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BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:11 AM I was misled by something I read in a newspaper into thinking that Djokovic had had coronavirus "months ago." It wasn't - it was in mid-December. Dunno whether that makes a difference. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: gillymor Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:23 AM I don't see how NoJoke plays in the tournament even if his exemption is accepted. He got shot down at customs due to public outrage and I don't think those folks would allow him on a Melbourne court after all they've been through. He's just reaping what he's sown. Some good points about Rocket Rod and it's also worth mentioning that he still holds the record for singles titles and is the only player, male or female, who won all four grand slam events in a calendar year. In fact, he did it twice, both as an amateur and a pro. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:25 AM To have a different point of view than yours is not an attack. But then again you are perfectly free to have your own point of view. Everyone can Debate its all give and take Shared ideas can be fun So don't argue with a gun ar·gue /'ärgyo?o/ verb 1. give reasons or cite evidence in support of an idea, action, or theory, typically with the aim of persuading others to share one's view. "“It stands to reason,” she argued" What are your reasons? "Let me site EVIDENCE..." |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:41 AM Just bloody move on, the pair of you, and quit the obsessive stalking. You're boring. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:42 AM Not you, gilly! |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 22 - 11:46 AM Back to the subject at hand - in the US we are waiting for the day that some federal agency is supposed to make free home rapid tests available upon request. It's supposed to happen in early 2022. Not a peep so far, however. It makes sense to have more than just a few tests available, Case in point: an elderly friend who got lucky and didn't catch COVID from the daughter she was staying with last month (who tested positive during the visit) is coming back for more. She texted this morning that the much-awaited great grandson has arrived and she will be in town for two weeks, with a different daughter. The grandson and g-daughter-in-law who had the baby are Trump supporters who haven't been vaccinated. If my friend wants to visit with me, and if she wants to visit with that family with the newborn, she should have a bag full of rapid tests to deploy each day to be sure she hasn't caught and/or isn't spreading COVID. That's 14 tests right there. I haven't decided yet if we'll have a visit other than an out-of-doors conversation someplace. It is winter in Texas meaning there might be a few warmer days during her stay, so we could eat a meal out-of-doors. But in my house? I'm not inclined to set up that visit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 02:56 PM "It makes sense to have more than just a few tests available" Absolutely. Responsible people testing themselves, and behaving appropriately according to the results, is at least half the battle in defeating this thing. If you haven't got the test kits, you could be blissfully unaware that you're out and about spreading the virus. Mrs Steve and I use two tests each per week, as per government advice, and extra whenever we visit anyone (not just the elderly). I'm beginning to hope that anyone visiting us would do likewise, though we're not going to insist just yet. Of course, Christmas time is a bit of an anomaly visits-wise, but that will be our regime from now on. Most of the boxes I've got were garnered well before Christmas and we hadn't picked up any more for weeks until Mrs Steve picked up another couple of boxes yesterday. The ready availability of tests here adds to the ethos of responsibility and carefulness. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Jon Freeman Date: 08 Jan 22 - 03:16 PM Anyone here can order the test kits online from the government department responsible. I've tried several times over the past couple of weeks without success. Sometimes, like today, right at the start, I get: "Sorry, there are no home delivery slots left for rapid lateral flow tests right now". Other times I have got as far as entering my address before getting told there are no kits available for delivery (in my area?). I've only got further than that once. That time the system claimed to have sent me a validation email but I didn't receive one. I tried the last step even using different email addresses to try to get an email but nothing came to me. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Nigel Parsons Date: 08 Jan 22 - 03:42 PM Yes, I've just tried and got the same response: "Sorry, there are no home delivery slots left for rapid lateral flow tests right now" The system doesn't allow you to set an order for when they become available. Clearly a "Fail" |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 03:53 PM I haven't ordered any online since November. I'm sorry to hear that. I've got mine from the local Boots, another Bude pharmacy and a pop-up vaccination centre in Holsworthy. I didn't know that the supply problem has persisted. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 22 - 04:12 PM I have two boxes (two tests each) on order that will arrive via Amazon sometime in the next 10 days. They've slowed down to a crawl on many deliveries lately. It doesn't help that a warehouse was scoured off of the ground in Kentucky, but that businesses selling these tests and many other products have backorders they're still trying to fill. If the federal government gets involved, one hopes that it includes FEMA personnel or National Guard soldiers operating drive-through pickup spots for those who can get out and pick up tests on their own; the rest will have to be delivered or sent via post. Once the FEMA folks were helping with the vaccination stations in 2021 it began to run more smoothly. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 05:19 PM Wow. That is nowhere near the required number of tests. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 22 - 06:11 PM I know. And that's about $10 a pop to buy those. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Mrrzy Date: 08 Jan 22 - 06:22 PM I actually did agree that you weren't hoarding, Steve! That is why I switched my verb to Stashing. My opinion of *hoarding* remained, and remains, unchanged. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Jan 22 - 06:36 PM Just drop it, why don't you. I don't know why our tests are free, but they are, and they come in boxes of seven. Until a couple of weeks before Christmas they were being given away like sweeties, then the public enthusiasm for them (blame omicron for that) nobbled the supplies. Temporarily, I hope... We're always on the alert as to whether the government will start charging for them, but I don't think that will happen in the foreseeable future. Those lateral flow tests are so important. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Allan Conn Date: 08 Jan 22 - 06:54 PM Steve there are reports this evening that Boris may be axing free lateral flow tests within weeks. Restricting it to care home settings etc and symptomatic people. The idea has been criticised by both the Scottish First Minister and the Labour opposition at Westminster. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: keberoxu Date: 08 Jan 22 - 09:19 PM The "Bristol County" referenced in this network news (NBC) story is Bristol County, Massachusetts, USA, to be accurate. A Twitter account shows the television clips. If you dislike a thread full of comments that are sarcastic, incredulous, negative, and so on, then do NOT read the comments that follow on this story. January 5, 2022: COVID[-19] K9 |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Allan Conn Date: 09 Jan 22 - 04:58 AM Sounds like the gvt are denying now the story in the Times re the ending of free lateral flow tests. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Backwoodsman Date: 09 Jan 22 - 07:09 AM It seems to be their practice to ‘test the water’ over possibly unpopular policies by ‘leaking’ them via their tame press-mouthpieces, then deny them if they get an adverse reaction. Kind of like an undercover about-turn mechanism. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Nigel Parsons Date: 09 Jan 22 - 01:05 PM Allan: Steve there are reports this evening that Boris may be axing free lateral flow tests within weeks. Restricting it to care home settings etc and symptomatic people. The idea has been criticised by both the Scottish First Minister and the Labour opposition at Westminster. I'm not surprised that the government are denying it. Only surprised that they bother to react to 'rumour'. The fact that The Times have followed up on the rumour does not elevate its status. Even as worded above free lateral flow tests within weeks. Restricting it to care home settings etc and symptomatic people suggests it is a rumour started by someone who hasn't understood the science. Restricting it to (care home settings and) people who are symptomatic would be a little silly as the NHS tells us: There are different tests you can get to check if you have coronavirus (COVID-19). The test you need depends on why you're getting tested. The 2 main tests are: PCR tests – mainly for people with symptoms, they're sent to a lab to be checked rapid lateral flow tests – only for people who do not have symptoms, they give a quick result using a device similar to a pregnancy test From the NHS website Here |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 10 Jan 22 - 05:58 AM A combination of a varient of delta and omicron in Cyprus seems inevitable. They reported 25 cases. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Allan Conn Date: 10 Jan 22 - 11:19 AM Those were my words Nigel just from memory. The article I read being that the suggesion was you would only qualify for a 'free test' if you were symptomatic or in care home settings etc. Yes in the case of symptomatic that would be a PCR anyway. The point it was suggesting - was that the ending of free lateral flow tests would save a huge amount of money. It may well have been an unsubstantiated rumour - or them testing the water - or simply it came up in their discussions and wasn't seriously considered. Who knows? It was relevant to the discussion though. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 10 Jan 22 - 03:45 PM The quick test here is $25 and the pcr is $100. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 10 Jan 22 - 07:27 PM You now have to download a "collection code" in order to pick up the test kits from any pharmacy. Each box now contains 20 lateral flow (rapid) test kits and we're allowed one box per household. Still free of charge. We're recommended to test ourselves at home two or three times a week. Every day for a week if we think we've been in contact with an infected person. There's beginning to be a general feeling of cautious optimism here. The infection rate is high but flatlining and hospital admissions haven't rocketed. The vast majority of hospital admissions are unvaccinated people. Staff absences in hospitals, schools and the care sector are still a huge worry. Many people who are ready to leave hospital can't be discharged because the care sector can't look after them. The general recognition is that omicron is mild and is now passing its worst peak, and that further restrictions won't be necessary. Negative again for me this morning. I'm permanently a bit chesty but I don't worry about things any more. The jabs and the testing are doing the job. I have to wear a mask even when I know I'm no threat to anybody. Bloody annoying is that, but hey ho. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New ideas about the pandemic COVIDICRON From: Donuel Date: 10 Jan 22 - 08:57 PM For what amounts to an endemic disease like flu that has always been with us, we may soon not be as strict with mitigation efforts and not be as persuaded by emergency efforts to save the public at all costs anymore. Lockdowns forever doesn't seem realistic. Vaccinating the stupid seems to be a failure and may lead to more Darwin awards. Quarantine time has been reduced by half and booster shots maybe be as frequent as every 3 to 6 months. Scientists are not sure about many factors but one thing they agree upon is that covid is here to stay. Deltafluicron is a challenge for the best immune systems. Lyrics … The more I read the papers The less I comprehend The world with all it's capers And how it all will end … Nothing seems to be lasting But that isn't our affair We've got something permanent I mean in the way we care … It's very clear Covid is here to stay Not for a year But ever and a day The radio and the telephone And the movies that we knew May just be passing fancies And in time the flu … But, oh my dear, Covid is here to stay Together we're going a long, long way … In time the Rockies may crumble Gibraltar may tumble They're only made of clay But Covid is here to stay It's very clear Our love is here to stay … Not for a year But ever and a day The radio and the telephone And the movies that we knew May just be passing fancies And in time the flu … But, oh my dear Covid is here to stay Together we're going a long, long way … In time the Rockies may crumble Gibraltar may tumble They're only made of clay But Covid is here to stay |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Mrrzy Date: 10 Jan 22 - 09:12 PM Don't mind these booster shots, myself. It's not like they hurt. As I went through my teens gamma globulin shots were every 2 years, then every year, then every 6 months, then every 4 months, and they hurt like billyO. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 11 Jan 22 - 05:12 AM Starting Saturday insurance companies will have to cover the cost of up to 32 covid tests per month. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 11 Jan 22 - 11:16 AM I woke up with a headache and a sniffly nose this morning. I read in the Guardian of a woman with the same symptoms who was amazed when she tested herself positive. I've just done another test, so two days in a row, and I'm negative. I don't have to recall Mrs Steve from her visit to her 75-year-old friend. So that would have cost me $50 in the US? That doesn't strike me as the way forward... |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Jan 22 - 11:39 AM That would have cost just under $20, at about $10 a pop. Today it was announced that the Biden administration will require insurance companies to pay for (going forward) or reimburse customers the cost of up to 8 tests per person per month. I'm not sure where this leaves people with no insurance. I think those will be the free ones sent upon request, but there is still a test shortage, so they're not there yet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 11 Jan 22 - 11:48 AM "The quick test here is $25 and the pcr is $100." I'll take YOUR word for it, Maggie! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Jan 22 - 11:51 AM I didn't write that, but Don lives in a completely different marketplace than I do, and I shopped around the find acceptable tests that don't cost as much. And my insurance is different than his. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 11 Jan 22 - 12:58 PM Starting next week a Phizer 4th shot for the immuno compromised will become national policy. Finally, its been 6 months since my last booster. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Mrrzy Date: 11 Jan 22 - 05:31 PM Anybody else read thay covid in children increases % diabetes? |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 11 Jan 22 - 07:08 PM The rapid test (lateral flow) kits we are currently getting are the ones that swab just the nose, not the throat-and-nose. The latter are now held to be less reliable. Many tens of millions have been taken up and the demand has been huge since omicron moved in. I take that as a good sign. Ordering test kits is a responsible thing to do, and using them to ensure that you don't go out spreading the virus is very valuable. Giving them out for free seems like an excellent investment by the government that will help to save money and human resources for the NHS and will save lives. Now we should be straining every sinew to persuade the unvaccinated to sort their heads out. One water company here has told its unvaccinated workers that their sick pay will be cut to the statutory minimum should they have to self-isolate after contact with an infected person. Vaccinated people no longer have to self-isolate under those circumstances as long as they test every day for a specified period. I don't believe in mandating vaccination, but I do think that unvaccinated people should have only themselves to blame should they be inconvenienced. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Jan 22 - 12:28 AM Sunday it was reported that some immunocompromised people will be able to get a fourth shot soon. Starting later this week, some at-risk Americans become eligible for a 4th shot. Some people with a weakened immune system can get a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine as early as this coming week, according to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were updated last week. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Allan Conn Date: 12 Jan 22 - 02:14 AM Here in Scotland it is the same. Because of a splenectomy in her youth my wife was told her third dose was a third dose and a fourth will be her booster. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Nigel Parsons Date: 12 Jan 22 - 05:01 AM Mrrzy: Anybody else read thay covid in children increases % diabetes? I hadn't heard anything, but there is information Here: DiABETES UK Which also links to studies American Diabetes Association Hope this helps |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Raggytash Date: 12 Jan 22 - 06:05 AM " I don't believe in mandating vaccination, but I do think that unvaccinated people should have only themselves to blame should they be inconvenienced." Perhaps unvaccinated people, who can be proved to be the source of infecting another person, could be charged with ABH or GBH or even manslaughter. For our American cousins ABH is Actual Bodily Harm and GBH is Grevious Bodily Harm in UK law. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 12 Jan 22 - 06:32 AM I don't think so. You'd have to extend that to anyone with flu or several other lurgies. You can even kill elderly, vulnerable people by giving them your cold, and most of us don't self-isolate with the sniffles. What about people who grab a supermarket trolley, hands unwashed, after a poo in the supermarket bogs? Even if you thought it was right to criminalise such people, you can rarely (though never say never) pin the passing-on of an infectious disease on a particular individual. Incubation periods and all that... Again, I don't think it should be within the remit of governments to mandate people to be jabbed. I agree with the action of the water company I mentioned because the unvaccinated in the circumstances I mentioned are much more of a threat to the business than the vaccinated, and their action (or inaction) should be seen as a risk that they've brought on themselves. I also think that pubs, clubs, festivals and sports venues should have the right (though not an obligation) to insist that only vaccinated people are allowed to attend. We can do a lot by making things inconvenient for vaccine-refusers without actually sacking them or forcing them to bare their arms. Let them know in no uncertain terms that, overwhelmingly, it's their ilk who are antisocially clogging up intensive care beds. Make them feel like pariahs even. At the end of the day, attritional and firm "persuasion" will probably convert far more to doing the right thing than alienating them via mandating. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 12 Jan 22 - 06:49 AM Appealing to the conscience of a person without one is a fool's errand. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Steve Shaw Date: 12 Jan 22 - 07:30 AM Many unvaccinated people have now been persuaded to get the jab. Sure, some have been persuaded by threats to their jobs in the health and care sector. Many have been persuaded by the publicity around the infectivity of omicron and the efficacy of the boosters against it. That kind of publicity, together with making the unvaccinated see that general life could become inconvenient for them, is the way forward in my view. We have far, far fewer vaccine dissidents (per capita) than the US. Your point falls. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Jon Freeman Date: 12 Jan 22 - 08:21 AM The online system for getting tests is working for me now. One pack came in the post today and I've ordered another. I'll try to get the 3 of us tested this evening. I won't need to the nose swabbing (no throat sample needed with the kit I received) for others but I don't think dad would be able to follow the instructions and he would probably also have difficulty handling the bits. I'm not that sure about mum either but we'll do hers together and see where we go from there. |
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Subject: RE: New nonsense on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 12 Jan 22 - 10:39 AM Some people are betting that this omicron is the varient to catch for their immune system to make antibodies. They ignore long haul risks and a lack of knowledge. What if...what about...this just in from twitter...Imagine...in a perfect world...Facebook sez...God declares...there could be...1 out of 10 doctors agree... that a varient so deadly the virus commits suicide by killing 99% of humans in 6 hours where transmission finally ends with 66 million global survivors who are the very ones who did not catch Omicron>? This virus business is so fluid we just might get it all wrong from time to time... What do you mean its already plagued by misinformation about misinformation? |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Jan 22 - 11:33 AM This morning I read a NY Times article about the lack of rapid tests for the blind here in the US. Apparently the UK is out ahead of this testing problem. There is an app here for smart phones, but blind people don't all have smart phones. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Mrrzy Date: 12 Jan 22 - 11:51 AM Sighted people don't all have smart phones either. The US has more vaccine dissidents than anywhere, I think. Goes right along with the gun deaths imo, we Murricans haz rights, y'all over the pond or anywhere else seem to remember your responsibilities... |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 12 Jan 22 - 12:52 PM A major traffic jam in my two lane neighborhood is caused by thousands of cars trying to get into the Library for free Covid test kits today. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 13 Jan 22 - 06:28 AM This is the obvious that we know but is worth recording for the record. These are record breaking weeks of infection. Covid is the leading cause of death for the Police, and a 9 year low of violent death. Missisippi kids are only 5% vaccinated, nursing home infection is at its all time high, food stores are often depleted with staffing problems are 50% down BUT there are indications the peak has been reached like waste water tests in Boston and the stress on hospitals is leveling. A million infections a day was approached and can't go much higher. Odds are less than 50 50 you get it but the symptoms are 0 to a week of awful flu symptoms without a need for hospitalization. The unvaccinated die less often than last year but can still die of COVID. The Stevie Wonder song comes to mind over the vax controversies, SUPERSTITION |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 13 Jan 22 - 08:45 AM https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2022/01/11/study-finds-cannabis-compounds-prevent-infection-by-covid-19-virus/?sh=7a09 |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Jeri Date: 13 Jan 22 - 08:53 AM I have a friend who had it. Her kid brought it home, and the whole family got it. She said it was like a bad cold. She'd been double-vaxed, no booster. The whole family had been, but they're all fine and over it. Of course, when it comes to my friend, she may be down-playing the severity. |
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Subject: RE: BS: New news on the pandemic COVID-19 From: Donuel Date: 13 Jan 22 - 09:53 AM No doubt about it Jeri, when vaccinated people have obvious symptoms of omicron they feel like absolute crap for a week. The week after has a run down quality. I have been tested but once so I don't know if I dodged this dirt clod or not. We're all winging this together with a certain feeling of confusion, hope and dread. Fauci said we're all going to get some form of this cold. This is by no means an incentive to deliberately expose ourselves. ...Some do, some don't, for some its just as well. |
