COVID is over.

[SpiffCoug]

It just is. It's not spawning the catastrophe we all feared five months ago when thought it was going to get bad.

Remember in early June when that meat packing facility was the "epicenter" of the outbreak in Utah? Where's that story now?

KSL had a story on July 10 of an "outbreak" of 25 patients at a long-term care facility in San Juan County. There's been no follow up on that story. My guess we would have heard a lot about if many of those patients were dying/had died.

MLS sent home two teams from their MLS is Back tournament three weeks ago because 23 players had tested positive. Both teams returned to full training on Monday with full squads.

The threat is no longer warranting the response we are giving it. It's time to move on and return to normal. If you feel sick in even the slightest, stay home and maybe get tested. If you feel really sick, go to the hospital. The rest of society needs to start living again.

[snoscythe]

KSL had a story on July 10 of an "outbreak" of 25 patients at a long-term care facility in San Juan County. There's been no follow up on that story. My guess we would have heard a lot about if many of those patients were dying/had died.

San Juan County changed how they report numbers when this outbreak occurred, so unless someone from the care center talks to the press, there is no way to determine how may of San Juan County's cases are from the Four Corners Regional Care Center.

However, prior to that change taking effect, 33 residents had tested positive (plus 17 staff members), and there were three fatalities among residents as of July 14--four days after the outbreak made it into the news. That's an initial mortality rate of 10%.

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/7/14/ ... -residents

This one looks more like a cover-up than a false alarm IMHO. County has changed how numbers are reported (no longer disclosing how many cases/deaths are from long-term health centers, much less a specific one), and staff and employees are no longer sharing photos/reports on social media and all past posts have been deleted.

[SpiffCoug]

What about the 287 who tested positive in early June in Cache County? I can't find any follow up on that.

[snoscythe]

What about the 287 who tested positive in early June in Cache County? I can't find any follow up on that.

As of July 3, it was up to 385 employees who tested positive, with no deaths reported. You can find more if you search for "JBS Beef" in Hyrum Utah.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/07/03/ ... atpacking/

Here's the thing -- this is a pandemic "pan" meaning "all" or "involving all". This isn't limited to just a couple of occurrences. As time passes and it becomes more widespread, there are more outbreaks in more locations. Follow up stories on the JBS Beef plant in Hyrum or the Four Corners facility in San Juan County don't generate the amount of excitement needed to punch through and give them top billing from the various news agencies. With everything going on in the world right now, the lack of follow up doesn't necessary mean that nothing happened or it was an overreaction at the time. IMHO, it reflects editorial decisions on where to allocate reporter's time and effort in a chaotic news world.

[SpiffCoug]

What it says to me is the risk level is no longer warranting the extremity of response it's being given.

[BroncoBot]

Yeah, it's been completely overblown IMHO.
if you're less than 70 years old you're chance of dying from it is around 1%.
Nursing homes and elderly have been hit the hardest. Which is who is hit with the seasonal flu each year.

[nuk13]

I believe it is being used by the body politic to bully the public. They want us to think they are in charge and we better do what they want. Happily, here, there are politicians that are fighting this.

[gingi]

Utah's Covid task force led by Cox - the gov in waiting - and Dr Dunn, our state epidemiologist, continue to press the idea that we are in the thick of a terrible battle. Masks - most of which are designed to be worn in an already-sterile environment - are the winning weapon according to them.

The only politicians I've heard fighting against this are down south in the much less populated areas. There's a real battle in Utah County to install a county mayor who would be able to rule the county like SL County's mayor has.

The 'tell' that validates nuk13's assertion is the diagram by the state that shows us moving to a "New Normal" not returning to normal. The five main interlocking powers in Utah all appear to be pushing this (State Legislature/Senate as a group, Governor, Teachers Unions, K12+College as a group, and handful of influential families). Ignore that last line if it's outside your Overton Window. The battle is being fought by growing, but still small, groups of citizens.

The best question is probably: How many people do you personally know who died from or with COVID?
The next best question is: why is the excitement being generated for cases rather than deaths (including information about any comorbidities).

[SpiffCoug]

The problem is there is no exit strategy. They can't articulate how we end the restrictions. Where's the exit ramp? What will it take to go back to normal? How do we begin to live life again?

[BroncoBot]

Utah's Covid task force led by Cox - the gov in waiting - and Dr Dunn, our state epidemiologist, continue to press the idea that we are in the thick of a terrible battle. Masks - most of which are designed to be worn in an already-sterile environment - are the winning weapon according to them.

The only politicians I've heard fighting against this are down south in the much less populated areas. There's a real battle in Utah County to install a county mayor who would be able to rule the county like SL County's mayor has.

The 'tell' that validates nuk13's assertion is the diagram by the state that shows us moving to a "New Normal" not returning to normal. The five main interlocking powers in Utah all appear to be pushing this (State Legislature/Senate as a group, Governor, Teachers Unions, K12+College as a group, and handful of influential families). Ignore that last line if it's outside your Overton Window. The battle is being fought by growing, but still small, groups of citizens.

The best question is probably: How many people do you personally know who died from or with COVID?
The next best question is: why is the excitement being generated for cases rather than deaths (including information about any comorbidities).

Did you know that masks in the operating room have been shown to be no more effective than no mask in preventing infections. So why do doctors keep using them? Same reason we wear masks for covid - it makes a certain population more comfortable.