What do you think about with current News and Opinions?

MunoRN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

7 hours ago, GordonGekko said:

Florida leading the country in lowest covid rates. Great news for the state that encourages freedom.

That's the upside of having the highest covid rates in the country a month ago. If being a "state that encourages freedom" allowed them to have low Covid rates, then wouldn't have also been true that it allowed them to have the highest Covid rates a month ago?

3 hours ago, Tweety said:

That's not really fair. During this last surge all states were in a fully opened status and Florida was no different except there were no laws like New York about showing vaccination cards prior to going to bars for the most part. Theaters here however are still requiring vaccinations in some places, but not all. It's a mixed bag, but you can't single out Florida for doing something uniquely reckless.

Florida did have probably the worst surge in numbers, but I'm not sure in per capita how we fared because states like Alabama and even Idaho had a rough surge, but it was a rough surge for Florida for sure.

Florida had the highest new case rate on a per capita basis a month ago, and for the duration of the pandemic it has the 7th highest rate in the country. The six states above it are also "free" in terms of generally opposing mitigation measures.

The argument often seems to be that using measures to limit the spread of Covid doesn't actually work, and as a result all they do cause additional problems yet they clearly do work, whether that matters seems to come down to whether someone thinks permanent health impairment and death are bad things.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

5 hours ago, MunoRN said:

Florida had the highest new case rate on a per capita basis a month ago, and for the duration of the pandemic it has the 7th highest rate in the country. The six states above it are also "free" in terms of generally opposing mitigation measures.

The argument often seems to be that using measures to limit the spread of Covid doesn't actually work, and as a result all they do cause additional problems yet they clearly do work, whether that matters seems to come down to whether someone thinks permanent health impairment and death are bad things.

Thanks for the information. One of the reasons Florida and the US in general is seeing lower case numbers is because so many people have caught covid. There is no sugar coating the high cost covid has taken here.

Singling out Florida for being fully opened when all states were in a fully opened status and easing restrictions just didn't sit right with me.

But it is fair to point out the Florida was one of the worst states in terms of numbers and that mitigation works.

I've mentioned the same point before it does come down to whether having freedoms and a thriving economy is worth the cost of health problems and death. Some think it is and want to take that gamble, including the gamble of not being vaccinated.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

Quote

Instead, Youngkin drafted a playbook for Republicans to navigate around Trump -- keeping the former President's base energized while also winning back a share of suburbanites who had fled the party during Trump's tenure.

Remember when I said that people that didn't vote for Trump would likely turn around and vote Republican? I was right. I think this prediction might hold true for 2022. We'll see.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/03/politics/election-2021-takeaways/index.html

This was an interesting election for me personally as I am usually on the losing side of things. This time the mayor I voted for and all the city council people I voted for got in. We had 7 amendments and all but one went the way I voted. The mayor is a progressive democrat and it's nice to be in a sea of progressiveness in a state that is run by conservatives and went for Trump. It wasn't always this way here.

subee, MSN, CRNA · Nov 3, 2021

12 hours ago, Tweety said:

That's not really fair. During this last surge all states were in a fully opened status and Florida was no different except there were no laws like New York about showing vaccination cards prior to going to bars for the most part. Theaters here however are still requiring vaccinations in some places, but not all. It's a mixed bag, but you can't single out Florida for doing something uniquely reckless.

Florida did have probably the worst surge in numbers, but I'm not sure in per capita how we fared because states like Alabama and even Idaho had a rough surge, but it was a rough surge for Florida for sure.

Health, Pharma & Medtech›

State of Health

Rate of U.S. coronavirus (COVID-19) cases as of November 3, 2021, by state

Published by

John Elflein

, Nov 3, 2021 As of November 3, 2021, the state with the highest rate of COVID-19 cases was North Dakota followed by Alaska. Over 46 million cases have been reported across the United States, with the states of California, Texas, and Florida reporting the highest numbers of infections.

From an epidemic to a pandemic

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The term pandemic refers to multiple outbreaks of an infectious illness threatening multiple parts of the world at the same time; when the transmission is this widespread, it can no longer be traced back to the country where it originated. The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is over 248 million, and it has affected over 220 countries and territories.

The symptoms and those who are most at risk

Most people who contract the virus will suffer only mild symptoms, such as a cough, a cold, or a high temperature. However, in more severe cases, the infection can cause breathing difficulties and even pneumonia. We are still learning about how COVID-19 affects people, but those at higher risk include older persons and people with pre-existing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease. There is currently no specific treatment available; finding an effective medication to prevent infection is a public health priority.Read more

Rate of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the United States as of November 3, 2021, by state(per 100,000 people)

Number of cases per 100,000 people

It appears that you rated 8th in per capita infections. That's pretty sad for a state where people can be outdoors all 12 months of the year. Since I haven't traveled in so long, I don't know what it's like in other states but we are not "fully" open by any means. Most people are still masking indoors, restaurants are partially closed because of staffing issues, state schools and hospitals have to vax mandate, etc. Our current positivity rate is 4% and we did it without mass infection rates despite being a busy tourist destination.

GordonGekko, MSN · Nov 3, 2021

15 hours ago, subee said:

Well, that makes total sense since you were so infected. I'm sure this temporary natural immunity came at a depressingly huge human and financial cost. Vaccination is such an easier way to get antibodies over getting or spreading infection....the much easier way. A lot of people lost their freedom forever and someone has to pay for the medical costs. Hope your ability to feel free to go to bars was worth it.

Financial cost? You mean like shutting down businesses and destroying peoples livelihood? There needs to be a balance

GordonGekko, MSN · Nov 3, 2021

Congrats to people of VA. Seeing parents stand up against CRT and other hateful left rhetoric is amazing.

toomuchbaloney · Nov 3, 2021

Is anyone following the Rittenhouse trial?

nursej22, MSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

29 minutes ago, GordonGekko said:

Congrats to people of VA. Seeing parents stand up against CRT and other hateful left rhetoric is amazing.

Yes, Virginia teachers can go back to not teaching something they weren't teaching before.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

1 hour ago, GordonGekko said:

Financial cost? You mean like shutting down businesses and destroying peoples livelihood? There needs to be a balance

What about the cost of hospitalizations? Missed work due to isolating after a positive test? Or is Florida too free to consider that?

Cost of monoclonal antibody infusions? I going to make a guess that funerals aren't free in Florida.

59 minutes ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Is anyone following the Rittenhouse trial?

I am, sort of. I'll start a new thread.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

2 hours ago, subee said:

It appears that you rated 8th in per capita infections. That's pretty sad for a state where people can be outdoors all 12 months of the year. Since I haven't traveled in so long, I don't know what it's like in other states but we are not "fully" open by any means. Most people are still masking indoors, restaurants are partially closed because of staffing issues, state schools and hospitals have to vax mandate, etc. Our current positivity rate is 4% and we did it without mass infection rates despite being a busy tourist destination.

Yes, certainly being 8th per capita infections isn't something to brag about.

That wasn't my point.

Our percent of positivity here in Florida is 3% and 2.1% in the county where I live and we're a busy tourist destination about to enter into our "season". Over 65 are vaccinated at 89%, plenty of people are still wearing masks but I don't as a thrice vaccinated person unless it's required. Some businesses like my vet require them, but my current yoga studio starting this week dropped it. Concert venues are a mixed bag with one 2,000 venue without restrictions and the 20,000 venue requiring vaccines to attend.

We had Halloween and the street fair for halloween drew nearly 200,000 people over the course of the weekend. We are thriving. I'm reading that Canadian snowbirds will be finally returning this year as well.

Yes we've paid a high price for the freedom not to wear a mask, for businesses to decide what they need to do to survive, and for voluntarily vaccinations.

But we will also now be the leader on how to emerge from a pandemic and live it while not having it front and center controlling our lives.

Some who lost loved ones to covid may say the price is too high and we should have been more strict. Others who lost their business (like my former yoga studio and my former barber) or got deep in debt are bitter. I read an article that Tampa Bay lost billions due to covid.

I know you can't put a price on lives lost and the suffering of covid.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2021

Wouldn't that be a great ticket. Trump with JFK, Jr. as VP.

https://finance.Yahoo.com/news/qanon-crowd-super-bummed-jfk-204223753.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

toomuchbaloney · Nov 3, 2021

37 minutes ago, Tweety said:

Yes we've paid a high price for the freedom not to wear a mask, for businesses to decide what they need to do to survive, and for voluntarily vaccinations.

We've spent trillions of dollars apparently, according to analysis.

Quote

The estimated cumulative financial costs of the COVID-19 pandemic related to the lost output and health reduction are shown in the Table. The total cost is estimated at more than $16 trillion, or approximately 90% of the annual gross domestic product of the US. For a family of 4, the estimated loss would be nearly $200 000. Approximately half of this amount is the lost income from the COVID-19–induced recession; the remainder is the economic effects of shorter and less healthy life.

Remind me again, did the party of fiscal responsibility promote behaviors and practices that increased or decreased the spread of this very expensive disease? Oh right, that political leadership abandoned fiscal responsibility related to a public health emergency (just like they abandoned civic duty, family values, integrity, and ethics) to follow the lead of Trump who asserted from the beginning that masks were a matter of personal choice and that mitigation was optional.

There are direct consequences to letting a disease burn through a region. We have no idea what our experience in this country might have been had social conservatives cared more about the pandemic than they did about their politics.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771764