• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Did the US just give up fighting covid?

levyjl1988

Banned
Ummmm breathe dude. The death rate is incredibly low. Further, it seems that spread is more likely to occur at home rather than at a store.

Nothing is fucked.
Nothing is fucked?!!! then why do I know people that have died of Covid-19? You can't play off this pandemic, it really fucks people up.
 

Raven117

Member
Nothing is fucked?!!! then why do I know people that have died of Covid-19? You can't play off this pandemic, it really fucks people up.
I'm sorry for your loss, but overall, the people you knew were part of a very small statistic.

You are letting your emotions guide you, not science. (I'm also not advocating that no precautions should be taken...just saying one must keep this in perspective).
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Whatever happened to the war on terror?
lead_large.png
 

Bolivar687

Banned
Yet people are still ignoring store signs? Jeez, people are fucked, store owners should just arm themselves with a fucking shotgun to ACTUALLY enforce these store laws, no mask, gtfo then.
At least in Canada our cases aren't bad as the USA, but still fucking people are just stretching this pandemic. This shit is not going to resolve itself over night unless an asteroid hits, then bye-bye covid and humanity.

People are fucked and many people are going to fucking continue to die. At this point why bother saving people who refuse to obey the signs.
Nature does not give a fuck about your beliefs and human rights it will straight up fuck you up. That's what covid-19 does.

People are just fucked. Humanity is fucked, 3x the cases every day. Fuck!.

tenor.gif
Everyone is masked up. It's not the reason cases are going crazy.
 

Tschumi

Member
I'm expecting basically half of Georgia to get it today ("what, wear a mask and social distance while i vote for trump? Lllooool *cough cough cough*")
 
Last edited by a moderator:

levyjl1988

Banned
Life was a lot simpler when the enemies you fight were human, you knew exactly how to torture and hurt people, but viruses are something different.
They replicate and are invisible, and life has thought me that the things that are the most dangerous are things that are quiet and invisible like getting sick due to poor health being one of them.
 

Mohonky

Member
“Lack of a strong underlying social welfare system”. Fuck off with this outright fucking lie. Our homeless have exactly the same access to healthcare as the rest of us. Medicare, Medicaid, and even Obamacare all contribute to this.

Yeah y’all locked the fuck by throwing violators in jail like the assholes you are.

You are no better than us.
Social welfare encompasses healthcare, unemployment benefits, housing etc; not just healthcare by itself, and particularly not just acute healthcare.

Lower income earners or the unemployed are significantly worse off by nearly every metric in the US than they are most other first world countries.

Feel free to get your panties in a twist if that reality bothers you so much.
 
Last edited:

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
UK born, but lived and travelled around Asia for a good number of years. My partner is American and whenever I visit the States I'm always shocked at the number of clusters of homeless camps and lines outside of rehab centres. From an outsider looking in, it does seem to be a lack of safety nets and health poverty that seemingly makes more people hit rock bottom than in the UK and other developed countries I've lived in.
 
Last edited:

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
From an outsider looking in, it does seem to be a lack of safety nets and health poverty that seemingly makes more people hit rock bottom than in the UK and other developed countries I've lived in.
Aye, the systems here in the US to help the mentally ill are an absolute joke.
 
Last edited:

Meicyn

Gold Member
Left Florida a month ago. Currently in South Korea. The stark differences in how things are handled are revealed at airports alone. I had to go through a five phase screening process before I even got to customs.

Everyone, and I mean everyone wears a mask here. Social distancing is observed. Restaurants are open with very limited seating, but most do takeout. Folks sign visitor logs with names, times, and phone numbers to aid contact tracing. It isn’t perfect, but the covid cases are incredibly low even with the winter surge, especially given the population density. Safety notifications are constantly sent to smartphones detailing case numbers, etc. The notifications are fucking annoying but they get the point across. There is a seriousness given to COVID that does not exist in the US.

I remember going to Publix one last time before I departed the US, and about half the folks there wore masks. Florida’s cases are out of control. Meanwhile, South Korean news station reports on COVID cases and our death rates like we’re a third world country. It’s embarassing. Florida has a population of 22 million and has had 22,000 deaths. South Korea has a population of 51 million and has had just under 1000 deaths... and they have been dealing with COVID for longer.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Left Florida a month ago. Currently in South Korea. The stark differences in how things are handled are revealed at airports alone. I had to go through a five phase screening process before I even got to customs.

Everyone, and I mean everyone wears a mask here. Social distancing is observed. Restaurants are open with very limited seating, but most do takeout. Folks sign visitor logs with names, times, and phone numbers to aid contact tracing. It isn’t perfect, but the covid cases are incredibly low even with the winter surge, especially given the population density. Safety notifications are constantly sent to smartphones detailing case numbers, etc. The notifications are fucking annoying but they get the point across. There is a seriousness given to COVID that does not exist in the US.

I remember going to Publix one last time before I departed the US, and about half the folks there wore masks. Florida’s cases are out of control. Meanwhile, South Korean news station reports on COVID cases and our death rates like we’re a third world country. It’s embarassing. Florida has a population of 22 million and has had 22,000 deaths. South Korea has a population of 51 million and has had just under 1000 deaths... and they have been dealing with COVID for longer.

Some factors to consider when comparing deaths between countries and regions of the world:

1. How are deaths are recorded - in the UK, if someone dies within 28 days of having a positive Covid test, it'll be classed as a Covid death. Is this the same for South Korea? I imagine this may not be clear, as it's really damn hard to find out if 'Covid deaths' were predominately caused by Covid. It seems there's a lack of transparency with this all over the world. One thing to consider is that Eastern Asian society's are big on saving face, so I wouldn't be surprised if the criteria for marking a death as Covid is much more stringent and defined in these countries (to demonstrate a better picture).

2. Life Expectancy /population health - in South Korea LE is about 4 years more than the US, which implies society as a whole is more healthy. I imagine with lower obesity, type 2 diabetes prevalence and perhaps type 1 will be much lower too, which is one of the biggest comorbidities.

3. Genetic factors and cross immunity - there have been some suggestions that Asia has a higher protection level from Covid due to higher rates of exposure to previous coronaviruses. Genetic factors also can't be ruled out.

Anyway, my point of all of this isn't to say that this is why the picture in the US seems to bleak, but that it's not as black and white as completely putting this all down to a matter of societal compliance and organisation. I'm sure that's absolutely a part of it. But these factors may also contribute to the discrepancy.
 
Last edited:

Joe T.

Member
Left Florida a month ago. Currently in South Korea. The stark differences in how things are handled are revealed at airports alone. I had to go through a five phase screening process before I even got to customs.

Everyone, and I mean everyone wears a mask here. Social distancing is observed. Restaurants are open with very limited seating, but most do takeout. Folks sign visitor logs with names, times, and phone numbers to aid contact tracing. It isn’t perfect, but the covid cases are incredibly low even with the winter surge, especially given the population density. Safety notifications are constantly sent to smartphones detailing case numbers, etc. The notifications are fucking annoying but they get the point across. There is a seriousness given to COVID that does not exist in the US.

I remember going to Publix one last time before I departed the US, and about half the folks there wore masks. Florida’s cases are out of control. Meanwhile, South Korean news station reports on COVID cases and our death rates like we’re a third world country. It’s embarassing. Florida has a population of 22 million and has had 22,000 deaths. South Korea has a population of 51 million and has had just under 1000 deaths... and they have been dealing with COVID for longer.

One country is conducting mass testing, the other is not. Florida alone does about 4x as many tests per day as all of South Korea. South Korea's testing didn't tick up until a few weeks ago and that's exactly when their cases started rising.

They appear to be going about it smarter, too. Seems Moon Jae-In ordered testing be done with rapid antigen tests last month. The Korea Herald is pushing the "gold standard" of PCR, but rapid antigen are quicker and more reliable at catching infectious cases, those with higher viral load, than the PCR standard used around the world which is finding completely healthy, noninfectious people as positives. To quote the article:

According to the company, the rapid antigen test can detect cycle threshold or Ct value in the ranges of up to 23.37. The laboratory medicine society says the majority of Koreans tested with PCR exhibited a Ct value of between 25 and 30 -- a level that the rapid test is unable to detect.

A Ct value indicates the amount of the virus present in an infected person. A Ct value of 20 is typically considered a high amount of virus, while 35 is lower. A high Ct is associated with a lower risk of infectivity.

The rest of the world's been running those tests as high as 45 Ct, as suggested by Drosten last year. Fauci himself said they're meaningless for detecting infectious cases above 35 Ct.

That the article is trashing rapid antigen accuracy and pushing SK to go the PCR route is a giant red flag. That's propaganda at play, half truths used to deceive.
 

rorepmE

Member
Left Florida a month ago. Currently in South Korea. The stark differences in how things are handled are revealed at airports alone. I had to go through a five phase screening process before I even got to customs.

Everyone, and I mean everyone wears a mask here. Social distancing is observed. Restaurants are open with very limited seating, but most do takeout. Folks sign visitor logs with names, times, and phone numbers to aid contact tracing. It isn’t perfect, but the covid cases are incredibly low even with the winter surge, especially given the population density. Safety notifications are constantly sent to smartphones detailing case numbers, etc. The notifications are fucking annoying but they get the point across. There is a seriousness given to COVID that does not exist in the US.

I remember going to Publix one last time before I departed the US, and about half the folks there wore masks. Florida’s cases are out of control. Meanwhile, South Korean news station reports on COVID cases and our death rates like we’re a third world country. It’s embarassing. Florida has a population of 22 million and has had 22,000 deaths. South Korea has a population of 51 million and has had just under 1000 deaths... and they have been dealing with COVID for longer.

You might want to look at Continental Europe. Japan did nothing as far as government response and their initially cases are low.

So you can do everything short of microchipping people and get low numbers like South Korea

or

You can do nothing and have low numbers like in Japan

So what exactly is your point other than to perform fellatio on Asiatic penis?
 

Polelock

Member
A lot more cases in the official counts, but far less deaths. Hospitalizations are also decreasing.

It's literally people getting sick for a week with a fever and cough, during flu season.
Yeah I don't think so I work in Hospice and last week I saw triple if not more under 40. Some with no co-morbidity, but yeah, just the flu....
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
Some factors to consider when comparing deaths between countries and regions of the world:

1. How are deaths are recorded - in the UK, if someone dies within 28 days of having a positive Covid test, it'll be classed as a Covid death. Is this the same for South Korea? I imagine this may not be clear, as it's really damn hard to find out if 'Covid deaths' were predominately caused by Covid. It seems there's a lack of transparency with this all over the world. One thing to consider is that Eastern Asian society's are big on saving face, so I wouldn't be surprised if the criteria for marking a death as Covid is much more stringent and defined in these countries (to demonstrate a better picture).

2. Life Expectancy /population health - in South Korea LE is about 4 years more than the US, which implies society as a whole is more healthy. I imagine with lower obesity, type 2 diabetes prevalence and perhaps type 1 will be much lower too, which is one of the biggest comorbidities.

3. Genetic factors and cross immunity - there have been some suggestions that Asia has a higher protection level from Covid due to higher rates of exposure to previous coronaviruses. Genetic factors also can't be ruled out.

Anyway, my point of all of this isn't to say that this is why the picture in the US seems to bleak, but that it's not as black and white as completely putting this all down to a matter of societal compliance and organisation. I'm sure that's absolutely a part of it. But these factors may also contribute to the discrepancy.
Good info, definitely some food for thought.

One country is conducting mass testing, the other is not. Florida alone does about 4x as many tests per day as all of South Korea. South Korea's testing didn't tick up until a few weeks ago and that's exactly when their cases started rising.

They appear to be going about it smarter, too. Seems Moon Jae-In ordered testing be done with rapid antigen tests last month. The Korea Herald is pushing the "gold standard" of PCR, but rapid antigen are quicker and more reliable at catching infectious cases, those with higher viral load, than the PCR standard used around the world which is finding completely healthy, noninfectious people as positives. To quote the article:



The rest of the world's been running those tests as high as 45 Ct, as suggested by Drosten last year. Fauci himself said they're meaningless for detecting infectious cases above 35 Ct.

That the article is trashing rapid antigen accuracy and pushing SK to go the PCR route is a giant red flag. That's propaganda at play, half truths used to deceive.
Florida is doing 4 times the testing because it has had almost 1.4 million cases versus South Korea’s 64 thousand. 4 times the testing for 21 times the cases. Gee, numbers are fun!

Testing is part of the equation. There are a lot of contributing factors to fighting covid, and a big part of it is what the population does, particularly with masks. South Korea has a robust contact tracing system, and visitor logs in public venues and stores is a huge contributor to the effectiveness versus relying on human memories which is what is happening in northwest Florida. When I was looking for pet carriers at various stores in Destin Florida, there was absolutely zero logging of who was going where, and half the folks were’t wearing masks.

At the end of the day, the results speak for themselves.

You might want to look at Continental Europe. Japan did nothing as far as government response and their initially cases are low.

So you can do everything short of microchipping people and get low numbers like South Korea

or

You can do nothing and have low numbers like in Japan

So what exactly is your point other than to perform fellatio on Asiatic penis?
Continental Europe has a similar problem with America: good chunk of the population refuses to wear masks. As for Japan:


Yeah, Japan did “nothing”, sure.

The point is to acknowledge incompetence. The only way to fix a problem is to acknowledge that you have one. US covid response has been thoroughly inadequate. I work in prev med and because of inadequate covid countermeasures and shitty attitudes exhibited by way too many Americans who should know and do better, I and my colleagues have had to pay the price via workload, and in some cases, casualties. My job has required me to move to South Korea and it’s one thing to read about things versus seeing things for yourself. The differences in approach to covid and the population’s adherence to very simple measures is stark.
 

Joe T.

Member
Florida is doing 4 times the testing because it has had almost 1.4 million cases versus South Korea’s 64 thousand. 4 times the testing for 21 times the cases. Gee, numbers are fun!

Testing is part of the equation. There are a lot of contributing factors to fighting covid, and a big part of it is what the population does, particularly with masks. South Korea has a robust contact tracing system, and visitor logs in public venues and stores is a huge contributor to the effectiveness versus relying on human memories which is what is happening in northwest Florida. When I was looking for pet carriers at various stores in Destin Florida, there was absolutely zero logging of who was going where, and half the folks were’t wearing masks.

At the end of the day, the results speak for themselves.

They do. SK cases per day (7 day rolling average) versus SK tests per day.

South Korea's adherence to masks, contact tracing and the whole nine yards was incapable of containing the virus. They're useless measures. The more they test the more they'll find... like every other country using these tests. They're just late to the mass testing party.

South Korea was barely breaking past 20K tests/day until December. Florida blew way past that in the last week of May. There's just no comparison between the two, even in recent months. Relatively speaking SK fares even worse given the huge disparity in population.

This pandemic is a massive scam and few are comfortable admitting it. The countries once held up as shining examples have come crashing down and it's strictly tied to the testing numbers.

Notice how Taiwan never had a spike in cases? Go look at their testing numbers. Throw 100K tests/day there and I guarantee you they'll have a drastic spike tomorrow. Until that time they get to live a normal life... like we could be doing.
 

rorepmE

Member

Yeah, Japan did “nothing”, sure.

The point is to acknowledge incompetence. The only way to fix a problem is to acknowledge that you have one. US covid response has been thoroughly inadequate. I work in prev med and because of inadequate covid countermeasures and shitty attitudes exhibited by way too many Americans who should know and do better, I and my colleagues have had to pay the price via workload, and in some cases, casualties. My job has required me to move to South Korea and it’s one thing to read about things versus seeing things for yourself. The differences in approach to covid and the population’s adherence to very simple measures is stark.

LMAO you just defeated your own argument.

the public health centers helped minimize the damage from COVID-19, in part because they were able to act more nimbly than a large, centralized public entity could, according to the authors.

The entire link was talking about how local response kept it in check. Trump left the COVID response up to each state and they blamed that as the reason why cases exploded. The Governor of New York gets an aware for his masterful response to COVID by having the WORST hit state.


In its battle with the coronavirus, Japan appears to be doing everything wrong. It has tested just 0.185 percent of its population, its social distancing has been halfhearted, and a majority of Japanese are critical of the government’s response. Yet with among the lowest death rates in the world, a medical system that has avoided an overloading crisis, and a declining number of cases, everything seems to be going weirdly right.


They did everything contrary to what the big brains said to do.

Japan’s state of emergency is set to end with new cases of the coronavirus dwindling to mere dozens. It got there despite largely ignoring the default playbook.

 
Last edited:

Imperius

Banned
The United States would have been much better off if, after we got the initial surge under control, we focused on protecting the at risk populations and letting herd immunity build up among the healthy. For one, American culture is based on self-determination and mandated government lockdowns really don’t sit well with most. Two, you’d be allowing the underclass, the only people who have been actually hurt by lockdowns, to continue working and living a dignified life. Three, you’d be strengthening the collective immunity of the society so we’ll be prepared when China unleashed COVID 2.0 in a few years.
 

Meicyn

Gold Member
This pandemic is a massive scam
Ah, there’s the clarity that was missing. See you later.

LMAO you just defeated your own argument.



The entire link was talking about how local response kept it in check. Trump left the COVID response up to each state and they blamed that as the reason why cases exploded. The Governor of New York gets an aware for his masterful response to COVID by having the WORST hit state.
I like how you fabricate an argument that I never made. I said US response is inadequate and you turned it into political theater. I made no distinction on federal, state, or local. It’s okay, both Cuomo and Trump can be incompetent at the same time.

Employ your weaseldick strawman tactics on someone else. Fucking amateur.
 

Romulus

Member
Between my gf and I, we've personally known 26 people that have died from cov19. Not unknown social media friends, these are people we could call by name on the street and have a conversation. Granted only a couple of them were close.
 
We never really fought it in the first place. I don't know anywhere in the US that had the kind of response that was really needed to curb the spread of the virus. Everyone is too afraid to do what's necessary for fear of political repercussions.

But yeah, it's really stupid that it continues to get worse and worse and everyone has seemingly given up on even the little that we were doing before.
 

spawn

Member
I live in a blue county and when people are out in public everyone is wearing masks. However, when they are at home with family or when they go to a friends house they don't wear a mask. I know that on Halloween, Thanksgiving, ,Christmas, and New Years holidays their were parties happening all over with no masks. People only wear masks when they go shopping, to the bank, or to see a movie, etc. I think a lot of people in the country as well are getting tired of sitting at home so people are traveling and getting onto crowded airplanes with strangers which is making it worse.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom