D&D and the rising pandemic

Dannyalcatraz · Apr 22, 2020

Because of circumstances beyond my control, I was forced to make 2 grocery trips in 2 days. While things are still generally civil- and definitely no brawls or the like- I can see some fraying of nerves.

We’re under a county-wide “masking in public” order, but I did notice people- customers and employees alike- merely paying lip service to the edict by having their chosen barrier dangling impotently around their necks. Still others didn’t even go that far and were completely unmasked.* One stood out to me, though.

When one of the store’s developmentally challenged workers tried to point out to the customer that he lacked a mask, the man snappingly replied “I don’t have time, I’m busy!” “Mr. Busy” was in there as long as I was- 45+ minutes.

* Pay attention to these- they’re the ones who would conceal a zombie bite.

tomBitonti · Apr 22, 2020

ad_hoc said:
Sweden now has 1600 cases per million population and 200 deaths per million.

Much higher than Norway or Finland.

In absolute numbers Sweden currently has 1937 deaths compared to Norway's 187 and Finland's 149.

Close to 200 people are currently dying every day.

They made the wrong choice and they should have known better.

Sweden may be ultimately correct with their strategy: If there is no vaccine or treatment, and the only immunity is natural, then it seems likely that everyone will ultimately be exposed and discover, weal or woe, if they have natural resistance. That would make current strategies effective only to the extent that harm is spread out over time.
Of course, one hopes for an effective treatment, or for a vaccine, or, at least that those who are exposed develop resistance.
I don't think that there has been much of any articulation of how we get from now to a point where Coronavirus is no longer a daily concern.
Be Safe, Be Well,
Tom Bitonti

Umbran · Apr 22, 2020

tomBitonti said:
I don't think that there has been much of any articulation of how we get from now to a point where Coronavirus is no longer a daily concern.

They cannot articulate that which is not known. Authorities don't know if, as a population, we naturally develop herd immunity. They don't know when/if a vaccine will be available. The only reasonable approach, then, is to watch the number of folks who have it (as best as possible), and when that starts steadily decreasing sufficiently, and they don't know when that will be.

Of course, this plan means there might be resurgence - and that means intermittent periods of social distancing where and when the virus comes back.

Nagol · Apr 22, 2020

tomBitonti said:
Sweden may be ultimately correct with their strategy: If there is no vaccine or treatment, and the only immunity is natural, then it seems likely that everyone will ultimately be exposed and discover, weal or woe, if they have natural resistance. That would make current strategies effective only to the extent that harm is spread out over time.
Of course, one hopes for an effective treatment, or for a vaccine, or, at least that those who are exposed develop resistance.
I don't think that there has been much of any articulation of how we get from now to a point where Coronavirus is no longer a daily concern.
Be Safe, Be Well,
Tom Bitonti

If there is natural immunity then there is a vaccine. All a vaccine does is present the body a target to instigate immunity. The potential terror comes if natural immunity is fleeting or only partial.

A secondary success would come from anti-viral medications that can lessen severity in extreme cases. At least then people would get sick, but be kept out of ICU.

FrogReaver · Apr 22, 2020

ad_hoc said:
Sweden now has 1600 cases per million population and 200 deaths per million.

Much higher than Norway or Finland.

In absolute numbers Sweden currently has 1937 deaths compared to Norway's 187 and Finland's 149.

Close to 200 people are currently dying every day.

They made the wrong choice and they should have known better.

They definitely made the more short term deadly choice. IMO only time will tell whether that was the right choice though.

ad_hoc · Apr 22, 2020

tomBitonti said:
Sweden may be ultimately correct with their strategy: If there is no vaccine or treatment, and the only immunity is natural, then it seems likely that everyone will ultimately be exposed and discover, weal or woe, if they have natural resistance. That would make current strategies effective only to the extent that harm is spread out over time.
Of course, one hopes for an effective treatment, or for a vaccine, or, at least that those who are exposed develop resistance.
I don't think that there has been much of any articulation of how we get from now to a point where Coronavirus is no longer a daily concern.
Be Safe, Be Well,
Tom Bitonti

I don't know what you're saying.

You think it's a good idea to overload a healthcare system and have a lot of people die because there might not be a treatment or vaccine in the future?

Getting COVID 19 might not even provide you with immunity for long. So you're saying it's worth the risk to infect everyone now and then have them all infected again in 6 months and so on, for what exactly?

ad_hoc · Apr 22, 2020

Here is Canada's model:

Orange is we do nothing.
Green is we do social distancing well.
Blue is we try but don't do a good job.

Orange is over 300 000 dead.
Green is 11 000 to 22 000 dead.

Zardnaar · Apr 22, 2020

tomBitonti said:
Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, both local markets, are doing that. Only allowing a person in after a person leaves. Very definitely, picking a less busy time is advised, so as to cut down on wait time and on the number of folks inside.
A problem that I noted (and which I found extremely irritating) was the number of people not paying enough attention to the distancing guidelines. One of the few circumstances which was able to raise my ire, which is usually quite hard.
Be Safe, Be Well,
Tom Bitonti

Security guard in the door here and a max limit on number of people.

ad_hoc · Apr 22, 2020

FrogReaver said:
They definitely made the more short term deadly choice. IMO only time will tell whether that was the right choice though.

We are already there.

Nagol · Apr 22, 2020

ad_hoc said:
Here is Canada's model:

View attachment 121268

Orange is we do nothing.
Green is we do social distancing well.
Blue is we try but don't do a good job.

Orange is over 300 000 dead.
Green is 11 000 to 22 000 dead.

My current fear is a new surge coincident with seasonal influenza starting in late November / December pushes everyone back into isolation by Christmas.

D&D and the rising pandemic

Dannyalcatraz

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tomBitonti

Adventurer

Umbran

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Nagol

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FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog

ad_hoc

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ad_hoc

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Zardnaar

Legend

ad_hoc

(they/them)

Nagol

Unimportant

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