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If masks and social distancing don't work, why is the flu at an all time record low in the US?

If i had flu symptoms I would go get a test. If the test was negative I would assume i had the flu and go to bed. I would NOT go into a Dr Office or ER at that point (too risky).

My flu would not be counted.

This plus masks, distance. no hand shaking, no trade shows and empty offices have combined to give us the numbers we have. Lots of factors including under reporting.
 
I don't think meetings is where the collaboration happens. The collaboration and connection happen in the hallways, the drop-bys, the one-offs, and over a cocktail or coffee.

While I agree with you here there are still collaborations (think projects) where being in person is superior. Trying to share a screen and then passing that around is cumbersome to a degree. Agree with most of your post though as well as mashnut. The move to any hybrid WFH plan is going to have to be incredibly thoughtful.
 
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In 1940 the Germans launched a several month-long air campaign against Britain. By mistake it became a campaign against the civilians, and the Germans were convinced it would crack British resolve to fight. It didn't. It turns out that civilians living through blackouts, carrying gas masks, and going to bunkers had their morale increase. It was the shared experience; they were all in it together. The wealthiest Brits were sitting in air raid shelters as were the poorest.

The mask could have been something similar for Americans, a sign of being in something together. It could have been a unifying symbol, much like going to the bunker or carrying a gas mask. Or later in the war when the US went crazy over scrap metal drives and families turned in their cast iron skillets and the like (and little of it was used by the military). But the mask became the opposite. I'm not going to debate why; I am sure most of us won't agree on causation. But when we discuss national unity, there was a missed opportunity.
 
In 1940 the Germans launched a several month-long air campaign against Britain. By mistake it became a campaign against the civilians, and the Germans were convinced it would crack British resolve to fight. It didn't. It turns out that civilians living through blackouts, carrying gas masks, and going to bunkers had their morale increase. It was the shared experience; they were all in it together. The wealthiest Brits were sitting in air raid shelters as were the poorest.

The mask could have been something similar for Americans, a sign of being in something together. It could have been a unifying symbol, much like going to the bunker or carrying a gas mask. Or later in the war when the US went crazy over scrap metal drives and families turned in their cast iron skillets and the like (and little of it was used by the military). But the mask became the opposite. I'm not going to debate why; I am sure most of us won't agree on causation. But when we discuss national unity, there was a missed opportunity.
Talk about mixed messages...

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In 1940 the Germans launched a several month-long air campaign against Britain. By mistake it became a campaign against the civilians, and the Germans were convinced it would crack British resolve to fight. It didn't. It turns out that civilians living through blackouts, carrying gas masks, and going to bunkers had their morale increase. It was the shared experience; they were all in it together. The wealthiest Brits were sitting in air raid shelters as were the poorest.

The mask could have been something similar for Americans, a sign of being in something together. It could have been a unifying symbol, much like going to the bunker or carrying a gas mask. Or later in the war when the US went crazy over scrap metal drives and families turned in their cast iron skillets and the like (and little of it was used by the military). But the mask became the opposite. I'm not going to debate why; I am sure most of us won't agree on causation. But when we discuss national unity, there was a missed opportunity.
That's a pretty pitiful symbol for unity, sir.
 
You don't know because you don't care because the truth doesn't fit your agenda.... Sorry COVID didn't kill more of us in states with sensible governors

If you don't test, then you won't have high numbers. Close your eyes and the bad virus goes away.

Let me guess, when you played hide and seek as a kid, you thought closing your eyes would keep them from being able to see you.

Liberals are more likely to get tested than conservatives since liberals weren't following a buffoon that tried to downplay it while getting his own family vaccinated.
 
If you don't test, then you won't have high numbers. Close your eyes and the bad virus goes away.

Let me guess, when you played hide and seek as a kid, you thought closing your eyes would keep them from being able to see you.

Liberals are more likely to get tested than conservatives since liberals weren't following a buffoon that tried to downplay it while getting his own family vaccinated.
"Liberals are more likely to get tested than conservatives"

Got a link to the study that proves this?

If not, just another blast out the ass of the village idiot.
 
If you don't test, then you won't have high numbers. Close your eyes and the bad virus goes away.

Let me guess, when you played hide and seek as a kid, you thought closing your eyes would keep them from being able to see you.

Liberals are more likely to get tested than conservatives since liberals weren't following a buffoon that tried to downplay it while getting his own family vaccinated.
WTF are you talking about? Blues tested more than Reds? You’re talking out the wrong sphincter
 
"Liberals are more likely to get tested than conservatives"

Got a link to the study that proves this?

If not, just another blast out the ass of the village idiot.

No just common sense which you would know nothing about.

Many gopers think this is no worse than the flu. They think masks are an affront to their freedoms. You think those people are more or less likely to get tested when they can't bother to take it seriously?
 
This right wing talking point that Covid was no more an issue than the flu didn’t help matters.

 
Once again sorry the facts despute your agenda

But yet the facts don't dispute it ;)

"If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any," Trump asserted.

All the people up Trump's sphincter are doing just that and not testing.

Numbers in Michigan are much higher than Indiana. Do you really think covid is worse there or that more people in Michigan just happen to be getting tested?? If you believe the former, then you are dumber than you look.
 
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This is when you realize some people are a lost cause.

You can put as much factual information from the best scientists in the world in front of them and they still decide to go with their feelings. It's amazing, but you can't argue with stupid.
 
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COVID isnt the flu. I’m not a sheep. But I do believe in facts. I’m in Georgia and work in a medical practice. There is no Covid where I work now. None for 2 months
 
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No just common sense which you would know nothing about.

Many gopers think this is no worse than the flu. They think masks are an affront to their freedoms. You think those people are more or less likely to get tested when they can't bother to take it seriously?
Talking out your ass again. If you had any common sense, you'd have never voted for Dementia Joe.

You think common sense is whatever CNN and MSNBC tell you it is.
 
Sammy, the point is that we should listen to what virologists and immunologists about how to keep death rates as low as possible. The flu being non-existent shows that what we did worked.

I despise wearing a mask, but the way I see it, I'm doing my part to not accidentally kill someone. Wearing a mask is not that bad and it will hopefully be over very soon.
Even TV doctors know masks help.
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From the infection numbers, it sounds like, compared to Covid, the flu is a sissy when up against masks.
 
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Talking out your ass again. If you had any common sense, you'd have never voted for Dementia Joe.

You think common sense is whatever CNN and MSNBC tell you it is.
And you think common sense is found in trump's shitter.

dementia danc is more accurate. ;)
 
I hope that is accurate. I still know a lot of people that hate the idea, too many are stuck on "that isn't the way I learned to work".

Personally, there are some tasks I do better at home and some from the office. Hard activities that require focus, home is great. Boring repetitive work, too many possible distractions
There are other problems too, not easy to fix.

Many people who are trying to work from home live in apartments or small houses. It's one thing to "work from home" under those conditions in order to keep a job when it's an emergency. But it's not as doable when the home worker required to sit at home for months at a kitchen table with a laptop trying to work with nearby screaming kids or little brothers and/or loud TV trying to work and doesn't have a separate room to devote as an office.

Requiring an employee to permanently "work from home" strikes me as a way to externalize the employer's legitimate cost of providing office space without compensating the employee for providing it.
 
There are other problems too, not easy to fix.

Many people who are trying to work from home live in apartments or small houses. It's one thing to "work from home" under those conditions in order to keep a job when it's an emergency. But it's not as doable when the home worker required to sit at home for months at a kitchen table with a laptop trying to work with nearby screaming kids or little brothers and/or loud TV trying to work and doesn't have a separate room to devote as an office.

Requiring an employee to permanently "work from home" strikes me as a way to externalize the employer's legitimate cost of providing office space without compensating the employee for providing it.

Yeah, those are good points and it's worth separating out the challenges that are permanent vs the ones that are COVID-specific. Working from a small apartment when your partner works outside the home and your kids are in daycare/school is very different than trying to be a full-time stay-at-home parent while also working from home.

That doesn't change the point that it definitely externalizes those costs, it's not free to have internet that supports video calling etc. though there's some amount of offset for commuting costs (I came out about even in my rough calculations for the last year). My plan for my department is to shrink our office space requirements but not eliminate them, keep space for in-person collaboration when that's valuable and have desks available for anyone who wants to work part- or full-time from the office while making sure that our communication modes support a primarily remote workforce. I also have a team of well-compensated software developers, so the costs of internet etc. are much less impactful than for folks like call center employees being asked to work from home.
 
There are other problems too, not easy to fix.

Many people who are trying to work from home live in apartments or small houses. It's one thing to "work from home" under those conditions in order to keep a job when it's an emergency. But it's not as doable when the home worker required to sit at home for months at a kitchen table with a laptop trying to work with nearby screaming kids or little brothers and/or loud TV trying to work and doesn't have a separate room to devote as an office.

Requiring an employee to permanently "work from home" strikes me as a way to externalize the employer's legitimate cost of providing office space without compensating the employee for providing it.
Things getting a little tense in your mom's basement?

Ask real nice and maybe she'll let you go upstairs once in a while.
 
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There are other problems too, not easy to fix.

Many people who are trying to work from home live in apartments or small houses. It's one thing to "work from home" under those conditions in order to keep a job when it's an emergency. But it's not as doable when the home worker required to sit at home for months at a kitchen table with a laptop trying to work with nearby screaming kids or little brothers and/or loud TV trying to work and doesn't have a separate room to devote as an office.

Requiring an employee to permanently "work from home" strikes me as a way to externalize the employer's legitimate cost of providing office space without compensating the employee for providing it.
You bring up a very good point sir. A lot of companies are champing at the bit to reduce their real estate footprint and all the associated costs of managing an office.

That is more money in Uncle Joe’s pocket.
 
You bring up a very good point sir. A lot of companies are champing at the bit to reduce their real estate footprint and all the associated costs of managing an office.

That is more money in Uncle Joe’s pocket.
These parties are so comically predictable. Now biden wants a bil + to give the irs for audits (not a better tax code) and more taxes for the “American Family Plan” I.e. social programs!!!! Woooohoooo squeeze from the successful to add more government programs that arent worth a shit at fixing social ills.

Republicans get what they want without dem support. Leave. Dems do what they want without any Repub support.

This is not government working. But it is totally predictable.
 
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