What is Covid looking like in your community now?

[LucyStoner]

Overall rates have been falling here since mid September.  44 new hospitalizations and 2 deaths in my county since 11/12.  

The schools my sons attend have very high vaccination rates and generally good protocols including masking and weekly testing.  There have been 2 cases at my older son's large high school and more at the middle school (assuming this is because middle school covers some ages that were not eligible for the vaccine until very recently).  My younger son was in a positive batch test so had to get a PCR test. The test positivity rate for these in our district is very low and my son's test was negative.  The batches are classrooms with all samples tested together.  If you aren't vaccinated and are in a positive batch, you have to self isolate until you get a negative test result. If you are vaccinated, you just need to go get a test.  You do not need to isolate if you are vaccinated and have no symptoms.  If you opt out of testing but the child is in a classroom that has a positive batch, you have to get PCR testing ASAP and self isolate if not vaccinated.  

We are generally still sticking to outside recreation but we have done a couple of larger events and occasionally, I am meeting a friend for drinks in the corner of a local eatery.  Our indoor group things are school, work (WFH has ended for my husband's company at this juncture), healthcare, fitness.  All of our friends and family are vaccinated so we do some in person social stuff.  

Edited November 16, 2021 by LucyStoner

[LucyStoner]

On 11/11/2021 at 4:43 AM, Farrar said:

Adding... you have to show your vax card and ID together for a ton of stuff here now. Particularly every performance venue for theater, music, etc. and a lot of the bars. So that's a good thing that I really appreciate. Like, kid went to a big indoor EDM concert a few weeks ago and I was like, sigh. But they had to show vax and ID and stay masked. I made him wear one of the KN95's. He drew the EDM artist's logos all over it, lol.

Yes.  We don't go out very much but we show vaccine cards for swimming lessons for the kids and we were asked for it the two times we went to a restaurant recently.  We had tickets to a comedy show (rescheduled due to Covid- these were April 2020 tickets) and that was vaccine required.  That's the only large group inside thing we have done since summer when we went to a baseball game (not inside but very large scale since they were in contention the last week of the season).  

Mask compliance is high but not as high as it had been.  

[Ottakee]

@Faith-manor I know the feeling....sadness, grief, anger, and the cycle goes on.   I am 35 minutes from Grand Rapids and cases on this side of the state are sky rocketing.  My friend  just pulled 3 12 hour shifts as ICU doc in traverse City where they are at code red.  Our primary care told me Holland was swamped too.

I am tired of funerals.  Another friend lost her mom to COVID last night (making it 3 cases of people I know who died from Covid) and another friends sister is on a vent and deteriorating, with 2 teenage kids at home.  All unvaccinated.

I am tired.   I care deeply about these people and they were good, kind, loving people.  I am tired of taking my kids to funerals or explaining to them that yet another person they know has died.

 

[history-fan]

The numbers just keep getting higher. The health dept even admits the testing sites are backlogged so the numbers will vary. Hospitals are full, their staff overworked. I was surprised to see the average age now is 38. As of Friday there are 5,266 new cases and 1,300 people in the hospital

Edited November 16, 2021 by history-fan

[Longtime Lurker]

3 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

The Saturday, Sunday, Monday covid count for Michigan is 21,034 and 95 new deaths.

Genessee County, the only county anywhere close to me with a mask mandate for schools, is rescinding the mask mandate on Dec. 22.

I have thoughts about the above information, none of which are fit for print here.

 

3 hours ago, melmichigan said:

We have no mandates!  It's unreal.  I had IV this morning so I got to overhear the overview for the nurses this morning including census.  Our inpatient is climbing.  

 

38 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

@Faith-manor I know the feeling....sadness, grief, anger, and the cycle goes on.   I am 35 minutes from Grand Rapids and cases on this side of the state are sky rocketing.  My friend  just pulled 3 12 hour shifts as ICU doc in traverse City where they are at code red.  Our primary care told me Holland was swamped too.

Yes, things are not pretty here. I noticed more people masking at work than usual. 

[Faith-manor]

40 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

@Faith-manor I know the feeling....sadness, grief, anger, and the cycle goes on.   I am 35 minutes from Grand Rapids and cases on this side of the state are sky rocketing.  My friend  just pulled 3 12 hour shifts as ICU doc in traverse City where they are at code red.  Our primary care told me Holland was swamped too.

I am tired of funerals.  Another friend lost her mom to COVID last night (making it 3 cases of people I know who died from Covid) and another friends sister is on a vent and deteriorating, with 2 teenage kids at home.  All unvaccinated.

I am tired.   I care deeply about these people and they were good, kind, loving people.  I am tired of taking my kids to funerals or explaining to them that yet another person they know has died.

 

Ottakee 💔💔💔,

I am so right there with you. The pain is so raw, and it just didn't have to be this way. Many hugs to you and your kids!

I am not attending funerals here. No masks, jam packed rooms, even when someone dies of covid and the family is honest about it, there are no protocols. The excuse given is, "It is all in God's hands." I give up. I love the friend on the vent very dearly. But, if I can possible NOT bring this home to my family, then that is where my focus goes. I wish I could.attend her funeral. I wish I could have goner to my cousin's wife's funeral, my uncle's funeral, and my cousin's daughter's funeral. But those were all done super covid cautious so only ten people including funeral home staff which meant no extended family.

My daughter is just livid. She wishes there was a prime time documentary on what happens to people on a vent, what it is like inside these covid ICU's, and put on every single channel simultaneously. However, I have come to the conclusion that it would just be dismissed as lies and propaganda. People are so narcissistic they can't have their thinking challenged.

[Ottakee]

@Faith-manor My daughter is just livid. She wishes there was a prime time documentary on what happens to people on a vent, what it is like inside these covid ICU's, and put on every single channel simultaneously. However, I have come to the conclusion that it would just be dismissed as lies and propaganda. People are so narcissistic they can't have their thinking challenged.

*********

Yes.  I don't think people realize what life on a vent is like.  It is not pleasant at all.

I did attend the funeral Saturday for a 24 year old killed in a car accident.  Masked and sat in the balcony where there were only maybe 10 other people spread far apart.

I want to be kind and loving and understanding but the other part of me is so frustrated.  In our area 90% of the hospitalizations are coming from the 30-35% of people not vaccinated.

I don't know if people realize that the overwhelmed hospitals will result in a possible delay of care for your loved one in a car accident or with a heart attack or other medical crisis.

[ktgrok]

Whenever people say it is in God's hands I think of this meme. 

[Tenaj]

Our state and county have numbers creeping up again.  I've noticed that the refrain on fb has now become that the numbers are going up because now that the kids are receiving the vaccine they are shedding virus everywhere 😟

[Faith-manor]

5 hours ago, Ottakee said:

@Faith-manor My daughter is just livid. She wishes there was a prime time documentary on what happens to people on a vent, what it is like inside these covid ICU's, and put on every single channel simultaneously. However, I have come to the conclusion that it would just be dismissed as lies and propaganda. People are so narcissistic they can't have their thinking challenged.

*********

Yes.  I don't think people realize what life on a vent is like.  It is not pleasant at all.

I did attend the funeral Saturday for a 24 year old killed in a car accident.  Masked and sat in the balcony where there were only maybe 10 other people spread far apart.

I want to be kind and loving and understanding but the other part of me is so frustrated.  In our area 90% of the hospitalizations are coming from the 30-35% of people not vaccinated.

I don't know if people realize that the overwhelmed hospitals will result in a possible delay of care for your loved one in a car accident or with a heart attack or other medical crisis.

Yes. My uncle did not die of covid, he died of sitting in an ER unable to be seen, even triaged. That is what killed him. Hospital overwhelm. Ds has a friend who spent 16 hours in the ER with a serious injury before being seen, and was just fortunate she did not have internal injuries or she would have bled to death inside the hospital waiting room! It is a war zone, MASH unit kind of crazy out there. People don't care. My county made it to 45% vaxed. That is it. So 55% are pretty much, if without a legitimate medical exemption, killers in my book. It might not be premeditated, but definitely reckless or negligent homicide as far as I am concerned. Enough is enough!

How much death, how much horrific long covid, how many deaths from lack of ER and ICU access for other conditions, lack of surgeries and treatment has to happen before they finally care enough about their own skin to get on board??? I don't know.

Today I am spending time in my Danish and Nordic Christmas cookbooks and Christmas traditions books trying to focus my energy on planning a wonderful holiday for my family. I need something positive to think about. Friday, I go to the U.P. to pick my son up from his last TDay undergraduate break. The count down to graduation commences. I need to pack food for myself, and find my winter boots. They are getting snow and nasty cold up there, and we have had it mild here is I am not exactly prepared!! 😜

Edited November 16, 2021 by Faith-manor

[Ottakee]

Our county is West Michigan is now at 21% positivity rate.  We are closing out school program for young adults all week next week as we can't maintain staff and student levels.

Our vaccine rates are better than yours though

[Faith-manor]

The county positivity rate hit 27.1% today and an average of 100 new cases per day for the last four days with a county population of 52,000. The local high school is up to 55 cases in the last 10 days out of 293 kids, 17 in the middle school wing of the building out of 200 middle schoolers, not sure how many staff total. Yet, they are not closing down. Can you imagine the level of exposure? Almost 20% of the high school.population and almost 10% of the middle school. The superintendent says if they reach 30% of the student body infected, they will shut down for a few days. I think thoughts about him. None of those thoughts are good. I can only imagine the thoughts of the county health department.

But there will not be another state wide shut down. The governor was stripped of emergency powers, and the legislature stripped as much from the state health department as they possibly could. This is a let it rip until everyone is sick, dead, or disabled and then wonder what went wrong situation.

For all those greedy monsters crying about the economy, I would like to smack them on the back of the head! Well duh! Of course the economy takes a hit you idiots! You can't have that many people sick, that many people beholden to the hospital for thousands of dollars of deductibles and co-pays, that many people with long covid or dead and not spending their money anymore or going to work, and NOT have an economy problem. "Think McFly, Think!!!" (In my best Biff voice. I figure Biff is the kind of guy these cranks seem to admire so a Biff quote it is!)

[prairiewindmomma]

Right, but a lot of those sick are not even going to change their behavior, and will get reinfected again next winter. That's the part that is just a stunner to me. We have tools to largely avoid infection now in schools---kids could choose to mask, and over 5s can vaccinate---and so many of them aren't taking precautions.

My middles are in school, wearing N95s, and sitting in the rain so they can eat their lunch outside.  Their buildings are running good filters, the building is power vented out nightly and cleaned well, people have to clean their hands to go in, and things are largely in control. There's some low levels of viral activity, but it is generally better than what is going on in our community. 

God Jul, Faith-manor, I'm right there with you in retreating into my happy and safe bubble.

[ScoutTN]

My county 18.5/100K, 6.2% positivity. 60% Fully vaxed.

My state 22.1/100k, 5.4% positivity. 50% fully vaxed.

Thankful that my son’s school has lots of protocols in place and everyone who can be is vaxed. Church has some. I see about 50-75% masked when I go to the grocery. Vet, orthodontist etc. still have wait in the car set up. 

Getting my booster next week!

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by ScoutTN

[Faith-manor]

8 hours ago, Tenaj said:

Our state and county have numbers creeping up again.  I've noticed that the refrain on fb has now become that the numbers are going up because now that the kids are receiving the vaccine they are shedding virus everywhere 😟

Oy! So much stupid! 😯

[melmichigan]

We hit 19.2% positivity in my county. The first of our hospitals is now closed to visitors with a few exceptions for things like hospice and end of life care. Our case average per day has more than doubled over the last 4 days.  I see my pulmonologist on Monday about my IV precautions, but knowing he's CMO of that hospital, it's going to be a very insular holiday season here. Luckily Meijer reopened grocery delivery. @Faith-manorI can't even visit the local news or group FB pages. I get everyone has to gauge their own risk, but damn, the lack of consideration for others, especially this time of year, is really getting to me.  

According to the news Michigan now has the highest rate of confirmed or suspected covid cases in the country.

Edited November 17, 2021 by melmichigan

[easypeasy]

It’s pretty much life as normal (new-normal) over here. Our large area is about 85% fully vaccinated adults & the kid vaccines appear pretty popular. I’m triple vaccinated and have had post-vaccine Covid. I wear masks in situations where others are wearing masks, or when it’s requested by a person or a business. Otherwise, I just wash my hands a lot. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by easypeasy

[Longtime Lurker]

8 hours ago, Ottakee said:

Our county is West Michigan is now at 21% positivity rate.  We are closing out school program for young adults all week next week as we can't maintain staff and student levels.

Our vaccine rates are better than yours though

Yikes! I think we are not in the same county after all, as all our schools are still open next week. Our positivity rate did not update on the website this week, but must be close to 19-20%. Our vaccination rates are not terrible (56% age 5+, 63% 12+, 64% 16+, and 85% for 65+) but not nearly good enough 😞

[Ottakee]

51 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

Yikes! I think we are not in the same county after all, as all our schools are still open next week. Our positivity rate did not update on the website this week, but must be close to 19-20%. Our vaccination rates are not terrible (56% age 5+, 63% 12+, 64% 16+, and 85% for 65+) but not nearly good enough 😞

Spectrum in GR said positivity is over 25% now.   The school in our county for now are open, it is just our special ISD special Ed programs that are closed next week...at least as of now 

[Shoeless]

Positivity is still around 2 percent in my area. But this is Texas, and the summer was pretty apocalyptic here, so there's still a lot of natural immunity.

There are some zip codes near me where 25% of the population has already had a confirmed case of Covid. It's stunning to think about. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by MissLemon

[TravelingChris]

We are at very low transmission now.  

[historically accurate]

It's only gotten worse since I last posted. We're up to 7.8% positivity, 248.4 per 100K. Still holding at 53% vaccinated. Ugh, winter has barely started.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We are still at 100+ positive cases a week.

My DGD's school district discontinued the mask and social distancing mandates on Monday. I think it's a ploy to encourage people to vaccinate their children.

[Faith-manor]

Update on my mom's friend.

She stayed at home too long after becoming very sick, thus remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies were ineffective. There is a window, she missed it due to obstinance because she did not want to admit she was wrong about covid. Her husband insisted on driving her to the ER where she was given oxygen in the waiting room, but being entirely overwhelmed, waited several hours to be seen, and then was admitted to an "ICU" bed, and by that, a bed in a hallway somewhere near ICU. 12 hours later she had to be put on the vent. She has tested positive for staph infection now possibly acquired at a HUGE funeral she went to last week unmasked no precautions. She is septic, and the doctors hold out no hope. It sounds like they are just waiting on family to come to grips with it and allow.her life support to be removed. Her husband, who had a "mild" case is showing signs of cardiac involvement as well as neurologic now. They want to see if he can benefit from rehab, but warned that he may have to go from "totally independent two weeks ago" to rehab to nursing home. Sigh. So much pain and suffering.

I told my mom I will not take her to the funeral, and mom agreed it would be a very, very bad idea. Big mega church, no protocols, masks are a mark of the beast. I hope they livestream it so she can at least watch. 

[Syllieann]

My county is at 52/100k per day with a little over 10% positivity.  My anti-vax branch of the family has multiple people sick.  My aunt's brother died last night and their mother is not expected to make it through tonight.  My anti-vax mil and step fil are supposed to come for Thanksgiving from out of state.  I want to tell them to stay home, but I know they will just say they want to see us and it's in God's hands.  I'm keep going back and forth between being sad and angry.

[Faith-manor]

Just now, Syllieann said:

My county is at 52/100k per day with a little over 10% positivity.  My anti-vax branch of the family has multiple people sick.  My aunt's brother died last night and their mother is not expected to make it through tonight.  My anti-vax mil and step fil are supposed to come for Thanksgiving from out of state.  I want to tell them to stay home, but I know they will just say they want to see us and it's in God's hands.  I'm keep going back and forth between being sad and angry.

I think you should tell them to stay home. Don't endanger your family, and don't ruin your holiday listening to that rhetoric! It isn't good for you and yours. ❤

[Arcadia]

5 hours ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

We are still at 100+ positive cases a week.

My DGD's school district discontinued the mask and social distancing mandates on Monday. I think it's a ploy to encourage people to vaccinate their children.

My county has slightly less than 200 per day and people I know have been asking when the mask mandate would be lifted for months. Our positivity rate is currently at 1.3%. Here people have already decided before the FDA emergency use approval for Pfizer whether they want their  5 to 11 year old kids vaccinated regardless of mandates.

[Syllieann]

5 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I think you should tell them to stay home. Don't endanger your family, and don't ruin your holiday listening to that rhetoric! It isn't good for you and yours. ❤

I don't think I can get dh on board. 😢

[history-fan]

Wednesdays report includes

46 new deaths from COVID-19

3,457 newly-reported positive COVID-19 tests

The federal govt is sending 2 teams of 44 medical staff to support 2 of the hospitals in the state.

It's so sad-frustrating to hear these numbers and not have protocols in place. I decided not to go to one of my volunteer group meetings Mon and heard from a member that she was the only one that masked and that a couple people there don't want vaccines. I'm glad I decided not to go. 

[cintinative]

Ohio's numbers today are over 6300 new cases. Hospitalizations are creeping up, and we never got back to our previous low, so they are already at 80% or higher capacity in my region. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Whelp, my metro went off the rails yesterday. Counties are at 19.1%, 16.5% and 13.6% positivity respectively. Post-Halloween bump? We’d previously been below 6%.

[Dmmetler]

we have gone from 2.6% to 7.4% this week alone. And the timing is right about 2 weeks after mask mandates were dropped. But now we have a state law in place, removing the power of the local health department to put them back.

[Faith-manor]

My county has a new probable of 1036 on top of another almost 200 confirmed cases over the last two days. Up to 8500 cases out of a population of 52,000. So not yet 20% of the population, but probably going to get there by Christmas if this does hot slow down.

We are where we were last year with the temporary shut down/pause in order to get it under control again. It is that bad WITH vaccines. The difference is Delta. Last year it was Beta. We are marching our way towards the number we had in the late winter and early spring when Delta hit. However, since our health department and our governor have no emergency powers now, there isn't going to be another shut down to gain control. Detroit Mercy and Henry Ford in Detroit, Spectrum in Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Flint, Midland, all overwhelmed. More docs, nurses, and hospital staff quitting, just absolutely not going to do this a fourth time. But at least Michiganders have "freedumbs".

My daughter just called and can't wait for us to come, and I can't wait to get there. Rocket City is doing way better now, and the mountain house is isolated enough that we can enjoy the great outdoors without worry. We are going to have a family hike at Dittos Landing on the Tennessee River. Everyone is looking forward to it. 31 days and counting.

We have to take two vehicles in order to get all of us and the stuff down there. My mom is going to be riding with Mark, our college senior, and the dog. I am putting her in charge of packing trip food and beverages, KN95's, and sanitizer for their car. I am planning all of it for my vehicle with the grad school boys. We just have to hang tight until then. It will be good for us mentally to have the break before we come back to what will probably be another big surge post holidays. That said, the surge might not be too bad because of the smell updating effect of school being out for a while.

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

Ohio's numbers today are over 6300 new cases. Hospitalizations are creeping up, and we never got back to our previous low, so they are already at 80% or higher capacity in my region. 

Ugh. I hadn't looked yet. 

49 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Whelp, my metro went off the rails yesterday. Counties are at 19.1%, 16.5% and 13.6% positivity respectively. Post-Halloween bump? We’d previously been below 6%.

Halloween is safe they said...in a pig's eye. People here what they want to and then do non-safe activities like it's the same as careful ToT.

[Longtime Lurker]

On 11/16/2021 at 12:39 PM, Ottakee said:

Our county is West Michigan is now at 21% positivity rate.  We are closing out school program for young adults all week next week as we can't maintain staff and student levels.I spo

 

23 hours ago, Longtime Lurker said:

Yikes! I think we are not in the same county after all, as all our schools are still open next week. Our positivity rate did not update on the website this week, but must be close to 19-20%. Our vaccination rates are not terrible (56% age 5+, 63% 12+, 64% 16+, and 85% for 65+) but not nearly good enough 😞

I spoke too soon... Just found out today that all the special ed schools in our county will be closed all of next week, due to covid spread and staffing issues. Meanwhile, the rest of the schools are continuing as normal. I am glad I had my booster!

[Ottakee]

On 11/17/2021 at 8:03 PM, Longtime Lurker said:

 

I spoke too soon... Just found out today that all the special ed schools in our county will be closed all of next week, due to covid spread and staffing issues. Meanwhile, the rest of the schools are continuing as normal. I am glad I had my booster!

Yes Grand Haven and Spring Lake just closed next week too.  And out county special Ed programs.   Michigan has highest positivity rate in the nation right now and my county is one of the highest in the state...25% and trending upward.

[Longtime Lurker]

6 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

Yes Grand Haven and Spring Lake just closed next week too.  And out county special Ed programs.   Michigan has highest positivity rate in the nation right now and my county is one of the highest in the state...25% and trending upward.

Yes, the lakeshore schools have been more cautious all fall. They still have mask mandates. I wish we still had mask mandates...

ETA: My son's school still has a mask mandate, but mine does not.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Longtime Lurker

[ktgrok]

Schools here are dropping mask mandates, even though kids won't be fully vaccinated until mid December, at the very earliest. This is due to interference from the Governor, Death Sentence DeSantis. 

[prairiewindmomma]

On 11/17/2021 at 1:09 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

Whelp, my metro went off the rails yesterday. Counties are at 19.1%, 16.5% and 13.6% positivity respectively. Post-Halloween bump? We’d previously been below 6%.

Monday’s numbers may have been an anomaly? Today’s were more in line with previous ones…

[Carrie12345]

I don’t know why I feel shocked, but I do. My county is now at a 15% positivity rate. Still under 40 per 100k. Vaccination is not climbing the way I’d hoped with the new age bracket, though it is a teeny tiny bit up.

EMT Dd texted dh last night. She feels sick and can’t taste anything. She’s vaxxed but not boostered,  at least not since I last asked. Hoping she can get a test somewhere today.
(She’s in a neighboring county.)

Out of state, my niece is now positive. It sounds as if she was with her father and grandparents WHILE THEY WERE SICK last weekend, and then went to my parents’ after school all week. My mom and stepdad are vaxxed and boostered, but my stepdad just went through a second round of cancer treatments and has congestive heart failure. My stepbrother was apparently there all week, too, and he had recently spent several days in the hospital with an infection, so I have no idea what his immune system is like. (Vaxxed, I don’t know about boostered.)

So, yeah, I’m worried.

Also trying to figure out what to do about Turkey Day if dd is positive. And worried about the first and only party we’ve planned to attend 2 weeks after ds’s second shot. 😬 

[ktgrok]

Ugh, I'm so sorry, y'all. Having lived through the big spike here months ago it is insane to be watching other places go through it now. All those places where people said, "well, but it isn't bad HERE" so they didn't need to take precautions/get vaccinated/etc are now repeating our crazy. Because hey, turns out they don't live in some magical land where Covid isn't a problem. It just hadn't hit there right then. 

I wish they had been able to learn from our deadly example. 

[Dmmetler]

8 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Schools here are dropping mask mandates, even though kids won't be fully vaccinated until mid December, at the very earliest. This is due to interference from the Governor, Death Sentence DeSantis. 

Here, too. We actually have a situation where the state has passed laws forcing dropping mandates, but there is a court order in place requiring masks in schools. The result is some districts and private schools are still requiring them, but some made them optional, and both have something to cite to support doing so. It's a mess. 

 

Fortunately, we seem to have gotten past the BIG spike, so while numbers are up slightly, they aren't hitting the ceiling again. Yet, anyway. We'll see what happens after Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

[Lecka]

I said before that we had really low numbers after a bad delta spike in July-September.

Now our numbers are going up again.  
 

 

[ktgrok]

23 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Here, too. We actually have a situation where the state has passed laws forcing dropping mandates, but there is a court order in place requiring masks in schools. The result is some districts and private schools are still requiring them, but some made them optional, and both have something to cite to support doing so. It's a mess. 

 

Fortunately, we seem to have gotten past the BIG spike, so while numbers are up slightly, they aren't hitting the ceiling again. Yet, anyway. We'll see what happens after Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I just can't fathom why they are insisting on dropping masks NOW, when if they waited another month school kids could all be vaccinated. Like, just a few more weeks until Xmas break - wait until after that! Rather than expose a bunch of kids right before they visit their grandparents for the holidays. It's like "how to make the worst decisions ever, in 3 easy steps". 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

Ugh, I'm so sorry, y'all. Having lived through the big spike here months ago it is insane to be watching other places go through it now. All those places where people said, "well, but it isn't bad HERE" so they didn't need to take precautions/get vaccinated/etc are now repeating our crazy. Because hey, turns out they don't live in some magical land where Covid isn't a problem. It just hadn't hit there right then. 

I wish they had been able to learn from our deadly example. 

YEP!   People didn't learn.  Here in WI we are going up up up up.  I am afraid to think that the cases are going to be higher than they were last winter.  WHY?????   Oh my gosh.  I just have no words for how this pandemic has just made me lose hope in people.  How could we not have learned from last winter, FL a few months ago, and NY in the start?

Virus surge worsens in Midwest as states expand boosters (msn.com)

[Pam in CT]

re every single region has to personally touch the hot stove. Several times.

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Ugh, I'm so sorry, y'all. Having lived through the big spike here months ago it is insane to be watching other places go through it now. All those places where people said, "well, but it isn't bad HERE" so they didn't need to take precautions/get vaccinated/etc are now repeating our crazy. Because hey, turns out they don't live in some magical land where Covid isn't a problem. It just hadn't hit there right then. 

I wish they had been able to learn from our deadly example. 

Imagine the horror, followed by slow burning rage, back in April 2020 when NYC/NJ/CT had health care workers working 18+ hour shifts were dropping down exhausted in hotels near the hospitals because the trains & subways were shut down and the couldn't otherwise get there; and pop-up COVID wards on one side of the parking lots, and truck morgues on the other side.

And SM memes circulated about how THEIR ER's were empty! and the nurses were lying about COVID cases because "they" were getting extra payments for each COVID patient (? this is while the sitting POTUS himself was saying the China Virus was NBD and anyways just inject bleach) and masks caused pneumonia.  And a person on this very board muses "must be nice, living it up in a hotel."  Yeah.  Enjoying the turn-down service with the mints.

 

Honestly, those weeks were so bad that no one I know here, literally no one whatever our other disagreements, discounts the reality of COVID.

[BeachGal]

Our city’s positivity is at 0.49.
 

A lot of people here live in dorms, apartments and condos. Shared living areas. Despite that, snd even  with students in full session at the local university, we are doing fairly well.

Vaccines were well received from the get go. Almost 80%, ages 5 and up, are fully vaccinated. Our health department is still setting up vaccine clinics at fast food places and community events and will come to anyone who wants a vaccine. We also receive regular updates from multiple sources. It’s great. I admire how well it’s been carried out.

Everyone also masks up and takes precautions where warranted. Many even wear them outside while walking. In my complex, residents wear a mask in the common areas: to get mail, do laundry in the laundry room or while running stairs (we have a group that does this, myself included, snd we all wear a mask and open stairwell windows). Anyone who needs masks can get them for free from a resident who bought a large supply just for them.

Very happy to live here. I hope it continues.

[Laura Corin]

Scotland is at 9.8 percent positivity.  391 cases per 100,000 over seven days. 68.7 percent of total Uk population have had two jabs. 28 percent of 12+ in Scotland have had a booster.

[Pam in CT]

7 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Scotland is at 9.8 percent positivity.  391 cases per 100,000 over seven days. 68.7 percent of total Uk population have had two jabs. 28 percent of 12+ in Scotland have had a booster.

This is horrifying to me (and makes me really concerned that a new variant is morphing). 

Is it concentrated in pockets that are less vaccinated (or other variables for that matter), or reasonably distributed across Scotland?

[historically accurate]

On 11/17/2021 at 7:22 AM, historically accurate said:

It's only gotten worse since I last posted. We're up to 7.8% positivity, 248.4 per 100K. Still holding at 53% vaccinated. Ugh, winter has barely started.

2 days later - we are up to 8.5% positivity and 261 per 100K. 53.5% vaccinated, an increase of .12%.