Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Franklin: certificate, accepts, home)

[sawyer2]

And in non-Disney news, the FDA authorized the nation's first home COVID-19 test that doesn't need a lab or a medical provider's prescription.

The FDA authorized the Ellume tests for people ages 2 and older, with or without symptoms. Ellume's rapid antigen test includes a nasal swab for users to collect a sample and place into a cartridge. A smartphone app instructs consumers how to use the test and displays results, which can be shared with a health provider.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/pres...ome-diagnostic

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...me/3910420001/

[BostonMike7]

Didn't think my Disneyworld joke would turn into 4-5 pages of discussion.


Anyway. $30 for the home test sounds pretty good. Of course the obvious question is how long would it take the average person to realistically be able to get their hands on one

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I enjoy it, but wouldn't go out of my way to plan a trip around it. I have family not too far Orlando and every 5 years we go down to celebrate my grandfather's birthday. As part of the whole event, we usually all do a day or two at Disney as a group and we have a ton of fun (drinking around the world). Sometimes we do Universal which is fun too (sneak in whisky to spike the butter beer). But really not something I could see spending more time and money doing. My girlfriend and I travel a lot (pandemic aside), all over the world, and most of the time we spend significantly less money than it would cost to spend the same amount of time on a Disney vacation. We went to Animal Kingdom last year and joked that when you factor in the park entrance fees, cost of food, and accommodations, our real safari in Tanzania was comparably priced to the safari ride in Animal Kingdom.

Now that's a vacation! It's on the bucket list, along with Madagascar (I've actually been saving years for it... and will likely be 8 more years of saving...).


But yeah. I can spend 10 days or so in Peru, or Sri Lanka, for less.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Now that's a vacation! It's on the bucket list, along with Madagascar (I've actually been saving years for it... and will likely be 8 more years of saving...).


But yeah. I can spend 10 days or so in Peru, or Sri Lanka, for less.

It was on my list and my brother was living there with the Peace Corps. so we made it happen. It wasn't nearly as expensive as I anticipated. We booked the flights with miles we earned on credit cards (would have been $800ish each if we paid cash), the hotel in the park was $150/night during shoulder season (we were among the only guests), and the car/guide was really cheap (like $100 per day + tip). My brother being on the ground over there was able to find much better rates than anything we could setup through online or through an agency. We also visited Zanzibar which was gorgeous and similarly affordable. We also spent some time in Rwanda, and if I did the safari again, I'd do it in Akagera National Park there. It's on the Tanzania border, has all of the same wildlife, is far, far, far less trafficked, accommodations are cheaper, and you can self drive the safari (and opt to hire a guide for $40/day or not - I would). But I digress. My brother saw the mountain gorillas in Rwanda which is still on my bucket list. If I ever get back...

Madagascar is on mine too, but man is it not cheap. We looked into going from Tanzania and it was not logistically or financially possible. Best of luck! I really can't wait to travel again...

Peru was on our list for this past September. Obviously that didn't happen. Hopefully next year...

[timberline742]

I've done Peru twice. Love it. Iquitos totally got hammered by Covid, and a bunch of the villages near it also had some other outbreaks (dengue maybe?). Poor people. I want to hit the highlands someday.


Guides are totally worth it. I'm good on my own in temperate North Am, but I'm used to it. Being in different ecotypes, well, I want native eyes helping me. I mostly did Sarawak without them... regret it. If I get back to Sabah, I'm hiring a guide.



And I totally regret not hitting Africa when I had family there. Stupid mistake. Good on you. I, personally, won't even look at planning Madagascar with less than 12k in the bank for it. I'd love to pair it with the Ngorongoro Crater. Sigh. Get me that damn vaccine!

[redplum33]

5,450 new cases and 71 new deaths.

[rach5]

An article in the Globe making a similar point I was making yesterday, albeit more eloquently. https://www.boston.com/news/coronavi...cember-january
Ashish Jha, “Anybody who gets infected today who dies, is somebody who could have gotten vaccinated two months from now. So let’s keep people around and keep people safe until the vaccine becomes widely available.” And Michael Mina (epidemiologist) "How can we possibly be OK saying Hurrah, we have a vaccine – that will benefit most months from now.Look at US cases and deaths: 3,000/day! How can we be OK with this? How are we NOT mobilizing every single resource in the US right NOW? What are our elected leaders doing?"

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by rach5

An article in the Globe making a similar point I was making yesterday, albeit more eloquently. https://www.boston.com/news/coronavi...cember-january
Ashish Jha, “Anybody who gets infected today who dies, is somebody who could have gotten vaccinated two months from now. So let’s keep people around and keep people safe until the vaccine becomes widely available.” And Michael Mina (epidemiologist) "How can we possibly be OK saying Hurrah, we have a vaccine – that will benefit most months from now.Look at US cases and deaths: 3,000/day! How can we be OK with this? How are we NOT mobilizing every single resource in the US right NOW? What are our elected leaders doing?"

Answer to that last question: NOTHING. 35 days from now, hopefully the answer is different.

[rach5]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Answer to that last question: NOTHING. 35 days from now, hopefully the answer is different.

Actually - I disagree with the nothing. Large rallies, politizing mask wearing, encouraging resistance against governors who want to implement restrictions, calling for opening up widely, preventing the CDC from giving scientific advice when it doesn't mesh with their own agenda, not using the defense production act to produce PPE, hiring pseudo-scientists and non-scientists to lead their covid taskforce, and just this week, prevent aid to states that actually may want to save lives and still keep businesses alive, It makes it much easier to shut a state down when you can protect the people whose livelihoods are at risk. I'd argue that they have been busy every step of the way.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Answer to that last question: NOTHING. 35 days from now, hopefully the answer is different.

There really isn't much for Biden to do at this point other than the second stimulus... he could try shutting down again but most states would probably ignore him anyway and continue to do what they are doing. Just got to let the vaccine do it's thing.