COVID-19 in Tennessee

[VinceTheExplorer]

Originally Posted by JRR

Numbers today for Tennessee are 4472 new cases, 53 more deaths and positivity rate of 17.1%. 4048 total deaths and 2000 of those have occurred in just the last 69 days. Across the entire state there are 255 ICU beds available for all needs and hospital staffing is stretched thin.

The numbers are what they are. This is about reality; not politics

Increasing numbers are the case for EVERY SYATE, not just Tennessee. That’s the reality and nothing else.

Another reality is apparently masks and social distancing don’t work, even in the more “enlightened” areas of the country or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

The company I work for (global w/ 50k employees) keeps close tabs on these numbers on an hourly / daily basis - and to say that Tennesseans are ignorant of Covid and have been poorly managed by their leaders is political misinformation and rhetoric in itself and nothing more.

[VinceTheExplorer]

Sorry ... EVERY STATE, and nothing centralized to Tennessee or what anyone didn’t see coming over the winter months. Nothing new here ...

You can either jump on the bandwagon of “doom and gloom” that the media wants you to feed on - or be an adult and simply ride things out. I know which one is the healthier choice for myself and our family, and could care less what anyone else may say in regards to riding out Covid.

George said it best years back about Americans, germs and trading away your freedoms for perceived safety and security. Covid has only strengthened this reality now.


George Carlin spilling the truth.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by VinceTheExplorer

Increasing numbers are the case for EVERY SYATE, not just Tennessee. That’s the reality and nothing else.

Another reality is apparently masks and social distancing don’t work, even in the more “enlightened” areas of the country or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

The company I work for (global w/ 50k employees) keeps close tabs on these numbers on an hourly / daily basis - and to say that Tennesseans are ignorant of Covid and have been poorly managed by their leaders is political misinformation and rhetoric in itself and nothing more.

Cases are rising pretty much everywhere because the weather is getting colder and people are being forced back indoors more.

With that said, the local hospital system is at or near record inpatient COVID case levels pretty much every day now. No matter which "side" you come down on how bad COVID really is, that's a lot of additional people in the hospital right now. Those people require staff to take care of them. COVID patients tend to be sicker for longer than an "average" patient, and that requires more attention and a lower nurseatient ratio.

Resources are limited. There aren't infinite numbers of hospital beds, ventilators, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc. Those limited ICU beds may be filled with COVID patients, so one may not be available for the heart attack patient. "Elective" surgeries and other procedures are already canceled/deferred. This care is important too, and there simply isn't the hospital bandwidth available for that, at least in this area, right now.

Would cases still be rising even if Lee had very strict measures in place? Probably, but it would at least be more manageable.

[VinceTheExplorer]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Cases are rising pretty much everywhere because the weather is getting colder and people are being forced back indoors more.

... Would cases still be rising even if Lee had very strict measures in place? Probably, but it would at least be more manageable.

Being forced back indoors would mean even LESS contact with people, and with more masks being worn and more social distancing being practiced SHOULD mean a gradual flattening of the curve at the moment, correct?

Point being is that the media and certain politicians DON’T want this to happen at the moment (getting back to normal) and instead want to keep the fear factory rolling right now with the American public falling inline.

Disconnect yourself from rhetoric and accept that this country is corrupt AF and that you’ll most likely not become a victim of Covid even if you happen to get it - and what do you know, life starts to become somewhat normal once again.

Pointing fingers at Lee is complete nonsense, and those who claim to be an expert on things AFTER the fact are just opinionated people and not an authority on anything other than their own hindsight.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by VinceTheExplorer

Being forced back indoors would mean even LESS contact with people, and with more masks being worn and more social distancing being practiced SHOULD mean a gradual flattening of the curve at the moment, correct? Except people, being encouraged to decide for themselves, aren't always making the decision to properly social distance and wear masks. Especially in this area.

Point being is that the media and certain politicians DON’T want this to happen at the moment (getting back to normal) and instead want to keep the fear factory rolling right now with the American public falling inline.

Disconnect yourself from rhetoric and accept that this country is corrupt AF and that you’ll most likely not become a victim of Covid even if you happen to get it - and what do you know, life starts to become somewhat normal once again. Is it just rhetoric when he cites the fact that area hospitals are at record capacity, or is it that you think they admit everyone who tests positive, and not just those that require more urgent care? Do you consider the record number of patients not to be victims of covid?

Pointing fingers at Lee is complete nonsense, and those who claim to be an expert on things AFTER the fact are just opinionated people and not an authority on anything other than their own hindsight.

No One knows how different things may have been if this had been taken more seriously from the beginning and everyone had been working together together towards the same goal. Was the governor's faith in people to do the right thing on their own the best decision in hindsight? My personal opinion is that if given the chance, people will only do what they feel is right for themselves, without much thought for others.

[VinceTheExplorer]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

No One knows how different things may have been if this had been taken more seriously from the beginning and everyone had been working together together towards the same goal. Was the governor's faith in people to do the right thing on their own the best decision in hindsight? My personal opinion is that if given the chance, people will only do what they feel is right for themselves, without much thought for others.

+1

I agree that no-one really knows, and feel it’s why we’re blessed to live where we do and to have the freedom to make the personal decisions that we do.

Politicians have tough decisions to make everyday too, but the personal decisions of citizens should be respected and Lee has tried to balance the two to the best of his ability.

Personally believe folks are overly emotional and neurotic towards things these days, especially towards things within their control (like staying home). Many seem ready to panic at the drop of a dime, then suddenly become industry experts after the fact with attempts to destroy people publicly now.

When you fail to jump off the cliff with the rest of the herd you become the enemy of it, which TBH is fine by me.

[DaveinMtAiry]

Originally Posted by danielj72

Yes it is very different. Driving drunk is an openly reckless thing to do. It is obvious driving drunk is deadly.

While viruses kill people we must admit that this is part of life. It is reasonable to ask someone to not drink and drive because it is deadly. It is not reasonable to ask someone to hold up in their house, become unemployed and impoverished, ask them to keep their kids from school and stop living their lives to prevent a natural virus from spreading....a virus with a 99.8 percent survival rate. What is insane is that half the country actually has been led like sheep to believe that this actually is the right thing to do. The damage to our society and country from this is massive....far worse than the covid deaths.

This is way different than laws against drinking and driving. No comparison.

We were discussing mandates for masks and that is what I was referring to. Wearing a mask will not cause unemployment and poverty, it is simply a law designed to save lives and get this past us.

The argument against it is pretty much "the government can't tell me what to do" as we have seen here in this thread and throughout the pandemic. It's pretty clear that attitude is prevalent in Tennessee. Well the government tells us how we need to behave with hundreds of laws designed for public safety, we have to comply or pay a penalty. This is no different.

[JMT]

Good grief. Thread closed.