i think i would have done what calif has done, restrict where ICU beds are down and loosen when beds free up.
i think if im not wrong we in the bay area were among the first in the world besides china to go into lockdown where everyone is fired except essential workers??
get some rest, tommy. COVID will still be here tomorrow 
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unfortunately that is true
Vaccine rollout hits major milestone as 90% of adults are fully vaccinated Vaccine rollout hits major milestone as 90% of adults are fully vaccinated
Look at the comments in the article .
None of the crazy vitriol you see in a lot of places .
Itâll be interesting to see how things pan out from here. If they let everyone go about their daily business and shut up about COVID, then maybe thereâs a glimmer of hope on the horizon. If they start agitating about a winter âsurgeâ (as in the UK), or if thereâs a rash of articles about ârising casesâ, or âfalling efficacyâ, or âCOVID in the young, indicating an urgent need for vaccinationâ ⌠well, brace yourself for another tsunami of bullshit.
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Some data from UK to look through:
An analysis of deaths involving COVID-19 that occurred between 2 January and 2 July 2021 in England, by vaccination status.
i think the vaccine holds outs believe that the disease is not dangerous enough to enough people to warrant the dangers of the vaccine.
but its clear the disease is a threat. Even if some people have died because of the vaccine, the disease is probably a more real threat to most
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Aircrew are stressing out:
People think pilots are murderers because we brought back the virusâ: Taiwanâs Covid scapegoats
âImprisonedâ by quarantine and isolated from their families, flight crews have become social pariahs
ByNicola Smith, ASIA CORRESPONDENT10 September 2021 ⢠5:28pmTaiwanâs pilots and aircrews were once admired for their glamourous lifestyles, and feted for operating the flights at the heart of the islandâs export-heavy economy.
Now, âimprisonedâ by back-to-back quarantine, and isolated from their families, their globe-trotting profession also makes them social pariahs in the eyes of a public that has largely been protected from Covid-19.
Parties, restaurants, gyms and even a trip to the beach with their children are all forbidden for flight crews under some of toughest quarantine rules in the world.
This week, pilots working for Taiwanese airlines warned the toll of 18 months of severe pandemic restrictions had been so damaging to physical and mental health they feared it could compromise flight safety.
âPeople are trying to not leave each other alone in the cockpit,â one pilot told the Telegraph , describing the exhaustion of being indefinitely deprived of a normal life, while facing rising online hate.
AdvertisementIn an online pilot chat group ahead of a Thursday meeting between union representatives and Taiwanâs Civil Aeronautics Administration and Centres for Disease Control, crew members pleaded for safety concerns to be raised.
âAmong almost 3,000 pilots some may be depressed and bullied to the point of doing fatal mistakes, if not intentionally? How can I make sure that the colleague next to me wonât be the next Germanwings case,â read one message, referring to the 2015 tragedy when a co-pilot on the German airline deliberately crashed a plane into a mountain.
The severe coronavirus outbreaks ravaging much of Asia has left Taiwan on edge, prompting the governmentâs Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) to tightened rules for aircrews to prevent the more contagious Delta variant from breaking through.
The regime begins with layover flights, where long haul airline crew are monitored by their electronic hotel key to ensure they donât leave the room until the journey home.
The severe coronavirus outbreaks ravaging much of Asia has left Taiwan on edge, resulting in tightened rules for aircrews CREDIT: ANN WANG /ReuterOn return, fully vaccinated crew now undergo five days quarantine in a hotel or company dorm, followed by nine days of âenhanced self-health management.â
AdvertisementDuring this period, they must avoid public transport, crowded spaces, group activities and venues that include hospitals, malls, childrenâs playgrounds, restaurants, places of worship and events such as weddings or concerts, all of which renders regular family life impossible.
The Telegraph spoke to several pilots and their family members, local and foreign, about the impact of indefinite isolation. All requested anonymity to avoid a backlash, and did not wish to name their airlines, who they did not blame for the crisis.
They had decided to speak out not only due to fears that depression could lead to a âcatastrophicâ event but to counter the growing vilification of their once-respected profession by the public and local media, despite the personal sacrifices of airline staff.
The pilot community believes it has been scapegoated after three Covid-19 outbreaks since December â including a small Delta variant cluster last week â were linked to flight crews.
Airline employees claim rising discrimination, including incidents of schools asking their children to stay home and healthcare facilities refusing to treat them. One pilot reported a colleague had suffered a suspected broken foot for months as he could not get admitted to hospital.
AdvertisementOnce proud of their jobs, many no longer admit publicly to their profession.
âYou feel ashamed of being a pilot here in Taiwan,â said one. âIâm not going to say Iâm a pilot. I feel like Iâm hiding, like a thief,â he said.
âPeople are thinking the pilots are murderers because we brought back the virus,â said another crew member, describing a âwitchhuntâ atmosphere, fuelled by online hate and bullying, including comments wishing death on pilots.
Constantly shifting rules have left crew confused and nervous that âthe slightest violation can cost our jobs,â said the pilot. âWe just need to know what is the way out because right now we donât see any hope.â
Taiwan, an island of 24 million, has been globally championed for its robust pandemic response, which has kept cases down to about 16,000 and deaths at 837 through tight border controls that impose 14 day quarantines on all arrivals.
The governmentâs success has raised the political pressure to meet high public expectations and placate fears of a serious outbreak while the majority of the population remains unvaccinated.
AdvertisementMeanwhile, air crews and their families have increasingly become collateral damage of the nationâs âzero Covidâ strategy.
Public opinion began to turn against airline crew after a Covid-positive pilot broke the islandâs 253-day streak of no local transmissions CREDIT: MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE /EPA-EFE/ShutterstockDespite the pandemic, exports have remained strong over the past year, raising economic growth forecasts for 2021 to 5.88 per cent. About half of shipments are transported by air.
Cargo flights operated by the two main carriers EVA Air and China Airlines bring in vital supplies like food and vaccines, and remain crucial to the global supply chain of semiconductors.
But the tide of public opinion began to turn against airline crew in December after a Covid-positive New Zealand pilot working for EVA broke the islandâs 253-day streak of no local transmissions. He was later fined ÂŁ7,900 by the authorities and fired from his job for failing to disclose his contacts and activities.
The breach resulted in a tiny cluster of four people, but the public was still infuriated. Pilots were also frustrated that they were widely castigated as a group of privileged rule-breakers.
âThey have done an incredible job at keeping the virus out but unfortunately people see one or two slipups as failure, rather than see thousands and thousands of flights as a success,â said one pilotâs wife.
AdvertisementTaiwanâs largest outbreak of the pandemic in May and resulting three-month lockdown was initially believed to have been triggered by a cluster at an airport quarantine hotel for China Airlines flight crews.
Chen Shih-chung, the health minister, clarified in August that the cluster had not spread to the community, but not before another wave of public anger had been unleashed on airline staff.
âThe worst part is the constant media persecution, everywhere you read âits the pilots, the pilots!ââ said another spouse, adding that she was regularly being scrutinised by parents at her childâs school. âWeâre being attacked constantly, pointed at constantly,â she said.
Another blow to staff morale came last week after 55 pilots and flight attendants and their families were quarantined in state facilities after three pilots and oneâs teenage son were found to be infected with the Delta variant, resulting in the closure of a high school and 2,855 tests.
Photos leaked to the local media showed bleak rooms with opaque windows, dirty floors and dead insects. For already demoralised pilots, the order to bring their families was a step too far.
AdvertisementThe impact of restrictions on family life was creating desperation, said one pilot who spoke of a colleague who had cried in the cockpit because he was barred from seeing his newborn.
But he said staff were afraid to admit to the pressure in case they lost their jobs. âThe company is trying to tell us there is a psychiatrist if we want to talk about it. Of course, nobody wants to talk about it,â he said.
Pandemic-related mental health issues are not unique to Taiwanese airlines, nor are the challenges of addressing them.
In June, the Lived Experience and Wellbeing Project at Trinity College, Dublin, which studies the link between aviation worker wellbeing and flight safety, warned that airlines were overlooking mental health in the scramble to get planes in the air again.
In an August 2020 survey of more than 2,000 aviation workers, it found that they had suffered moderate anxiety and depression more than the general population during the pandemic.
âHowever, the culture in aviation means pilots cannot speak openly - stigma, loss of license, loss of earnings - and avail of the same supports as the rest of the population,â said Dr Joan Cahill, the reportâs principal investigator.
AdvertisementâWe have established health monitoring processes for aircraft â but not for our people,â she said.
The Telegraph contacted the CAA, CECC and the Taiwanese airlines.
A CAA spokesperson said the body was aware of the mental stress facing pilots and in active talks with the CECC and pilotsâ unions on how to improve conditions, snuff out public misconceptions and rearrange working schedules to allow more quality family time.
âThe CECC commander is aware of the seriousness of this, and they are trying to find a better way that would be able to balance the mental health of pilots and also the economic export of our country,â she said.
EVA said it was supporting staff in substandard quarantine facilities and âoptimising our schedule and method of dispatching flights to relieve some of the physical and mental health stresses our air crews may be experiencing.â
It said it had offered pilots professional counselling sessions and extended leave for mental or physical health reasons. âWe also sent a letter to every member of our air crews, thanking them for their tremendous efforts and sacrifices,â the company said.
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China Airlines also thanked its pilots. âThe physical and mental well-being of pilots is important to China Airlines. A caring team was set up to actively reach out and support pilots put at risk during the line of duty whether they are currently in quarantine or continuing to fly,â it said.
It said it was âremaining vigilant at all times. As aviation safety is our top priority, we strive to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of every crew member.â
*Additional reporting: John Liu
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the population in taiwan needs to get the jabs so that the borders can open again safely
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Iâm not really sure what to make of that. For one thing they are completely at odds with the numbers being put out by the NHS. Not just a little bit; theyâre not even close.
If the median age-at-death is 82, virtually everyone in that agegroup has been vaccinated, so you would expect a majority of deaths to be fully vaccinated even with a 100%-effective vaccine. It doesnât seem mathematically possible for nearly 100,000+ deaths to have occurred (with or without COVID) in the unvaccinated elderly cohort when there are only a few hundred thousand of them to begin with.
The title of Table 1 is rather bizarre. It implies that 640 people were killed by vaccination, but doesnât drill down into that possibility.
Table 3 implies that vaccination buys a couple of years of extra life, which suggests that a 36-month ASMR will show no difference across 2020-2022 compared to previous years.
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I did not have time to look closely yet.
ONS is legit.
Of course theyâre legit. Up until now Iâve relied on them for all the statistics I post. I suspect these screen grabs have been taken out of context and donât show what the tweeter thinks they show.
Iâve only skimmed that wall of text, but I think the takeaway message is that you canât make enormous changes to the way air travel works (and the way air crew are treated) and expect no repercussions. These people are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect and consideration. Air travel is a critical part of the global economy: no solution exists whereby air crew are rendered âsafeâ while air transport continues to function, which is why airlines have been operating a donât-ask-donât-tell policy with regard to air crew quarantines.
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The UK ONS donât require a positive Covid test to register any death as involving Covid, so these stats are debatable.
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That could well explain it. The NHS technical bulletins only discuss cases that have been sequenced and ignores those that havenât (which is, of course, the vast majority).
They just havenât yet unleashed the virus that these vaccines actually protect against.
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Which is something I always attributed to incomplete compliance with control measures. But the fact that the regular flu season basically didnât happen suggests that the interventions targeting Covid were at least effective against flu, or those most likely to be tested for and have severe cases of flu.
GET THE SHOTS
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Imagine that, babies are on the list it seems.
This guy claims heâs had the normal flu multiple times. Heâs a young man. Why he had the flu so many times? Iâve never had it, none of my family have ever had the flu. I suspect other issues are involved here, beyond what heâs reporting. He also canât be sure he didnât get Covid from a vaccinated person.
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