Historically - and we are talking all the way back to Biblical times - epidemics do not hit populations randomly. They CAN infect any susceptible, but the susceptibles they DO infect with greatest frequency are those generally at highest risk due to geographic or cultural factors. Once those individuals have had the illness and recovered (or even died) the population as a whole is at LESS risk because those people have now been eliminated (one way or another) from the pool of susceptibles.

If death rate for those under 60 and not occupationally exposed is less than 0.4% (and it is) then every thousand people who get the illness wind up leaving behind 996 who are at least relatively immune, and given the number of totally asymptomatic cases that never get diagnosed (The USS Theodore Roosevelt had out of a crew of 5000 about 1000 infected, but 3000 with antibodies, most totally asymptomatic and with only one (1) death)even higher numbers than that who are now resistant or immune.

Herd immunity happens. It does not require a fixed percentage, ANY number of immunes out there helps to slow the epidemic to some degree. Right now coronavirus has taken out the most susceptible and left behind both the less susceptible and the once most susceptible but now immunes. The longer this goes on the less effective the spread of the organism will be. Similarly, the strains of the coronavirus that are the most susceptible at spreading will be the less lethal strains. That’s just how epidemics always have worked and there is no indication this one will work any differently. Time itself is on our side.

4.25% of world population. Third most populous country. Sounds pretty big to me.

I see you like the Associated Press. They definitely don't have an agenda.

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and a quarter of the deaths

and about 10-15% of the world population that has reliable reportIng numbers. Do you seriously believe the numbers from much of the Third World. It isn’t that they are being intentionally deceptive, they simply don’t know. They don’t have the resources to even collect the data.

Far less than that. Simply 25% of the REPORTED deaths and that figure inflated by Medicare paying more for a COVID death than a death due to flu or other cauShe’s.

maybe relevant...the state of Georgia is highly likely to send the first person who openly supports QAnnon to Congress in the fall.

if you don’t believe anything you can believe anything

Everyone that is panicking over a spike in infections seems to have a hard time remembering that there is a drastic disparity in the demographics most affected by this virus and more importantly that testing rates overall for the nation are still increasing. We keep casting a wider and wider net, we're going to catch more fish...but those fish were already out there!

Those that are most susceptible to health risks are also by and large not a part of the economy's labor pool. Keep the at-risk population protected. Keep the generally low-risk population at work. We cannot duplicate the lock-down of March through May should another wave of infections appear. It would be economically catastrophic on top of an already damaged economy AND it wouldn't be a rational decision based upon who the at-risk groups are.

The time frame and causes of the testing spool-up aside, we greatly increased our death rates by shoveling infected elderly into close quarters with other elderly. The evidence that this was a bad idea was present early on, but no one had the stones to stand up and demand a change of course when there was still time for a meaningful change to policy. Accounting for the financial incentives for coding things as COVID-19, for the CDCs admission that one does not need to be actually diagnosed with COVID-19 to be counted as COVID-19 death or COVID-19 infection, or top officials admissions that we are also counting anyone who dies WITH the virus, and not specifically FROM the virus, and it's no wonder that things look horrible.

There is still much to learn about this virus, but one thing that is clear at this point is who the most and least risk demographics are. That is actionable information that we can use NOW to greatly enhance our practices.

There is a lot going on in the world at the moment of course, but this cannot be overlooked. Reason has left the building if this nut job gets elected. And of course Fox News gives her air time. Dafuq.

I'm sure all those countries have extremely accurate death numbers. Eye roll.

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If you're looking to be afraid of something, you're going to find something to be afraid of.

Plane Coffee

National Covid 19 Day is officially Nov. 3rd