covid is making life hard again. I can't just stop in the middle of a research project because I can't access the robots anymore. *makes angry noises* I already canceled a human study because of covid, so this feels super unfair.

but you know what pisses me off even more? the govt complaining about numbers being high but not doing jackshit about active disinfection of air and public spaces (China did that, btw) or providing cheap disposable masks for people.

Also, I'm not as much afraid of getting covid as I am afraid of giving it to the head of the department who is a 70+ yrs old genius in his own right.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.

... This is shit.

if I ended up having a heart attack because of all this stress, do count this as a covid death. :|

Is hosing down public spaces really effective for a virus?

@N00bPancakes with alcohol, it seems to be.

@NoMad Tequila? Yes, that is effective! Drinks for everyone!

@NoMad Like it reduces infection rates?

I'm more than a little skeptical ... I'm not sure there is much to back that up.

I agree with you 100%. There is a big possibility that there will not be a total shutdown again, but instead the government reverting some of the allowances (restaurants, gatherings, maybe a curfew) since they should know how to be better prepared to face a possible 2nd wave without hurting everything at the degree they did before.

Yes, it is super unfair, and yes govt. Everywhere should be dealing with it more effectively. But right now I would suggest doing everything you can to be a bit ahead just in case, but I am hopeful things everywhere (aside from the US) will be handled better and not as drastically as before

@N00bPancakes you really think if we disinfect the air in trains, people would still get covid from just being in the train?

idk man, I prefer the cleaning to the lockdowns.

@N00bPancakes 70% or higher Isopropyl alcohol (pure, not diluted) on hard surfaces has been proven to significantly cut down on the ability of the virus to stay in the surface for extended periods of time, and reduce a bit of it's contagion rate if you come in contact with the surface

@Lyym have you seen germany's numbers? despite new restrictions, it is starting to look like a tsunami.

@NoMad yeah, I've kept up to date with the numbers, I've also seen Angela's public comms and interviews, she's trying her hardest to not have to revert back to a total shutdown, as are other countries in Europe. But people.... People really are fucking everything up for everyone

@NoMad that could also be the case of staggered, or delayed results. So maybe this positive result increment has been because of that, hopefully

@Lyym I think it has more to do with the temperatures. Covid's favorite temperature is about 8 degrees celsius iirc. I read that months ago, but if it's still the same, it is because the virus is staying alive outside for longer. so until it gets colder, this is the situation unless they actively disinfect.

@Lyym

Yeah sure... but does that impact infection rates?

Killing a virus on a surface in a lab when testing, is that the issue?

There's a hell of a lot more to it than that...

@NoMad agreed, although this winter is predicted to be a bit warmer than last, so the situation might be a bit more complex. Hopefully not tho!

@N00bPancakes "does killing a virus impact the infection rate?" is your question the answer to which is "definitely yes".

@Lyym We are currently testing temperature effects on Covid in Idaho. Your welcome.

@Demolishun thank fuck, cause where I am it's a shitshow

@Demolishun are you guys using flame throwers? if not, I'm disappointed.

@NoMad No, our temperature on Saturday was 8 deg F (below freezing). So we are testing the low end.

@Demolishun damn Idaho temps be wil'ling. Thank you for your work with COVID tho, as people of science we appreciate it

@NoMad What exactly are we talking about?

Spraying a surface kills a virus, we assume that plays out in infection rates in the real world?

Like if infections come from person to person proximity, surfaces may have no impact....

@N00bPancakes since March last year it has been said the virus can last up to 24hrs or more in hard surfaces, and is also an effective way of contagion. That's why China did the cleansing and spraying. And it worked.

That's why suggesting the cleaning 9f surfaces and minimizing the ways the virus can spread is a good idea

@N00bPancakes Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if transmission is much more prevalent with sexual contact. So it will literally be spiking because people are fucking around.

@Lyym "and it worked"

Based on what? How do you determine among the myriad of actions they took, including lock downs far more severe than anywhere else, that spraying surfaces 'worked'?

I'm gonna be honest I'm going to give up on this conversation, it's kinda crazy to have folks who don't seem to understand how lab results do not always equal real world results and how many variables are at play...

@N00bPancakes I said disinfection of air, btw.

now go pick a fight with scientists of a billion and half nation. lol.

Keep yourself positive. I'm from Czech republic, WE are in big ass. :P

Masks work. But only if everybody wears them.

And people are retards, so masks don't work.

Social distancing works. But only if everybody does it.

And people are retards, so social distancing doesn't work.

Contact tracing works, but only if your government sets it up.

Our government is a retard, so contact tracing doesn't work.

Strong leadership helps, but our leader is a limp dick retarded coward.

So strong leadership doesn't work.

The problem isn't 'rona... it's that people are fucking retarded. Our stupidity is killing more people than the virus.

I'm very stressed during covid-19 but not because of covid-19 but because of government ridiculous restrictions.

Germany's stats in particular are ones I found to be very inconsistent, but always underreported. I've documented this on https://git.ghnou.su/ghnou/cv which is the COVID-19 tracker I made (and still occasionally tweak things in, but most of it is more or less finalized).

The problem seems to be as of recently that Germany updates its stats during the day, while the total stats are updated all at once, though I'm not entirely sure of this either.. I've generated half a year of data in general, but this is only something I realized a few days ago. Either way it means that the stats are too low in general, unless it's requested late in the evening (again, not entirely sure). But yeah, Germany has never been exceptional in COVID-19 cases compared to others like France, though their stats always implied it. Besides, even if it's real-time and not malice.. real-time stats for tests initialized up to 2 weeks earlier.. seriously? When we see the stats, they're already dated regardless.

@HiFiWiFiSciFi Lol your are from Czech Republic too?

Just nuke everything from the orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

@HiFiWiFiSciFi masks dont work. at all.

how do I know? I know a germaphobe who caught it. They disinfect religously. They wear a mask every single day. They still caught it.

trust me, stay home.

respiratory droplets arent even stopped by the masks. think about that.

@Wisecrack Covid is a means to an end. It is all about control. You talk to medical people, and I have, and they are not worried about it. They are exposed and have contracted it. Yet they are not worried about it. I just had to take someone to the ER and the lady nurse who helped us didn't have any worries about covid. They were not overrun either as the media, papers, etc would have you believe. They get way more people from taking out appendixes apparently. Which is why we were there. Many many health professionals are speaking out, but none of the major networks or websites will ALLOW anything to be said about the true nature of covid. There is also suppression of successful treatments we have already found. Consequently not all medical pros have access to this information. The media is has aided in this suppression as well. There is a reason people are pissed about this. They can see through the veil of deceit.

@Demolishun I'd like to believe all that but theres a lot of people on all sides saying all sorts of things. And while I think covid isnt truly deadly (and it really got blamed for a lot flu deaths), the flu *is* deadly for the elderly. So im of the opinion that if a lockdown and public sanitation can prevent 100k seasonal flu deaths of boomers and greatest generation, then we'll endure.

Happy Holidays.

@Wisecrack I agree with that. We are definitely seeing high affect of certain age groups. I am more concerned with the millions of people who will starve/commit suicide due to lockdowns. Lock downs are immoral. 300 Million people are facing starvation worldwide. New York's economy may never recover. The fallout is what will ultimately kill us.

@Demolishun it's totally a tradegy whats happening to new york.

an absolute tradegy.

@Wisecrack

"an absolute tradegy."

I prefer "calculated evil".

@Demolishun maybe.

I disagree with the above. I would stil follow my doctor's orders, who has a good 20+ years of experience, and wear my mask and isolate.

Also, there are reputable studies out there about covid and masks, if anyone would bother googling.