Frustrations as a healthcare worker...Obama's Bash

[John_Bredin]

@filmore

Having a big party is not really consistent with the message he has been pushing.

Has the message Obama’s been pushing been like “Covid’s out there, take no risks” or more like “Covid’s out there, take reasonable precautions”? Because his party sounds wholly consistent with the latter.

@Velocity

Being vaccinated is not a license to go around unmasked or live as if Covid didn’t exist, not anymore.

Nor was Obama’s party living like Covid didn’t exist.

@PossumPie

Anyone who portrays masklessness or large gatherings (Republican parties, BLM demonstrations, Trump singfests, motorcycle rallies, outdoor concerts, or democratic plane trips) as 100% safe is wrong.

Who (who believes in Covid; that is, omitting outright deniers) was saying any of those things was 100% safe? That’s a bit strawman-ish.

Life isn’t 100% safe. Leaving home ain’t 100% safe (starting with crossing the street!) and neither is staying there (fire, falls. etc.). We all have a risk level we accept in life, and everyone’s is different. Some people won’t get on an airplane. I wouldn’t skydive for all the tea in China, but I don’t think people who do are suicidal fools. People who do without taking all the precautions reasonable and customary to skydiving are, though.

I’ve gone to and I’m still going to outdoor concerts, but I’m vaccinated, they’re lawn concerts with plenty of room to picnic rather than standee shows like Lollapalooza, and I’ve been masked when in close quarters with other attendees (shuttle bus, entrance gate). I’ve gone to one movie but kept my mask on the entire time (happened to not buy any snacks or drinks) and the nearest other party was at least one row away. I go to work in the office a few times a week by train, but the trains are half-empty at their busiest and masks are required, I have a private office with a door, and I wear a mask from the building door to my office door.

In doing all that, I’m not under some delusion that I’m 100% safe because I’m vaccinated and I wear a mask when near other people, I know I’m taking on some level of risk. As I am by, for instance, walking several blocks across busy streets, or riding my bike on the street, to get to and from the train station.

And I live in an area with relatively high vaccination rates. I wouldn’t do half the things I do in a Covid Belt state. Which, while not a guarantee by any means, is a relevant factor in one’s risktaking. Covid is up everywhere, but everywhere’s “up” isn’t to the same degree. Not everywhere in the country has overcrowded ICUs or lots of rabid anti-maskers itching to confront anyone wearing a mask.

@PossumPie

While vaccinations and 6 feet of separation outdoors DO decrease the odds of spreading Covid somewhat, it is NOT 100% safe. There is a balancing act (limiting people in a sports stadium) versus a complete ban on all gatherings.

So you do acknowledge that a balance can be struck, that the message isn’t “hide at home, go out only for the most necessary shopping and medical appointments, and anyone who does more than that is a reckless fool.” But your original posting (and parts of your latest) seem a lot stronger and judgmental than

@PossumPie

we need to be more careful of ALL gatherings,

which I’m sure Obama would agree with 100%.

Covid seems to bring out some of the same judgment as George Carlin mentioned regarding speeding.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

Everyone who takes less precaution than me is reckless, everyone who takes more precautions than me is paranoid. It’s not a universal attitude but I’ve definitely encountered both.

@PossumPie

both the right and the left would rather argue and point fingers than join together like folks did back in the 1918 Flu pandemic.

Not everyone pulled together in 1918, see the Anti-Mask League.

[DesertDog]

@MikeF

Do people really look at celebrities and base their health care/medical choices on what they see?

This is a country that had a surge in white Ford Bronco sales after OJ’s slow-motion chase. He was not a political figure and it’s not a health issue but I would say Signs point to yes.

[Gyrate]

The advisability of holding the party even with appropriate precautions taken aside, I’m still having a problem with the argument “Obama should have taken into consideration that some people would deliberately misrepresent it out of malicious partisanship and others are ignorant morons who won’t even stop for a second to consider the facts of the matter, and therefore we should criticize Obama”.

Anyone whose primary scorn isn’t reserved for the liars and the wilfully ignorant really needs to reconsider their priorities.

[Tfletch1]

@Gyrate

Anyone whose primary scorn isn’t reserved for the liars and the wilfully ignorant really needs to reconsider their priorities.

And those in search of “liberal hypocrisy” to make points on mitigation strategies. If the OP works in the South, shouldn’t he be focusing on convincing his patients to be vaccinated? The unvaccinated are the vast majority of people he’s seeing in the hospital right now.

He continues to lump Democratic activities with serious activities as though they are exactly the same. His job as a healthcare worker is to explain the differences to the ignorant who are swayed by the “bad optics”.

Instead of TEXAS DEMOCRATS ON A PLANE!!! He should say, “Being on the plane without masks wasn’t very smart but did you know that out of the six people who tested positive, none of them got sick? Why? Because all of them were vaccinated. So wear your mask in case you become an unwitting carrier and give it to your unvaccinated kid.”

Instead of BLM PROTESTORS!!!, he should say, “Did you know that there were very few cases traced to BLM protests and no surges attributed to them? Scientists were surprised, but point to the fact that the protests were outside and many or most of protestors wore masks. So, if you do socialize, do it outside. If you have to step inside wear a good mask. Hey, they have cool masks out there with filters that will actually protect you. Just make sure they fit well around your nose and mouth.”

Why is that so hard for someone who works in the field of healthcare?

[Atamasama]

@DesertDog

@MikeF

Do people really look at celebrities and base their health care/medical choices on what they see?

This is a country that had a surge in white Ford Bronco sales after OJ’s slow-motion chase. He was not a political figure and it’s not a health issue but I would say Signs point to yes

Not to mention all of the health care products that have celebrity spokespersons. People make decisions because they want to emulate people they admire. That’s why celebrity endorsements are ubiquitous in advertising.

[MikeF]

I guess I knew the answer to the question when I posted it. I’m not the smartest person in the world but I never understood why Tom Selleck (or whoever) was selling reverse mortgages and why anyone would listen to him. Never underestimate the gullibility of the general public.

[Lance_Turbo]

Ok, it’s been two weeks. Have a lot of positive COVID tests been traced back to exposure at Obama’s birthday party?

If that number is zero, it seems like a crazy thing to still be getting worked up about.

[Ann_Hedonia]

@Daithi_Lacha

@Akaj

@Velocity

“Don’t tie your shoelaces in a watermelon field.”

What?

A Chinese proverb warning against drawing suspicion on yourself needlessly. If you are walking through your neighbor’s melon patch and suddenly stoop, one could assume you are surreptitiously ‘liberating’ a melon.

Especially if you are spotted by a gang of melon thieves loading melons by the score into their truck - they are liable to yell - “Look at that melon thief bending over in the field over there!” in order to cause a distraction so they can get away.

[needscoffee]

@Ann_Hedonia

Especially if you are spotted by a gang of melon thieves loading melons by the score into their truck - they are liable to yell - “Look at that melon thief bending over in the field over there!” in order to cause a distraction so they can get away

Bravo!

[Tfletch1]

@Ann_Hedonia

Especially if you are spotted by a gang of melon thieves loading melons by the score into their truck - they are liable to yell - “Look at that melon thief bending over in the field over there!” in order to cause a distraction so they can get away.

And then someone starts a thread about being frustrated with the one tying the shoelace because of the “optics”? Meanwhile the thieves stole all the melons?

[Atamasama]

@Ann_Hedonia

Especially if you are spotted by a gang of melon thieves loading melons by the score into their truck - they are liable to yell - “Look at that melon thief bending over in the field over there!” in order to cause a distraction so they can get away.

Ah, the classic “shoelaceman” scam.

[Daithi_Lacha]

@Ann_Hedonia

Especially if you are spotted by a gang of melon thieves loading melons by the score into their truck - they are liable to yell - “Look at that melon thief bending over in the field over there!” in order to cause a distraction so they can get away.

“Why, no, officer, I do not know how this whole watermelon got down the front of my pants. By the way, your shoelace is untied.”

runs clumsily away

[DoctorJ]

@PossumPie

Vaccinations and/or being outside, or being Democratic, or praying to your god, or whatever does NOT reduce your risk for contracting or passing Covid-19 on to others to zero. Vaccinating and/or being outside has evidence behind it that it reduces it by some unknown but finite amount. The other examples have no evidence of efficacy.

Not to zero, maybe, but pretty damn close.

Lollapalooza happened a couple of weeks ago in Chicago, with 100K people through the door each day for four days. The festival was outside and vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours was required. (They say about 90% were vaccinated.)

Were there infections? Yes. 203 of them. Mostly among the unvaccinated. And no hospitalizations or deaths.

I’ll take those odds. (In fact, I’m going to Railbird and Bonnaroo in the next two weekends.)

The good thing about trusting science and data is that you can feel good about it when they swing your way.

[Atamasama]

@DoctorJ

Were there infections? Yes. 203 of them. Mostly among the unvaccinated. And no hospitalizations or deaths.

If I’m mathing right, 203 infections out of 400,000 people is an infection rate of .05%. (That is 5 hundredths of a percent.)

I wonder how tiny that number is when you only count the vaccinated people who were infected.

[Akaj]

@DoctorJ

Were there infections? Yes. 203 of them.

Is it too soon to start celebrating this low number? Asking seriously. I was really worried that holding Lolla was a huge mistake, and I’d love to learn my concerns were exaggerated.

[Skywatcher]

@Lance_Turbo

Ok, it’s been two weeks. Have a lot of positive COVID tests been traced back to exposure at Obama’s birthday party?

I did a quick Google News search. AFAICT, the only ones reporting on recent positive tests and Obama’s party are two tabloids (The Sun and the Daily Mail) and something called Texas News Today – the domain name for which evidently was registered by someone in India.

[Skywatcher]

@Skywatcher

the domain name for which evidently was registered by someone in India.

Who are these people?

[Tfletch1]

@Akaj

Is it too soon to start celebrating this low number? Asking seriously. I was really worried that holding Lolla was a huge mistake, and I’d love to learn my concerns were exaggerated.

Not really scientific but local surges can indicate trouble. For example, compare the chicago area (Lollapalooza)

Illinois Coronavirus Map and Case Count

To western South Dakota, especially Meade County (Sturgis)

South Dakota Coronavirus Map and Case Count

Lola ended before Sturgis and it’s a bit too soon to see the full fallout. Plus you have people from all over. Still, a local surge could correlate with the activities.

[Skywatcher]

Seems to me that the agricultural fair which took place this past weekend carried a bigger risk than Obama’s party. No mention of the party or the fair in recent infection reports from the island except in the comments.

[tofor]

Among other COVID changes:

Masks are advised, especially for unvaccinated fairgoers, and are required for everyone inside the hall, barn, and tents, regardless of vaccination status. Traffic in inside spaces is one-way, and entry will be restricted to reduce crowding as needed.

If the mask rule and numerical limits were enforced it could have been less dangerous than a grocery store.