Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[PJL]

Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but San Marino no longer has the worst covid-19 death rate. As of yesterday, Belgium now has that dubious honour. At least according to official figures. The real death rates depending on the measurements could be 30% higher, and probably even more in less developed countries.

[mongers]

Trump and the dumbsters are gonna love this, podcast of Bill Gates in conversation with Dr Anthony Fauci 

https://www.gatesnotes.com/Podcast/What-will-the-world-look-like-after-COVID-19?WT.mc_id=20201117100000_PodcastCOVID19_BG-EM_&WT.tsrc=BGEM

Turns out their old friends.

[Admiral Yi]

Mongers said a bad word. 

[Eddie Teach]

Worse than typing "their" instead of "they're"?

[grumbler]

So, I did a dumb thing today (gasps of shock, I am sure!  )

I agreed to take over two senior English classes starting at the end of February next year.  They are on the same day as my already-scheduled Tribalism and nationalism course, and i like the students in those classes (I taught them as sophomores) and I was just so happy about the news about vaccines, that I forgot I was (mostly) retired and said "yes" when they were offered.  the existing teacher is going on family leave then.

It's been a weird school year.  We started with 50% class attendance with 50% online (the classes were literally 50% full on a given day, with the 50% alternating) and classes every other day.  After a month of that, we thought students had earned enough about social distancing to go to full in-person teaching except those students that wanted to stay in distance learning (30% of my students).  Then we had 9 students get tested positive (morons on the baseball team had an out-of-school get-together that turned super-spreader) so spent the last 2 weeks doing all-remote.  Now we are in-person for those who want to attend and I had one student (out of ten) in class today! 

With about 70% of the semester done, I am a little less than 1/2 through my curriculum.  Time to start re-writing my final exam.

Why did I think I wanted more of this?

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/nov/18/uk-politics-live-starmer-corbyn-restore-whip-labour-antisemitism-covid?page=with:block-5fb5060c8f08b4f3c567526b#block-5fb5060c8f08b4f3c567526b

Ministers urged to treat toy shops as essential retail

Toy industry chiefs have today appealed directly to Boris Johnson to "save" Christmas by adding bricks and mortar toy retailers to the 'essential' list – the latest sector to plead for help.

Andrew Laughton, Chairman of the British Toy and Hobby Association and Alan Simpson, Chairman of the Toy Retailers Association, have written an open letter to the Prime Minister in which they implore: "Please don't allow Covid to steal Christmas from children and families across the country."

They stress:

We need you to ensure that Christmas isn't cancelled in a year when we all need some joy to lift the country's spirits, to assist the UK toy industry and, most importantly, to support families that need our toys for essential child development and pure joy this Christmas.

They have called on the government to add toys to the list of essential retail as soon as possible, and at a minimum, ensure that toy shops are allowed to operate from 2 December when the current lockdown will be lifted in England, but areas of the UK will continue to remain in tiers of restrictions.

...

[Zanza]

Police is using water cannons and tear gas on the Covidiots protesting in Berlin. It is the usual mix of Nazis, conspiracy theorists, esoterics, Anti-Vaxxers and I guess also some fine people.

As I fail to see how it can be acceptable that the state imposes far reaching basic rights limitations on all citizens the one hand, but allows this minority of idiots to congregate on the other hand, I hope they crack down on them hard.

[Syt]

I guess that's the result of treating the protestors in Leipzig with kid gloves recently (to put it mildly).

[Syt]

[Syt]

Austrians appear to be split about getting vaccinated. 

"If a a new vaccine against Corona (COVID-19) becomes available and is safe and effective, I would get vaccinated."

From top to bottom:
- Don't know
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree



The polls were conducted early October (medium infection rates) and early November (galloping infection rates).

[Tamas]

Hungary produced a similar result.

If true, this is an other good example why this should be compulsory. Seatbelts are not optional. Smoking bans are not optional. Even bloody illegal drugs are not optional. Why would vaccination be?

[Sheilbh]

The Brits are VERY keen on getting vaccinated


And of that minority that don't want it half will come round once they think it's safe:

[Tonitrus]

Hungary produced a similar result.

If true, this is an other good example why this should be compulsory. Seatbelts are not optional. Smoking bans are not optional. Even bloody illegal drugs are not optional. Why would vaccination be?

It might be well argued that things get a little more sketchy when you're telling people that they need to sit still while something is injected into them against their will (all of your examples are things people must either deny themselves by force of law, or compromise to doing one action in order to be able to legally do another). 

Even if it the smart thing to do for themselves and for the greater good.

[Barrister]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-covid-outbreak-update-arviat-whale-cove-1.5805485

Well shit.

Nunavut had so far been Covid-free.  Because there is no road-access they were requiring anyone flying into the territory to isolate in a hotel for 14 days before entering(at quite significant cost).  They were very fearful of Covid spreading there because housing in the territory is very crowded and they have limited hospitals (and no ICUs).

Up until November they had been successful, but now it's got in.  Within just two weeks they have 70 cases in three communities.

What a nasty disease this is.

P.s. I've been to Whale Cove and Arviat - in January. It was very cold.

[Admiral Yi]

P.s. I've been to Whale Cove and Arviat - in January. It was very cold.