Gobbledegook

My good friends Brother died last night, aged 55. He was taken ill Wednesday, felt like flu, was diagnosed with covid on friday. No history of illness, was fit, played golf etc.

That was a wake-up call for me, time to take it seriously.

 

If there are a significant number of false positives doesn't that mean the case statistics are even worse then we think based on the data? Florida has the eighth highest number of cases by state per 100,000 people.

Is there any data for people dying as a direct result of lockdown? Hospitals are filling up quickly (I tend to believe the people on the front line who are saying this, irrespective os statistics) so wouldn't increased cases of hospitalisation cause even more deaths as treatments are postponed or cancelled?

 

Here is the thing, it was the doctor who diagnosed him with Covid-19 and said he died from Covid-19. Who to listen too..

 

COVID is a nasty virus. Many of my co-workers have had it and they say they wouldn't wish it on a pig they didn't like. My bother-in-law died from pneumonia that was brought on by COVID. The problem is we have no effective barrier against it and treatments results vary greatly. Isolation is about the only thing that could really be effective and you open yourself up to a host of other maladies doing that on a large scale. Shutdown / lockdown is a sledgehammer response that caused, and continue to cause more long term health and wellness problems than the virus. It's the only lever government has, and since people have been conditioned to believe government "should do something" it is the "something" that is done. I believe we are reaping the grim harvest of "flattening the curve" in these second and third waves, but this is exactly what the epidemiologists said would happen back in April. Far more of these decisions are for political reasons than health reasons, and decided by politicians that have no ability to lead. People will die and we are not in control.

 

But if you were in your 80's and still enjoying life, would you still say that ?
I think there's a fair chance you wouldn't.

 

I hope you don't take these views to another medium. I appreciate views from all sides in all debates. I am not at all indifferent. Please continue to post, everybody.

 

Apologies for selectively quoting, I'm aware it can destroy context but I think you're bang on with that. Just clicking 'agree' didn't seem enough.

 

My own view is that covid may, or may not be the result of a manipulation of statistics.

If it is legit... Well, it makes sense to be careful, wear a mask in public, wash your hands (do that anyway as they are usually black with oil) socially distance etc etc... Is it not better to do these things than maybe catch a virus?

Government.... Doesn't really matter what they do, ultimately I am responsible for me and my own. If only the sheeple would accept a wee bit responsibility.

 

Selective quote again and my caveat above applies.

It's seen as a contentious issue so many will avoid commenting, agree with a view or not. It's pragmatic as If .,say, I'm a fervent advocate of masks why would I argue with somebody like JtC (hope he doesn't mind, just remember a post about masks) who I generally rub along well with here over an issue that our difference of opinion does not have any impact. I'm not going to bump into him in Tesco and have an arguement about his face. Falls into the each to their own category.

FWIW I've read some of your covid posts, agree with some, disagree with some, can see a line of logic through all.

But there's an individual response required to live through the pandemic. You have to make your own choices about what your personal risk assesment is. So long as (in real world scenarios) you are capable of respecting what my risk levels are and don't tread on my toes, I shall do the same for you.

Of course I do monitor threads silently to see the next candidate to derail and plant a guitar thread. I didn't think people cared about oversize BMWs and it was safe there. How wrong I was.

People are strange.

 

Good post that, @ChasChas. We may not all reach the same conclusions but there's nothing wrong with questioning the data and decisions, provided it's based on reasonable logic and verifiable facts.

Models by definition are imperfect. Data will be continually examined and refined. Some of the graphs shown yesterday had error margins included, as they should. It's clear a great deal has been learned since March. There's also a lot of concensus among both Sage and their independent counterparts on what's happening and action needed. That's just the science bit, though. It's for our elected politicians to consider the bigger picture and act on that information in the way the see appropriate. Every decision will be a compromise but some decisions will be better than others.

I have no issue with wearing a mask and following the sanitary guidelines. Even if it has less benefit than claimed there seems little harm in doing it anyway, just to be sure. We put up with outrageous levels of surveillance in our society so I don't see it as a loss of liberty. There are far bigger and significant battles to be fought for those concerned.

 

I may as well dip a second toe in the water

I agree that masks have very limited virus stopping properties. They will limit, to a degree, expulsion of breath from someone infected to a smaller area, I believe.
Their main use is as a totem. It says 'I will respect your space' as it's the commonaly held view that my mask protects you from me. Protects me from sod all. If I see someone maskless where they are required I assume that person does not give a shit about anybody else.

 

Why would you? He's Chuck Norris!