D&D and the rising pandemic

[Imaculata]

The Netherlands is back in lockdown, which is prompting a lot of Dutch citizens to go shopping in Belgium, which is just across the border, and isn't in lockdown.

I was talking to someone last week, who thought the whole lockdown was just a bunch of BS, because Belgium isn't in lockdown. I told him, have you ever looked at the roads in Belgium? And you want to follow their health advise?!

 

[Zardnaar]

The Netherlands is back in lockdown, which is prompting a lot of Dutch citizens to go shopping in Belgium, which is just across the border, and isn't in lockdown.

I was talking to someone last week, who thought the whole lockdown was just a bunch of BS, because Belgium isn't in lockdown. I told him, have you ever looked at the roads in Belgium? And you want to follow their health advise?!

That's the big surprise for me. Didn't have much faith for the usual suspects but Belgium, Germany, Sweden etc would do better.

 

[Cadence]

My parents hometown in the midwest (250k metro area) is down to two ICU beds.

From our local school districts here in the southeast:
493 positive students (2,118 in quarantine), 126 positive staff (223 in quarantine) - 27k students in district
304 positive students (1,547 in quarantine), 45 positive staff (68 in quarantine) - 17.5k students in district
139 positive students (607 in quarantine), 64 positive staff (38 in quarantine) - 9k students in district

 

[Eltab]

I know this isn't the best place for this, but after getting my sibs to weigh in, asking friends for help, and looking online for advice, I'm getting to my wits end. So...

Any suggestions how to get my mother to go to the doctor? She's 70-ish, had a cough for nearly a week, and it doesn't seem to be getting better... but she's refusing to visit a clinic. She's never been shy about going to the doctor, so this is unusual. She and my father are both covid anti-vaxxers (and only covid anti-vaxxers), so I strongly suspect her intransigence arises from a potential collision between her, umm, politics and medical reality.
I'll never bring that up, of course; and I haven't even said the word "covid", in fact. And we've been light-touch on this so far, since I know pushing too hard usually just makes people more stubborn.
But this is frustrating, so if anyone has advice or similar experience, I'm all ears.

Personal experience: strep throat is going around. Check for that. The treatment is antibiotics (available at any pharmacy) and bed rest.

This is a known understandable possible explanation of her symptoms, with a familiar treatment, and none of the COVID-related nonsense to deal with.

I hope you can get her through this without too much fuss.

 

[Cadence]

Update at our University. Classes started Monday, mostly in person. All of my class masked and actually had them covering their noses. The outer filter on the HEPA filter in the room looked gross at the end of last week when I checked and called it in, forgot to check when I taught if it had been replaced. I guess it's not the important one anyway.

 

[Umbran]

Here is some good news...

'Unambiguously good news': Sharp decline in COVID wastewater levels in Boston area

New data suggest omicron cases have peaked in the Boston area. But, experts warn, we are not out of the woods yet. The strained health care system will likely feel the repercussions of the omicron variant for the next month or so.

www.wbur.org

 

[Hussar]

Update at our University. Classes started Monday, mostly in person. All of my class masked and actually had them covering their noses. The outer filter on the HEPA filter in the room looked gross at the end of last week when I checked and called it in, forgot to check when I taught if it had been replaced. I guess it's not the important one anyway.

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Holy crap.

A quarter of your students test positive and you're STILL in classes? There are no words.

 

[Cadence]

:

Holy crap.

A quarter of your students test positive and you're STILL in classes? There are no words.

It's even "better". They moved the "Overall Alert Level" from "New Normal" to "Low" (so, still not "Moderate" or "High"). I guess it's good they're not off infecting their parents and grandparents... but I wish I believed for a second they weren't infecting the faculty and folks who work at local businesses.

 

[Cadence]

More news from the US SE...

 

[Ryujin]

Holy crap.

A quarter of your students test positive and you're STILL in classes? There are no words.

The Province of Ontario just announced that classes will continue until there's a 30% absentee rate. That, of course, assumes that parents are diligent about keeping their sick kids home instead of.... you know..... not.