Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!
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@GOG said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
I've been seeing a bunch of things suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 had been present in Europe considerably earlier than official statistics show, but this is the first time I've seen it suggested that it may have been present during the previous flu season (winter 2018/2019).
This is deeply unlikely, going by large-scale disease patterns, unless we invoke some sort of magic where the virus looked at its collective watch and said “Oh, is that the time? Better get on with killing since it's now 2020!”. Much more likely is that there were other closely related viruses circulating (but not causing much serious disease) and that the test being used is not very specific (most tests aren't, especially those that aren't very invasive). That wouldn't be a novel circumstance at all.
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@dfdub said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@Gurth said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
It’s my understanding that if a Latin plural were desired, it should be viri (or virī) rather than virii anyway.
Wikipedia says "vira":
(Yes, the page specifically mentions "virus" for some reason.)
That surprised me a bit (but like I said, I’m not exactly a Latin expert), until I clicked on the “vīrus, vīrī” link at the top of the table, which took me here. I suppose the plural is vira because viri is the genitive already, which you would never know by looking at more general rules, which is what I did.
No wonder Latin went out of fashion in favour of simpler languages …
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Local lockdown for one city due to a high rate of cases.
As well as tightening the restrictions again, this means they won't get their pubs reopened this weekend.
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@loopback0 But it's more efficient.
Now you can drive them all at once off a cliff.
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@JBert said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@loopback0 But it's more efficient.
Now you can drive them all at once off a cliff.
Just park it and lock the doors for 2 weeks. Successful quarantine!
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@loopback0
That was faster than expected...
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@loopback0 Followed by a "Sorry, we're not refunding anyone. Read the fine print." Always read the small print. Your mileage my vary - but not this time.
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@JBert said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@loopback0 But it's more efficient.
Now you can drive them all at once off a cliff.
Look out - CLIFF ! – 00:42
— lionkillingnebbish
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@HardwareGeek it's basically the 2020 version of who can stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth. Absolutely stupid but almost completely harmless (to them). And continuing my streak of pointing out all the ways people have made coronavirus worse - this wouldn't happen if the media and the governments didn't obsess about it so much. Just like that thing with prisoners a few months back.
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As if Texas wasn't having a bad enough time with COVID...
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@loopback0 said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
As if Texas wasn't having a bad enough time with COVID...
A case of someone saying hold my beer!
I think he should be shot. What kind of man drinks bud light.
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Continuing my streak...
The beginning of the summer season saw an increasing quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE, like masks and gloves) and other disposables dispersed in nature. [...]
A recent statement from WWF highlighted that “even if only 1% of the masks were disposed of incorrectly and perhaps dispersed in nature, this would result in 10 million masks per month” or, considering that the weight of each mask is about 4 grams, over 40 thousand kilograms of plastic.
“In order to defend the Mediterranean, which already has to deal with 570 thousand tons of plastic ending up in its waters every year, [...] we ask the institutions to prepare appropriate bins for masks and gloves near the ports where workers use these protections to operate safely,” said the president of WWF’s Italian branch Donatella Bianchi.
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@loopback0 said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
As if Texas wasn't having a bad enough time with COVID...
It's a pretty good plan to keep people from gathering in large numbers at his show
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@hungrier
to find it again, but I saw a later article which stated he'd cancelled the show. "Wow, I didn't know the virus was so bad in Austin," or something like that.
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"Canceled because of covid, and totally not because no one was coming to my concerts in any case"
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@HardwareGeek Here you go, with bonus meme:
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Due to the Covid stimulus package VAT reduction I just bought something for €29.23 instead of €29.99.
By Grabthar's Hammer!Galaxy Quest - What A Savings – 00:10
— Rob
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Inhalation of aerosols “most likely dominated infection transmission during this event,” the researchers wrote in a paper undergoing peer review, concluding that the ill person, who had symptoms similar to a common cold, was unlikely to have spent time within six feet of many singers or to have touched surfaces in common with them.
“We believe it likely that shared air in the fellowship hall, combined with high emissions of respiratory aerosol from singing, were important contributing factors,” the paper said.
Seems plausible. The super spreading events we had in Germany, like recently at a meat factory, all seemed to have bad air circulation, not everyone being within six feet of each other all at once.
This again makes me more convinced that most outside activities are relatively safe unless it’s too crowded.
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@topspin Or, alternatively, being intubated fanned the inflammation. And doctors didn't prescribe what they usually would have, because of that Lancet article (which was since withdrawn).
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Got it from Twitter
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To whoever who has any real knowledge of contagious diseases... What are the chances that the coronavirus will stay around 3 years from now? Assuming the testing rates will be kept as high as they're now, is there any reason to expect infection numbers to ever go down?
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It depends on whether people develop an immunity and/or a working vaccine is released. So it's probably impossible to know right now.
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@Zerosquare but if we assume coronavirus works the same as other viruses in its genus, should or shouldn't it die out - like cease to exist, as opposed to being there but not affecting anybody?
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@Zerosquare but if we assume coronavirus works the same as other viruses in its genus, should or shouldn't it die out - like cease to exist, as opposed to being there but not affecting anybody?
Entirely dependent on how fast it mutates as far as I understand it, and most reports seem to say it doesn't mutate much at all, in which case it may die out.
If it mutates enough that a large enough part of the population isn't immune, then it'll probably become an endemic thing that will roll around, much like flu season.
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
To whoever who has any real knowledge of contagious diseases... What are the chances that the coronavirus will stay around 3 years from now? Assuming the testing rates will be kept as high as they're now, is there any reason to expect infection numbers to ever go down?
Experts seem to expect that it could be around for a while, but then it would also appear that they're waiting for more data on how the virus spreads when winter comes around again.
They might be watching the situation in South America and Africa but then I wonder if it is comparable: in the Northern half we might have people who get it again rather than for the first time.
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More infectious but not more serious:
A SARS-CoV-2 variant carrying the Spike protein amino acid change D614G has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic. Dynamic tracking of variant frequencies revealed a recurrent pattern of G614 increase at multiple geographic levels: national, regional and municipal. The shift occurred even in local epidemics where the original D614 form was well established prior to the introduction of the G614 variant. The consistency of this pattern was highly statistically significant, suggesting that the G614 variant may have a fitness advantage. We found that the G614 variant grows to higher titer as pseudotyped virions. In infected individuals G614 is associated with lower RT-PCR cycle thresholds, suggestive of higher upper respiratory tract viral loads, although not with increased disease severity. These findings illuminate changes important for a mechanistic understanding of the virus, and support continuing surveillance of Spike mutations to aid in the development of immunological interventions.
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@topspin said in The Official Status Thread:
@Gąska said in The Official Status Thread:
@topspin I'm still waiting for someone to confront me in person about not wearing a mask so I can ask them whether their mask is certified to provide protection against microbiological hazards, and berate them for putting the entire nation at risk for going outside their homes without adequate protection and spreading virus left and right.
Unfortunately, the Polish culture of never ever ever having any interactions with strangers gets in the way.
Does that mean you have places where wearing a mask is required and you refuse to? If yes, you're an asshole
Nice to meet you.
if not, that's not what it's about.
I heard there are a lot of Americans who chastise random pedestrians for not wearing a mask even though it's not enforced by law.
By the way, why is it legality of it what differentiates asshole from non-asshole, instead of, say, effectiveness, or even just wearing it for the sake of wearing it to show you're a nice person? Why do the ever-changing emergency laws have anything to do with my personality?
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@topspin said in The Official Status Thread:
@Gąska said in The Official Status Thread:
@topspin I'm still waiting for someone to confront me in person about not wearing a mask so I can ask them whether their mask is certified to provide protection against microbiological hazards, and berate them for putting the entire nation at risk for going outside their homes without adequate protection and spreading virus left and right.
Unfortunately, the Polish culture of never ever ever having any interactions with strangers gets in the way.
Does that mean you have places where wearing a mask is required and you refuse to? If yes, you're an asshole
Nice to meet you.
if not, that's not what it's about.
I heard there are a lot of Americans who chastise random pedestrians for not wearing a mask even though it's not enforced by law.
By the way, why is it legality of it what differentiates asshole from non-asshole, instead of, say, effectiveness, or even just wearing it for the sake of wearing it to show you're a nice person? Why do the ever-changing emergency laws have anything to do with my personality?
That of course changes from place to place, but mostly because there should be some alignment between "there is a necessity to wear a mask here for protection" (e.g. closed confines like a supermarket) and "there is a legal requirement to wear one here". If these are completely detached and your jurisdiction requires you to wear a mask in your own bed, well that's a different problem.
And that's how I read the original post I complained about: people who go somewhere a mask is required, like a supermarket, and then complain about their freedum getting raped and refusing to wear one. Like the Starbucks Karen who made a scene when she didn't get served by the guy who just did his job. Or personally, the guy who had no concept of personal space even if Covid wasn't a thing at all. (N.B.: I didn't berate him, I made one annoyed remark. That is, of course, much more than I'd usually interact with strangers, but he got close enough that it felt like we're dating)
And yes, even assuming the masks in the end would turn out not to have any effect, which is contrary to current evidence, doing that and proclaiming "I don't lack common courtesy, I'm just telling you to fuck off" means you do lack common courtesy. Intentionally breaking rules only to give people the finger doesn't sound like courtesy.
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@topspin said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@topspin said in The Official Status Thread:
@Gąska said in The Official Status Thread:
@topspin I'm still waiting for someone to confront me in person about not wearing a mask so I can ask them whether their mask is certified to provide protection against microbiological hazards, and berate them for putting the entire nation at risk for going outside their homes without adequate protection and spreading virus left and right.
Unfortunately, the Polish culture of never ever ever having any interactions with strangers gets in the way.
Does that mean you have places where wearing a mask is required and you refuse to? If yes, you're an asshole
Nice to meet you.
if not, that's not what it's about.
I heard there are a lot of Americans who chastise random pedestrians for not wearing a mask even though it's not enforced by law.
By the way, why is it legality of it what differentiates asshole from non-asshole, instead of, say, effectiveness, or even just wearing it for the sake of wearing it to show you're a nice person? Why do the ever-changing emergency laws have anything to do with my personality?
That of course changes from place to place, but mostly because there should be some alignment between "there is a necessity to wear a mask here for protection" (e.g. closed confines like a supermarket) and "there is a legal requirement to wear one here".
That's so German.
And that's how I read the original post I complained about: people who go somewhere a mask is required, like a supermarket, and then complain about their freedum getting raped and refusing to wear one.
I read it as people being annoyed with being called murderers every five seconds. Especially online, because most name calling happens online.
Like the Starbucks Karen who made a scene when she didn't get served by the guy who just did his job.
The funny thing is, in USA, "Karen" usually means a person complaining about someone NOT wearing a mask.
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
The funny thing is, in USA, "Karen" usually means a person complaining about someone NOT wearing a mask.
"I'm breaking the official store rules and you're refusing to serve me, I'm making a scene. Mah freedom!"
EDIT: Lol, great onebox.
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@topspin said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
The funny thing is, in USA, "Karen" usually means a person complaining about someone NOT wearing a mask.
"I'm breaking the official store rules and you're refusing to serve me, I'm making a scene. Mah freedom!"
This kind is usually called Sovereign Citizens. Before COVID, their most common catchphrase was "am I being detained?"
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@topspin said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
The funny thing is, in USA, "Karen" usually means a person complaining about someone NOT wearing a mask.
"I'm breaking the official store rules and you're refusing to serve me, I'm making a scene. Mah freedom!"
This kind is usually called Sovereign Citizens. Before COVID, their most common catchphrase was "am I being detained?"
Oh, those people we call "Reichsbürger". But their insanity is strictly garage material.
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@topspin True story. In the US, it's a crime to make forged identity documents that claim to be issued by a government, but not by entities that aren't governments, like private schools or clubs or whatever.
Immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, a couple of Americans figured out that since there was no longer any such government as "the Soviet Union," it wasn't illegal to make or sell forged USSR passports.
So they set up a business intending to sell them as gag gifts and whatnot.
Then the US Government came knocking. Uncle Sam needed a way to get American diplomats out of Iraq on the eve of Desert Storm, and they didn't trust the Iraqis to respect diplomatic immunity.
So the US government bought fake USSR passports to get the diplomats out. Which Iraqi customs fell for.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear That’s almost a variant on:—
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Status: Am I a horrible person if I don't wear a mask?
{for context: live in UK, where crap politicians have been sending out completely ambiguous messages corona-wise.}
So far as I can tell, everyone should be wearing a mask in public places, to reduce spread of the plague to innocent bystanders (but not for personal protection).
Simple. The problem is that when I visit a local supermarket then, right now, no-one (neither staff nor customers) is masked and, on past experience, the odd (but possibly ethical) mask wearers are shunned as though they are typhoid-Mary's.
Several times now I've walked to the supermarket with a mask in my pocket, quite prepared to wear it, but baulked at the last moment because no-one else is wearing one.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Then the US Government came knocking. Uncle Sam needed a way to get American diplomats out of Iraq on the eve of Desert Storm, and they didn't trust the Iraqis to respect diplomatic immunity.
So the US government bought fake USSR passports to get the diplomats out. Which Iraqi customs fell for.This seems strange. Not that they'd need fake passports, but that they asked a random couple to make them. I'm pretty sure they have other ways to manufacture them more discreetly.
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@japonicus said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
the odd (but possibly ethical) mask wearers are shunned as though they are typhoid-Mary's.
So people get out of your way when you're wearing a mask? That's actually pretty useful when in a crowded place!
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@japonicus said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Status: Am I a horrible person if I don't wear a mask?
Depends. Do you believe in science or in fear-mongering politicians?
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@Zerosquare said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@japonicus said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
the odd (but possibly ethical) mask wearers are shunned as though they are typhoid-Mary's.
So people get out of your way when you're wearing a mask? That's actually pretty useful when in a crowded place!
I heard MAGA hat has similar effect
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@Zerosquare said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@GuyWhoKilledBear said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Then the US Government came knocking. Uncle Sam needed a way to get American diplomats out of Iraq on the eve of Desert Storm, and they didn't trust the Iraqis to respect diplomatic immunity.
So the US government bought fake USSR passports to get the diplomats out. Which Iraqi customs fell for.This seems strange. Not that they'd need fake passports, but that they asked a random couple to make them. I'm pretty sure they have other ways to manufacture them more discreetly.
Obvious fake is obvious, but I still laughed.
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@japonicus said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Am I a horrible person if I don't wear a mask?
{for context: live in UK, where crap politicians have been sending out completely ambiguous messages corona-wise.}Not if you're going places where the social distancing can be achieved.
Simple. The problem is that when I visit a local supermarket then, right now, no-one (neither staff nor customers) is masked and, on past experience, the odd (but possibly ethical) mask wearers are shunned as though they are typhoid-Mary's.
I don't wear them (also UK) but I don't go places where getting close to people is unavoidable.
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@Zerosquare IIRC, the idea was speed. (The business was already set up to do it, whereas the CIA or whoever would have set up time.)
It was removed at some point, but there used to be a link to an interview (20 or so years after the fact) with the person who made the passports on the Camouflage Passports Wikipedia page that @Gurth linked earlier.
I know that's where I heard about it.
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@japonicus said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Status: Am I a horrible person if I don't wear a mask?
Depends. Do you believe in science or in fear-mongering politicians?
Not UK, but personally I believe in not getting a fine which comes with a mark on my criminal record.
Luckily, there is still only a small set of locations here where you need to wear a facemask.
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@PleegWat said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Luckily, there is still only a small set of locations here where you need to wear a facemask.
Unlike Poland, where it's fucking everywhere.
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
@PleegWat said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Luckily, there is still only a small set of locations here where you need to wear a facemask.
Unlike Poland, where it's fucking everywhere.
public indecency!
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@Benjamin-Hall dammit. I meant it's kurwa everywhere.
...Wait, no. Ah, fuck it.
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@Gąska said in Tales from Coronavee-rooss Italy, mamma mia!:
Ah, fuck it.
This is, apparently, perfectly safe, as long as you avoid missionary.
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@PleegWat what's he gonna do? Condemn us to hell?