Are we about to become the #1 hotspot in the U.S.? (Houston: house, school)

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Nobody thought the heat would stop the spread of the virus, but many scientific minds thought that it would slow including MIT, the University of Maryland, and the NIH. However, when we look at states where the virus exploded when it did one thing is clear: indoor spread is what fuels the virus. In the winter months, more people up north spend most of their time indoors. In the summer months, people in this part of the country spend more time indoors.

We would have seen George Floyd protest related spikes by now if there were going to be any. There havent been. Why? Probably because its harder to transmit the virus outdoors.

China contract traced 7,500 coronavirus cases. 7,499 were spread indoors. They were only able to find one COVID case where the spread was confirmed to have taken place outdoors.

Honestly, we should be encouraging people to spend as much time as possible outside as opposed to going to bars or doing activities indoors.

The other elephant in the room is that Southern California is in the exact same boat as Texas. They are reporting record numbers of cases, their hospitalization rates are dangerously high, etc. Yet, they did everything the EXACT OPPOSITE of us. The question is, why? Why did our reopening early and their more cautious reopening end up with the same results?

Yeah, the heat thing is a joke.

I never understood why people think stay home = stay indoors. Except people who live in apartments, do not people have yards (even small ones)? Don’t people take walks around their neighborhoods? Stay home meant (and means) don’t go socializing and having parties, going to bars and crowded restaurants, stuff like that. It doesn’t mean you have to whole up in your house for days on end and never go outside. That always baffled me.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I'm trying to figure out why someone would be thankful for Abbott. I guess if you lean Libertarian so want an absence of leadership, now would feel pretty good to you. But then, you'd have to be a libertarian who also wants government to get overly involved in selective matters, such as overruling local governance, and interfering with women's bodies. So not really a libertarian. It's confusing.

Greg Abbott looks lost and afraid when he’s on television. He looks even more hapless when compared with the command and authority of Gov Cuomo’s earlier news conferences. Either Abbott is so stupid that he doesn’t know that he needs to reinstitute some form of shutdown to begin to reduce spread, or he does and is too cowardly to admit it because he doesn’t wish to trigger the wrath of his donors and the trump nation. So pick your choice: is he an idiot or a coward?

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I'm trying to figure out why someone would be thankful for Abbott. I guess if you lean Libertarian so want an absence of leadership, now would feel pretty good to you. But then, you'd have to be a libertarian who also wants government to get overly involved in selective matters, such as overruling local governance, and interfering with women's bodies. So not really a libertarian. It's confusing.

Don't forget about making Evangelical "Christian" morality state law. Evangelicals are such prayerful people, until another faith wants to pray--the Muslim prayer room in Collin County controversy. I'm waiting for Trump to call Jesus a loser because he was executed on the cross (e.g. McCain comments)--and perhaps for him to add on insulting the resurrection--that will definitely kill his campaign and split the party. He already desecrated a Bible by holding it up like a copy of Hustler.

The GOP is already toast with the mismanagement of this crisis. The Blue Wave already forced out Republicans in Harris, Fort Bend county courthouses in 2016. The 2018 elections cleaned out the urban city and counties, including Fort Bend.

Trump will not be re-elected this year. The Texas GOP is in trouble in 2022 if this second wave makes Texas the epicenter, like NYC in Round 1. "Small" government = inept government!

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Greg Abbott looks lost and afraid when he’s on television. He looks even more hapless when compared with the command and authority of Gov Cuomo’s earlier news conferences. Either Abbott is so stupid that he doesn’t know that he needs to reinstitute some form of shutdown to begin to reduce spread, or he does and is too cowardly to admit it because he doesn’t wish to trigger the wrath of his donors and the trump nation. So pick your choice: is he an idiot or a coward?

He is trying to walk back his comments downplaying the virus last week with the press conference the other day.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Greg Abbott looks lost and afraid when he’s on television. He looks even more hapless when compared with the command and authority of Gov Cuomo’s earlier news conferences. Either Abbott is so stupid that he doesn’t know that he needs to reinstitute some form of shutdown to begin to reduce spread, or he does and is too cowardly to admit it because he doesn’t wish to trigger the wrath of his donors and the trump nation. So pick your choice: is he an idiot or a coward?

I frankly dont want him to and Im a Democrat.

What I would like is to mandate the wearing of masks unless your at a house or outdoors working out. I would like bars and restaurants to have social distancing more rigorously enforced. That way you can wear a mask until youre seated and then take it off to enjoy your meal or drink. Tables should be 10 feet apart and seating at bars should be spaced out.

No one wants to talk about the economic and mental health catastrophes this virus has caused and that is why Im 100% against another shutdown. Enforce masks and social distancing and that will fight the battle for us.

Originally Posted by lhafer

Yeah, the heat thing is a joke.

I never understood why people think stay home = stay indoors. Except people who live in apartments, do not people have yards (even small ones)? Don’t people take walks around their neighborhoods? Stay home meant (and means) don’t go socializing and having parties, going to bars and crowded restaurants, stuff like that. It doesn’t mean you have to whole up in your house for days on end and never go outside. That always baffled me.

Frankly, I think people should still socialize. I personally know two people who have tried to kill themselves during the pandemic because of the isolation. You just have to be smart about it. Invite your friends over and stay outside or wear a mask when youre inside together. Go to restaurants, just wear a mask until youre seated at a table. If you see that the waitstaff or other restaurant workers are not wearing masks, go somewhere else.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by airdrawndagger

Agreed. Part of me wonders if the recent low death rate (despite high new case count) is because younger people account for a higher percentage of new cases today relative to March/April when a lot of the deaths were older, immunosuppressed individuals. Or are we better at treating those with the virus today than we were three months ago? I have also heard the virus is getting "weaker" but have not seen any scientific evidence to corroborate that claim.

I've been wondering the same. The question becomes, are they more likely to recover? Or is it just taking them longer to die?

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

I've been wondering the same. The question becomes, are they more likely to recover? Or is it just taking them longer to die?

I think the answer to those two questions are pretty obvious. Its not taking younger people longer to die, they are just far less likely to die. Thats been established by evidence. The CDC, WHO, and NIH all seem to agree that the number one risk factor for COVID is age.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

I think the answer to those two questions are pretty obvious. Its not taking younger people longer to die, they are just far less likely to die. Thats been established by evidence.

If you're looking at initial death rates (from the first part of the pandemic), it definitely has skewed older. But now that older people are evidently being more cautious, and younger people are getting it, we have this new surge of hospitalizations, which includes much younger people. If you're in the hospital, you're not okay. How could we know yet that they are not going to die? I'm really concerned about whether this is more fatal for younger people than we want to believe.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by houston-nomad

If you're looking at initial death rates (from the first part of the pandemic), it definitely has skewed older. But now that older people are evidently being more cautious, and younger people are getting it, we have this new surge of hospitalizations, which includes much younger people. If you're in the hospital, you're not okay. How could we know yet that they are not going to die? I'm really concerned about whether this is more fatal for younger people than we want to believe.

But youre talking about two different things.

Whether or not younger people are now more likely to get infected vs. whether or not they are more likely to die.

The virus isnt any more likely to infect younger people as opposed to older people so the elderly being more cautious isnt really at play regarding who is more likely to die.

There was no shortage of younger people who got infected early in the pandemic. None whatsoever. We have plenty of data from that age range. We did learn that younger and healthier people who suffered worse from COVID did so because of their own immune system and not the virus itself (cytokine storm) but we have plenty of data to show that young people are far less likely to suffer adverse effects much less die. That doesnt make them immune but there is a massive difference.

[usayit]

NYC and area states that got hit hard by the pandemic shouldn't have been ridiculed... they should have been studied as to not repeat the same mistakes and build on successes.

Our elderly parents reside in Houston area... so yeh.. worried. Fortunately, they've been paying attention to the warnings and taking precautions.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

But youre talking about two different things.

Whether or not younger people are now more likely to get infected vs. whether or not they are more likely to die.

The virus isnt any more likely to infect younger people as opposed to older people so the elderly being more cautious isnt really at play regarding who is more likely to die.

There was no shortage of younger people who got infected early in the pandemic. None whatsoever. We have plenty of data from that age range. We did learn that younger and healthier people who suffered worse from COVID did so because of their own immune system and not the virus itself (cytokine storm) but we have plenty of data to show that young people are far less likely to suffer adverse effects much less die. That doesnt make them immune but there is a massive difference.

yes and no... you're right, my thinking may be a little confused. But really, I'm not talking about the infection rate. I'm talking about the hospitalization rate, which is rising, which includes more younger people (this has been in the news, and I've heard this from friends working at the med center). Like I said, if you're in the hospital, you're not okay.