2019–20 Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) Thread

[SitTwizzle]

2 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

It could, without spectators. The Ontario government has given permission for 'individual sports competitions without spectators' for sports like skating. 

 

However, there's still a 14-day quarantine for any arrivals in the country, so unless that's lifted, the list of potential competitors at ACI is likely to be short. 

 

In other news, I have officially tested negative...this time. Because of the way my job is doing daily screenings on all workers, I am sure I'll find myself back in the testing center again before all this is over. 

 

I hope it was not too painful.

[rockstaryuzu]

18 minutes ago, SitTwizzle said:

I hope it was not too painful.

No it wasn't. I was lucky; they were out of the nasal swabs and gave me a throat swab instead

[rockstaryuzu]

In an amusing twist, this week, fully 10 weeks after the pandemic was declared, my hospital has decreed universal masking the order of the day... because a patient complained about seeing us all walking the halls with no masks on. 

 

We went from people getting reprimanded for wearing their PPE away from their clinical work areas ( in the first week)  to being handed masks to wear as we come in the front door every morning  while the virus is on the wane, more or less.

 

And the provincial government just extended emergency orders another two weeks til June 19th, mainly because Toronto is still a hotspot. I sure hope Yuzu stays the heck away from it for the time being. 

[mercedes]

it's pretty crazy,here we went from wearing gloves/mask and misuring fever before entering  any kind of store to not doing it anymore....not to mention the amount of people outside bars and clubs....while the government is discussing the idea of putting partitions between desks inside classroom...it makes you wonder really.

[rockstaryuzu]

31 minutes ago, mercedes said:

it's pretty crazy,here we went from wearing gloves/mask and misuring fever before entering  any kind of store to not doing it anymore....not to mention the amount of people outside bars and clubs....while the government is discussing the idea of putting partitions between desks inside classroom...it makes you wonder really.

During this pandemic I've realized that rational logic is not actually a strong point for the human race as a whole. 

[SitTwizzle]

1 hour ago, rockstaryuzu said:

During this pandemic I've realized that rational logic is not actually a strong point for the human race as a whole. 

When I entered the scientific section of my high school in France, decades ago, the Maths teacher, aware of this problem (which has worsened since) used to start the first year by two weeks of study of the same simple logic. Quite useful even for those supposed to have at least some basics.

[Neenah]

Please, don't let your guard down if the pandemic situation is getting better in your country or area. We did that and the second wave that is hitting us now is much worse than the first. We were lucky the first time that we managed to control it quickly and got careless, now the daily numbers are 10 times more than they were in the first wave. The situation is terrifying and we have no way of containing it anymore.

Please be very careful and don't stop any preventive measures your are following. This is the only thing we can do in the face of this disease.

Stay safe everyone 

[river]

5 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

In an amusing twist, this week, fully 10 weeks after the pandemic was declared, my hospital has decreed universal masking the order of the day... because a patient complained about seeing us all walking the halls with no masks on. 

 

We went from people getting reprimanded for wearing their PPE away from their clinical work areas ( in the first week)  to being handed masks to wear as we come in the front door every morning  while the virus is on the wane, more or less.

 

And the provincial government just extended emergency orders another two weeks til June 19th, mainly because Toronto is still a hotspot. I sure hope Yuzu stays the heck away from it for the time being. 

 

We just added mandatory face shields for all patient contact. Universal masking has been required for quite some time in the hospital. But naturally, until masks were mandatory, anyone wearing one by choice was reprimanded. It scared the patients and might cause our patient satisfaction rates to go down. (In case you didn't know, a portion of American hospital reimbursement is based on our patient satisfaction scores.) At least now we have enough N95 masks to get a new one every 5 shifts, or if you wore it around a COVID-19 positive or suspected positive patient, and we get a new procedure mask every day. Of course, outside the hospital, I'd say only 20% or so of people in my town are wearing masks. I live in a high-rise apartment building and they haven't even made masks mandatory in the elevators. It's unsettling, to say the least. But of course, my state is reopening, even though we don't meet CDC criteria to do so.

 

2 hours ago, SitTwizzle said:

When I entered the scientific section of my high school in France, decades ago, the Maths teacher, aware of this problem (which has worsened since) used to start the first year by two weeks of study of the same simple logic. Quite useful even for those supposed to have at least some basics.

 

Well, logic is the basis of mathematics. I had to take a semester-long course on formal logic as part of my math degree. It was a prerequisite for any upper-division math classes. Those of us on the pure mathematics side of the department (as opposed to the applied mathematicians or statisticians) always thought that we fit in better with the philosophy department than with the science departments!

[SitTwizzle]

2 hours ago, river said:

 

We just added mandatory face shields for all patient contact. Universal masking has been required for quite some time in the hospital. But naturally, until masks were mandatory, anyone wearing one by choice was reprimanded. It scared the patients and might cause our patient satisfaction rates to go down. (In case you didn't know, a portion of American hospital reimbursement is based on our patient satisfaction scores.) At least now we have enough N95 masks to get a new one every 5 shifts, or if you wore it around a COVID-19 positive or suspected positive patient, and we get a new procedure mask every day. Of course, outside the hospital, I'd say only 20% or so of people in my town are wearing masks. I live in a high-rise apartment building and they haven't even made masks mandatory in the elevators. It's unsettling, to say the least. But of course, my state is reopening, even though we don't meet CDC criteria to do so.

 

 

Well, logic is the basis of mathematics. I had to take a semester-long course on formal logic as part of my math degree. It was a prerequisite for any upper-division math classes. Those of us on the pure mathematics side of the department (as opposed to the applied mathematicians or statisticians) always thought that we fit in better with the philosophy department than with the science departments!

Spoiler

 

It is indeed the base for philosophy, this is why, the next year when we had philosophy classes, the teacher found students of scientific classes did much better than those of literary classes who had much more class hours of philosophy per week, and for whom the subject was weighing much more at the final exam.

I would say, for "German philosophy", it may be better to avoid logic, or one may "kill them" in one sentence such as Jane Austen did with David Hume, or in one sketch such as the Monty Python did for Kant. 

 

 

[Lunna]

7 часов назад, rockstaryuzu сказал:

During this pandemic I've realized that rational logic is not actually a strong point for the human race as a whole. 

That's for sure. Finally parks reopened here, but it is stated that you must wear a mask there. I went for a walk on Saturday and well... nobody wears masks apart from a couple of security personal, cuz, you know, when people don't see logic behind decisions that's what happens  (and those parks are big, without tourists right now there's plenty of space, much more than let's say on some streets). I totally get idea with masks in transport and shops (but don't like gloves as addition), though as a lot of people wear them not the right way, I'm not so sure are they for better or worse.

[Sombreuil]

I think people would welcome clear instructions.  I own and use a cloth mask when I go to  the supermarket - I’d say maybe 15% of shoppers do the same.  I have no idea whether it helps or not - I do know that it does no harm.  I like a philosophical argument as much as anyone, but this isn’t a logic puzzle, it’s a question of evidence.  So I use a mask and I distance sensibly.  I believe I am employing common sense - unfortunately I don’t think I can rely on enough of my fellow citizens doing the same.

[TallyT]

We were advised that for Australians, in general, masks were not needed as long as people did the hygiene and social distancing and the rest. However, we had and have very low numbers. I can't understand anyone on the more affected countries not doing what is needed, if not to protect themselves, to protect their family and friends... but then, I admit, it's too easy for me to sit on the sidelines and judge, so I try not to for the most part.

[Sombreuil]

If I were in Australia or NZ I probably wouldn’t bother, but in Europe 🤷🏼‍♀️ Easier to take possibly unnecessary precautions than risk the illness.  I’m for most intents and purposes innumerate but I can see those odds.

[rockstaryuzu]

2 hours ago, Sombreuil said:

I like a philosophical argument as much as anyone, but this isn’t a logic puzzle, it’s a question of evidence.  

When I said 'rational logic', I meant 'the ability to weigh the evidence and come to a correct conclusion and take beneficial and/or sensible action as a result, without being swayed by emotions' , a skill which apparently eludes most. I wasn't talking about mathematics...I think something got lost in translation there. 

 

I.e. my definition of 'logic' is closer to Mr. Spock than to Descartes or Kant. 

 

The issue, in my opinion, is that my hospital, of all places, should have been requiring us to mask from very early on, and the fact that they only decided to do so this late in the game and after a patient complained speaks volumes. 

[Songster01]

I wish Toronto would make masks mandatory in transit, retail/grocery stores, and other indoor public spaces.  Staff should be provided with masks as well by employers.  Currently mask wearing is not mandatory and people get close w/o any in small stores and I get so angry at people who don't care enough to protect others, which is the main reason to wear cloth masks according to the science I've heard.  And staff at many shops don't have them (except for cashiers at local grocery), even when they get close to customers like the stockers in the narrow aisles of the closest grocery to us.  

 

Toronto and Peel Region (part of the GTA including the airport) are the two biggest hot spots in the province.  I heard Peel Region was getting lots of younger people now (20-somethings iirc) coming down with COVID-19.  No surprise as I see groups of especially young men clearly not from the same household in the parks, most seem to be teens and in their 20s but yesterday I saw maybe 10 or so men in their 30s walking together in the park.  Of course none of them wear masks.  I've also heard people are getting busted for parties in Peel as well.  No wonder the numbers refuse to really go down.  At least we don't seem to be heading back to 500+ atm.  I worry that people will get even more lax over the summer and we will see things climb again. 

 

For some reason I see both June 19 and June 30 listed as cut-off dates in news article for the State of Emergency (of course they may be extended), which is a bit confusing.  Supposedly they are announcing hair salons and on-site dining of some sort might be reinstated soon.  Really not a fan of the latter especially.  If it's outdoors they'll need to expand patios and cut off lanes in the street or people will get hurt in droves.  But even then I'm not a fan and I feel for staff having to be around people without masks eating and drinking.  Indoors dining would be worse.  Since my partner is immune-compromised, we have already decided to just keep doing delivery and take-out. 

 

I'm not sure it would be safe for Yuzu unless his condo is not the apartment type where they'd have elevators.  Bigger groceries seem to be safer and more regimented, so if his mom is not part of a vulnerable community she could stick to those.  If she is they could get groceries and other things delivered.  There has been a lot of building of delivery infrastructure, so they could stick to that.  I don't know if Yuzu still uses transit on occasion, but I'd really look into alternatives in his case.  At the rink they have procedures like we see in Roman's videos so there he'd be pretty safe as long as they were strict regarding safety and the ventilation is powerful at the rink.