Coronavirus

[apl68]

The State Librarian notified us today that public libraries in our state will be used as distribution sites for some of the 1.5 million rapid self-test kits to be distributed in our state.  Hopefully next week we'll be able to pick some up at the county health unit as part of our share.  The State Librarian envisions as many as 15% of the kits being distributed through libraries.  We'll see whether people want to come here to get them.  I suppose there will be at least a few people who consider us a more convenient/less scary place to go for them than the county health unit.

Infection numbers seem to have blown up here in recent days, as they have everywhere in the state.  The scary thing is, even as infections have gone up so much in our state, we've actually moved down a couple of notches in the league tables of states with high rates of infection.

[Morden]

Reported case rates are getting less and less reliable in Canada as more jurisdictions are reserving PCR tests for those really sick. We just don't have the testing capacity to test everyone who has it.

[downer]

So how are things going to play out after January/February? Omicron will have swept the nation, hospitalizations will be down, and people will be feeling like the worst is over. We will move back to opening restaurants and going maskless in supermarkets.

How soon will universities tell students they don't need masks in classrooms? For how much longer will there be restrictions depending on vaccination status?

[aside]

My place has already said masks will be required in classes (but not hallways!) through the end of January.  So comforting.

[Caracal]

So how are things going to play out after January/February? Omicron will have swept the nation, hospitalizations will be down, and people will be feeling like the worst is over. We will move back to opening restaurants and going maskless in supermarkets.

How soon will universities tell students they don't need masks in classrooms? For how much longer will there be restrictions depending on vaccination status?

Different questions, no?

Masks in classrooms should be linked to overall community prevalence and risk. I do think it would be helpful for schools to set actual metrics for that

You need to get various vaccines to attend most colleges. I can't really see why Covid vaccines should be different for the foreseeable future.

[the_geneticist]

So how are things going to play out after January/February? Omicron will have swept the nation, hospitalizations will be down, and people will be feeling like the worst is over. We will move back to opening restaurants and going maskless in supermarkets.

How soon will universities tell students they don't need masks in classrooms? For how much longer will there be restrictions depending on vaccination status?

Our restaurants are all full capacity & only require masks if you are not seated.  Even though our infection rate is skyrocketing.
The state has declared masking for all indoor public spaces.

I'm guessing we'll be masking up at the university until the end of this academic year.  My money is on masks being optional next Fall, with a vaccine mandate & a "stay home if you're sick" policy.

[apl68]

Our county health office contacted us today and said that the test kits are in, and that they'll bring them to us tomorrow.  Saves us a trip to their office.  Only problem is the first shipment isn't as big as originally planned, so we'll only be getting one case of tests in this first batch, not the two we'd been promised.  It's not just us--they're being spread thinner all around the state.  I had supposed that we'd get enough in this shipment to last us for some days, but with demand as high as it is and our allocation having been cut in half, we might end up running out pretty quickly once the news gets out that we have them.

[mamselle]

Shh--don't tell....

   (...kidding...)

M.

[hmaria1609]

Gov. Northam has declared a 30 day state of emergency in VA:
https://wtop.com/virginia/2022/01/citing-spike-in-covid-hospitalizations-northam-declares-state-of-emergency-in-va/
Posted on WTOP Radio online (1/10/22)

[Langue_doc]

Our state is a "hot spot"; our city is even more of a hot spot because of the population density; during the last 14 days, the number of cases has gone up by 94%, and the number of hospitalizations by 224%. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/new-york-covid-cases.html

Our elected officials seem to think that testing and more testing is the solution! Schools are open, and everything is back to normal.

[downer]

The subway system is not doing well. Lots of delays due to staff shortages.

With the hospitalization peak lagging behind the COVID peak, the next two weeks are going to be rough in the city. Hard to say when the numbers will start going down.

[Harlow2]

My state in the Philly metro area is now full of unmasked people everywhere, hospitals in one nearby county are diverting patients and others are full. General case increases have pushed NJ completely into the red zone.

[Ruralguy]

Honestly, who knows?  My school is one of the more conservative ones out there, but decided long ago that they would use CDC guidance as the rule for masking and such unless of core the state law was stricter (which it hasn't been for a while). We will likely have masks until the end of the semester. If no other variants causing surges (probably impossible for now), we might get to no masks by the summer/fall.

The nature of future variants and how many people are vaccinated and how effective those vaccine actually are will really determine almost everything. On the first, nobody can really say anything, other than it links to the second point because if a large portion of public is unvaccinated, there will be variants getting through to more people. As many have started, getting past 75% vaxed in the US overall will be very difficult, even with approval for all but the youngest children (though when those approvals go through, which they will, rate can be bumped up several percent). Effectiveness----big open question, though clearly its better to be vaxed than not. But do we really know that will always be the case? It may start to have very marginal benefit at some point. However, at that point, the formula for the vaccine would likely be altered.

[apl68]

Our test kits have arrived!  The county health office is hoping to receive more within another day or two.  We'll start getting the word out.

I relayed everything the county health officer told me about the tests for the benefit of the staff.  I'm a little concerned about staff morale.  One staff member is a serious worrier.  She gives the impression that she wants nothing to do with these kits for fear that they will bring swarms of sick, contagious people to the library.  We're going to encourage people to pick them up curbside to minimize that risk.  I've offered to take them out to the patrons myself if they want.  I'm not worried about momentary curbside contact, especially since I'll be masked.

[Istiblennius]

We have been getting regular updates from our public school district warning us to prepare for a return to remote learning... It's not that the kids are getting very sick in droves, but rather that the number of positive tests/symptoms/caring for someone who is sick requiring staff to stay home means they simply cannot staff the school. A friend pointed out that hopefully they could run a skeleton crew to at least support the students on IEPs and at greatest mental health risk. That's not my kids, which is okay and I think it's a great idea, so I'm hoping the school district considers that.