Coronavirus (high school, college, cost)

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Or led to believe we aren't smart enough know what's good for us and act accordingly.

This is what I resent the most. Not all humans are created equal. Some of us do in fact have the ability to look at the data and make informed decisions. But the government just addresses the lowest common denominator with their tactics.

By the way, for everyone who has been touting masks as the be all, end all, enjoy this. Like I've been saying, the type of mask matters.

"Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations and should not be considered an acceptable form of face covering." -Leana Wen, M.D. (works with CNN and WaPo)

https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/statu...83266974556162

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by joosoon

Did you read the link? That rate, 86.52%, is higher than the general population for the same age group in the county. The schools aren't on the brink of impending doom. If anything, based purely on that statistic, they are safest semi-public venue in the area.

You're thinking too much about San Diego. I'm hearing about all sorts of school outbreaks elsewhere.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/burnt-sch...151446155.html
Which brings up the point that either substitutes should be paid more or training changed so that most middle-school teachers and elementary school teachers are interchangeable.

We can't keep coddling everyone. Does "pandemic of the unvaccinated" sound familiar? The general tone right now is that everyone is going to get this at some point.

It can't happen in a near-future tsunami. The economy hasn't come up with ways to keep functioning (for example, redundancy and automation), not enough hospital space and treatments are available, etc.

Also, more tests available need to become available - yes, next month, probably - but even if they're accurate enough, at some point that's wasteful. If dogs can be used instead at entrances to buildings and schools, that would be much better. Maybe there's an issue of dogs themselves becoming sick from people they sniff.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

This is what I resent the most. Not all humans are created equal. Some of us do in fact have the ability to look at the data and make informed decisions. But the government just addresses the lowest common denominator with their tactics.

By the way, for everyone who has been touting masks as the be all, end all, enjoy this. Like I've been saying, the type of mask matters.

"Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations and should not be considered an acceptable form of face covering." -Leana Wen, M.D. (works with CNN and WaPo)

https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/statu...83266974556162

I get it. Some like being told what's best but, in relation to those cloth masks? Nope. The only mask that will give the best protection ... and the only one that was told would work from the beginning is the N95 mask. Anything less does nothing more than give the wearer a false sense of protection. The N95 is all I wear and it may not look pretty but I'm still here and covid-free so there's that

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by goodheathen

You're thinking too much about San Diego.

Those are figures from LAUSD, not San Diego. I posted them because you brought up the postponement of their, LA's, mandate.

Also, more tests available need to become available - yes, next month, probably - but even if they're accurate enough, at some point that's wasteful. If dogs can be used instead at entrances to buildings and schools, that would be much better. Maybe there's an issue of dogs themselves becoming sick from people they sniff.

Testing is already offered in the big school districts. Dogs? Yeah, not going to happen mostly because it's not an actual determination of positive cases or not. Testing is the only reliable option. And as I mentioned before, there are pilot programs monitoring wastewater already in place. Even with all this, state government has been slow on the uptake and left all this up to individual districts to figure out. It would've been nice had Newsom not been so concerned with sucking up camera time for a year while schools were shuttered with nobody at that level of government committed to fixing it.


If you really care, forget the far-fetched stuff like dogs and call your reps and tell them to do their job.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

This is what I resent the most. Not all humans are created equal. Some of us do in fact have the ability to look at the data and make informed decisions. But the government just addresses the lowest common denominator with their tactics.

By the way, for everyone who has been touting masks as the be all, end all, enjoy this. Like I've been saying, the type of mask matters.

"Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations and should not be considered an acceptable form of face covering." -Leana Wen, M.D. (works with CNN and WaPo)

https://twitter.com/DrLeanaWen/statu...83266974556162

Throughout this, I've been using the little blue/white disposable ones and they're fine in my opinion.
Short of a true respirator (and I've said this a thousand times), there's no point in overthinking masks. People I'm surrounded by have given me countless homemade cloth masks but as thoughtful as those are, the disposable ones are better.

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by joosoon

Testing is already offered in the big school districts. Dogs? Yeah, not going to happen mostly because it's not an actual determination of positive cases or not. Testing is the only reliable option. And as I mentioned before, there are pilot programs monitoring wastewater already in place. Even with all this, state government has been slow on the uptake and left all this up to individual districts to figure out. It would've been nice had Newsom not been so concerned with sucking up camera time for a year while schools were shuttered with nobody at that level of government committed to fixing it.


If you really care, forget the far-fetched stuff like dogs and call your reps and tell them to do their job.

I don't see how wastewater monitoring lowers spread, unless it's used to decide on complete shutdowns. Individual cases need to be detected to selectively quarantine people. I've heard dogs can very accurately detect the virus. The point is cost. Newsom last year pointed out cost of testing as problematic, and after vaccines California was quick to move away from it. I think cost also is a reason why government persists with the now-flailing vaccine strategy as the main weapon. Actual treatments are much more expensive. Quality face masks also add up financially. Many people act like the government can fund their 'right' to live as if there's no coronavirus. The pandemic is economically ruinous from every angle.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

I get it. Some like being told what's best but, in relation to those cloth masks? Nope. The only mask that will give the best protection ... and the only one that was told would work from the beginning is the N95 mask. Anything less does nothing more than give the wearer a false sense of protection. The N95 is all I wear and it may not look pretty but I'm still here and covid-free so there's that

It’s just funny because I have heard about people that do everything you’re supposed to, lock down, don’t go out wear n95 masks and they still end up with Covid. meanwhile you have me who has not been particularly careful, not reckless, but not super careful and as far as I know I haven’t contracted it yet. Just makes it seem as if there’s not much you can do just roll the dice and live your life.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by stablegenius

"Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations and should not be considered an acceptable form of face covering." -Leana Wen, M.D. (works with CNN and WaPo)

I haven't seen anyone wearing cloth masks since last summer. And L.A. County pretty much never lost their mask mandate. It may have been Delta that caused most of us to switch over to N95 masks.

[CA4Now]

Let's hope that if some of the UCs have to move to remote learning, it's temporary.

UC requires COVID boosters; San Diego, Santa Cruz, Irvine to start new term online:
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...r-online-start

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by goodheathen

I don't see how wastewater monitoring lowers spread, unless it's used to decide on complete shutdowns. Individual cases need to be detected to selectively quarantine people. I've heard dogs can very accurately detect the virus. The point is cost.

Perhaps you should read about it. I posted this on a different thread. Both links explain the how's and why's and benefits.


Testing waste for shed pieces of the coronavirus is valuable because coronavirus is believed to show up in feces before a person exhibits symptoms, and potentially before a person would test positive in a nasal PCR COVID test, Fielding-Miller said. A PCR, or polymerase chain reaction test detects the coronavirus’ genetic material.

If any of the wastewater or surface samples test positive for coronavirus, then children and staff at the site will be tested for COVID.


and


“University campuses especially benefit from wastewater surveillance as a means to avert COVID-19 outbreaks, as they’re full of largely asymptomatic populations, and are potential hot spots for transmission that necessitate frequent diagnostic testing,” said first author Smruthi Karthikeyan, PhD, an environmental engineer and postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine."




So it checks two important boxes in one action, since it can cut testing frequency (cost savings) and provides early detection for asymptomatic cases. Win-win.