Coronavirus in Massachusetts (live music, home, tenant)

[in_newengland]

This entire thing is just a mess. You can't win. I'm in the minority but at the end of the summer I was saying just don't re-open the schools. Think of some alternatives where the little kids can meet in small groups somewhere and at least read books or have adults supervising them. And for high school, make it remote. In other words, just chalk it up that is just about a lost year for education. And now we're ending up with schools opening and then shutting down, teachers refusing to work, teachers faced with the near impossibility of needing to prepare for in person instruction as well as remote instruction. Two very different preps and they never even know which one it could be from day to day. From a report on the tv news, I saw that a lot of normally good students are failing.

College could have been called off too for a year. A state of emergency should have been declared and this rich government of ours could have paid people so that they wouldn't lose their homes and they'd have food on the table. Of course there are some jobs that need more people. I'm always seeing ads for grocery store workers and obviously there are lots of other jobs that still exist.

But the education of kids has really suffered this year and the inequalities that existed before are now magnified--rich kids with great computers and well connected parents will probably do fine. Disadvantaged kids whose parents have little education will probably fail. A lot of kids caught in the middle will fail too. Add that to the lack of socialization and these kids have really lost out this year. So I just wish they had accepted the fact that it's nearly useless to even try, especially for the elementary school kids. (I know I'm the only person on earth who thinks this way, lol.)

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

(I know I'm the only person on earth who thinks this way, lol.)

You're definitely not alone in your thinking.

[rach5]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Not sure I follow the math on this one. How does 0.5% positivity rate, coupled with frequent testing and mandated quarantining, result in >50% of BU's 18,000+ undergrad student population getting infected before say, April (when I assume...the vaccine will be more widely available)?

You are right, I actually made a mistake in the calculation, sorry! Also, they are testing much less than I had thought - only once a week, and only for people who come to campus (with some exceptions even there!). Still - if this continues, a very significant fraction would get it. Also, keep in mind that quarantining and contact tracing will eventually fail once case loads are too high, just like it has at the state levels. Finally - I doubt that April for vaccine immunity is realistic (Pfizer and Moderna take two shots).

[rach5]

Recent paper suggesting that covid is the leading cause of death for adults aged 25-44 in areas with large outbreaks, higher than opioid deaths, and comparable to the peak of the Aids epidemic. You can find the link here https://twitter.com/EMSwami/status/1336115717742211072

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

This entire thing is just a mess. You can't win. I'm in the minority but at the end of the summer I was saying just don't re-open the schools. Think of some alternatives where the little kids can meet in small groups somewhere and at least read books or have adults supervising them. And for high school, make it remote. In other words, just chalk it up that is just about a lost year for education. And now we're ending up with schools opening and then shutting down, teachers refusing to work, teachers faced with the near impossibility of needing to prepare for in person instruction as well as remote instruction. Two very different preps and they never even know which one it could be from day to day. From a report on the tv news, I saw that a lot of normally good students are failing.

College could have been called off too for a year. A state of emergency should have been declared and this rich government of ours could have paid people so that they wouldn't lose their homes and they'd have food on the table. Of course there are some jobs that need more people. I'm always seeing ads for grocery store workers and obviously there are lots of other jobs that still exist.

But the education of kids has really suffered this year and the inequalities that existed before are now magnified--rich kids with great computers and well connected parents will probably do fine. Disadvantaged kids whose parents have little education will probably fail. A lot of kids caught in the middle will fail too. Add that to the lack of socialization and these kids have really lost out this year. So I just wish they had accepted the fact that it's nearly useless to even try, especially for the elementary school kids. (I know I'm the only person on earth who thinks this way, lol.)

It’s not “rich” and “computers” and “well connected”, it’s engaged parents making sure their children are properly educated because they know it’s important. The pandemic merely magnifies the disparity that already existed.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

We'll turn you into a Libertarian yet. You have the key talking points down.


I'm embarrassed to say that this was my Ayn Rand-ian worldview when I was much younger.

The only time to read or follow Rand is certainly in adolescence. On anything.

[msRB311]

Wow lots of smug people on here who think they have all the answers.

[sawyer2]

Vaccination started in the UK

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55227325

[jtolpin]

Wow... rolling back, and I feel bad for casinos, restaurants, small businesses, etc....

Is this the right answer? I dont know. But something, I guess, has to be done...

[msRB311]

It sounds like it doesn't really affect restaurants too much unless I missed something? I did hear gyms will be closed again.