In the U.S. there is currently a big difference between the cities with higher densities and lower densities. (1)
My best friend is a doctor in a hospital in an area just outside of the Seattle area. - - - (2)
most people wear a mask if for no other reason (since they don't do all that much) than to keep everyone else calm. (3)
(4) The new case numbers have gone down although not as much as one would hope probably because as rules start to relax some people are taking advantage of that. I expect there will be a learning curve regarding what to do as the rules relax.
There have been no shortages in my grocery store throughout all of this except for the first few weeks with toilet paper and certain other hoarding items.(5)
Unemployment is going to be an issue nationwide but most that are unemployed are being compensated better than they have ever been compensated before. It's mainly the lower skill jobs that are being lost. That's not good but just to put things in perspective, most people with any kind of education or skill aren't going to be unemployed for long and most are still employed. (6)
I know someone who works in a warehouse for Outdoor Research (like REI) and he still has a job. Currently it sucks to work in a restaurant, bar, barbershop or nail salon. (7)
It we are going to have all of the Covid-19 threads, it would be less annoying to have a little balance in what is posted. (8)
It is discouraging to see deceptive and insinuative crap like that receive "likes" and approval from the educated classes.
1) There isn't. Compared with Seattle (rather than a more useful resort to more valid evidence, because this comparison is from wingnut media) NY got less warning, did not respond as well to the warning, probably had a significantly higher exposure from overseas, and has a higher proportion of the racial and other demographic groups hardest hit for various reasons. Those are far more likely factors - even before the statistical stuff , or even just the"per capita" aspect, weighs in.
2) The rightwing reliance on anonymous personal experience (to the point settling all issues for them, and so necessary it will be invented if not on hand) is a field mark. Acronym MOE (My Own Eyes).
3) The generally available (because lots of people chipped in and made them, in my area) social masks apparently reduce one's exposure and likelihood of infection/transmission by as much as 75%. They are not adequate for medical situations, of course, but that doesn't mean they don't help the regular citizen - a lot.
4) The new case numbers do not appear to be going down (without testing we have to rely on proxy data, but it's pretty clear). That people would "take advantage" was of course the reason for the rules in the first place, and the reason relaxing them in our current state of ignorance is almost certain to go badly.
There will be dead people, he means. And people scarred/crippled for life. And a second wave of pandemic, in the US.
The "learning curve" will measure how long it takes for people like Seattle to realize they are still being lied to, by the same people who have been lying to them their entire adult lives.
5) MOE
Shortages have afflicted others, significantly, throughout the US - that is well known, documented, etc.
6) The unemployment rate alone - never mind the underemployment rate, inverse employment rate, etc - has already risen to Depression levels. That is not an "issue", but a disaster.
Those people have not been compensated "better than they have ever been compensated before", in general.
Don't forget that in addition to having the President kick them off the unemployment rolls, many have lost medical care - the US system is employer based. That is of course insanely stupid in the middle of a contagion - which partly explains why a very large majority of Americans favor some kind of socialized medical insurance, just as this post I am fisking shows partly why they can't have it.
Although the suitably virtuous and high achieving members of the "skilled" class may be correct for once, and accurately assessing their chances of unemployment, they will find that the 2/3 majority of the citizenry
who doesn't understand why the guy who can rebuild a carburetor but not format a PDF doc is unskilled in comparison with someone who can format a PDF doc but not rebuild a carburetor
also lacks a satisfactory explanation for why the various miseries of this pandemic are not duly shared by those most responsible for its unnecessary severity,
and why their impoverishment is to be put in "perspective", while the defended prosperity of irresponsible others is held to be their just due.
7) MOE
8) It would indeed. Starting with less of the Republican media feed bs. Much less.
