BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - The coronavirus pandemic is spreading from cities to rural communities

Keyser Soze

On 5/18/20 2:07 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/18/2020 1:57 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/18/2020 12:53 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 5/18/20 12:27 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/18/2020 11:54 AM, wrote:

Bad news for some areas that have done well so far.

Â*Â*From the Wall Street Journal:

The coronavirus pandemic is spreading from cities to rural
communities
that have a higher share of older, at-risk residents, a trend that
has
implications for the stress it may put on local health-care
systems as
well as the push by many governors to ease economic restrictions and
reopen for business.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins
University shows in the two-week period between April 20 and May 4,
newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in nonmetropolitan areas outpaced
those
in metro areas by 30%.

The virusâ€™s spread to nonmetropolitan areas, where resources for
testing and medical care tend to be in short supply, could present
new
dilemmas for state officials charged with determining when and how
much to relax stay-at-home rules.Â* ...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-is-spreading-faster-in-rural-communities-with-aging-populations-11589601660

Our very rural town has recently experienced an uptick in confirmed
cases.

I don't know how to think.Â* I understand the reasons to take the
recommended precautions, social distancing, isolation, wearing
masks, etc. with full realization that I am not qualified to
judge as to how effective they are.

I also understand that if this goes too much longer we may face an
economic hit that could take a decade or more to recover from.

One thing that really ****es me off though.Â* In the once or twice
visits a week I make to a local convenience type store to pick up a
few
necessary items,Â* I've noticed that most older folks are wearing
masks and gloves but the younger people ... mostly teenagers
don't bother with either.Â* They congregate around the store
and the Dunkin' Donuts within taking no obvious heed to the
warnings and recommendations.

I am not arguing that masks and gloves solve anything.Â* I don't
know if they do or not.Â* But those who wear them at least are
demonstrating that they are *aware* of the precautions that are
recommended and are trying to comply.Â* The younger generation
isn't.

We haven't been out and about that much lately, but have noticed that
everywhere we do go, you cannot get in to any commercial establishment
without wearing a mask. I was in Lowe's yesterday to buy paint, and
everyone was masked and keeping a safe distance.

Yes.Â* I released you from my Bozo Bin last night and left Nomen by his
lonesome.Â* Let's see if we can discuss stuff without going overboard
with the politics, uh?Â* Deal?

The daily covid-19 reported cases in Massachusetts and particularly in
Plymouth County that I have been tracking has *not* plateaued yet.
Cases are still on the rise.Â* Our governor has announced a four-phase
"opening" plan but has not given any details as to timing. He's supposed
to do so today ... or possibly delay it further.

I don't think some realize that a "plateau" doesn't mean much other
than the number of new cases daily isn't rising.Â* It also isn't
diminishing.Â* Based on current numbers I think MA still has a way
to go.

I am also becoming convinced that this is going to be around for a
long, long time unless an effective vaccine is developed.Â* I heard
a guy (the former head of the CDC) say that people are talking of
a second round in the fall or winter.Â* He thinks that's a misnomer.
He said what it really means is the virus never went away to begin
with.Â* It's just waiting until we let our guard down and the next
wave could be much worse because it will coincide with the
seasonal flu outbreak.

2020 sure sucks so far.

.

My non medical opinion might be like yours...I think that the reason
why we
have hit a plateau is because most of us are isolating, using masks
when we
go out, and dousing ourselves in Purell. I wipe Purell on my face,
too, and
s o far have kept it out of my eyes. Wife was told her private offices
downtown for herself and staff were commercially disinfected and locked,
waiting her return. AC there is off. She will avoid public transportation
when her office reopens.

It appears that even the experts have been duped by this virus.Â* Recent
reports indicate that the number of those infected is far more wide
spread than thought even a week ago.Â* The former head of the CDC also
warned that covid-19 is a particularly bad virus as viruses go.

Sometimes I think it would have been better to "catch it" early on
and hope for a recovery.Â* But then again at 70 years old, we are in
the high risk category.Â* Decisions, decisions.

I kind of intellectually enjoy the ignorant comments of those who claim
experts like Fauci "got things wrong" or "changed their minds" on X, Y,
or Z. Real scientists in these fields regularly adjust their views as
new information becomes available.

I remember bits of a paper my wife wrote in grad school that posited how
much of Freud had become irrelevant. Had Freud himself been around, he
would have offered his own corrections, additions, and deletions.

--
MAGA - Manipulating America's Gullible Assholes