Covid

[flowerbug]

@valley ranch well i sure hope you never get sick from this virus. my once healthy cousin is into the 3rd week in the ICU from this crud. in order to see their family they have to have help to stand up to look out the window at their family outside in the parking lot with signs and they talk on the phone.

the recent 3rd stage vaccine trials involve thousands of people after two previous stages testing for safety. while there may still be some side-effects and complications for a few i don't have worries about major screw ups once a vaccine comes out of studies. and no, that doesn't mean there aren't other risks (manufacturing or distribution problems) as when humans are involved you can't rule out everything 100%. if anything we have nutjobs who may even be willing to sabotage things just to try to prove their side is correct.

 

[flowerbug]

interesting!

i'm curious what actual strains of the virus that was and i'm not sure they can isolate that from blood samples that contain antibodies nor do i think the antibodies say what strain:

Covid-19 Likely in U.S. in Mid-December 2019, CDC Scientists Report

The new coronavirus infected people in the U.S. in mid-December 2019, a few weeks before it was officially identified in China and about a month earlier than public health authorities found the first U.S. case, according to a government study.

www.wsj.com

one rellie still in ICU. others have been sick and are gradually recovering (that i know of).

just heard a close friend was exposed from her grandson and if she actually gets infected she's not in very good shape healthwise - i hope she doesn't get sick. she would be a prime candidate for getting the vaccine if she wants it. i hope she does.

 

[valley ranch]

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

There have been some studies that a good level of Vit D in your body may help to stave off severe covid symptoms. SO just got an Rx for Vit D, during a routine blood test. I take it to help with depression. I'm glad we do.

30.0 - 100.0 ng/mL is the acceptable range. SO was at 26, so one 5000 iu a day will bring him up.

 

[flowerbug]

@valley ranch, if you're one of the people who thinks this is a hoax, i'm sorry, i'm sorry that you've no compassion at all for the millions of people who've been infected or those that have died or their families, and we are by far not through this yet.

 

[Rammy]

Unless we put our division aside, stop picking on petty differences or opinions, this country is lost. I don't think anyone will do whats needed to come together as a nation and stop whats coming. Im going silent. Bye.

 

[thejenx]

Spreading falsehoods, misinformation and conspiracy theories doesn't do any good and should be called out. It's not an opinion.

 

[flowerbug]

Unless we put our division aside, stop picking on petty differences or opinions, this country is lost. I don't think anyone will do whats needed to come together as a nation and stop whats coming. Im going silent. Bye.

when the difference is about something that can be life threatening i don't consider it petty at all.

of course if people don't like what i say they can skip it or filter me. that's all a feature of this website.

as for the more general anti-science agenda which is a large part of the division i can only point to poor education because even if you don't agree with a policy you should be able to evaluate a pile of bunk from something that is at least credible to start with. so far what i see is a lot of people just reaching for any old pile of bunk they can get ahold of to hide behind, but in the end, it's bunk and science will win out in the end. even if science may be wrong in parts it at least gets actual progress in understanding if given a chance to work and the work done is solid and provides good reasoning. hiding behind bunk doesn't improve anything at all for the future.

one recent example of science making progress was the understanding of how genes in cells are transcribed, there were some assumptions made about how the end of that process happens. recent studies have shown it is actually different than the accepted narrative. i'll take that kind of system over any other.

 

[valley ranch]

You're very right spreading false information is not a good thing ~ it scares people ```

Yes, Vitamin D is a good idea ```

 

[Zeedman]

as for the more general anti-science agenda which is a large part of the division i can only point to poor education because even if you don't agree with a policy you should be able to evaluate a pile of bunk from something that is at least credible to start with. so far what i see is a lot of people just reaching for any old pile of bunk they can get ahold of to hide behind, but in the end, it's bunk and science will win out in the end. even if science may be wrong in parts it at least gets actual progress in understanding if given a chance to work and the work done is solid and provides good reasoning. hiding behind bunk doesn't improve anything at all for the future.

How many friends, and how many TEG members, are we going to lose over this thread???

Science... It is hard to use science as an argument, when so many scientists, doctors, and health professionals who question the science of current policies are being censored. These educated professionals are being denied the right to publicly debate their assertions - and open debate, and peer review, are part of the scientific method. In many cases, these people are risking their lives & careers by coming forward, only to be derided as "conspiracy theorists". Real science should not be afraid to confront opposing views which are supported by facts, and let the truth speak for itself. When the first recourse of those in authority (and those in the media) is to use personal attacks, coercion, or censorship to attack the messenger - rather than debate the message - it calls the validity of the prevailing "science" into question. Science is - or should be - determined by factual debate, not by mob rule.

The "science" has shifted often in the course of this pandemic. The CDC has several times changed its policy on masks, from initially stating that only N-95 masks offered protection, to telling people not to wear masks, to stating that cloth & procedure masks offer protection. There are studies that scientifically refute the effectiveness of all but N-95 masks, (which was the CDC's original position) but those studies are now being suppressed. There are also studies that refute the whole concept of 6-foot "social distancing"... and I have yet to see scientific evidence to suggest that distance is anything but arbitrary. It is hard to quote those studies, when social media keeps deleting them as 'false' - without evidence. The Govt has also chosen to disregard the overwhelming scientific evidence from around the world that treatment of Hydroxychloroquine can save lives, and declared a medication found to be 'safe' since 1955 to suddenly be unsafe... apparently for purely political reasons. In a just world, with hundreds of thousands perhaps dying needlessly, that would be investigated.

It is well & good to say "I follow the science"... but not to use that as a cudgel to attack anyone who disagrees with current policy, or your own personal beliefs. Personal insult makes few converts. Science has demonstrably become politically corrupted, to the point where it has sometimes morphed into dogma - and to the detriment of us all, it has lost the trust of many because of that. That people have become distrustful of supposedly science-based policy in this overly-politicized environment does not necessarily make them troglodytes, morons, or "anti science". While some arguments being advanced by anti-mask people are clearly irrational, a healthy skepticism of current policy is justified... especially given that the steadily rising death toll seems to indicate current policy may not be based upon the best science.

And about that rising death toll... it shouldn't be casually blamed on just those who refuse to follow the rules. Especially given that too often, those who set those rules for others, don't seem to themselves hold those rules in high regard.