Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: day cares, growing, target)

[Bridge781]

Well it sounds like the curve is flattening and mgh says they won’t be overwhelmed. That’s good for them. It seems like people think the danger is over. Not exactly.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Well it sounds like the curve is flattening and mgh says they won’t be overwhelmed. That’s good for them. It seems like people think the danger is over. Not exactly.

Agree--this is just one hurdle that we may have overcome. Comforting to know that we have the best healthcare in the world in our region, and that ample hospital capacity exists. But the next milestone is to start seeing fewer and fewer new people getting sick.

[BostonMike7]

Yup, the model shows peak has past, but not out of the woods yet considering it took approx. 5 weeks from the start of restrictions to get to this point. We still need to come down the backside of the curve so to speak.

[justyouraveragetenant]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Agree to disagree. Did you actually read the article you cited? The Supreme Court in its judgment states "There is a right to the commercial sale of arms, but it is a right that may be regulated by conditions and qualifications."

At the risk of getting off topic which is coronavirus, people conveniently forget about the "...well-regulated militia..." phrase in the 2nd amendment. There are no unlimited rights.

It is my understanding any american can join a militia. You could argue about the meaning of well regulated all day. Thats the problem with some of the wording in the bill of rights . I am in my own time will investigate the well regulated part. Of course no goverment wants people to join a militia so the whole point is to fight the goverment and a goverment does not need to approve a militia. It would be the exact opposite point of having a militia to begin with . There is a small amount of gray area with all of this that is why the supreme court has to rule on these issues.

....but enough about that back to Corona virus.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I am happy to comply with the social distancing and wearing a mask to flatten the curve and maintain the integrity of our healthcare system. The economic damage is not justified if the objective becomes prolonging the lives of people with compromised health who are already well beyond the life expectancy age. I have yet to hear of any hospitals getting overwhelmed in the US like what happened in Italy. I think we can start a slow but steady loosening of restrictions beginning in mid to late May depending on hotspot activity.

I wouldn't say hospitals were overwhelmed but COVID most certainly has displaced other work. I personally know people with cancer that have had treatments delayed months. Depending on what stage that could kill a person. I knew someone years ago that had stage four in December, tried some natural crap for the first few months and then did a go fund me for chemo. He didn't make it past May.

More back to topic I think there is going to have to be more of a realistic assessment of what elders are supposed to do.

I don't think any large gathering of elderly people is a good thing. Nursing homes, assisted living, over 55 communities...that's a given but what about events? How are new england style meetings supposed to happen? Many towns have elderly board members govern departments. they might not have the budget to go remote for everything. Think outside the 128 belt. Can we restrict not so much on age but on assumption of transmission that comes with it legally? When I was in retail technically you could not be a manager and weigh 300 lbs. It wasn't official policy but to use power equipment meant it could not be operated with a weight beyond 300lbs. You had to use it to be a manager. So ergo it was nearly a weight limit for hiring.

Many towns resort to boards with staffing from retirees as they are small and don't have the resources to hire. Health department, building dept, zoning, road repairs etc. It adds up. And if retail does get to open back up I think that's going to put a further crunch on the labor market. While it can be argued that people 65 and older should be able to retire many work simply as something to do. Heck I worked with a guy that was 82 at one point. But there are differences between looking health and able bodied and having preexisting conditions and more apt to catch this.

[Bridge781]

It almost seems like it’s pretty quiet that we’ve gotten over the peak. Probably worried that people will take it as an invitation to stop distancing

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I am happy to comply with the social distancing and wearing a mask to flatten the curve and maintain the integrity of our healthcare system. The economic damage is not justified if the objective becomes prolonging the lives of people with compromised health who are already well beyond the life expectancy age. I have yet to hear of any hospitals getting overwhelmed in the US like what happened in Italy. I think we can start a slow but steady loosening of restrictions beginning in mid to late May depending on hotspot activity.

I think you have this wrong. Mask wearing, hand hygiene, and a level of social distancing are required to keep the transmission rate below 1.0. Until there is a vaccine or an effective treatment, that's the new normal and has nothing to do with "flatten the curve". Most people can get back to their lives if we all adopt those societal rules. Schools? Probably not. Movie theaters? Mega-churches? Fenway, Gillette, and the Gahden? Nope.

[bohemka]

It's hard to take that model seriously. It essentially considers this a one-time wave and then poof, it's gone. Like a miracle, some would say. I think it's too soon to proclaim we're past the peak. The numbers are still all over the place, beaches are opening, people are attending mass protests. Too soon.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

It almost seems like it’s pretty quiet that we’ve gotten over the peak. Probably worried that people will take it as an invitation to stop distancing

Too early to claim that we have. We are referencing the model, but need to actually see if that trend manifests in reality. Will need a week or so of data before one can proclaim that cases in MA are in fact dropping. Even then, the measures in place need to be maintained to allow the trend to continue dropping.

[Bridge781]

Yeah I’m not entirely sure how they can live by this model. They have no idea what people may or may not do. Maybe someone will decide to have a house party and hundreds get infected. I hope they’re right but who knows.