Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Lynn, Revere: bachelorette party, house, unemployment)

[OutdoorLover]

Nice webcast here of a discussion among editors at the New England Journal of Medicine on contact tracing, first generally, and then specifically about the challenges posed by contact tracing for Covid-19. Some key points made are:
- Presymptomatic and asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 presents a big challenge, as does the efficient, rapid transmissibility of this disease
- Rapid test turnaround is a force multiplier under the above conditions
- Availability of treatments and/or vaccines strengthens the effectiveness of contact tracing
- Cooperation from citizens, with providing information to enable ID and tracing and with quarantine when that's necessary is also a big piece
- Even an imperfect response can bring big benefits

Many details in the full discussion...
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2028055

[OutdoorLover]

Some news on "Operation Warp Speed", the government-backed vaccine development effort...
Currently there are three potential vaccine candidates in the U.S. in Phase III clinical trials (incidentally, the recent White House allegations of "Deep State" forces at the FDA holding back good vaccines from the people are nonsense - none of these have even finished the experimental portion of their Phase III trial, so the FDA isn't sitting on anything, they haven't even gotten anything to sit on):

• Moderna and Lonza’s mRNA-1273
• Pfizer and BioNTech’s BNT162;
• AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s ChAdOx1 nCov-19

UPS is also supposed to be a big piece of the distribution logistics. "McKesson is the largest distributor of seasonal flu vaccines in the U.S. ...Operation Warp Speed Selects McKesson for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution"
https://www.biospace.com/article/ope...-distribution/

[Bridge781]

Also are people getting an extra $300 in addition to what they were already getting in unemployment?

Im not sure how I feel about the money that is continued to not thrown at unemployed people right now. I also think continuing to stay out of work to get the unemployment just makes it harder to find a job in the long run.

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

I think you're being rather optimistic.

Notre Dame entry has a 1400 SAT score floor and, despite all theoretical intelligence within, the outcome was comically bad. I've heard direct reports from a friends on staff there ... student compliance was horrendous and the admin response even more horrendous.

There's no reason to believe Boston institutions will be any better.

I will do it. I will take the bait. I will mention the M word because I see how my own family behaves there.

You can have kids from all over the world at Notre Dame, but you can't take Notre Dame out of the Midwest. We haven't achieved herd immunity, but there are plenty of examples of herd mentality. Peer pressure, what's cool and what's not. The prevailing belief in Indiana and much of the Midwest is that this is all make believe and they have nothing to be concerned about.

I know I'll get flak for that statement from Midwest defenders as if I'm acting like some Boston Brahmin, but that's the truth. I have plenty of first-hand evidence to base that opinion on.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I will do it. I will take the bait. I will mention the M word because I see how my own family behaves there.

You can have kids from all over the world at Notre Dame, but you can't take Notre Dame out of the Midwest. We haven't achieved herd immunity, but there are plenty of examples of herd mentality. Peer pressure, what's cool and what's not. The prevailing belief in Indiana and much of the Midwest is that this is all make believe and they have nothing to be concerned about.

I know I'll get flak for that statement from Midwest defenders as if I'm acting like some Boston Brahmin, but that's the truth. I have plenty of first-hand evidence to base that opinion on.

^^No argument from me. I'm a Midwest native (Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota). Except for the latter state, there are plenty of doubters from the other 3 states in my friends circle. This includes folks who went to the same (esteemed, of course) university as myself...which is somewhat discouraging as I thought they would know better.

[Bridge781]

Uh you do realize that not just people from the Midwest attend notre dame right? My cousin went to Roxbury Latin and is actually a freshman at notre dame now.

Also how about what just happened at holy cross?

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Also are people getting an extra $300 in addition to what they were already getting in unemployment?

Im not sure how I feel about the money that is continued to not thrown at unemployed people right now. I also think continuing to stay out of work to get the unemployment just makes it harder to find a job in the long run.

I know dental hygienists and licensed massage therapists who are still shut down. There are tons of service sector jobs that totally vaporized. The Massachusetts unemployment rate is 14.5%. I find the “I have a job, let them starve” attitude appalling.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

^^No argument from me. I'm a Midwest native (Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota). Except for the latter state, there are plenty of doubters from the other 3 states in my friends circle. This includes folks who went to the same (esteemed, of course) university as myself...which is somewhat discouraging as I thought they would know better.

Come on out to Worcester county! Where my wealthy collegiate neighbors have blow-out pool parties with underage drinking, no masks, and ample Tinder swiping. These are the kids attending BU and Northeastern folks ... get real. Compliance will be terrible.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by bohemka

I will do it. I will take the bait. I will mention the M word because I see how my own family behaves there.

You can have kids from all over the world at Notre Dame, but you can't take Notre Dame out of the Midwest. We haven't achieved herd immunity, but there are plenty of examples of herd mentality. Peer pressure, what's cool and what's not. The prevailing belief in Indiana and much of the Midwest is that this is all make believe and they have nothing to be concerned about.

I know I'll get flak for that statement from Midwest defenders as if I'm acting like some Boston Brahmin, but that's the truth. I have plenty of first-hand evidence to base that opinion on.

The Midwest, to a state, has had lower infection and death rates than Massachusetts.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...cans-by-state/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...s-us-by-state/

Your anecdotes about the Midwest aside, while they are still doing better than us, I don't think it's fair to say we're better at this than they are.

I can say, anecdotally, that my in-laws in Minnesota are taking this just as seriously as we are here. They have the added bonus of generally taking everything really seriously, even stuff like milk expiration dates that I take as a "general guideline".

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I know dental hygienists and licensed massage therapists who are still shut down. There are tons of service sector jobs that totally vaporized. The Massachusetts unemployment rate is 14.5%. I find the “I have a job, let them starve” attitude appalling.

I didn’t say let them starve. I’m thinking of people purposely not looking for work because they are doing well on the unemployment money. I just wonder what it will be like for them when they decide to look for work again. I know of one person in this situation.

I’ve said before most people I know have office jobs that they’ve kept. My dentist is open, i didn’t realize others weren’t. I’m sure the spas aren’t bustling the way they once were though.