Coronavirus (No politics)

[pierce60]

Its simple, they just aren’t checking for thE flu. My wife and I took our two youngest to the doctor 2 wks ago. The pediatrician suggested they be tested for Covid so we agreed. Kids were real lethargic, sore throat and just pale around the eyes. Same way they get every year when they get the flu. Rapid came back negative as did strep. I asked if she thought it was the flu she said no haven’t been seeing the flu that she was treating it as rhino virus until She sent the Covid test off, couple days later gotta call it was negative also. 2 days pass kids still no better my daughter woke up with a rash ( very similar to Scarlett fever) so we took both to urgent care. 1st thing they did was check for flu and strep within 5-10 minutes both were positive for type A flu and strep. The flu cases are down cause the doctors have been advised to not check for it.

Maybe your doctor isn't checking for the flu, but I've had to take my children in twice and our pediatrician tested them for COVID, strep AND flu. The parents I've talked to that have had to get their kids tested said their pediatricians are all doing the same and the logic is "let's do it all while you are here."

 

[Vols4us]

Rona mask wearing, social distancing, economy lock down comparison.

Sweden: none of the above. 680 K positives, 13 K deaths
Tennessee: all of the above. 778 K positives, 11.5 K deaths

Sweden has 4 million more people in its population than Tennessee. Mortality rates slowed significantly as vaccinations of the elderly began in February. Which is happening nationwide in America as well. We know that 85+% of the mortality occurs in people over the age of 60.

Lower mortality and positive case count rates per population. Rationalizations will be the only negative responses to this.

Open up all sports and the economy. Give it another month or so for more vaccinations if case counts are high - but its time to resume life.

#FreeTennesseeFootball.

 

[Kristy*]

Its simple, they just aren’t checking for thE flu. My wife and I took our two youngest to the doctor 2 wks ago. The pediatrician suggested they be tested for Covid so we agreed. Kids were real lethargic, sore throat and just pale around the eyes. Same way they get every year when they get the flu. Rapid came back negative as did strep. I asked if she thought it was the flu she said no haven’t been seeing the flu that she was treating it as rhino virus until She sent the Covid test off, couple days later gotta call it was negative also. 2 days pass kids still no better my daughter woke up with a rash ( very similar to Scarlett fever) so we took both to urgent care. 1st thing they did was check for flu and strep within 5-10 minutes both were positive for type A flu and strep. The flu cases are down cause the doctors have been advised to not check for it.

This is the CDC chart for influenza-like illness. They don't have to test positive, just have the symptoms of the flu. This year doesn't have the spike of past years. Also, there is 1 flu-related pediatric death this year in the US. Compare that to 195 last year. It's unprecedented.

 

[Rishvol]

This is the CDC chart for influenza-like illness. They don't have to test positive, just have the symptoms of the flu. This year doesn't have the spike of past years. Also, there is 1 flu-related pediatric death this year in the US. Compare that to 195 last year. It's unprecedented.

What are the vaccine numbers for the flu this year compared to previous years?

 

[Kristy*]

Are they 100% in person bc I know my family near there had the option for in person or virtual? Also..... it several factors.... over 20,000,000 more people have had the flu vaccine.... social distancing.... people staying home more.....limited capacity events..... at the place I work.... we were N95 masks with a surgical mask/face shield combo and still over 95% of the building had covid at one time..

It's around 75% in-person I believe. Yes, they had the option. But classes are still full to allow some teachers to teach virtually.

95% at your work had Covid while taking the strictest precautions? That doesn't speak well to the effectiveness of mask-wearing. That's crazy, honestly. Was there some kind of function outside of work where everyone could have been exposed?

 

[VolGee4]

Are they 100% in person bc I know my family near there had the option for in person or virtual? Also..... it several factors.... over 20,000,000 more people have had the flu vaccine.... social distancing.... people staying home more.....limited capacity events..... at the place I work.... we were N95 masks with a surgical mask/face shield combo and still over 95% of the building had covid at one time..

Where did you see the numbers on the flu vaccine this year? That's interesting, because at the beginning of this, people wanted to compare it to the flu and were using flu deaths. My argument was that we don't know how many people die from the flu without the vaccine. States are not required to report whether a person is vaccinated after dying from the flu. They only report pediatric deaths, which roughly 80% of deaths are from unvaccinated kids. So, more vaccines administered this year and seems like cases are down? Imagine that. I would think this whole ordeal causes more people to get the flu vaccine on a regular basis now.

 

[Kristy*]

What are the vaccine numbers for the flu this year compared to previous years?

"Current flu vaccination coverage among children is estimated to be 55.0% as of the week ending January 16, 2021 (MMWR week 2), lower than the 56.5% coverage estimated during the week ending January 11, 2020 (MMWR 2) in 2020."

"53% of all adults had received flu vaccine. These estimates are higher than the previous season’s (2019-2020) coverage estimates for adults, which were 45% by the end of January 2020 and 48% by the end of May 2020."

These are estimates right now. Slightly lower for kids. Higher for adults.

 

[VolsDoc81TX]

So, I was just reading about the TX Governor opening up Texas and the mandate to stop mandatory masks...not only did he not talk to the medical advisors on the committee that he appointed, he then ignored him when they recommended following scientific advice...

He screwed up the initial handling of the pandemic, likely causing a way higher infection rate and potential death rate in Texas. Pretty much expected him to screw up the return to normalcy as well. Across the state, hospital corporations and businesses are sending out notices that they are following scientific recommendations and not political recommendations...I foresee a lot of controversy and unnecessary strife caused by this elected official. Woohoo

 

[Otis1105]

So, I was just reading about the TX Governor opening up Texas and the mandate to stop mandatory masks...not only did he not talk to the medical advisors on the committee that he appointed, he then ignored him when they recommended following scientific advice...

He screwed up the initial handling of the pandemic, likely causing a way higher infection rate and potential death rate in Texas. Pretty much expected him to screw up the return to normalcy as well. Across the state, hospital corporations and businesses are sending out notices that they are following scientific recommendations and not political recommendations...I foresee a lot of controversy and unnecessary strife caused by this elected official. Woohoo

Look at Florida that has been fully open since like may.. they have the 3rd oldest population and the 2nd lowest death/million (behind Maine). Contrast that with New York with some of the strictest mandates and one of, it not the highest death/million. People get mad about either decision.. after a year of this virus if you still feel like you need official orders to keep you safe then that’s on you.. you should know the risks now, you should know what you are comfortable doing, you should kind of know how it spreads. IE in March last year we were Clorox wiping all grocery bags and grocery’s because we thought it could spread from hand to hand and live on a surface... the info changed as did our grocery unloading routine... you can’t legislate people to healthy living... NYC has proven that, in fact, maybe crazy restrictions lead to more cases because people get cabin fever and careless. All that to say, I’ll wear a mask because I have a 6 month old I’m responsible for and though the transmission to infants is rare and hospitalizations are even more rare I have to live with myself! I trust what I have read and don’t need anyone to tell me that I have to wear one.
all that to say, thanks for your service on the front line, I know perspectives change from your point of view and mine. Just pointing out the maybe counter intuitive statistical difference in fully open vs everything shut down for a year..

 

[VolGee4]

Look at Florida that has been fully open since like may.. they have the 3rd oldest population and the 2nd lowest death/million (behind Maine). Contrast that with New York with some of the strictest mandates and one of, it not the highest death/million. People get mad about either decision.. after a year of this virus if you still feel like you need official orders to keep you safe then that’s on you.. you should know the risks now, you should know what you are comfortable doing, you should kind of know how it spreads. IE in March last year we were Clorox wiping all grocery bags and grocery’s because we thought it could spread from hand to hand and live on a surface... the info changed as did our grocery unloading routine... you can’t legislate people to healthy living... NYC has proven that, in fact, maybe crazy restrictions lead to more cases because people get cabin fever and careless. All that to say, I’ll wear a mask because I have a 6 month old I’m responsible for and though the transmission to infants is rare and hospitalizations are even more rare I have to live with myself! I trust what I have read and don’t need anyone to tell me that I have to wear one.
all that to say, thanks for your service on the front line, I know perspectives change from your point of view and mine. Just pointing out the maybe counter intuitive statistical difference in fully open vs everything shut down for a year..

Good post. I think somewhere in the middle of being fully open v. shutdown is probably the answer. Maybe fully/mostly open with the continued encouragement of masks. The first 200k deaths correlated with urban areas.

It looks like Florida fully opened in late September. I was told Florida did a pretty good job at first getting vaccines to the aging population. They have alot to get to. Not so sure how Texas is doing in that regard. IMO, a decision to fully open up with no masks should be based on how well you've done with vaccines.

 

[Otis1105]

Good post. I think somewhere in the middle of being fully open v. shutdown is probably the answer. Maybe fully/mostly open with the continued encouragement of masks. The first 200k deaths correlated with urban areas.

It looks like Florida fully opened in late September. I was told Florida did a pretty good job at first getting vaccines to the aging population. They have alot to get to. Not so sure how Texas is doing in that regard. IMO, a decision to fully open up with no masks should be based on how well you've done with vaccines.

I thought Florida opened in may.. but that was probably just their beaches as I don’t care for anything else in that state.

 

[volwindy]

Good post. I think somewhere in the middle of being fully open v. shutdown is probably the answer. Maybe fully/mostly open with the continued encouragement of masks. The first 200k deaths correlated with urban areas.

It looks like Florida fully opened in late September. I was told Florida did a pretty good job at first getting vaccines to the aging population. They have alot to get to. Not so sure how Texas is doing in that regard. IMO, a decision to fully open up with no masks should be based on how well you've done with vaccines.

The article that I read when Texas was opening up at 100% stated that Texas was last in the nation in administering vaccinations per capita. Explains why my parents in SC have had both vaccinations and my husband's parents in TX can't even get scheduled for their first.

 

[VolGee4]

The article that I read when Texas was opening up at 100% stated that Texas was last in the nation in administering vaccinations per capita. Explains why my parents in SC have had both vaccinations and my husband's parents in TX can't even get scheduled for their first.

That's not a good combination, IMO.

 

[Orange Studs]

When I saw that other States have followed TX and Miss I began to wonder if TN was going to follow suite. I was so hoping that out Governor would do the same but when I searched I was kind of disappointed. Saw where the mask mandate will not be lifted but restaurants and other places restrictions would be as long as they practice social distancing. So my question is how you you lift restrictions but have restrictions? lol How does a restaurant increase and social distance? Sounds like we aren't really going to join TX and others in really opening up the State. Now the only reason I bring this up is not to get into to politics but for two reasons. One, did I misread that? and two, was so hoping that it would be open so we can freely go to the O& W game.

 

[Vols4us]

When I saw that other States have followed TX and Miss I began to wonder if TN was going to follow suite. I was so hoping that out Governor would do the same but when I searched I was kind of disappointed. Saw where the mask mandate will not be lifted but restaurants and other places restrictions would be as long as they practice social distancing. So my question is how you you lift restrictions but have restrictions? lol How does a restaurant increase and social distance? Sounds like we aren't really going to join TX and others in really opening up the State. Now the only reason I bring this up is not to get into to politics but for two reasons. One, did I misread that? and two, was so hoping that it would be open so we can freely go to the O& W game.

Lee is a follower. He tests the water before jumping in even if it delays economic recovery. He wants the media focus to be easier to handle. Once the majority of southern states open it up fully, he will. Still a shot for the spring game happening if the trends continue, which they should.

 

[Orange Studs]

Lee is a follower. He tests the water before jumping in even if it delays economic recovery. He wants the media focus to be easier to handle. Once the majority of southern states open it up fully, he will. Still a shot for the spring game happening if the trends continue, which they should.

That's what I got from reading it the article. Some of it like I mentioned doesn't make sense like the lifting restrictions on how many people they can serve as long as they practice social distancing. lol I wish we had a Governor that wasn't afraid to stand on his own two feet and make the tough calls. He is just following along with the other States much easier to hide that way.

 

[Vols4us]

That's what I got from reading it the article. Some of it like I mentioned doesn't make sense like the lifting restrictions on how many people they can serve as long as they practice social distancing. lol I wish we had a Governor that wasn't afraid to stand on his own two feet and make the tough calls. He is just following along with the other States much easier to hide that way.

I agree. IMO he's a good man who stepped into a job that was above his pay grade in times like these. Even Gov. McMaster in SC terminated the mask mandate in restaurants and government buildings this past week. So Clemson and USCe are pretty much good to go with theirs. We need to be with ours. We don't need to be dumb while most of the SEC is doing the right thing. The vaccines are out and as has been posted on here numerous times, most people will have made their choice to take or not by the time the game rolls around.

 

[VolGee4]

I agree. IMO he's a good man who stepped into a job that was above his pay grade in times like these. Even Gov. McMaster in SC terminated the mask mandate in restaurants and government buildings this past week. So Clemson and USCe are pretty much good to go with theirs. We need to be with ours. We don't need to be dumb while most of the SEC is doing the right thing. The vaccines are out and as has been posted on here numerous times, most people will have made their choice to take or not by the time the game rolls around.

The state doesn’t have a mask mandate though. He’s left it up to each county the entire time, which I think is fine. I don’t think it’s proper to mandate that a county can’t issue a restriction. I can’t say I know about other government buildings, but the state Supreme Court governs the courthouses. I don’t see them lifting mask requirements yet, although we are slowly opening things up in a week.

 

[MarcoVol]

I agree. IMO he's a good man who stepped into a job that was above his pay grade in times like these. Even Gov. McMaster in SC terminated the mask mandate in restaurants and government buildings this past week. So Clemson and USCe are pretty much good to go with theirs. We need to be with ours. We don't need to be dumb while most of the SEC is doing the right thing. The vaccines are out and as has been posted on here numerous times, most people will have made their choice to take or not by the time the game rolls around.

I live in SC. Citizens and elected leaders of this state are probably not the ones to look up to when making any decisions, about anything, ever.

 

[drvenner]

I agree. IMO he's a good man who stepped into a job that was above his pay grade in times like these. Even Gov. McMaster in SC terminated the mask mandate in restaurants and government buildings this past week. So Clemson and USCe are pretty much good to go with theirs. We need to be with ours. We don't need to be dumb while most of the SEC is doing the right thing. The vaccines are out and as has been posted on here numerous times, most people will have made their choice to take or not by the time the game rolls around.

The issue continues to be that a vaccine does not help only you, just the same as a mask does not help only you. This still is and always should have been only a public health issue. We have made some mistakes dealing with it. Some really bad people have misreported critical numbers and that has caused additional bad decisions. We had little national unity or leadership on the issue. I am not saying people should have to get a vaccine. That is totally their choice. As with all choices, there are consequences. One of those might be that slowing the spread and ultimately the highly desired herd immunity takes longer. It is not a matter of what other schools are doing. It is a matter of public safety. Yes, I know. I should just stay home. If only it were that simple.

 

[Vols4us]

The state doesn’t have a mask mandate though. He’s left it up to each county the entire time, which I think is fine. I don’t think it’s proper to mandate that a county can’t issue a restriction. I can’t say I know about other government buildings, but the state Supreme Court governs the courthouses. I don’t see them lifting mask requirements yet, although we are slowly opening things up in a week.

Which is the problem in my mind about the masks with no state mandate. I prefer the one rule method on the masks for practical and local tyrant issues. None of us stay in one county all of the time. We do not always know what the other counties do and should not have to check and plan to simply go to a neighboring county. Rona don't know county boundaries. In terms of the spring game, so I don't get the post moved to another thread somewhere, if I am coming from Shelby County, what do I do along I-40 when I stop to eat somewhere? Plan what restaurant in what county beforehand? What if my child or I need to stop and go to the restroom? What do I do in Knox County for the game or in Sevier County if I get a room there and spend some time. We also know that some counties are going longer than others with their restrictions. Knox County health department's restrictions were so onerous the county elected officials brought up for a a vote to take back control since they are an appointed board. They went way beyond the CDC's requirements for a long time and it had minimal positive results. The results did not matter - they were large and in charge. It affected what the football program did during the worst of it last season when most all the opponents were using common sense and just doing what was required by the CDC.

 

[Vols4us]

The issue continues to be that a vaccine does not help only you, just the same as a mask does not help only you. This still is and always should have been only a public health issue. We have made some mistakes dealing with it. Some really bad people have misreported critical numbers and that has caused additional bad decisions. We had little national unity or leadership on the issue. I am not saying people should have to get a vaccine. That is totally their choice. As with all choices, there are consequences. One of those might be that slowing the spread and ultimately the highly desired herd immunity takes longer. It is not a matter of what other schools are doing. It is a matter of public safety. Yes, I know. I should just stay home. If only it were that simple.

I respect all viewpoints on this because of the lack of clarity. My comments on this got removed recently. Maybe yours will stay. I will only say that when mandating personal health decisions one is opening up one to legal repercussions when said mandating produces negative results unless one lives in a communist society. If one is fearful of attending the spring game because we live in a society that allows for personal choices, one should not attend. The same applies to masks, which is even the CDC states provided less than a 2% benefit during the first 100 days. It's like calling the restrictions "guidelines" when in fact authorities are treating them as laws, which were not passed by lawmakers. JMO.

 

[VolGee4]

Which is the problem in my mind about the masks with no state mandate. I prefer the one rule method on the masks for practical and local tyrant issues. None of us stay in one county all of the time. We do not always know what the other counties do and should not have to check and plan to simply go to a neighboring county. Rona don't know county boundaries. In terms of the spring game, so I don't get the post moved to another thread somewhere, if I am coming from Shelby County, what do I do along I-40 when I stop to eat somewhere? Plan what restaurant in what county beforehand? What if my child or I need to stop and go to the restroom? What do I do in Knox County for the game or in Sevier County if I get a room there and spend some time. We also know that some counties are going longer than others with their restrictions. Knox County health department's restrictions were so onerous the county elected officials brought up for a a vote to take back control since they are an appointed board. They went way beyond the CDC's requirements for a long time and it had minimal positive results. The results did not matter - they were large and in charge. It affected what the football program did during the worst of it last season when most all the opponents were using common sense and just doing what was required by the CDC.

I agree that it’s not easy. I would just say that it’s like visiting another state or even country when you have to know their rules.

I don’t travel across county lines very much. By the time I think about traveling to Knoxville this fall, I don’t think it will be much of an issue.

 

[vollygirl]

I respect all viewpoints on this because of the lack of clarity. My comments on this got removed recently. Maybe yours will stay. I will only say that when mandating personal health decisions one is opening up one to legal repercussions when said mandating produces negative results unless one lives in a communist society. If one is fearful of attending the spring game because we live in a society that allows for personal choices, one should not attend. The same applies to masks, which is even the CDC states provided less than a 2% benefit during the first 100 days. It's like calling the restrictions "guidelines" when in fact authorities are treating them as laws, which were not passed by lawmakers. JMO.

You haven't had any comments removed. Sometimes posts are moved to an appropriate thread.

 

[drvenner]

I respect all viewpoints on this because of the lack of clarity. My comments on this got removed recently. Maybe yours will stay. I will only say that when mandating personal health decisions one is opening up one to legal repercussions when said mandating produces negative results unless one lives in a communist society. If one is fearful of attending the spring game because we live in a society that allows for personal choices, one should not attend. The same applies to masks, which is even the CDC states provided less than a 2% benefit during the first 100 days. It's like calling the restrictions "guidelines" when in fact authorities are treating them as laws, which were not passed by lawmakers. JMO.

Very reasonable post. I think the CDC caused a great amount of harm with their initial statements about masks. I think the idea was to avoid a panic and not deplete them for hospitals and other care providers. But people continue to point to this statement and I don't blame them. There are so many other things that could have been better. The public statements following the protests last summer also did a huge amount of harm. Numbers are dropping. I am encouraged by it. My wife has had her first vaccine and I hope to get mine later this month. Progress is being made. I am torn on full capacity for the Spring game, but am very confident we will be at or near full capacity in the Fall. As God intended