A couple of weeks ago Denmark decided to eliminate all COVID restrictions and open up completely. How's that working out for them?
Shazam! Maybe they acted a little too soon? On the other hand, there's this:
Denmark is in the top half, but the United States has opened a big lead for first place even though our case rate is fairly low. I imagine it's because of this:
The best Valentine's Day gift you can give your beloved is to get them vaccinated. If they're already vaccinated, get them boosted. And if you're both already boosted, find a friend who isn't and badger them into it.
but the United States has opened a big lead for first place even though our case rate is fairly low
Completely agree (of course) about the critical importance of getting boosted, and the dismal record of the United States in keeping people from dying of Covid. But how can Kevin state as fact that "our case rate is fairly low"? What is this based on? I'd be very surprised if this indeed were the case, given the country's low adherence to basic pandemic protocols and masking (as well as its middling-low levels of vaccination). But maybe I'm missing something.
Only Canada has a lower case rate (first chart; expand if necessary). Though without knowing positivity rates, we have no idea how test coverage varies among countries.
Only Canada has a lower case rate
Per the chart Canada has a lower confirmed case rate. Big difference.
My point is: unless the compared countries in question are all testing at the same rate, we really don't know what their respective case rates truly are. America's "low" (scare quotes very much intended) case rate could be (and probably is, I reckon) entirely a function of its inadequate testing capacity. It reminds me of how Trump thought if we didn't properly measure Covid infections, they somehow didn't exist.
I'd be happy to have it pointed out that I'm missing something basic, but from what I can tell, "confirmed" case rate is a largely meaningless metric on its own (and has been since the arrival of the pandemic), at least as a tool to compare different countries.
Denmark is experimenting with whether you can have Covid spreading in the population but without overwhelming the health care system. So the key question is not how many people in Denmark are infected, but whether they're getting sick enough to require hospitalization.
As a program for dealing with Covid-19, I find this one a bit cold-blooded. Accepting a high but not ‘overwhelming’ rate of hospitalizations means accepting a rate of unnecessary deaths in trade for the ‘freedom’ to dispense with practices that we know reduce the spread of the disease.
While I agree with your sentiment, the fact is after 24 months of resistance to preventing the spread of Covid and 12 months of irrational anti-vaccine madness, we have lost. Nothing so far has changed more than a few minds and vaccine mandates have arguable heightened resistance to getting vaccinated. At this point, we should fully go the way of Denmark - claim victory that we, the USA, developed amazing vaccines and we have plenty of supply; we have also developed (or are near final development) of some extraordinary ways to limit (not totally eliminate) the impacts of getting more than mild sickness from Covid, and get rid of any government mandates of any kind. Those of us that think this will continue to get boosted when appropriate and perhaps mask in crowded, indoor locations….that’s our choice. Others haven’t done so and won’t, but let’s end our angst about trying to force the unwilling to do what we want.
Are you volunteering to do the healthcare for the unvaccinated people who still require hospitalization? Or at least support a tax increase so that all healthcare workers get a substantial tax credit for 2020-2022 (and beyond, after all, who knows...) ?
The thing is, at least for America, the choice isn't between abandoning our highly effective, comprehensive, Japan/New Zealand-style approach and full-throated libertarianism.
Clearly the response of the United States as a whole has been weak, unfocused and probably the most ineffective of any high income country. In other words, the choice is between pretending we haven't basically thrown in the towel, and admitting that we have. I'm tired of the kabuki dance. Communities*, families and individuals should feel free to continue to take a more stringent approach if they wish. But no additional national pandemic-fighting policies of substance are coming out of Washington. That's just reality.
At least the non-insane can substantially protect themselves, via vaccines (and masks, and other protective measures, if they so desire).
I realize America is home to sub-populations that either cannot be vaccinated, or are at a heightened risk for serious Covid illness even with the protection of vaccines. If we could go the parallel universe where America's political culture and governance norms resembled those of Norway or Singapore, we'd be looking at a much more optimistic scenario. But that very much doesn't describe the USA of 2022. Pretending otherwise probably makes things worse.
*It would appear that, in a number of states, communities cannot take a strong stance against the spread of the coronavirus: state regulations prohibit it. If that doesn't spell "futility" I don't know what does.
I would agree with you when I can vaccinate my kid. Omicron seems better at hurting kids that delta and we have no vaccine in sight since FDA is sitting on covaxin and pfizer as it has all pandemic, has underdosed its vaccine.
By all means gets those kids vaccinated. I hope the above didn't make it appear I'm against vaccinating. Far from it. Vaccines are our ticket out of this crisis. Indeed I'm all for mandates (I just wonder how realistic it is to hope they'll do any substantive good in America, given the fact that the Supreme Court vetoed the federal version). But yeah, protect your family.
Volunteer for what???? Maybe stop calling a stop gap treatment a vaccine??? Even in January of 2021 knew that. It also lost antibodies after 6 months, though was still filed. For stopping spread, it wasn't very good. For the old/sick, likewise with hospitalization.
Omicron, to me, much like Fauci likewise believes was the red giant phase of the pandemic.
But because Denmark is socialist & not a neoliberal endstage krapitalist dystopia (i.e. USAmerica), the COVID strategy is just good central planning, not literal eugenics.
Socialism invented eugenics
The people of Denmark HAVE accepted this. Unfortunately in the real world (tm) sometimes for all our tech and resources the weak and unlucky simply pay a higher price. It has always been such and will always BE such though we should try to mitigate. I say this as one of the weak.
Governments are going to open up when they think they won't overload ICUs. If Denmark still has empty ICU beds, then they are doing what we will be doing. Politically, we can't implement any public health policy unless we about to overflow the hospitals.
Here in California, the Republican argues that adults can be trusted to make family health decisions. Completely missing the point that vaccinations are a public health decision and not a private family decision. On the other hand, at lease he supports abortion, right?
Conservatives are deeply confused on every matter of interest to human life. It's best that they be segregated.
Your point is irrelevant. Most of 28+ is vaccinated in California. When it pulls its mandate by June, maybe you will understand fading relevance.
The new wingnut sound, 'everybody must get diseased . . .', the voice of their generation.
From The Freewheelin' Wingnut.
How did you get an advance setlist for Alex Jones's folk rock debut at SXSW2022?
I think the Republican Party needs to fund the development of a blood test that proves a person has NOT been vaccinated. Is such a thing feasible?
Their candidates are going to need it in the next few years to get through primaries.
I'm sure it is, but they'd immediately claim it was some scientastic way to deceive people because it comes from a lab. What else came from a lab? Covid. Add it up. Even if the candidates aren't in on it the Deep State is using this to select the one they want you to vote for!
Before marveling too much at how low the Danish death rate is in comparison with their case rate and with rates in the United States, ask how accurate the case counts are. Do you suppose it matters that Denmark administers tests at a rate six times as high as the United States?
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-tests-per-thousand-people-smoothed-7-day?tab=chart&time=2021-07-01..latest&country=USA~DNK
Oops, I need to fix that URL again:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-tests-per-thousand-people-smoothed-7-day?tab=chart&time=2021-07-01%2e%2elatest&country=USA~DNK
Yes, that makes a big difference. As do the cases that are just missed--i.e. asymptomatic.
Another thing to note, the US PCR protocol calls for more cycles, so more amplification, therefore it picks up lower levels of infection.
Oh, I didn't know that. That means that the Danish amount of testing might not catch as many more cases as I supposed.
Wrong. Since Denmark has a far lower population total than the American population number, it means it's easier to find all asymptomatic cases. Goosing totals per person.
Nope, reporting lags. What your seeing is from 2-4 weeks ago. I can confirm that in hospitalization collapse in Ohio by seeing the actual hospital space itself.
Come back in a month. Actual vaccinated between the U.S. And Denmark are basically the same with 28+. It's not the answer.
Why are you saying "boosted" in the headline and not "shot"....oh, nevermind....
Does anybody know how countries report deaths? Denmark now reports all deaths where the patient had Covid, but where that was not necessarily the cause of death. In other words, the Danish numbers are "deaths WITH Covid", not "deaths FROM Covid". I seem to remember that in the beginning of the pandemic Belgium did this, and that was to a large extent blamed for their extremely high death numbers. I haven't seen much mention of this question for the last year at least, but it would seem to make a big difference now that Omicron cases are mostly mild (especially in a country like Denmark with high vaccination rates).
I actually think this is the case in most (at least Western) European countries. It is certainly the case in Sweden, and has been since the beginning of the pandemic. Everybody deceased within 30 days of positive test is counted, regardless of cause of death.
Kevin, I mean seven (7) actual deaths per 1,ooo,ooo people? And no info on the co-morbidities of these. “Cases” now refers to any positive test, regardless of symptoms. It isn’t denialism to want some perspective with these reports, is it? If we had put half the energy into giving the rest of the world at least one shot, instead of hyperventilating about our needing three (because profits), would we be facing the same threat from variants?