Coronavirus pandemic

[kalvado]

Finally got my Virus check yesterday.  I ended up spending about $1,000 dollars on a new mountain bike and parts.  I'll be field testing it out on Blackrock Road in Sierra National Forest come Sunday it seems.  I haven't had to use my bike rack in forever so that will be interesting getting that thing dusted off again.

Virus check as a nasal swab or blood test?

Stimulus check.

[Max Rockatansky]

Finally got my Virus check yesterday.  I ended up spending about $1,000 dollars on a new mountain bike and parts.  I'll be field testing it out on Blackrock Road in Sierra National Forest come Sunday it seems.  I haven't had to use my bike rack in forever so that will be interesting getting that thing dusted off again.

Virus check as a nasal swab or blood test?

Stimulus check.

There would be no stimulus without a certain virus, hence " Virus Check."   I'm torn on whether there should be a second check.  While the extra money would be nice, I can't help but wonder when inflation starts kicking in. 

[Scott5114]

My employer is requiring all of their employees to take a covid nasal swab test before being allowed to return to work prior to opening. They are administering the tests themselves through their medical division, and will not accept tests other than those they administer.

I got mine today. It definitely wasn't comfortable, but it was bearable.

[hbelkins]

My employer is requiring all of their employees to take a covid nasal swab test before being allowed to return to work prior to opening. They are administering the tests themselves through their medical division, and will not accept tests other than those they administer.

Which means kickbacks for the testing company they're using, I presume. Seems odd that they wouldn't accept a test from any certified provider.

[Eth]

You can say "Governor X is mandating that Y shuts down or reopens".  You cannot say "Governor X sucks donkey balls for his closure/reopen strategy".

As long as that applies to all governors, fair enough.



Georgia's numbers have looked pretty promising for the last few weeks, but there have been repeated questions about test reporting lately. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that the Department of Public Health is now reporting "regular" tests and antibody tests together without differentiating them, which may be a possible explanation for the recent dramatic increase in reported testing volume.

That certainly makes me wonder how much I can actually trust the data. Still, if we assume it to be generally accurate, Georgia would fall into the "wait and see" category from earlier. Still no changes for me – my employer hasn't given a timetable for a return to the office and has said there'll be at least a month of advance warning before it happens.

[bandit957]

You can say "Governor X is mandating that Y shuts down or reopens".  You cannot say "Governor X sucks donkey balls for his closure/reopen strategy".

As long as that applies to all governors, fair enough.



Georgia's numbers have looked pretty promising for the last few weeks, but there have been repeated questions about test reporting lately. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that the Department of Public Health is now reporting "regular" tests and antibody tests together without differentiating them, which may be a possible explanation for the recent dramatic increase in reported testing volume.

I keep hearing this about Virginia. Cases in Virginia have dropped like they have in most states, but all these websites keep saying it's a hoax, and that it's a conspiracy to try to justify reopening the beaches.

I used to read these sites for serious news. Now they're a joke. They profit off of panic.

[kphoger]

I'm torn on whether there should be a second check.  While the extra money would be nice, I can't help but wonder when inflation starts kicking in. 

I'm no economist, but I didn't realize inflation could "kick in".  Isn't it a matter of degrees?  That is, inflation happens with one stimulus check, then happens even more with a second one.  Right?  Wrong?

[Roadgeekteen]

Florida under some heat for firing of scientist.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/858977838/florida-fires-a-scientist-for-her-refusal-to-manipulate-states-coronavirus-data

[tradephoric]

Brazil will soon overtake the USA in weekly confirmed cases even as the USA is testing 11X more per capita.  The president of Brazil has continually downplayed the virus even as his country is getting consumed by it. 

[Brandon]

Florida under some heat for firing of scientist.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/858977838/florida-fires-a-scientist-for-her-refusal-to-manipulate-states-coronavirus-data

Apparently there's more to the story:
https://wjno.iheart.com/featured/florida-news/content/2020-05-21-desantis-fired-state-employee-is-not-a-scientist-faces-criminal-charges/

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/20/desantis-reveals-harassment-charge-against-fired-data-manager-but-questions-remain/

And she's not a scientist, not even the architect of the state's dashboard (from Tuesday).
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/19/florida-health-department-officials-told-manager-to-delete-coronavirus-data-before-reassigning-her-emails-show/

It's an interesting mess.

[Brandon]

Found this one rather interesting regarding asymptomatic transmission:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomatic-patient-transmitting-coronavirus-wrong

But the researchers didn't actually speak to the woman before they published the paper. The last author, Michael Hoelscher of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Medical Center, says the paper relied on information from the four other patients: "They told us that the patient from China did not appear to have any symptoms."  Afterward, however, RKI and the Health and Food Safety Authority of the state of Bavaria did talk to the Shanghai patient on the phone, and it turned out she did have symptoms while in Germany. According to people familiar with the call, she felt tired, suffered from muscle pain, and took paracetamol, a fever-lowering medication. (An RKI spokesperson would only confirm to Science that the woman had symptoms.)

However,

The German cluster does reveal another interesting aspect about the new virus, Drosten says. So far most attention has gone to patients who get seriously ill, but all four cases in Germany had a very mild infection. That may be true for many more patients, Drosten says, which may help the virus spread. "There is increasingly the sense that patients may just experience mild cold symptoms, while already shedding the virus,"  he says. "Those are not symptoms that lead people to stay at home."

[Roadgeekteen]

Florida under some heat for firing of scientist.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/858977838/florida-fires-a-scientist-for-her-refusal-to-manipulate-states-coronavirus-data

Apparently there's more to the story:
https://wjno.iheart.com/featured/florida-news/content/2020-05-21-desantis-fired-state-employee-is-not-a-scientist-faces-criminal-charges/

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/20/desantis-reveals-harassment-charge-against-fired-data-manager-but-questions-remain/

And she's not a scientist, not even the architect of the state's dashboard (from Tuesday).
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/19/florida-health-department-officials-told-manager-to-delete-coronavirus-data-before-reassigning-her-emails-show/

It's an interesting mess.

It's so confusing, as it's hard to tell who's wrong and who's right.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm torn on whether there should be a second check.  While the extra money would be nice, I can't help but wonder when inflation starts kicking in. 

I'm no economist, but I didn't realize inflation could "kick in".  Isn't it a matter of degrees?  That is, inflation happens with one stimulus check, then happens even more with a second one.  Right?  Wrong?

I think that a better way to describe it would be; printing money to boost the economy has a poor track record of causing inflation.  One stimulus might not be enough to cause a noticeable effect, but what about a second?...third?...fourth?  For awhile there was some legislators in the Federal Government pushing for a $2,000 dollar a month stimulus.  Granted, even if a second stimulus ended up being approved I can't fathom a third would be. 

[SectorZ]

Florida under some heat for firing of scientist.

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/19/858977838/florida-fires-a-scientist-for-her-refusal-to-manipulate-states-coronavirus-data

Apparently there's more to the story:
https://wjno.iheart.com/featured/florida-news/content/2020-05-21-desantis-fired-state-employee-is-not-a-scientist-faces-criminal-charges/

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/20/desantis-reveals-harassment-charge-against-fired-data-manager-but-questions-remain/

And she's not a scientist, not even the architect of the state's dashboard (from Tuesday).
https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/19/florida-health-department-officials-told-manager-to-delete-coronavirus-data-before-reassigning-her-emails-show/

It's an interesting mess.

It's so confusing, as it's hard to tell who's wrong and who's right.

Sadly it's getting harder and harder to trust NPR when they take out an agenda against those asking them to be self-sufficient.

[J N Winkler]

I'm torn on whether there should be a second check.  While the extra money would be nice, I can't help but wonder when inflation starts kicking in.

I'm no economist, but I didn't realize inflation could "kick in".  Isn't it a matter of degrees?  That is, inflation happens with one stimulus check, then happens even more with a second one.  Right?  Wrong?

We are not anywhere near inflation taking hold because we are undergoing a demand shock.  The supply chain has largely held up, so goods and services are still available, but people are buying less of them partly because of stay-at-home orders and partly because they are worried about continuity of employment.  We are already seeing business failures and that, too, has a deflationary impact.

When you have many dollars chasing few goods and services, that sets the stage for inflation.  If it gets bad enough that consumers and firms intentionally schedule their spending to maximize the purchasing power of the dollars they have in hand, that sets up the feedback loop that underlies hyperinflation.

[Brandon]

I’m torn on whether there should be a second check.  While the extra money would be nice, I can’t help but wonder when inflation starts kicking in.

I'm no economist, but I didn't realize inflation could "kick in".  Isn't it a matter of degrees?  That is, inflation happens with one stimulus check, then happens even more with a second one.  Right?  Wrong?

We are not anywhere near inflation taking hold because we are undergoing a demand shock.  The supply chain has largely held up, so goods and services are still available, but people are buying less of them partly because of stay-at-home orders and partly because they are worried about continuity of employment.  We are already seeing business failures and that, too, has a deflationary impact.

When you have many dollars chasing few goods and services, that sets the stage for inflation.  If it gets bad enough that consumers and firms intentionally schedule their spending to maximize the purchasing power of the dollars they have in hand, that sets up the feedback loop that underlies hyperinflation.

However, one can have monetary inflation without the demand shock.  We went through it in the 1970s: stagflation.  Is it likely?  Probably not this time.  It might follow more like the Great Depression and New Deal instead.

[J N Winkler]

However, one can have monetary inflation without the demand shock.  We went through it in the 1970s: stagflation.  Is it likely?  Probably not this time.  It might follow more like the Great Depression and New Deal instead.

Stagflation is certainly a theoretical possibility, but I don't think we will see it arise (if it does at all) in the same way as the 1970's.  Unions are weaker now than they were back then, so their ability to enforce wage demands is correspondingly reduced.  And instead of oil prices spiking, we have the bottom falling out of the oil market.

[SEWIGuy]

Sweden experient turning out not so good.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-strategy-idUSKBN22W2YC

So compared to their Nordic neighbors, they kept their economy more open, yet have a higher death rate and their economy is no better off. 

[kphoger]

Sweden experient turning out not so good.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-strategy-idUSKBN22W2YC

So compared to their Nordic neighbors, they kept their economy more open, yet have a higher death rate and their economy is no better off. 

The article cited doesn't actually talk about the economy at all.  However, other articles I've read tend to indicate that Sweden's economy will indeed suffer, just a little bit less than other countries'.

The article does include an anecdote about a nursing home resident dying of the virus after untested patients were admitted, with the author referring to it as "a failure to protect the old and infirm in a country famed for its welfare state".  Well, let's not forget that it was the state policy of New York to require nursing homes to accept patients with the virus, clear up until just a couple of weeks ago.

[SEWIGuy]

Sweden experient turning out not so good.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-strategy-idUSKBN22W2YC

So compared to their Nordic neighbors, they kept their economy more open, yet have a higher death rate and their economy is no better off. 

The article cited doesn't actually talk about the economy at all.  However, other articles I've read tend to indicate that Sweden's economy will indeed suffer, just a little bit less than other countries'.

The article does include an anecdote about a nursing home resident dying of the virus after untested patients were admitted, with the author referring to it as "a failure to protect the old and infirm in a country famed for its welfare state".  Well, let's not forget that it was the state policy of New York to require nursing homes to accept patients with the virus, clear up until just a couple of weeks ago.

I never claimed it talked about the economy.  Others have such as this.

https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-economy-likely-wont-benefit-from-decision-avoid-lockdown-report-2020-5

And not sure what New York has to do with anything.  I guess just something to distract from those of you who suggested that the Swedish model was the one to follow.

[kphoger]

And not sure what New York has to do with anything.  I guess just something to distract from those of you who suggested that the Swedish model was the one to follow.

It had about as much to do with anything as putting the anecdote in the article to begin with.

[SEWIGuy]

And not sure what New York has to do with anything.  I guess just something to distract from those of you who suggested that the Swedish model was the one to follow.

It had about as much to do with anything as putting the anecdote in the article to begin with.

Take it up with the author then.

[kphoger]

OK, so I wasn't supposed to share my opinion of the article on here?  Why did you post it on a forum, then?

[webny99]

I'm no economist, but I didn't realize inflation could "kick in".  Isn't it a matter of degrees?  That is, inflation happens with one stimulus check, then happens even more with a second one.  Right?  Wrong?

Me either... and I guess that's what I thought, too.

I also thought inflation was a cause of a recession, not an effect.

[Scott5114]

My employer is requiring all of their employees to take a covid nasal swab test before being allowed to return to work prior to opening. They are administering the tests themselves through their medical division, and will not accept tests other than those they administer.

Which means kickbacks for the testing company they're using, I presume. Seems odd that they wouldn't accept a test from any certified provider.

My employer is a tribal government. They're doing the testing in-house through their Division of Health. I was tested in the parking lot of a clinic normally only accessible to tribal citizens.