Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

People who are COVID cautious follow other aspects of public health advice, not just what is convenient. That means testing when you have symptoms or staying home, isolating a positive family member when possible, having other family members wear high-quality masks outside of the house when indoors or in crowded outdoor settings for 10 days after last exposure, and testing family members 5 days after last exposure. That can be onerous, especially for larger families, especially at times when being out sick would be inconvenient. For me, avoiding those measures is reason enough to be cautious.

I don't know if it is smarter or if following this advice makes anyone a better person, but it definitely makes people who take measures to avoid infecting other people more compassionate human beings.

If you say you are following the science/public health guidance and also are "done with masks" you aren't following public health guidance and aren't willing to accept any inconvenience if you become infected to avoid infecting others.

So you think that people out the DMV are just lying about following other aspects of public health advice. You think that since they no longer wear masks outdoors or in certain indoor environments that the CDC has said it is okay for unvaccinated people to unmask, that means they aren't testing or isolating with exposures? You assume that they are jus doing what is convenient, that they are hypocrites when they say they are following CDC advice, that it's just a ruse to avoid wearing masks?

Have you... met people from other areas? My extended family is Covid cautious. They masked for a long time, but mask a lot less since getting vaccinated. There was a brief period of remarking during Omicron, but when it passed they stopped masking again. Some of them work in healthcare so they of course mask at work. But they go to restaurants, travel, etc. They are all vaccinated and boosted, some twice. Some have high risk factors and they mask more than others. They don't freak out when the see unmasked people in stores. They all test as appropriate and of course isolate with symptoms. Many of them got Covid during the Omicron surge and they stayed home and quarantined as they were supposed to.

And yet if you went to where they live, you'd see lots of unmasked people just living their lives. Not stupid people or Trump lovers. Not anti-vaxers or anti-maskers. Intelligent, educated people making rational choices for themselves and their family. There would be whole days that would go by when you wouldn't even think about Covid. You might see a few people in masks and not think anything of it, assume they were high risk or that they had a cold or that they just preferred to wear a mask.

This is much of the country now. DC is the only place I know of where people are still FREAKING OUT about this and constantly trying to one-up each other for being the most Covid-cautious, for being the people doing the pandemic the best. I know people all over the country and I don't know anywhere like this.

When you are the outlier, you have to ask yourself if you might be the one doing it wrong. Like you might just want to consider that people in DC are not better, smarter, more virtuous, more educated, or more informed than everyone else on the planet. Just throwing it out there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cases in MoCo have quadrupled in a month.

I'm not saying it was either spring break (way too soon to see that) or taking off masks. But you can't really say "no change".

+1 and I would guess that at home tests are not all being reported. 70+ yr. old parents in DC positive last week for first time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that for every 100 cases in the U.S., only 6-7 are officially recorded in our surveillance systems.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=resource-use&tab=trend&resource=all_resources

For example, on March 31, 2022 IMHE reported 27,400 cases but estimated 404,600 “true” cases due to underreporting and asymptomatic infection. This gap has dramatically widened over time.

During the peak Delta wave, an estimated 43% of cases were reported. During Omicron, about 26% of cases were recorded. Right now, an estimated 7% of cases are reported, which is abysmally low.

We are now totally flying blind.

Do you realize what this dramatic underestimation of the denominator means for our existing assessments of the risk the virus poses to the average person?

Why don't you tell us the risk of a vaccinated person getting COVID and having symptoms for a week or more?

What is the risk of a vaccinated and boosted person experiencing long COVID symptoms?

Show us the data you are using for your superior risk assessment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

People who are COVID cautious follow other aspects of public health advice, not just what is convenient. That means testing when you have symptoms or staying home, isolating a positive family member when possible, having other family members wear high-quality masks outside of the house when indoors or in crowded outdoor settings for 10 days after last exposure, and testing family members 5 days after last exposure. That can be onerous, especially for larger families, especially at times when being out sick would be inconvenient. For me, avoiding those measures is reason enough to be cautious.

I don't know if it is smarter or if following this advice makes anyone a better person, but it definitely makes people who take measures to avoid infecting other people more compassionate human beings.

If you say you are following the science/public health guidance and also are "done with masks" you aren't following public health guidance and aren't willing to accept any inconvenience if you become infected to avoid infecting others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

People who are COVID cautious follow other aspects of public health advice, not just what is convenient. That means testing when you have symptoms or staying home, isolating a positive family member when possible, having other family members wear high-quality masks outside of the house when indoors or in crowded outdoor settings for 10 days after last exposure, and testing family members 5 days after last exposure. That can be onerous, especially for larger families, especially at times when being out sick would be inconvenient. For me, avoiding those measures is reason enough to be cautious.

I don't know if it is smarter or if following this advice makes anyone a better person, but it definitely makes people who take measures to avoid infecting other people more compassionate human beings.

If you say you are following the science/public health guidance and also are "done with masks" you aren't following public health guidance and aren't willing to accept any inconvenience if you become infected to avoid infecting others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

People who are COVID cautious follow other aspects of public health advice, not just what is convenient. That means testing when you have symptoms or staying home, isolating a positive family member when possible, having other family members wear high-quality masks outside of the house when indoors or in crowded outdoor settings for 10 days after last exposure, and testing family members 5 days after last exposure. That can be onerous, especially for larger families, especially at times when being out sick would be inconvenient. For me, avoiding those measures is reason enough to be cautious.

I don't know if it is smarter or if following this advice makes anyone a better person, but it definitely makes people who take measures to avoid infecting other people more compassionate human beings.

If you say you are following the science/public health guidance and also are "done with masks" you aren't following public health guidance and aren't willing to accept any inconvenience if you become infected to avoid infecting others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that for every 100 cases in the U.S., only 6-7 are officially recorded in our surveillance systems.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=resource-use&tab=trend&resource=all_resources

For example, on March 31, 2022 IMHE reported 27,400 cases but estimated 404,600 “true” cases due to underreporting and asymptomatic infection. This gap has dramatically widened over time.

During the peak Delta wave, an estimated 43% of cases were reported. During Omicron, about 26% of cases were recorded. Right now, an estimated 7% of cases are reported, which is abysmally low.

We are now totally flying blind.

Do you realize what this dramatic underestimation of the denominator means for our existing assessments of the risk the virus poses to the average person?

Anonymous wrote:The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that for every 100 cases in the U.S., only 6-7 are officially recorded in our surveillance systems.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=resource-use&tab=trend&resource=all_resources

For example, on March 31, 2022 IMHE reported 27,400 cases but estimated 404,600 “true” cases due to underreporting and asymptomatic infection. This gap has dramatically widened over time.

During the peak Delta wave, an estimated 43% of cases were reported. During Omicron, about 26% of cases were recorded. Right now, an estimated 7% of cases are reported, which is abysmally low.

We are now totally flying blind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.

This. Most smarter people are continuing to wear masks as they go about interacting with others.

Think it's about two weeks too soon to declare victory over spring break; most people aren't going to announce they are testing positive at home. I mean, hopefully hospitalizations will stay flat and this will start becoming endemic, but it's really too soon to tell.

So your theory is that people outside the DMV are universally dumb beyond the tiny percentage of people still masking in other areas? You think people in DC are just more informed and inherently better at risk assessment than people who live in places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle? Not just red states, but in very liberal areas with lots of highly educated progressives? For that matter, what about most of Canada and Europe, as well? Your saying DC is just smarter and better than people all these other places, that we alone understand Covid, the we are the only ones properly estimating the risk?

Is it at least a little big possible you are wrong about this? Do you have any doubts at all about it or are you 100% on it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

Or maybe we're smarter and don't want to get a disease which can cause brain damage, so we do a really easy thing and wear a mask.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/even-mild-covid-19-can-cause-your-brain-to-shrink

So, what's your endgame? You'll have to restrict your life pretty severely in order to avoid Covid forever. It's not going away.

It's not going away, but we'll get better vaccines and it'll be easier to access treatment. Good luck to you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

Or maybe we're smarter and don't want to get a disease which can cause brain damage, so we do a really easy thing and wear a mask.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/even-mild-covid-19-can-cause-your-brain-to-shrink

So, what's your endgame? You'll have to restrict your life pretty severely in order to avoid Covid forever. It's not going away.

It's not going away, but we'll get better vaccines and it'll be easier to access treatment. Good luck to you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us who left the area for break can confirm that Covid precautions are literally non existent except here. This area is so weird.

When I got off the plane in Orlando last week, I saw airport workers and sheriff's deputies in the terminal who weren't wearing masks.

Once we walked out of the terminal, maybe 1% of the people we saw were masked during our time there.

Something happened to a lot of people in this area that broke them during this pandemic.

I guess only broken people want to avoid getting a novel virus that causes long-term symptoms in an unknown percentage of those infected. I suppose only broken people would prefer not to have their lives disrupted by illness, want to avoid having to isolate themselves from infected family members, or risk infecting vulnerable people. That makes perfect sense.