

[old salt]

Went to my Safeway Pharmacy yesterday & got my Super Senior flu shot & final pneumonia & shingles boosters.
To limit my exposure I got them all 3 on the same day, in the same arm. Not smart. I have body aches & a swollen hot spot on my upper arm.
Slowly improving. Live & learn.

Yeah, I hate the soreness from those yearly vaccines. Feels like they pumped warm metal into your arm.

If you get multiple shots, don't take them in the same arm. I had the same 3 in March, flu in one arm, shingles & pneumonia in the other. No ill effects.
This time, I think they were too close together. Less than an inch apart. Big red hot spot with an underlying bruise. Maybe too much vaccine for a small area to immediately absorb. Much improved today, hot spot is just warm. I never had a reaction to vaccines before. In the service we had to be readily deployable so our shot card was updated every annual physical & before each deployment.

I'm just happy to hear you've got all yer shots, OS! I'd like you to be around for a few more decades....

But yep, I'll give it a go. My thinking was that I have to lift 55 lb bags etc. all day, so having one arm sore is better than two!

Based on what's been said about shingles, I think it's worth getting the 2 shots.
Same with pneumonia, since it's a complication of covid, also probably with getting.
I think most insurance covers them.
Safeway also gives you a coupon for 10% discount on your next grocery order (up to $200).

[wgdsr]

wgdsr, you say that you believe there's herd immunity at work in Sweden...do you have data on community incidence that supports that belief?

Or is it just wishful thinking?

To get to herd immunity, assuming all other factors held constant, shouldn't there be many, many more deaths there? Or are you suggesting that herd immunity develops with far fewer people getting seriously sick somehow? how?

...guy who deer hunts my property was just here getting an updated signature for permits, he has a relative in Sweden who recently was hospitalized, on ventilator, but now home...survived but pretty wrecked at present.

He noted that elementary school kids are in-person now, high school kids entirely online...they're worried about the spread from the elementary school kids, but are taking a chance...fingers crossed.

yes, i believe there's a very good chance herd immunity is at work in sweden (said probable in may there) and many other places.

and yes, that would then have to mean the number of infected/exposed is either much higher than imagined, or that when you throw on social distancing, masks, etc. with some herd the number is then different than people think. or both.

Fair enough, I'd just call that "believe" and "may" to be merely "wishful thinking".
Not impossible, but not probable.

ok. i think you framed it right. that's what you think, not me.

from mid-april, deaths declined. that makes some sense based on the only major policy moves were made at the end of march. ban on visits to nursing homes and limit of 50 on gatherings. plus sd dropped by mid-march so 2-4 weeks for big changes.
but then they kept declining. and in mid+ may, everybody started moving around more. substantially. and up until now, they're at 2.5 x the mobility by several measures in stockholm and around the country.

and the age demographics on deaths held. so how to explain? they dropped from 100 deaths per day at a high, and now they average one. no major policy changes affecting. and a huge increase in mobility. no masks. no bump in cases as of yet, and probably deaths forthcoming, like other countries are seeing likely because of opening up and changing lockdown rules.

really, nothing changed other than the swedes are out and about with each other much more often. something's gotta be responsible for a drop from 100 to 1. so yeah, having fewer people to move the virus along i believe is likely to be having a very big effect there. probable.

btw, today they announced crowds up to 500 from 50, and schools obviously are coming back. guess we'll see. maybe an interim bump in cases at least if testing stays the same or picks up.

[jhu72]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

+1

… I don't think we would have done as well as the euros simply because we have too many cowboys who don't listen. Trump told them they didn't have to listen. Competent leadership would have done better, but the real hardcore cowboys would have still not listened.

[cradleandshoot]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

+1

… I don't think we would have done as well as the euros simply because we have too many cowboys who don't listen. Trump told them they didn't have to listen. Competent leadership would have done better, but the real hardcore cowboys would have still not listened.

It seems that in my neck of the woods a lot of those cowboys and cowgirls are disguised as college kids who just don't think the rules apply to them. I thought college kids were suppose to be smart. They were stunned to find out you can't have a kegger and maintain social distancing. Who would a thunk it?

[jhu72]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

+1

… I don't think we would have done as well as the euros simply because we have too many cowboys who don't listen. Trump told them they didn't have to listen. Competent leadership would have done better, but the real hardcore cowboys would have still not listened.

It seems that in my neck of the woods a lot of those cowboys and cowgirls are disguised as college kids who just don't think the rules apply to them. I thought college kids were suppose to be smart. They were stunned to find out you can't have a kegger and maintain social distancing. Who would a thunk it?

… cowboys come in all shapes and sizes

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

+1

… I don't think we would have done as well as the euros simply because we have too many cowboys who don't listen. Trump told them they didn't have to listen. Competent leadership would have done better, but the real hardcore cowboys would have still not listened.

It seems that in my neck of the woods a lot of those cowboys and cowgirls are disguised as college kids who just don't think the rules apply to them. I thought college kids were suppose to be smart. They were stunned to find out you can't have a kegger and maintain social distancing. Who would a thunk it?

… cowboys come in all shapes and sizes

Like These

[cradleandshoot]

https://summit.news/2020/08/24/uk-gover ... bal-scale/

The epidemiologist in that article advised the UK government on its response to the novel coronavirus.

You do know that the UK has had one of the most disastrous responses to Covid-19, with a death per capita rate that is among the highest in the world?

Really shouldn’t post such garbage.

DocBarrister

I don't know that it is garbage. It's actually sort of interesting.

Now you post a lot of garbage about how if the democrats were in charge they would have made a big difference.

"garbage"?
Had a different President, regardless of party, done just the average of other wealthy nations, we'd have lost less than half the lives (so far) and have very few lives being lost per month now...just like the other peer nations.

How do you know we would have lost less than half the lives?

You are so silly.

I said that had we done just the average of our peers we'd have lost less than half the lives and would not be losing them at a high rate now.

Like our peers. That's a simple comparison.

It's not rocket science...what don't you and youth understand?

This should never have been a D or R issue, it's just about competent leadership.

+1

… I don't think we would have done as well as the euros simply because we have too many cowboys who don't listen. Trump told them they didn't have to listen. Competent leadership would have done better, but the real hardcore cowboys would have still not listened.

It seems that in my neck of the woods a lot of those cowboys and cowgirls are disguised as college kids who just don't think the rules apply to them. I thought college kids were suppose to be smart. They were stunned to find out you can't have a kegger and maintain social distancing. Who would a thunk it?

… cowboys come in all shapes and sizes

And genders...

[MDlaxfan76]

Personal situation:

Just learned that my nephew who manages a restaurant in Charleston, SC felt sick, was tested positive. But he had just driven his sister and her boyfriend (now betrothed!) to the airport to fly up to NH to be with her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, and her grandmother, my 83 yr old mom at the lake house...

So, yesterday they headed to get tested at the closest testing site in NH, but learned on the way that the turnaround in test time for an answer would be 10 days...10 days!

So, they're looking for another testing facility.

My mom returns home (our house), driven by my sister the end of this week....

Meanwhile, my knucklehead, Trumpist basement dweller sent a text to my wife on Friday that he'd hopped on a plane to New Orleans and then Mississippi from some sort of tax lien thing...not sure what it is. Gets back Monday night. He thinks he's going to be a house renovator/landlord and goes to these scammy conferences every few months...he bought and has 95% renovated a house in SE DC, taking now 8 years without finishing the darn thing and getting a nickel in rent... The challenge, of course, is that he's coming back into the house after who knows what exposure...how to effectively quarantine him is going to be a huge issue...

Your making me feel bad MD. I have been so relentless in picking on you. Your life sure is no picnic at times. My life is a piece of cake by comparison. There is my wife and I and our dog. Not a one of us gives a flying fig about politics or politicians. I enjoy talking about politics, but I have no dog in the race. I can sit here on the sidelines and watch the circus parade pass by on its way to the big top. To quote Ed Sullivan... "its gonna be a really big sheeeew." BTW, Covid is no issue in my house. We don't go anywhere and we are isolated from the human race as much as possible. My wife refuses to go out to a restaurant at this time. Lucky for us she is a great cook. I think your living arrangement would make a great comedy sitcom. You ever thought of filling in the basement with concrete?

Personal Update:

Good news, basement dwelling brother-in-law has not yet come down with any symptoms, and says he was only with one person those 3 days away, except for a packed plane out of New Orleans beating the storm...has not yet been tested, because (thanks Trump and Pence et al) apparently you now need to say you were exposed to a known Covid case AND have symptoms in order to get a test. Argghhh...so, he's staying in the basement...

Bad news, my 25 yr old nephew in Charleston who tested positive after driving his sister (28 yrs old) and her fiancé to the airport did indeed infect at least one of them, the fiancé, who has now tested positive and has symptoms. They had left early when he began to feel sick, drove one of the cars back down here, rented a car and continued on the Charleston where they got a test. So far, just the finance is the next definite case, making 2 definite so far.

They had flown to NH and went to the lake house with my mom, my sister and her husband, and the sister and her boyfriend...the sister, 25 yrs old (twin), wasn't feeling well and drove with her boyfriend to Baltimore, where she's awaiting test results...her boyfriend asymptomatic at present. My 60 yr old sister now has possible symptoms, so she and her husband and my mom are leaving a day early and driving back tomorrow...no symptoms yet for the 63 yr old husband and my 83 year old mom.

They arrive late tomorrow and we need to figure out how to isolate them, support them, etc.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Personal situation:

Just learned that my nephew who manages a restaurant in Charleston, SC felt sick, was tested positive. But he had just driven his sister and her boyfriend (now betrothed!) to the airport to fly up to NH to be with her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, and her grandmother, my 83 yr old mom at the lake house...

So, yesterday they headed to get tested at the closest testing site in NH, but learned on the way that the turnaround in test time for an answer would be 10 days...10 days!

So, they're looking for another testing facility.

My mom returns home (our house), driven by my sister the end of this week....

Meanwhile, my knucklehead, Trumpist basement dweller sent a text to my wife on Friday that he'd hopped on a plane to New Orleans and then Mississippi from some sort of tax lien thing...not sure what it is. Gets back Monday night. He thinks he's going to be a house renovator/landlord and goes to these scammy conferences every few months...he bought and has 95% renovated a house in SE DC, taking now 8 years without finishing the darn thing and getting a nickel in rent... The challenge, of course, is that he's coming back into the house after who knows what exposure...how to effectively quarantine him is going to be a huge issue...

Your making me feel bad MD. I have been so relentless in picking on you. Your life sure is no picnic at times. My life is a piece of cake by comparison. There is my wife and I and our dog. Not a one of us gives a flying fig about politics or politicians. I enjoy talking about politics, but I have no dog in the race. I can sit here on the sidelines and watch the circus parade pass by on its way to the big top. To quote Ed Sullivan... "its gonna be a really big sheeeew." BTW, Covid is no issue in my house. We don't go anywhere and we are isolated from the human race as much as possible. My wife refuses to go out to a restaurant at this time. Lucky for us she is a great cook. I think your living arrangement would make a great comedy sitcom. You ever thought of filling in the basement with concrete?

Personal Update:

Good news, basement dwelling brother-in-law has not yet come down with any symptoms, and says he was only with one person those 3 days away, except for a packed plane out of New Orleans beating the storm...has not yet been tested, because (thanks Trump and Pence et al) apparently you now need to say you were exposed to a known Covid case AND have symptoms in order to get a test. Argghhh...so, he's staying in the basement...

Bad news, my 25 yr old nephew in Charleston who tested positive after driving his sister (28 yrs old) and her fiancé to the airport did indeed infect at least one of them, the fiancé, who has now tested positive and has symptoms. They had left early when he began to feel sick, drove one of the cars back down here, rented a car and continued on the Charleston where they got a test. So far, just the finance is the next definite case, making 2 definite so far.

They had flown to NH and went to the lake house with my mom, my sister and her husband, and the sister and her boyfriend...the sister, 25 yrs old (twin), wasn't feeling well and drove with her boyfriend to Baltimore, where she's awaiting test results...her boyfriend asymptomatic at present. My 60 yr old sister now has possible symptoms, so she and her husband and my mom are leaving a day early and driving back tomorrow...no symptoms yet for the 63 yr old husband and my 83 year old mom.

They arrive late tomorrow and we need to figure out how to isolate them, support them, etc.

Keep your fingers crossed.

[youthathletics]

Personal situation:

Just learned that my nephew who manages a restaurant in Charleston, SC felt sick, was tested positive. But he had just driven his sister and her boyfriend (now betrothed!) to the airport to fly up to NH to be with her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, and her grandmother, my 83 yr old mom at the lake house...

So, yesterday they headed to get tested at the closest testing site in NH, but learned on the way that the turnaround in test time for an answer would be 10 days...10 days!

So, they're looking for another testing facility.

My mom returns home (our house), driven by my sister the end of this week....

Meanwhile, my knucklehead, Trumpist basement dweller sent a text to my wife on Friday that he'd hopped on a plane to New Orleans and then Mississippi from some sort of tax lien thing...not sure what it is. Gets back Monday night. He thinks he's going to be a house renovator/landlord and goes to these scammy conferences every few months...he bought and has 95% renovated a house in SE DC, taking now 8 years without finishing the darn thing and getting a nickel in rent... The challenge, of course, is that he's coming back into the house after who knows what exposure...how to effectively quarantine him is going to be a huge issue...

Your making me feel bad MD. I have been so relentless in picking on you. Your life sure is no picnic at times. My life is a piece of cake by comparison. There is my wife and I and our dog. Not a one of us gives a flying fig about politics or politicians. I enjoy talking about politics, but I have no dog in the race. I can sit here on the sidelines and watch the circus parade pass by on its way to the big top. To quote Ed Sullivan... "its gonna be a really big sheeeew." BTW, Covid is no issue in my house. We don't go anywhere and we are isolated from the human race as much as possible. My wife refuses to go out to a restaurant at this time. Lucky for us she is a great cook. I think your living arrangement would make a great comedy sitcom. You ever thought of filling in the basement with concrete?

Personal Update:

Good news, basement dwelling brother-in-law has not yet come down with any symptoms, and says he was only with one person those 3 days away, except for a packed plane out of New Orleans beating the storm...has not yet been tested, because (thanks Trump and Pence et al) apparently you now need to say you were exposed to a known Covid case AND have symptoms in order to get a test. Argghhh...so, he's staying in the basement...

Bad news, my 25 yr old nephew in Charleston who tested positive after driving his sister (28 yrs old) and her fiancé to the airport did indeed infect at least one of them, the fiancé, who has now tested positive and has symptoms. They had left early when he began to feel sick, drove one of the cars back down here, rented a car and continued on the Charleston where they got a test. So far, just the finance is the next definite case, making 2 definite so far.

They had flown to NH and went to the lake house with my mom, my sister and her husband, and the sister and her boyfriend...the sister, 25 yrs old (twin), wasn't feeling well and drove with her boyfriend to Baltimore, where she's awaiting test results...her boyfriend asymptomatic at present. My 60 yr old sister now has possible symptoms, so she and her husband and my mom are leaving a day early and driving back tomorrow...no symptoms yet for the 63 yr old husband and my 83 year old mom.

They arrive late tomorrow and we need to figure out how to isolate them, support them, etc.

Prayers for MD family.
If you need a place to stay for a couple weeks and get out of dodge....Hit me up.

[DocBarrister]

Personal situation:

Just learned that my nephew who manages a restaurant in Charleston, SC felt sick, was tested positive. But he had just driven his sister and her boyfriend (now betrothed!) to the airport to fly up to NH to be with her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, and her grandmother, my 83 yr old mom at the lake house...

So, yesterday they headed to get tested at the closest testing site in NH, but learned on the way that the turnaround in test time for an answer would be 10 days...10 days!

So, they're looking for another testing facility.

My mom returns home (our house), driven by my sister the end of this week....

Meanwhile, my knucklehead, Trumpist basement dweller sent a text to my wife on Friday that he'd hopped on a plane to New Orleans and then Mississippi from some sort of tax lien thing...not sure what it is. Gets back Monday night. He thinks he's going to be a house renovator/landlord and goes to these scammy conferences every few months...he bought and has 95% renovated a house in SE DC, taking now 8 years without finishing the darn thing and getting a nickel in rent... The challenge, of course, is that he's coming back into the house after who knows what exposure...how to effectively quarantine him is going to be a huge issue...

Your making me feel bad MD. I have been so relentless in picking on you. Your life sure is no picnic at times. My life is a piece of cake by comparison. There is my wife and I and our dog. Not a one of us gives a flying fig about politics or politicians. I enjoy talking about politics, but I have no dog in the race. I can sit here on the sidelines and watch the circus parade pass by on its way to the big top. To quote Ed Sullivan... "its gonna be a really big sheeeew." BTW, Covid is no issue in my house. We don't go anywhere and we are isolated from the human race as much as possible. My wife refuses to go out to a restaurant at this time. Lucky for us she is a great cook. I think your living arrangement would make a great comedy sitcom. You ever thought of filling in the basement with concrete?

Personal Update:

Good news, basement dwelling brother-in-law has not yet come down with any symptoms, and says he was only with one person those 3 days away, except for a packed plane out of New Orleans beating the storm...has not yet been tested, because (thanks Trump and Pence et al) apparently you now need to say you were exposed to a known Covid case AND have symptoms in order to get a test. Argghhh...so, he's staying in the basement...

Bad news, my 25 yr old nephew in Charleston who tested positive after driving his sister (28 yrs old) and her fiancé to the airport did indeed infect at least one of them, the fiancé, who has now tested positive and has symptoms. They had left early when he began to feel sick, drove one of the cars back down here, rented a car and continued on the Charleston where they got a test. So far, just the finance is the next definite case, making 2 definite so far.

They had flown to NH and went to the lake house with my mom, my sister and her husband, and the sister and her boyfriend...the sister, 25 yrs old (twin), wasn't feeling well and drove with her boyfriend to Baltimore, where she's awaiting test results...her boyfriend asymptomatic at present. My 60 yr old sister now has possible symptoms, so she and her husband and my mom are leaving a day early and driving back tomorrow...no symptoms yet for the 63 yr old husband and my 83 year old mom.

They arrive late tomorrow and we need to figure out how to isolate them, support them, etc.

Good heavens.

Best wishes to your family, MD.

DocBarrister