2 hours ago, DEagle7 said:

Those boards are fantastic for fantasy sports news and insufferable the rest of the time.  They asked me to be a mod last year.

They're great for the night before a draft when you've done zero research and need some good info quickly. I find them very useful for finding some diamonds in the rough, especially in baseball. Outside of that though, there are some "interesting" and "very important" people that post there. 

 

23 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Pet peeve of mine.  If you consider certain construction workers and contractors essential (which in some cases they very much are) then it makes sense that places like Home Depot to stay open, BUT there is no real reason why the general population should be able to just cruise the store. Even if you want to make the argument that it encourages people to stay home, curbside pickup seems reasonable. 

 

6 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Some of the general population fixes their own homes though. Some parts can be old and they need upgrades for those things and you need to be able to see it in person to find the best fit

All of that makes sense.  But then why can't other retailers like little clothing stores stay open?  Kids don't stop growing just because it's a pandemic.

2 minutes ago, xzmattzx said:

 

All of that makes sense.  But then why can't other retailers like little clothing stores stay open?  Kids don't stop growing just because it's a pandemic.

I doubt they grew that much in a month that they can't fit in absolutely no clothes lol. Also most retail like clothes have been done online these days

3 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I doubt they grew that much in a month that they can't fit in absolutely no clothes lol. Also most retail like clothes have been done online these days

Infants have

Just now, xzmattzx said:

Infants have

Still don't think you can compare needing parts to fix a major problem in your house to just ordering a bigger shirt for a kid to get you through another month 

2 hours ago, Dave Moss said:

Of course, but Trump probably has no clue when schools get out.

But to be fair I keep asking my own kids when their last day (online) is

😄

 

2 hours ago, Toastrel said:

Trump can't be held accountable for what he says. He has no idea what comes out of his own mouth.

 

44 minutes ago, VanHammersly said:

Coming out for opening schools once they’re closing for summer?

This was in response to our supreme intelligence Dr. Fauci stating that he thinks schools SHOULD NOT REOPEN IN THE FALL. Let that sink in...the one guy that is arguably one of the most powerful people in the world (unelected by the way), who has been wrong about multiple things regarding Covid as much as anyone else, "thinks” that schools should not reopen...FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW. F that dude. Glad Rand told him to learn a little humility. 

27 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

 

 

This was in response to our supreme intelligence Dr. Fauci stating that he thinks schools SHOULD NOT REOPEN IN THE FALL. Let that sink in...the one guy that is arguably one of the most powerful people in the world (unelected by the way), who has been wrong about multiple things regarding Covid as much as anyone else, "thinks” that schools should not reopen...FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW. F that dude. Glad Rand told him to learn a little humility. 

I think schools are planning to not re-open in the fall, or do some sort of modified opening where limited kids come in on certain days and others do virtual learning.  A couple teachers I know said their schools are starting to prepare for things like that, just in case they can’t have kids back full time in the fall.

What kind of makes sense would be to continue learning virtually through the summer if they’re planning to continue to close the schools in the fall.

40 minutes ago, xzmattzx said:

All of that makes sense.  But then why can't other retailers like little clothing stores stay open?  Kids don't stop growing just because it's a pandemic.

Sure but that's also easily obtained online without any expertise required. Not really the same as equipment to repair a burst pipe. 

Schools have to be making contingency plans at least. There's a chance things'll be even worse three months from now than they are now. 

3 minutes ago, wyote said:

Schools have to be making contingency plans at least. There's a chance things'll be even worse three months from now than they are now. 

They’re all taking their marching orders from Fauci and the PA pediatrician.  QUARANTINE the elderly, the sick, and the immune-compromised. Not the demographic least susceptible to the virus. 

 

Prez on point. Lockdowns don't cure the virus. Vaccine is neither guaranteed to come or be fully effective.

June 4 in PA has no data backing. Time to start opening up.

1 hour ago, DEagle7 said:

Pet peeve of mine.  If you consider certain construction workers and contractors essential (which in some cases they very much are) then it makes sense that places like Home Depot to stay open, BUT there is no real reason why the general population should be able to just cruise the store. Even if you want to make the argument that it encourages people to stay home, curbside pickup seems reasonable. 

 

1 hour ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Some of the general population fixes their own homes though. Some parts can be old and they need upgrades for those things and you need to be able to see it in person to find the best fit

Here in South Jersey I have seen 2 Home Depot stores where there are lines to get inside because they are only allowing a certain amount of customers to go in at any one time.  Lowe's on the other hand, I've seen 3 that are open where it's 'business as usual' letting customers in and out with no waiting in line to get in just like it's a normal day in a normal time.  And both stores are busy.  I can see loads of people who haven't been working finally having the time to do all those home projects they've wanted to do.  

 

11 minutes ago, Prime said:

Toilet broke last week. Had to get a new one right away (1 bathroom home), Home Depot being open was great because the timeframe for delivery was 5-7 business days. I bought it online, picked it up in store, installed it all in the same day.

That's my guess as to why hardware stores are considered essential. Imagine having to dig a hole out back to ish in.

My brother is a plumber and went to fix a clog a few weeks ago.  Ended up that PECO put a telephone pole in the wrong spot, so it went through the sewer line.  So this place couldn’t use their only bathroom until PECO fixed it.  I don’t know the outcome, but I’m fairly certain it wasn’t a quick fix by PECO.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/13/greta-thunberg-added-to-cnn-expert-covid-19-panel-twitter-erupts/

lololololololololol...I’ll just leave this here. 

Well, shes an expert at everything

1 hour ago, Outlaw said:

They’re all taking their marching orders from Fauci and the PA pediatrician.  QUARANTINE the elderly, the sick, and the immune-compromised. Not the demographic least susceptible to the virus. 

So, just the sick, elderly and immunocompromised? 
Does that mean my kids should or should not go to school and should I physically go back to work or not when my wife is immunocompromised?  Or should we just shut up about it and just leave her in her own room for the duration? 
I’m curious. 

6 minutes ago, Smokesdawg said:

So, just the sick, elderly and immunocompromised? 
Does that mean my kids should or should not go to school and should I physically go back to work or not when my wife is immunocompromised?  Or should we just shut up about it and just leave her in her own room for the duration? 
I’m curious. 

The four of you should have a choice on whether you stay in or not, just like my family of four should. Nobody will ever force you to go out, but a hell of a lot of us are being forced to stay in. Hell, the Mayor of LA came out today and said that LA will not fully reopen until there is a CURE. How’s that cure for AIDS going? Cancer? The common cold?   He basically said he’s cool with LA potentially never going back to normal. 
 

All of these stay at home orders were to flatten the curve. We did. Keep the CDC protocols and recommendations in place. I don’t care about wearing a mask. I don’t care about 6 feet apart. Obviously everyone should be washing the ish out of their hands. But to keep entire states essentially on lockdown for the foreseeable future? I mean JFC one of the most powerful unelected people in the US, Dr. Fauci, came out and said he doesn’t even think schools should reopen NEXT school year!

I’m not painting my face blue and yelling freeeeeedom in front of the state capital, but I’m sure as hell tired of being forced to stay in my home against my will. And again, those of you who want/need to continue doing that would not be forced to change that. I’m tired of being forced to do the reverse, and I don’t believe I’m part of a minority. 

45 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

The four of you should have a choice on whether you stay in or not, just like my family of four should. Nobody will ever force you to go out, but a hell of a lot of us are being forced to stay in. Hell, the Mayor of LA came out today and said that LA will not fully reopen until there is a CURE. How’s that cure for AIDS going? Cancer? The common cold?   He basically said he’s cool with LA potentially never going back to normal. 
 

All of these stay at home orders were to flatten the curve. We did. Keep the CDC protocols and recommendations in place. I don’t care about wearing a mask. I don’t care about 6 feet apart. Obviously everyone should be washing the ish out of their hands. But to keep entire states essentially on lockdown for the foreseeable future? I mean JFC one of the most powerful unelected people in the US, Dr. Fauci, came out and said he doesn’t even think schools should reopen NEXT school year!

I’m not painting my face blue and yelling freeeeeedom in front of the state capital, but I’m sure as hell tired of being forced to stay in my home against my will. And again, those of you who want/need to continue doing that would not be forced to change that. I’m tired of being forced to do the reverse, and I don’t believe I’m part of a minority. 

OK. Here are the CDC recommendations for reopening:

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6889330/Guidance-for-Opening-Up-America-Again-Framework.pdf

Since I'm sure most people don't want to read 68 pages from the CDC I can summarize that the de-escalation recommendations for a region through the various phases laid out by this document depend on evaluation of 

1) 14 days of decreased incidence of newly identified cases

2) 14 days of decreased incidence of ED/office visits for COVID like (and/or flu like) symptoms

3) 14 days of decreased incidence of percentage of positive COVID tests

4) no risk of intensive care unit overburdening (<80% ICU capacity, no staff shortages in the past week, adequate PPE for >4 days)

5) robusting testing ability (<20% positive testing for 14 days and median <5 days test turnaround). 

Some places that have reached most of those criteria. Many have not yet. The document also emphasizes that once spread has decreased large scale shelter in place methods can be scaled back, but must be replaced with testing/tracing directed targeted shelter protocols which a few in here have argued against.

5 hours ago, Smokesdawg said:

So, just the sick, elderly and immunocompromised? 
Does that mean my kids should or should not go to school and should I physically go back to work or not when my wife is immunocompromised?  Or should we just shut up about it and just leave her in her own room for the duration? 
I’m curious. 

Sounds like you have a lot of personal decisions to make. Who would know make those decision better than than you and your family? 

8 hours ago, Outlaw said:

 

 

This was in response to our supreme intelligence Dr. Fauci stating that he thinks schools SHOULD NOT REOPEN IN THE FALL. Let that sink in...the one guy that is arguably one of the most powerful people in the world (unelected by the way), who has been wrong about multiple things regarding Covid as much as anyone else, "thinks” that schools should not reopen...FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW. F that dude. Glad Rand told him to learn a little humility. 

Dr. Faucci is powerful?

The reason he is wrong, is that unlike Trump or the rest of his dingbats, is that as a scientist, you make models and predictions based on available data. China and the WHO (while Trump was slobbering all over their knobs) gave bad data and that was what Faucci had - as new data came, predictions and models (these are educated guesses, not facts) changed to fit the facts.

You know who was really, insanely wrong? The President. It didn't go away. It didn't disappear with warm weather. While and his pals circle jerked, Americans started dropping like flies.

PS - we can still beat this crap in short order.

The way the White House is dealing with the virus.

Test everyone, quarantine the infected, trace their contacts and test, test, test

The reason the White House is only taking care of itself is that is all they care about. That some of you remain clueless to this is astounding sign of your unbelievable gullibility.

Daily update from the doc

https://www.nothingbutthetruthmd.com/2020/05/51320-covid-19-update.html

Good evening,

Amazon supplies masks to all its employees around the world, Amazon must feel that they essential!!

 

Healthcare workers, at least those I work, with, are perplexed at the reluctance or outright refusal of many to wear masks, despite the obvious consequences.  Many "essential workers" have lost time, not because the government shut them down, the virus did.  Viral sickness in the workers has resulted in unit shut downs secondary to inadequate staffing, so the healthy suffered as did the sick.  Tonight's  topic is a case in point.

 

 

Covid-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities

Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report, 5/8/2020

 

Workers in this industry are considered part of the Critical Infrastructure or "essential workers."

 

Persons in congregate work are at increased risk for transmission and acquisition of respiratory infections.

 

Covid-19 among workers in 115 meat and poultry processing facilities were reported by 19 states.  There were 130,000 workers at these 115 facilities.  Data revealed 4913 Covid-19 positive cases reported and 20 deaths have occurred.  Nationwide this industry employs 500,000 workers.

 

During the time period from April 9th to April 17th aggregate data on Covid-19 cases among the 115 meat and poultry processing plants in 19 states were reported to the CDC.  Three percent of the workforce tested positive for Covid-19.  Based on current understanding, it can be assumed that another 3% of the workforce are asymptomatic carriers.  It should not be assumed that all of these individuals were infected in the workplace.

 

Factors potentially affecting the risk of infection in this workforce are:

1.  crowded living conditions, many workers are from lower socioeconomic incomes

2.  ride sharing to and from work in fully occupied cars

3.  difficulty with physical distancing at work

4.  poor hand hygiene

5.  inadequate sanitizing of frequent touch surfaces

6.  lack of source control

7.  workers working despite symptoms of Covid-19

8.  language barriers

 

New York City has a population of 8,399,000 citizens.  It has the highest population density of any city in the United States and also has the largest number of Covid-19 positive cases of any city in the United States.  Currently there are 185,357 confirmed Covid-19 cases in New York city, one in every 45 citizens. (2.2%)

 

On a daily basis, 5,589,845 rode (pre-pandemic) the Mass Transit System of New York City.  There are still hundreds of thousands of riders utilizing the system on a daily basis. These are not luxury limos, they are frequently crowded subways and buses.  I do not think that riding conditions of many New York City workers are awfully different than that of many of the Meat and Poultry processing workers.  There is one difference, however, around mid April, possibly a little sooner, Mayor de Blasio mandated face coverings for all employees and riders of the Mass Transit System.  

 

The CDC, on April 24th merely recommended face coverings for the meat and poultry processing workers.  Cloth face coverings are probably reasonably effective at preventing the wearer from infecting another individual with a respiratory virus but not enough is known of their protective efficacy for the wearer. These are essential workers, the processing companies should be mandated to provide appropriate masks for their workers.

 

There are tens of thousands of clinical healthcare workers in New York City who cannot physically distance while they work.  Unlike telemedicine, in the hospital environment, someone has to give medications, take vital signs, help with bathing, help with walking and other tender loving care practices that preclude physical distancing.  Since March, wearing masks has been mandated by most hospitals for all patients and employees. There is a significant difference between mandating face masks and recommending face covering, and that significant difference has allowed healthcare workers to continue to function in an environment packed with covid-19 positive patients at a fraction of the Covid-19 infections being experienced by meat and poultry processing workers.

 

Better or more frequent sanitizing of frequently touched surfaces is probably not practical and will probably be of little benefit.  Much like a hospital with hundreds of Covid-19 patients, it is best to assume that all surfaces are contaminated.  Sure we clean the operating rooms but workers are not constantly walking around cleaning hand rails and window sills and walls, just not practical to sanitize enough when six percent of your workforce is probably infected. The money is in teaching  good hand hygiene.  In the hospital, this a competence that must be demonstrated.  Workers must be taught to keep hands off the face, out of the mouth, nose and eyes unless just washed.  If these workers, with all their different languages, could  be taught to be handy with knives and machines, I am sure they can be taught to master a bar of soap.

 

Any "essential workforce" has asymptomatic workers in their presence, they cough and sneeze just like the rest of us.   Source control with masks is the answer to this problem.

 

Non-compliance with masks was noted during plant inspections and that is probably the major factor leading to these terrible statistics in the industry.  Masks should be provided and wearing masks should be mandated.  It is the same education process that needs to occur for hand hygiene.  Workers need to be taught the importance of these living safe practices so they can continue to earn a living.  It does not appear that these workers are actually being treated as ESSENTIAL!

 

 

Numbers:  1800 from the Hopkins website

 

Tests - 9.974,432 (319,393 tests in the last 24 hours)

 

USA - 1,388,002 (up 1.58%, down from 1.62%, 186 fewer new cases than the day before)  

 

New York - 340,661 (up 0.064% up from 0.042%)

 

New Jersey - 141,560 (up 0.045%, down from 0.05%, 68 fewer new cases than the day before)

 

Pennsylvania - 62,001 (up 1.14%, down from 1.40%, 150 fewer new cases than the day before)

 

Maryland - 34,812 (up 2.20%, up from 0.97%)

 

California - - 72,507 (up 4.00%, up from 2.0%)

 

South Carolina 

 

Texas - 42,677 (up 4.32%, up from 1.79%)

 

World - 4,330,982 (up 1.97% down from 2.12%, 5059 fewer new cases)

 

California and Texas continue to struggle

 

Continue to forward this important message, and please wear a mask when out in the public domain.

 

Thank you

 

Live Safely

Be Well

On Texas reopening the state at the beginning of May:

 

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 38,869 confirmed coronavirus cases statewide as of May 10. That total includes 1,088 fatalities and approximately 21,713 reported recoveries.

This marks 13,572 new cases, a 53.65% increase, since Gov. Greg Abbott announced Phase 1 of the plan to reopen Texas on April 27.

On average the state is experiencing 1,017 newly reported cases daily over the last 14 days, with the largest increase of 1,293 cases reported May 2.

There were approximately 796 daily cases when averaging the 14-day time period from April 13-26.

11 hours ago, Outlaw said:

 

 

This was in response to our supreme intelligence Dr. Fauci stating that he thinks schools SHOULD NOT REOPEN IN THE FALL. Let that sink in...the one guy that is arguably one of the most powerful people in the world (unelected by the way), who has been wrong about multiple things regarding Covid as much as anyone else, "thinks” that schools should not reopen...FOUR MONTHS FROM NOW. F that dude. Glad Rand told him to learn a little humility. 

you sure he said that?  

 

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4875636/user-clip-dr-fauci-opening-school-fall