Pacific Northwest faces COVID-19 surge as other states reopen

[Auggie]

Millions in the Pacific Northwest are facing new shutdowns, including an indoor dining ban, as COVID-19 cases rise at an alarming rate.

Washington state, the first to be hit when the pandemic began, is seeing another surge in coronavirus cases, with hospitalizations up 15%. In neighboring Oregon, hospitalizations rose 18%. Governor Kate Brown extended the state of emergency for another 60 days, saying "lives are at stake."

Across the country, there are worries about a decline in vaccinations. Nearly 62% of adults are still without a shot.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-surge-pacific-northwest/

Surprised? I'm not.

[genxlib]

1. Somethings not right about that last stat

Weeks ago, the administration announced that more than 50% of adults had at least one shot. It would have only gone up from there.

[Pobeka]

2. Humans are bad at learning. Even from recent history. I'm embarrassed to be one of the species.

They way it is (the close down/open up loop):
1. People are getting sick.
---- Ack, it's a crisis, close down, normal reaction is "run away and hide!"
2. Eventually, people stop getting sick.
---- (Too soon), crisis is over, open up, normal reaction is "I want my normal life back. Party on!"
3. Go back to Step #1

The way it should be:
A. Do one iteration of the close down/open up loop.

-- realize that either closing down isn't happening quick enough, opening up happening too soon, or when opened up, simple things like masking/social distancing aren't being followed rigorously enough

-- realize that new variants which arrived here in the US early this year are 50-60% more infectious, which will have drastic effects on your thresholds to close down or open up.

B. Adjust parameters for when to close down, or open up.

C. Go back to Step #A

[jmbar2]

3. Could part of the problem be so many images of shots being administered?

I'm fully vaccinated, but still have trouble watching videos of needles going into people's arms.

Every covid story seems to show multiple stabs. For the needle-averse, I wonder if this is part of the problem.

What if, instead, they showed the people leaving the vaccination place giving thumbs up, showing gratitude. Not as newsworthy I know (If it bleeds, it leads), but not triggering.

Just a thought...

[KT2000]

4. that's a possibility

what they should do is just report that the needles used now are so small most people do not even feel them. These are not the same needles they had the last time they got a shot.

Among the needle-averse are fainters. My friend who works in healthcare kept putting off getting her shot with all kinds of excuses. She finally did it after she secured a place to get it where she had privacy - in case she fainted. This she admitted after she got the shot.
She said she didn't feel it and she did not faint. Had she fainted in a drive-thru it would have caused a scene.

[jmbar2]

6. That's a really great point

I used to be a fainter, and when I did, I'd usually pee my pants. It was mortifying. It's no longer a problem for me, but just the possibility of it happening in public made me dread going for the shot. I asked for and got a private space for mine. Didn't need it, but was glad it was there.

And it was absolutely painless. The videos of the needles going into arms shows them as long needles, jabbing into arms. Not easy to watch.

[stopdiggin]

7. Shots are SO much different. Thank you for mentioning this.

YES! The last handful of shots I've gotten -- virtually couldn't tell .... They're that good!

[StarryNite]

8. I agree!

I have to turn away when they start plunging in the needles on the news. I got the J&J over 5 weeks ago but I still can't stand to watch them sticking needles in.

[moonscape]

9. Very good point. I'm a needle-phobe who used

to faint when a needle came near me. At,movies or on TV, since I was a kid, the sight of a needle would maked me woozy and I’d quickly close my eyes and ask to be told when the needle was gone. It was like this until 5 years ago when I got cancer and was hospitalized.

I’ve had so many needles and IVs it’s insane, and have had chemo regularly for 5 years. I also have macular degeneration and get an injection in my eye every 6 weeks. Has been a tough needle journey but just in the last year did I realize the phobia had loosened its grip. I still don’t like needles, but they no longer strike terror.

Had all those constant needle images assaulted me 5 years ago I might have gotten rid of my TV! They really could market the vaccine better.

[roamer65]

5. All states should do what Michigan is doing.

Tie reopening to vaccination rates.

I luv our guv...