Ah, all right. I guess I'm just being hypersensitive due to being basically closed and imprisoned at my house...

I feel ya...even a near shut in like me is feeling it due to the lockdowns. (song starts around 37 seconds in)

And cheer up...we'll all get through this eventually. :)
==============================================================

To the thread:

(If anyone wants to discuss the stuff in said video I ask that people try to stay within the site rules....if that's not possible one is free to discuss the video in the quicktopics linked in the OP post)
==============================================================

Another song that I feel fits the theme of our current times(and gives off a bit of Disney nostalgia....while also fitting the theme of social distancing/isolation):

I Stand Alone

(Hopefully it will cheer someone up or remind them of their childhood. Also from now on any new OP post additions will be listed in new posts when I also add them to the OP post)

I was walking to a pharmacy yesterday to pick up some medication and figured I'd be alone enough in the surrounding area that I wouldn't need to wear a mask as the heat would've been nearly unbearable and I already have issues with breathing outside of all this.

What I didn't count on was that people in cars passing by would occasionally honk their horn at me and I'm not entirely certain if it was because they have no concept of the fact that I was nowhere near the lane for cars as I was walking by or if they were angry and flabbergasted that I was out without a mask on and decided that laying on the horn like some jabroni would somehow get me to put one on as they flew by me on the street.

(Not to give the wrong impression - I did carry a mask for use once I was inside the pharmacy)

I also only wear my masks once near a store entry(about 50 yards or less from it), as I get mild panic attacks with ANYTHING being that close to my mouth that isn't edible(due to mental issues).

Some are "mindless drones"** in that way, sadly....also some combine that with also sometimes misreading the new rules.

i.e. We have to wear masks in stores here, but some think it also means when one is alone outside in like a park, and will argue with some over that.

(**=To all: I use those terms as a descriptor more than an insult)

I do as well, but only wear it for major stores that require it or when around those I care about a bit more**(small business workers in small businesses I frequent a good amount, for example).

(**=To all: This is not to say I don't care about some people at all...I just care about some people a bit more, like anyone else)
===========================================================================

To all reading the thread:


[Modded by Bookwyrm627: Please refrain from political discussion on the forum, even via video links.]

lockdowns should end they are ruining our countries

Styx(in the video I just linked above your post) talks about this extensively...he thinks we should ramp up mask/glove/ventilator/medicine production at the local level in each country that can do so, and let people go back to work albeit with social distancing and masks/gloves/etc used.

I tend to agree with him, and even if I didn't(for some reason) it doesn't take a genius to see we need to get people back to work else risk other problems from this situation unrelated to people getting sick-dying.

Yes , these lockdowns probably hurt more than the virus.

I believe some studies are starting to come out(of course they need to be double checked) that the lockdowns only cut the mortality rates by 2-5%** at best.

(**Not 2-5% of the population, but 2-5% of total fatalities due to the virus)

I hope this is not read as a political diatribe. It is not meant as such. It is meant solely as my personal opinion as someone with experience in emergency management and preparedness...

IMO extended lock-downs are the result of a lack of planning and preparedness.

The understanding of how a pandemic in general -- and a coronavirus in particular -- would spread throughout society... and those who would be most at-risk in such an outbreak... has been widely understood for many years, especially since SARS. I worked for many years at a think-tank that regularly ran war games and pandemic scenarios. In fact a pandemic war game (one of many) was run last year by many countries and business leaders focusing on a global coronavirus pandemic (and yes, the origin of the game's outbreak was eerily similar -- China). Also, most 1st world leaders in fact have been briefed on the high potential or coronavirus pandemic directly after taking office.

So, the information was ubiquitous, but planning seems to have been -- for many countries -- absent.

IMO It seems clear that senior citizens and at-risk people with pre-existing conditions should have been immediately quarantined from greater society until testing and treatment were successful implemented (currently we do not have either adequate testing or uniform, successful treatment). And when I say "quarantined," I mean in a humane way -- with pay where necessary and needs met. It is shocking to me that only now senior citizen communities are being locking down... long, long after we knew people over 60 were high risk. These populations which have made up over 80% of documented COVID-19 deaths worldwide, should have been our focus from day one.

It is questionable IMO whether -- after health and security measures were adequately expressed to the population and enacted (gloves, masks, distancing, hand washing, etc.) -- greater society should have been locked-down. If government cannot guarantee the planning and pursuit of livelihoods (arguably the most important aspect of government aside from keeping the peace) -- or adequately make people whole during this mandated lock-down -- it would seem that undermining the economic engine of said country is folly. A population that can't afford to eat is going to worsen an already desperate pandemic situation.

It is obviously a hope that with consistent, mass testing those economic engines can begin again.

It is a difficult situation -- certainly having 80+ year old parents and family with pre-existing conditions it is scary -- but IMO the lack of planning and preparedness has created a host of other distressing problems that we may be dealing with long, long after this virus is eradicated.

Last week I read about Italy during The Black Plague (4+ years) and there are a number or parallels. If so inclined, I highly recommend reading about the response to plague in the Middle Ages. It did show me that times change but people don't. Worth a look.

Probably yes, though there are a lot of mitigating factors for those that made mistakes early. If the mistakes were made after seeing Italy/ Spain there's far less justification for them since at that time we knew it was highly infectious. Trouble is that without bad examples of what can happen the presumption is that everything will be all right because that's the politically safe option. Act too hard and even if it's the right option objectively you run the risk of being told that the lockdown is worse than the alternative- because no one has seen the alternative. SARS is a problematic example though, as is close cousin MERS, as while they no doubt appeared to be good analogues they ultimately gave a false impression. Both are ~10x more lethal per infection than SARS-CoV2, but are also far less infectious. A virus with low infectivity is relatively easy to control, even if it is a novel one, and both SARS and MERS did not spread appreciably. That was the model and base line most countries started with for their response. Not without reason either, SARS2 and SARS both are likely to have ultimately originated in bats and MERS in camellids, and viruses that jump species are usually not very infectious in general- eg other ssRNA viruses that jumped the species barrier from our near relative simians; Ebola/ Marburg and HIV, which all require considerably more direct exposure than SARS2.

As it turns out SARS-CoV2 is about equal with the common cold constituent coronavirus in terms of infectiousness- ie high to very high and SARS/ MERS was a poor model. But there was decent reason to believe such a result was unlikely at the time initial decisions were being made.

Some news to scare you:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/

Reinforces my opinion that it's not advisable to catch this virus, even if one is under 50.

Actually this is one of the things scaring me the most about this current pandemics: young people not giving a sh*t about protective measures because "virus doesn't apply to them".

If one catches it and go through it mildly or asymptomatic, they still infect 2 other people on average. I wonder how would they feel if they knew somebodies grandpa died because of them. But of course nobody cares about old folks, they gonna die soon anyway, right...

Or the kids are frigging unhealthy and getting strokes anyway, Because of FAT LADEN foods they consume.