Covid-19

[GoMuskies]

No pools in Kansas yet, either, and according to the latest edict from the governor no pools for Memorial Day weekend. However, there's supposed to be some sort of legislative revolt in the next couple of days in Kansas to ease restrictions, so we'll see what happens. Youth baseball was supposed to start today as we entered "Phase 2" of reopening, but we ended up with a Phase 1.5 that specifically prohibits sports games and practices. So my team tonight is just having an informal gathering at a park where there may or may not be efforts to refine skills related to the playing of baseball.

[Juice]

Based on the scenes at Blind Pig and Rosedale over the weekend, it appears that at least some people and businesses cannot be trusted to make smart decisions. (however, shout out to all of the bars and restaurants that followed the rules and found creative solutions to expand seating)

Pictures from a different angle of the Blind Pig showed a slightly different story than those pushed by failed City council flunkies and the City Beat.

And also, who gives a shit? Don't go to a bar then. It was outside. Outside transmission has proven to be basically impossible.

[JTG]

Well this is a pretty ignorant comment. I would imagine you interact with a fairly narrow group of people in a fairly narrow geographic cluster where (1) not many of them travel regularly for work etc. and (2) group think is pretty prevalent. I think it's great that Ohio and Indiana have fared so well with COVID and absolutely support lifting of lockdown measures. I also think Ohio was / is probably a little on the conservative side. Keep in mind that those are two relatively sparsely populated states, and just because something doesn't happen to somebody you know, doesn't mean it didn't happen. We have over 300MM people in this country.

I can tell you that here in the Northeast I have had multiple coworkers who have confirmed or suspected positive cases of COVID-19 as well as colleagues who have had close relatives die from COVID-19. One of my co-workers is from Queens. Basically his entire family got COVID.

Just because you guys don't know anyone in Indiana or Ohio who has had it doesn't mean it's not real.

Ignorant huh? It was sarcasm. The issue is there are 330 mil, and only about 30mil are in the Northeast. That leaves 90% of the US that are not, repeat NOT in dire straights. Your locale is coloring the big picture. I mentioned roughly 140 people in the "danger age group" and none thankfully are sick or died.The country doesn't end at the Hudson River. The sooner you and the MSM realize this, the sooner the accurate reporting of Covid will start.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Pictures from a different angle of the Blind Pig showed a slightly different story than those pushed by failed City council flunkies and the City Beat.

And also, who gives a shit? Don't go to a bar then. It was outside. Outside transmission has proven to be basically impossible.

The don't go then crowd really seems to miss the point. The people who do go have lives that involve them interacting with people who would choose not to go. I am guessing some of these people are healthcare workers even. Or they have family they see who wouldn't go, or co-workers they work with who wouldn't go, or people they come in contact with a the store who wouldn't go.

I am not saying that the bars and restaurants shouldn't be open now, I think they should but they should be following the orders put in place. That is to protect the people there and then the people that they then go interact with. It's pretty dense to say well then just don't go. Well as long as those people who do go aren't going anywhere else then perfect I wont care.

And outside transmission is low when you are walking or biking or running etc or spread out enjoying a park. But if you are in a packed environment just because you are outside doesn't mean it is "basically impossible" to get.

[xubrew]

Many colleges and universities are talking about reopening in the Fall with students on campus, but with new rules for social distancing.

Geez, that's great!!

The "you're-not-allowed-to-drink-until-you're-21" rule that literally every campus has is obeyed by almost no one. Any social distancing rules that are put in place will be obeyed by even fewer people. It's COMPLETE nonsense to think that you can have students on campus and maintain social distancing.

I'm not saying campuses shouldn't reopen. In fact, I'm hoping that they do. But if college administrators actually believe they can open and maintain social distancing, then it is my belief that they are too freakin' stupid to be a college administrator and in the best interest of humanity should resign immediately!

[Juice]

The don't go then crowd really seems to miss the point. The people who do go have lives that involve them interacting with people who would choose not to go. I am guessing some of these people are healthcare workers even. Or they have family they see who wouldn't go, or co-workers they work with who wouldn't go, or people they come in contact with a the store who wouldn't go.

I am not saying that the bars and restaurants shouldn't be open now, I think they should but they should be following the orders put in place. That is to protect the people there and then the people that they then go interact with. It's pretty dense to say well then just don't go. Well as long as those people who do go aren't going anywhere else then perfect I wont care.

And outside transmission is low when you are walking or biking or running etc or spread out enjoying a park. But if you are in a packed environment just because you are outside doesn't mean it is "basically impossible" to get.

How long do you propose doing this then? Because by your standards, everyone who could have contact with someone who could have contact with someone who might be at risk is bullshit. These restrictions would never end then because this thing isn't going away.

If you're a person who might come into contact with someone at risk, then you should change your lifestyle, not everyone else. This shared sacrifice stuff is bullshit because it's not shared. It's punishing a majority because a minority is scared.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Many colleges and universities are talking about reopening in the Fall with students on campus, but with new rules for social distancing.

Geez, that's great!!

The "you're-not-allowed-to-drink-until-you're-21" rule that literally every campus has is obeyed by almost no one. Any social distancing rules that are put in place will be obeyed by even fewer people. It's COMPLETE nonsense to think that you can have students on campus and maintain social distancing.

I'm not saying campuses shouldn't reopen. In fact, I'm hoping that they do. But if college administrators actually believe they can open and maintain social distancing, then it is my belief that they are too freakin' stupid to be a college administrator and in the best interest of humanity should resign immediately!

Yeah agree. It isnt feasible to expect college students to social distance. How would that even work with dorms? Classes? Plus even if you figured out how to do that they will all go out to parties together off campus.

Either open up and don't expect social distancing or don't open up.

[boozehound]

Ignorant huh? It was sarcasm. The issue is there are 330 mil, and only about 30mil are in the Northeast. That leaves 90% of the US that are not, repeat NOT in dire straights. Your locale is coloring the big picture. I mentioned roughly 140 people in the "danger age group" and none thankfully are sick or died.The country doesn't end at the Hudson River. The sooner you and the MSM realize this, the sooner the accurate reporting of Covid will start.

The sarcasm defense. Love it. Me and the MSM really eat that one up! Making sweeping generalizations based on virtually no knowledge is fun, huh?

I actually agree that it's probably past time for the minimally-impacted areas to significantly reduce restrictions, and not because you and 4 other dudes on a message board don't know anyone with COVID. We don't (nor will we ever likely) know what impact we had by clamping down the way we did. At a minimum keeping people from traveling to/around NYC for business probably helped the rest of the Country out quite a bit. Once we were 2 weeks removed from people potentially having been exposed to one of the hot spot areas we should start lifting restrictions. Taking some precautions for a while is probably still a good idea though.

BTW: I grew up in Michigan and moved to Ohio in the early 1990's when I was 10. In 2018 I moved to New Jersey. So I've been here a whopping almost 2 years compared to my 25 years in Ohio. I still remember that Ohio exists.

[D-West & PO-Z]

How long do you propose doing this then? Because by your standards, everyone who could have contact with someone who could have contact with someone who might be at risk is bullshit. These restrictions would never end then because this thing isn't going away.

If you're a person who might come into contact with someone at risk, then you should change your lifestyle, not everyone else. This shared sacrifice stuff is bullshit because it's not shared. It's punishing a majority because a minority is scared.

I'm not the expert. I don't know how long. I do know the right decision is probably not to ignore all the orders put in place within the first week of opening up.

[boozehound]

I'm not the expert. I don't know how long. I do know the right decision is probably not to ignore all the orders put in place within the first week of opening up.

Screw you and your underlying conditions!

In all seriousness - I agree that the most beneficial thing for all of us is if we can open things up without a significant increase in cases. We should be taking reasonable precautions to ensure that occurs. To me, that means that for at least a few weeks / a month a phased reopening makes all the sense in the world. Open things up steadily on a 1-2 week schedule starting with the lowest risk activities and moving toward higher risk ones. That way if you do see a massive spike in cases you can better pinpoint the cause.

I also think that there is a privilege that impacts people's views on this, along with the fact that it has (for some reason) become a political issue.

Consider the following scenarios:

1. People with higher incomes, but also higher cost structures who are being significantly impacted economically. Many small business owners fall into this category along with people who make good money but spend a lot and have a lot of bills. These people tend to be aggressively pro re-opening. They are facing what feels like an existential risk.

2. People with lower incomes that are unemployed as a result of COVID. Particularly with the changes to unemployment many of these people are pretty OK with this dragging out for a while since their economic situation hasn't changed. Bonus for some is that they don't have to go to work now.

3. People who haven't really been economically effected by this at all. Opinions in this group vary, but they have a privilege of not being negatively impacted. It includes Nurses, Police Officers, other 'essential' personnel and people like myself who are in industries that haven't been (and aren't likely to be) impacted negatively and in jobs in which they can easily work from home.

The group 1 people obviously want to open things up NOW. The other two groups don't have an immediate economic need for business to re-open so they get to be more conservative with remaining at home.