Corona Virus

[The Monkey]

probable cases to 281,

The "probable number" sort of drives me nuts. For awhile when you did the math our actually active numbers were negative. Our CDC director was asked about it and he explained that the "probable number" is fluid and changes as some turn out not to be actual positives.

 

[NurseDave]

@NurseDave , the death rate seems to be going down. Would this be because of better treatments, younger people getting it,both or something else?

I really can only answer that on what I personally see. Yes, we are learning a little more about treating it, but I think the bigger factor in those admitted is that that they are younger than the first spike. I personally haven’t been paying too much attention to the mortality rates.

 

[CBLindsay]

I have just skipped to page 90 and may have missed some of the controversy. Some simple facts from my life.

1. On July 4, 2020 one of my pledge classs (1975) fraternity brothers posted “Covid it’s real. I have been in ICU since Tuesday.”
2. About a week later, his sister in-law posted that he was on a ventilator.
3. On Monday July 20, 2020 he died.

The world lost a fine person way before his time.

That’s the kind of simple story that’s outright terrifying. Somehow hearing from family that someone is sick or in ICU then that they have passed is more sterilized than having it come about like that.

 

[The Monkey]

I have just skipped to page 90 and may have missed some of the controversy. Some simple facts from my life.

1. On July 4, 2020 one of my pledge classs (1975) fraternity brothers posted “Covid it’s real. I have been in ICU since Tuesday.”
2. About a week later, his sister in-law posted that he was on a ventilator.
3. On Monday July 20, 2020 he died.

The world lost a fine person way before his time.

So sorry to hear this. Really brings things home.

 

[The Monkey]

Our state is still rolling out guidelines for school reopening.
Our CDC director just announced that kids in school can be just 3 ft apart instead of the 6 ft for everyone else.
This doesn't make sense to me. It is hard not to see politics involved.

 

[Jaro1069]

Out district announced yesterday they are going hybrid with a/b groups of kids. My son said he's going virtual still.

 

[Jaro1069]

Did anyone see the article about the health professionals sending a letter asking for the country to close again today?

 

[Jaro1069]

I'm so proud of my oldest son. He still says even though he'd like to see his friends it is still way to early to go back... Even in the announcement from the district they stated to be prepared for when they close again. They didn't say if they close they said when !!!!! Even they know it's to soon.....

 

[FarmerTan]

If virtual had been an option for me, I would never have gone to skool.

My son was Homeskooled, freakishly ambitious, mature, social..... I married a teacher, and there is no way we would have sent him to publik skool.

There is not enough money in the world for me to recommend teaching as a career. Poor souls. June, July, and August ain't nearly long enough!

 

[Jaro1069]

If virtual had been an option for me, I would never have gone to skool.

My son was Homeskooled, freakishly ambitious, mature, social..... I married a teacher, and there is no way we would have sent him to publik skool.

There is not enough money in the world for me to recommend teaching as a career. Poor souls. June, July, and August ain't nearly long enough!

I agree but don't worry they will close again soon.....

 

[FarmerTan]

Our state is still rolling out guidelines for school reopening.
Our CDC director just announced that kids in school can be just 3 ft apart instead of the 6 ft for everyone else.
This doesn't make sense to me. It is hard not to see politics involved.

Amen. Keep your powder dry, lol.

Honestly, we need to be in prayer for what this Fall/Winter brings us....

 

[The Monkey]

This doesn't make sense to me. It is hard not to see politics involved.

I just want to clarify. When I say politics are involved I'm not saying right or left. What I mean is that the politicians want schools to open and will "adjust" the story line or science to accommodate their agenda.

 

[CBLindsay]

Our state is still rolling out guidelines for school reopening.
Our CDC director just announced that kids in school can be just 3 ft apart instead of the 6 ft for everyone else.
This doesn't make sense to me. It is hard not to see politics involved.

The CDC has revised a few opinions/recommendations recently, including the recommended quarantine times and procedures. Taking a STRONG position then changing that position based on new evidence is the nature of science. In fact, scientific opinion is never static, it's the unbiased willingness to change the position when the evidence points to a different conclusion that makes science so trusted...and confusing. The problem is that the size of the COVID laboratory (global) is so large and fluid the data and observations used to form opinion feels so arbitrary and/or political. *I don't know what has driven the recent changes and am not implying a reason, just that they have been in the new this weeK.

Regarding the 3ft vs 6 ft, the CDC (using the WHO's recommendation as its basis) has ALWAYS held that 3 ft was all that was necessary but chose to tell everyone 6ft because it provide so much more margin of error. Basically it was like the old joke ...well never mind. What they figured was if they want 3ft, tell them 6ft and chances are you'll get at least 3ft most of the time. At one point they also included references to time of exposure in their 3ft recommendation, it was something like "no more than 10 minutes within a 3ft distance of anyone...". Again, counting time and distance was not something they figured people could be counted on doing so the message was a simplified 6ft, which then became a 6ft and wear a mask. The WHO standard is still that it is acceptable to place hospital beds 1 meter apart, perhaps that is how that school district came to the 3ft distance. My rule would be to place them at least as far apart as the the mask elastic will carry the mask when full stretched and released.

One thing I have seen mentioned more and more in the reopening plans of local schools and some other industries is ventilation. There has been very little said about the need for or benefits of high flow ventilation but it goes to what the CDC (or WHO?) said in their initial opinion about distance and time of exposure. Few restaurants have been given an opportunity to remain open but some have used the downtime and extra PPP funding to install high flow-high efficiency ventilation systems that may become the new standard just like earthquake retrofits did in old buildings. an obvious down side is that changing a filter becomes a job for hazmat ...and just like that, a new agency is born.

I absolutely understand the need to put butts in seats, i see the academic need, I see the emotional need, i see the social need and I see the economic need. I can even make a very sound argument that our communities would be able to have better control over COVID if kids were ON campus each and every day...if we took some basic safety measures, coordinated well with local public health efforts and had proper/efficient testing protocols. BUT, to be successful the schools and communities have to be on the same page, schools have to be trained and prepared AND have the resources. Think about it, what better way to monitor the health of a community than to have eyes on its kids EVERY day. Keeping the kids home and teaching remotely is like keeping an infected wound wrapped tight for weeks, you know it's festering but you can't see how bad it is until its too late. If you exposure the wound everyday you can see where the problems are and address them. ...now who wants danger pay to teach this year?

At one point, about 12-13 years ago I was heavily involved with the school board (my career in politics), and my mom was the district nurse from the time i graduated high school until she died about 6 years ago. I have a pretty deep understanding of MY school district, which is why my older kids never attended it and my younger daughter attended only briefly, My daughter is in virtual school and will remain there through the remainder of high school so I have no horse in THAT race. My son is a teacher in the school district so my personal concerns are from that angle more than anything else. Because I know a little more about the inside of the administration building and I've worked with teachers on a professional level, I have to say I don't have a lot of faith in their ability to "throw together" a distance learning program, nor do I think they are the right people to design and coordinate an appropriate school based approach that is like I described above. I am not entirely sure my district could design a safe in-school program that protects the adequate staff either. One thing that adds a unique twist to a lot of our schools is a number of them are parent drop of/pick up. This creates a unique opportunity each and every day for additional exposure from each and every household, at a time when things are moving quickly and already filled with added risks requiring teachers attention. ...So, so many moving parts to consider.

I was thinking that it would be cool if we somehow used the PBS channel(s) to teach/supplement everyday. Since one of the complaints is lack of internet access they could put video classes on PBS, different time slots for different grades. Kahn Academy has some incredible teaching modules available for free, they could build classes straight from Kahn academy. The teachers union would come unglued but its for the greater good.

 

[FarmerTan]

I just want to clarify. When I say politics are involved I'm not saying right or left. What I mean is that the politicians want schools to open and will "adjust" the story line or science to accommodate their agenda.

Yes. There are politics in the business world, and skool is big business.

If you have never seen politics in business you have never been employed, lol!

 

[FarmerTan]

The CDC has revised a few opinions/recommendations recently, including the recommended quarantine times and procedures. Taking a STRONG position then changing that position based on new evidence is the nature of science. In fact, scientific opinion is never static, it's the unbiased willingness to change the position when the evidence points to a different conclusion that makes science so trusted...and confusing. The problem is that the size of the COVID laboratory (global) is so large and fluid the data and observations used to form opinion feels so arbitrary and/or political. *I don't know what has driven the recent changes and am not implying a reason, just that they have been in the new this weeK.

Regarding the 3ft vs 6 ft, the CDC (using the WHO's recommendation as its basis) has ALWAYS held that 3 ft was all that was necessary but chose to tell everyone 6ft because it provide so much more margin of error. Basically it was like the old joke ...well never mind. What they figured was if they want 3ft, tell them 6ft and chances are you'll get at least 3ft most of the time. At one point they also included references to time of exposure in their 3ft recommendation, it was something like "no more than 10 minutes within a 3ft distance of anyone...". Again, counting time and distance was not something they figured people could be counted on doing so the message was a simplified 6ft, which then became a 6ft and wear a mask. The WHO standard is still that it is acceptable to place hospital beds 1 meter apart, perhaps that is how that school district came to the 3ft distance. My rule would be to place them at least as far apart as the the mask elastic will carry the mask when full stretched and released.

One thing I have seen mentioned more and more in the reopening plans of local schools and some other industries is ventilation. There has been very little said about the need for or benefits of high flow ventilation but it goes to what the CDC (or WHO?) said in their initial opinion about distance and time of exposure. Few restaurants have been given an opportunity to remain open but some have used the downtime and extra PPP funding to install high flow-high efficiency ventilation systems that may become the new standard just like earthquake retrofits did in old buildings. an obvious down side is that changing a filter becomes a job for hazmat ...and just like that, a new agency is born.

I absolutely understand the need to put butts in seats, i see the academic need, I see the emotional need, i see the social need and I see the economic need. I can even make a very sound argument that our communities would be able to have better control over COVID if kids were ON campus each and every day...if we took some basic safety measures, coordinated well with local public health efforts and had proper/efficient testing protocols. BUT, to be successful the schools and communities have to be on the same page, schools have to be trained and prepared AND have the resources. Think about it, what better way to monitor the health of a community than to have eyes on its kids EVERY day. Keeping the kids home and teaching remotely is like keeping an infected wound wrapped tight for weeks, you know it's festering but you can't see how bad it is until its too late. If you exposure the wound everyday you can see where the problems are and address them. ...now who wants danger pay to teach this year?

At one point, about 12-13 years ago I was heavily involved with the school board (my career in politics), and my mom was the district nurse from the time i graduated high school until she died about 6 years ago. I have a pretty deep understanding of MY school district, which is why my older kids never attended it and my younger daughter attended only briefly, My daughter is in virtual school and will remain there through the remainder of high school so I have no horse in THAT race. My son is a teacher in the school district so my personal concerns are from that angle more than anything else. Because I know a little more about the inside of the administration building and I've worked with teachers on a professional level, I have to say I don't have a lot of faith in their ability to "throw together" a distance learning program, nor do I think they are the right people to design and coordinate an appropriate school based approach that is like I described above. I am not entirely sure my district could design a safe in-school program that protects the adequate staff either. One thing that adds a unique twist to a lot of our schools is a number of them are parent drop of/pick up. This creates a unique opportunity each and every day for additional exposure from each and every household, at a time when things are moving quickly and already filled with added risks requiring teachers attention. ...So, so many moving parts to consider.

I was thinking that it would be cool if we somehow used the PBS channel(s) to teach/supplement everyday. Since one of the complaints is lack of internet access they could put video classes on PBS, different time slots for different grades. Kahn Academy has some incredible teaching modules available for free, they could build classes straight from Kahn academy. The teachers union would come unglued but its for the greater good.

This is the smartest, most concise thing on the subject I've possibly ever read.

You should be on Trump's next round table. Seriously.

 

[CBLindsay]

This is the smartest, most concise thing on the subject I've possibly ever read.

You should be on Trump's next round table. Seriously.

I have NEVER been accused of being concise...

 

[FarmerTan]

I have NEVER been accused of being concise...

LOL! Then my friend you ain't never served on any boards I served on.

A time or two I may have been accused of liking the sound of my own voice!

 

[CBLindsay]

LOL! Then my friend you ain't never served on any boards I served on.

A time or two I may have been accused of liking the sound of my own voice!

Today I had someone from customer service tell ME to take a breath... I like that lady!

 

[The Monkey]

Regarding the 3ft vs 6 ft, the CDC (using the WHO's recommendation as its basis) has ALWAYS held that 3 ft was all that was necessary but chose to tell everyone 6ft because it provide so much more margin of error. Basically it was like the old joke ...well never mind. What they figured was if they want 3ft, tell them 6ft and chances are you'll get at least 3ft most of the time.

So let's push the 6' because it is safer unless we need to cram more kids into a classroom and then lo and behold the real number is 3', except if your not in a classroom you still must be at 6'.
I think I got it.

 

[FarmerTan]

So let's push the 6' because it is safer unless we need to cram more kids into a classroom and then lo and behold the real number is 3', except if your not in a classroom you still must be at 6'.
I think I got it.

Now yer thinkin' too hard!

I figger it's like the speed limit logic: post a speed you figure people will only exceed by 10 miles per and everybody thinks they're getting away with something!