Wow, it’s getting really scary in Texas - and everywhere else!

[audreyh1]

Wow, another big jump in the Texas deaths reported today: 197!

New cases reported: 9879.

Wed thru Fri they seem to report higher numbers.

It may be that daily new cases are starting to stabilize around 10,000, but unfortunately daily deaths are going to keep climbing for a while.

 

[brewer12345]

Looks like California is starting to go off the rails, with 12,8XX positives today.

Brazil has now eclipsed the US, reporting 67k cases today.

 

[audreyh1]

Looks like California is starting to go off the rails, with 12,8XX positives today.

Brazil has now eclipsed the US, reporting 67k cases today.

Brazil has a population of 212M, so around 2/3 of the US. Wow!

 

[TechLead]

"Coronavirus will never be eradicated Dr. Anthony Fauci

 

[brewer12345]

Fauci is probably right. The flu is still with us over 100 years later.

 

[Ronstar]

Wow, it’s getting really scary in Texas!

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

 

[audreyh1]

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

You’ve nailed it. People in some areas are considerably more careful than in other areas.

In some areas with the focus on rapidly reopening the economy, many people took it as a green light to engage in risky behavior by acting as if everything was like pre-Covid times and that they could resume old activities and blow off precautions. And even make up for lost time!

Those areas are seriously paying for that mistake.

 

[timo2]

You’ve nailed it. People in some areas are considerably more careful than in other areas.

In some areas with the focus on rapidly reopening the economy, many people took it as a green light to engage in risky behavior by acting as if everything was like pre-Covid times and that they could resume old activities and blow off precautions. And even make up for lost time!

Those areas are seriously paying for that mistake.

Most people are not generally up on medical stuff. I blame the leaders (political, religious, corporate, whoever the leaders in an area are), for the communication misunderstandings that allowed for the interpretation that everything was OK just because some businesses opened.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, messaging is key. It comes down to individual behavior, but some states have been better about encouraging responsible behavior than others, and at warning about the health risks. Also, states hard hit early - more individuals know people who suffered and/or died so are more inclined to retake the virus seriously.

Some states opened far more slowly than others.

 

[6miths]

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

Also bear in mind that this is an infectious disease. Were the people everywhere more careful than those in Wuhan, then more careful than those in Italy, then more careful than those in NYC, then more careful than those in Texas/Florida/California, then more careful than... In many ways the spread is as much a lesson in chaos theory as it is human behavior. Well perhaps until the last few weeks. It seems that many people aren't good at learning from the experience of others, on the brighter side - people do seem to adjust their behaviour eventually. Maybe we should be parking refrigerator trucks outside local hospitals in areas not yet affected.

 

[ivinsfan]

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

I'm more inclined to think it's got a lot to do with population density and opportunity for COVID to get a foothold and keep spreading.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm more inclined to think it's got a lot to do with population density and opportunity for COVID to get a foothold and keep spreading.

Certainly a factor as well.

 

[Gumby]

I'm more inclined to think it's got a lot to do with population density and opportunity for COVID to get a foothold and keep spreading.

The four most densely populated states in the US are New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. All currently doing well in fighting COVID-19, notwithstanding a very rough March and April.

 

[Aerides]

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

My county has about 1.5m people, so density might well play a role. 27,500 cases, 709 deaths. Most of these new hot spots had very mild numbers, comparatively, during "wave 1".

This is our Wave 1 I guess. When things reopened, having seen things "not that bad" locally, and confusing open with safe...well here we are.

 

[audreyh1]

Well, it’s certainly the the highest population counties of Texas getting hit the hardest. But since TX didn’t get hit that hard in March and April, it opened back up very aggressively, and many people didn’t take the virus seriously because risks seemed low and they weren’t told otherwise.

We are determined to learn the hard way!

 

[brewer12345]

The four most densely populated states in the US are New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. All currently doing well in fighting COVID-19, notwithstanding a very rough March and April.

I think you shouldn't hold any of those heavily affected states up as paragons of corona value. Lots of mistakes were made, like sending the infected back to nursing homes.

Density definitely makes things worse with a highly contagious disease. Behavior is a problem too. We are having to distance ourselves from people we like and respect because they have decided that this is "just the flu, bro." My guess is that that sentiment was pretty strong in places like Texas, Florida and Arizona. California? I imagine that is just a story of population density.

 

[ivinsfan]

The four most densely populated states in the US are New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. All currently doing well in fighting COVID-19, notwithstanding a very rough March and April.

I'm thinking every densely populated area will take it lumps before this thing is over. One could hope that other locales won't think they are "in the clear" just because they didn't get hit in the first few months. COVID is a stubborn sucker and isn't going to just "vanish".

 

[ivinsfan]

Well, it’s certainly the the highest population counties of Texas getting hit the hardest. But since TX didn’t get hit that hard in March and April, it opened back up very aggressively, and many people didn’t take the virus seriously because risks seemed low and they weren’t told otherwise.

We are determined to learn the hard way!

I hope this at least convinces other areas of the country it's a matter of "when" not "if". They will get hit and need to behave like it is going to happen.

 

[Car-Guy]

It’s hard for me to comprehend these Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, and other hot spot numbers. Our county of 52,000 has had 208 cases as of 7/17. 179 have recovered. 5 deaths - 1 in 70’s, 2 in 80’s, 2 in 90’s. All with underlying health conditions.

I don’t understand how there can be such a huge disparity in numbers across the country, unless people in some areas are considerably more careful than other areas.

Even in Texas the CV case count disparity between counties can be huge. (Population dependent) On ~7/17 my county only had about 100 cases and no deaths. (Harris county is only a ~90 min drive away and they have almost 60,000 cases.) About 10% of the 254 counties in Texas have had 10 or fewer cases. And, I believe there are still 4 counties in the state with zero cases (very sparsely populated counties of course).

 

[Gumby]

I think you shouldn't hold any of those heavily affected states up as paragons of corona value. Lots of mistakes were made, like sending the infected back to nursing homes.

Density definitely makes things worse with a highly contagious disease. Behavior is a problem too. We are having to distance ourselves from people we like and respect because they have decided that this is "just the flu, bro." My guess is that that sentiment was pretty strong in places like Texas, Florida and Arizona. California? I imagine that is just a story of population density.

My point is only that density is not destiny. States, even densely populated ones, can get control of this pandemic if the people in them are willing to do what it takes. Sure, mistakes were made in the Northeast, but others can learn from that. Hopefully, they will.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Density definitely makes things worse with a highly contagious disease. Behavior is a problem too. California? I imagine that is just a story of population density.

Yes, part of our population is very dense.

 

[ivinsfan]

My point is only that density is not destiny. States, even densely populated ones, can get control of this pandemic if the people in them are willing to do what it takes. Sure, mistakes were made in the Northeast, but others can learn from that. Hopefully, they will.

Fear is a good motivator ,but it seems an area has to have a boatload of sick people before the fear kicks in.

 

[Montecfo]

Fauci's comments about Covid not being eradicated: it sounds ominous and earth shaking, but in fact it is neither. Only one disease has ever been eradicated: smallpox.

 

[ivinsfan]

Fauci's comments about Covid not being eradicated: it sounds ominous and earth shaking, but in fact it is neither. Only one disease has ever been eradicated: smallpox.

I'm not sure I like the timing of his message either. I see some people saying screw it, it's never going away, I'm just going to go out and live my life i.e. party.

 

[harllee]

My county has about 150,000 people. We have had about 1200 cases and about 50 deaths. Cases and deaths are still rising although not as fast as Texas or Florida. People in general seem to be wearing masks, social distancing, etc. The things that contributed to our spread--at the beginning it was mainly older people in nursing homes. Now it is mainly young people at illegal bars and parties--bars are not suppose to be open but restaurants were staying open until 10 pm and turning into bars and contact tracing showed that was were many cases spread. The county has now passed a rule-- no alcohol sales at restaurants after 10 pm, we will see if that helps.