Oni Blackstock, MD: “How can you be the country that made the 1st Covid vaccines, did clinical trials at warp speed with 95% efficacy and remarkable safety, has more than enough shots for every resident, yet be 52nd on the list, and continuing to fall?” Eric Topol: “Because we’re a country that values individualism instead of the common good.” -- https://mobile.twitter.com/oni_blackstock/status/144807737532610560
In order of date - newest first
The five-day workweek is dying "And the implications for work and cities are going to be fascinating." "What once seemed like a hot take is becoming a stone-cold reality: For tens of millions of knowledge-economy workers, the office is never coming all the way back. The implications—for work, cities, and the geography of labor—will be fascinating." "'I talk to hundreds of companies about remote work, and 95 percent of them now say they’re going hybrid, while the other 5 percent are going full remote,' Nick Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University, told me." Three major implications: "1. The five-day workweek is dying. 2. The age of hybrid work is going to be a beautiful mess. 3. Cities are already starting to freak out." -- Derek Thompson 23 feb 2022 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/work-from-home-revolution/622880/
The Medicaid time bomb is ticking loudly "... the plug will get pulled on the supplemental federal cash, and states shall once again resume strict eligibility policing — thereby sending the loosened Medicaid restrictions out to pasture in the same way that the supercharged unemployment insurance, waived cost-sharing for Covid care, and free Cobra coverage disappeared before it." "The more obstacles thrown in the path of those trying to navigate the system, the more Medicaid can exclude people who don’t meet the rigid eligibility requirements and people who are bad at paperwork." 22 feb 2022 The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/165434/medicaid-time-bomb-covid-pandemic http://web.archive.org/web/20220222113952/https://newrepublic.com/article/165434/medicaid-time-bomb-covid-pandemic
"Today >3,400 Covid deaths reported in the United States, a 7-day average exceeding 2,600 lost lives. This likely represents the current wave peak; 80% of the US pandemic peak when there were no vaccines. Compared to 20% in countries with high % vaccination and booster rates" Thread -- Eric Topol @EricTopol 9 feb 2022 https://mobile.twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1491237316412977154 | "@EricTopol Blows my [mind] that more people die *every single day* from this virus than on 9/11, but somehow enough people in positions of authority decided that it is okay enough to lift preventative strategies." -- Alison Garen @ali_garen 9 feb 2022 https://mobile.twitter.com/ali_garen/status/1491238376527511552
COVID-19 was a chance to change the way we work. We blew it "Organisations often claim they desire a deep transformation, until they get a glimpse of the price tag: a redistribution of power." 19 jan 2022 The Register https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/19/covid_working_culture_column/
[Why MSN, other news, aren't doing more to show real info and statistics] "They’ve [MSN] taken the position that accurately reporting the facts is partisan because partisans have politicized the facts." -- Lambert Nolen @LambertNolen 15 jan 2022 https://mobile.twitter.com/LambertNolen/status/1482363022324600834
“It's irresponsible to talk about herd immunity: Eric Feigl-Ding, Federation of American Scientists” Says immunity lasts about 6 months. 15 jan 2022 The Economic Times https://m.economictimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/its-irresponsible-to-talk-about-herd-immunity-eric-feigl-ding-federation-of-american-scientists/articleshow/88908216.cms
It's very hard to watch today as the US hospitalizations climbed above 150,000, ICUs more than 25,000, and nearly 2,700 deaths — the vast majority were preventable by vaccinations and/or boosters. And >900,000 new cases, some of whom will progress to severe disease or Long Covid Thread -- Eric Topol @EricTopol 13 jan 2022 https://mobile.twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1481453904772485123
“Fauci: ‘So many people — now and likely in the next few weeks — who will be infected by this wave of infections that we're getting with Omicron ... that might have a negative impact on our ability to maintain the structure of society.’” 29 dec 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/davidalim/status/1476020736821055493 | "@chrislhayes: 'You are talking about a policy judgment in a context of tradeoffs between different consequences.' Contrasts stopping spread of Covid-19 vs having a water treatment facility have its technicians all out sick for 10 days. Fauci nods yes and responds: 'Correct.'" -- David Lim davidalim 29 dec 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/davidalim/status/1476020738213613569 | | Ohhhhh. This makes a little more sense. But still ... could pay people to stay home, give protection to essential workers. More discussions in threads.
New Covid-19 cases in US soar to highest levels on record The Tribune, India 29 dec 2021 https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/world/new-covid-19-cases-in-us-soar-to-highest-levels-on-record-355943
Omicron is enforcing its own soft lockdown “Nobody wants to mandate business closures, but so many people are getting sick that businesses are closing anyway.” Ramifications of “soft lockdown”. -- Sarah Zhang 26 dec 2021 The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/12/omicron-soft-lockdown/621121/
I work in a locked psychiatric ward. These days, you do too "In the pandemic, we don’t have a shared dayroom with the right structure to remind us of our shared vulnerability. The place where we now commonly meet people different from us -- social media -- is designed to profit off our differences. To survive the pandemic, we need more in-person places where we can encounter people from different tribes." -- Abraham Nussbaum 23 dec 2021 STAT https://www.statnews.com/2021/12/23/i-work-in-a-locked-psychiatric-ward-these-days-you-do-too/
Omicron is the beginning of the end "No matter the severity of the variant, the appetite for shutdowns or other large-scale social interventions simply isn’t there." "The determination to get on with our lives is deeply and perhaps unchangeably human." -- Yascha Mounk 22 dec 2021 The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/omicron-end-of-pandemic/621089/
Can I say there is something morally injurious to being urged to cancel all my Christmas plans so I don’t get Covid so that I am still capable of looking after all of the people who got Covid because they didn’t cancel their Christmas plans [or get vaccinated]. -- Dr Kate J Miller @DrKateJMiller 17 dec 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/DrKateJMiller/status/1471905172922241028
In this thread, I will be discussing the behavior of Donald Trump’s base throughout the viral pandemic -- everything from their disdain towards wearing masks to their reluctance to getting vaccinated -- but I will be doing it through a very specific lens: caste." "Trump’s base has approached the pandemic with a paranoid suspicion that the pandemic will be used as a pretext to upset a caste order that privileges them." -- Ethan Grey @_EthanGrey 12 dec 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/_EthanGrey/status/1469799287953498117 Ethan Grey
The thing peddlers of spiritual warfare will never tell you is that it’s far easier to fight demons in a universe of your own making than to work together to fix the world we all share. Thread - why anti-vacc, why failure to address school shootings -- Peter Manseau 4 dec 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/plmanseau/status/1467150508049772552
Something is deeply wrong with a society where even a prolonged crisis and daily mass death isn’t enough to make us change our relationship to work and capital. -- Lil Uzi Hurt @lostblackboy https://mobile.twitter.com/lostblackboy/status/1424557294378012674
Child COVID cases are on the rise, jumping 32% in latest surge "Cases of COVID-19 are increasing in children, and they continue to account for an out-sized proportion of infections, according to the latest data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics." 23 nov 2021 Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/child-covid-cases-are-on-the-rise-jumping-32-in-latest-surge/
“The First Wave” shows what we haven’t seen of Covid-19 "If you have survived the pandemic without going inside a Covid ward, you will likely be stunned by the grim intimacy of Matthew Heineman’s new documentary." -- Peter Maass 20 nov 2021 The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2021/11/20/the-first-wave-covid-documentary/
More people died of covid in US in 2021 than 2020 Comments: over half were jan-feb, while trump in office. after that, most are unvaccinated. nov 2021 https://imgur.com/gallery/IyqLJFo
How hospitals became vaults that hid evidence of Covid’s toll "'I think one of the greatest tragedies of Covid is the fact that the general public did not see what was happening,' he said. 'An already divided nation was further divided by misinformation and lack of clarity and real visual images.'" -- Peter Maass 13 nov 2021 The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2021/11/13/covid-pandemic-hidden-toll-hospitals/
We should try caring for others as 'self-care' "What we need is to take care of others." "People reported being more fulfilled on days they helped others, but only when they felt connected to why they were doing what they were doing, and to the person they were helping." -- Jamil Zaki 21 oct 2021 The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/other-care-self-care/620441/
"Because we’re a country that values individualism instead of the common good." Reply to Eric Topol How can you be the country that made the 1st Covid vaccines, did clinical trials at warp speed with 95% efficacy and remarkable safety, has more than enough shots for every resident, yet be 52nd on the list, and continuing to fall? https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker/?areas=gbr&areas=isr&areas=usa&areas=eue&areas=can&areas=chn&areas=ind&cumulative=1&doses=total&populationAdjusted=1 -- Oni Blackstock, MD, MHS @oni_blackstock 13 oct 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/oni_blackstock/status/144807737532610560
Pandemic shoppers are a nightmare to service workers Customers were this awful long before the pandemic. -- Amanda Mull 4 aug 2021 The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/08/pandemic-american-shoppers-nightmare/619650/
In order of date - newest first
Thread: Lack of confidence in US' CDC. 14 jan 2022 -- Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing https://mobile.twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1481853301176086534
If there were any sanity in this world every country would be transforming its military and budget into a climate disaster Corp and pandemic response and preparedness. N95s for Biden but not for us because it would trigger airborne dz prevention. There are so many solutions. -- NimbusCloudNugget @NimbusNugget 13 jan 2022 https://mobile.twitter.com/NimbusNugget/status/1481485283090571264
“‘The economy cannot stay open’: Omicron's effects ricochet across US ‘Biden has vowed to keep businesses and schools open but some experts wonder if that's possible given nature of Covid variant’” 12 jan 2022 The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/12/us-omicron-cases-effects-schools-supply-shortage-hospitals
“Biden, in shift, prepares Americans to see Covid-19 as part of life ‘The recalibration of Mr. Biden’s message comes as the country braces for another round of disruptions wrought by the pandemic.’” -- Sabrina Siddiqui 6 jan 2022 Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-in-shift-prepares-americans-to-see-covid-19-as-part-of-life-11641465004
Uh….Are you ok, CDC? 30 dec 2021 https://imgur.com/gallery/3EaoOWE