Science discovers how the Trump-Virus spreads
(H/T: Twitter)
Axios’ morning email thingie has an alarming statistical take on Thanksgiving:
Two-in-three Americans will celebrate this Thanksgiving with friends or family outside their immediate households, and about half of those say their gatherings could include unvaccinated people, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
Why it matters: Vaccinations and booster shots are giving more people confidence to resume traditions like sitting around a packed table with masks off. But many are doing so with heightened awareness of what they don’t know when it comes to their holiday companions.
- This year, 31% see a large or moderate risk in seeing friends or family for Thanksgiving — way down from 64% a year ago.
- People’s assessment of overall risk of returning to their normal pre-COVID lives is also down, with 44% seeing it as a large to moderate risk this year compared with 72% last year.
- But when Americans are asked how concerned they still feel about the virus, the numbers haven’t diminished all that much: 69% compared with 85% a year ago.
[snip]
By the numbers: 67% of U.S. adults surveyed said they’ll see friends or family outside their households. That’s 73% of Republicans, 70% of independents and 63% of Democrats.
- 30% of them said the guests will include unvaccinated people, and another 17% said they don’t know whether other guests will be vaccinated or not.
- 38% said they’ll be with people who don’t regularly wear masks outside the home, while another 21% said they didn’t know if their guests regularly wear masks.
- 4% said they’ll be seeing people who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 in the last two weeks; another 28% aren’t sure if people at their gatherings have been exposed.
Further reading from the MIT newsletter thingie:
1 Covid cases are rapidly rising in the US once again
Nearly 159,000 yesterday. (NYT $)
+ Minnesota has had to call in the National Guard as its hospitals have become overwhelmed. (Gizmodo)
+ Keep wearing your masks. (NYT $)
+ It’s becoming increasingly clear that covid is a seasonal disease. (The Atlantic $)
+ Hope is on the horizon for long covid sufferers. (The Economist $)
+ US covid deaths in 2021 have surpassed 2020’s toll. (WSJ $)
The instructive quote:
“By the end of this winter, pretty much everyone in Germany will be vaccinated, recovered or dead.”
—Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn makes a grim prediction as his country battles yet another wave of covid.
Last year MPS took the position that everyone should stay isolated over Thanksgiving, and well, our position is pretty much the same this year. Also, this is a great excuse to avoid spending time with your Facebook Rage Uncle. Consider it another lucky break! We recall, hazily, that in 2020 there was a spike following Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. The Trump-Virus is a party pooper/party crasher and it does not like holidays!
I know that the Scissorheads (besides being unusually attractive) are smart people and are fully vaccinated and some of you probably already had the booster shot at least two weeks ago, but nevertheless, be careful. We want everyone to return to spitball in 2022.
And we’ll give the last word to the internet:
Mock Paper Scissors 
Although we have a large direct extended family with three kids, five grand kids, and five great grand kids we will be celebrating this holiday with just our daughter and son-in-law and Christmas/New Years alone. Maybe by next year we can get the gang back together again. We’re also pleased that there will be relative quiet and less mayhem this year!
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This year it should be us (me and Cindy T) our daughter, her partner, and possibly a new baby (the little rascal hasn’t decided to come out yet, and I’m not blaming her considering the state of the world). We could have a Thanksgiving day girl grandchild, so dinner is still up in the air. If we have it, it will just be us, the daughter, partner, and possibly little Isla (did I mention the daughter unit earned her Masters in distillation science at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh Scotland hence the name Isla?)…
Last year our new neighbors (Trumpers) had a big dinner party with about twenty guests. A few days later they all came down with something. Don’t have all the details, but one of my neighbors who talks to them said that the Covid spread like wildfire (her words not mine)…
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We’re pretty much hermits anyway. We’re planning on one guest, and that one comes around regularly – walks the dog for us, gets firewood in, like that. I think that, as far as he’s concerned, we’re elders and we appreciate his assistance – and he status of vaccinated.
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Well, you probably are elders! Happy Thanksgiving.
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Happy Thanksgiving to you, as well, Mr. Portman.
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Going to baby sister’s in Dover, DE 80 miles down the road.
We’re a family of two. I’m getting boostered next week (2nd shingles shot kicked my ass)
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Nothing compares to the 2nd shingles shot*; what a beat-down.
(except getting shingles).
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My first shingles shot beat me down for 30+ hours. The second one, nada! Ya just can’t know how things will go; every body’s different.
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1st shingles shot in June: minor arm pain three days.
2nd shingles shot in October: minor arm pain two days.
Shingles 4.5 years ago on the whole left upper side of my head, around left eye and above: six weeks of blistering, pain, scabbing, and itching, followed by itching that never went away, for which I take 1200 to 1800 mg of gabapentin daily.
My neighbor who had open heart surgery about 10 years ago, and shingles a couple of years later, said he thought the surgery was bad, until he got shingles.
If you’ve had chicken pox, get the Shingrix shots, or I’ll show you a selfie of my face from then, which I usually only show on Halloween.
I’ve had so many shots in eight decades that the only needles I fear are the sort I need to sew a button back on.
And to the anti-vaxxers who use that excuse, I say it’s just like Kyle Rittenhouse without his weapon: It’s just a little prick.
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There will be five of us for Thanksgiving. 100% wear masks, 100% vaccinated and 60% boostered.
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We’re vaccinated, getting boostered tomorrow. As far as we know, we’ll have no guests for Thanksgiving, nor the other holidays. Here in our town & county, there have been spikes after every get-together event or holiday, season notwithstanding. Interestingly, the general public can’t understand why we can’t get out of the red zone (our state’s way of showing we’re a high-risk county.) 😉 Hmm.
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I went to the store today for supplies . This is a tourist town so i wanted to have some things ahead of time. I saw a few friends and neighbors and we wished each other Happy Thanksgiving.
Sounds like most of us are sitting this one out and we are fine with that. I will be making Corn Pudding because it is traditional, smells nice and is easy to eat.
We are not gathering this year. It is going to be a nice relaxing long weekend. No expensive feasts, no crazy q-relatives, none of that. The weather is expected to be nice.
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Well, it was going to be my son & his new GF coming up from TN but his car is on the fritz & she just totaled hers so now it’s just me. Instead of turkey & all the trimmings, I have a Cornish Game Hen & I’ll make a small dish of stuffing & bake an acorn squash. I’m debating whether to bake a pumpkin pie or not. I really don’t want to eat an entire pie on my own. On the other hand … it’s a nice breakfast item. So maybe I will.
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Pumpkin pie filling freezes well, so you could make a tartlet and freeze the rest for another celebration.
Rgds,
TG
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Question, TG. Is a tartlet a little girl who will grow up to become a tart?
Also, at what age is it legal to “make” a tartlet?
And what does this have to do with pumpkin pie filling?
Asking for a friend.
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“The Trump-Virus is a party pooper/party crasher and it does not like holidays!”
Clarification and correction, TG. The Trump-Virus, having infected your Rage Uncle, is a party pooper/party crasher and it LOVES holidays, as does the COVID virus.
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