Non-island discussion posts regarding COVID

[elgreaux]

I wouldn't put that tombstone in your garden quite yet, 8 members of the NY Yankees organization who are vaccinated (J&J) now have Covid, and there were 64 cases in St Martin just last week, with no test required to come to SBH on the ferry... masks still required for flying, trains, buses, etc... are we totally out of the woods?

[amyb]

I have seen photos of people masked for that Spanish flu era, Dianna.

[elgreaux]

and during the spanish flu which was equally terrible, there were no distancing rules, no mask requirements, etc. perhaps people were smarter in those days?

the anti-maskers might not have worn them, but there were mask regulations and plenty of people did wear them....
https://www.history.com/news/1918-sp...ing-resistance

[JEK]

I wouldn't put that tombstone in your garden quite yet, 8 members of the NY Yankees organization who are vaccinated (J&J) now have Covid, and there were 64 cases in St Martin just last week, with no test required to come to SBH on the ferry... masks still required for flying, trains, buses, etc... are we totally out of the woods?

And then there is India, Africa and many other countries that are inundated with infection and death. Most don’t believe this one will every truly go away. I expect booster shots for years and years.

[didier]

I have seen photos of people masked for that Spanish flu era, Dianna.

of course they wore masks back then, but it was not strictly enforced like it is now. looks like the cdc is saying most places if they wish can stop enforcing the masks. such as outside etc. a lot of states have already adopted the mask free status. I will be going to the states next week, it will be nice to see things there returning to a more normal state. I believe they are saying vaccinated people can now remove their masks outdoors and indoors in some places. I wonder if they will carry vaxx cards with them.

[Bart -my real name-]

With all we did, it still only cut 3 months off the pandemic of 1919. And they had no vaccine.

"With all we did"?!? HAHAHAHAHHA! Ignoring it, denying it and calling it a hoax for the better part of a year might have something to do with the timeline.

[JEK]

Full article here

Covid-19 cases are decreasing in the United States, and masks are no longer required everywhere, but the pandemic is not over — and won’t be until younger children can also be vaccinated, epidemiologists said in a new survey by The New York Times.
The true end of the pandemic — when it becomes safer to return to most activities without precautions — will arrive once at least 70 percent of Americans of all ages are vaccinated, they said. Adolescents just began receiving vaccines this week, and those for children younger than 12 are not yet approved.
“Children are key to ending the pandemic,” said David Celentano, the chair of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and one of the 723 epidemiologists who participated in the survey this month.
They are optimistic this will happen, even if not as quickly as many Americans hope. In five years, they expect Covid-19 will be more like the flu, circulating at a lower rate and with some deaths every year — but no longer a public health crisis necessitating lockdowns.

[andynap]

Went to the Amish market this morning. All the help were maskless for the first time (do they know who the CDC is?). All customers wore masks. I think the Amish are anti-vax too but reached herd immunity the hard way here without vaccine.

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[TR561]

So am i mistaken that the Vaccine requirement is similar enforcement to Las Vegas casino's requiring you to be vaccinated to go mask-less ?

[Jim A]

So am i mistaken that the Vaccine requirement is similar enforcement to Las Vegas casino's requiring you to be vaccinated to go mask-less ?

I'm not sure of the Vegas requirement but I read it as you will not be allowed entry to SBH if not vaccinated (at least until it changes again?)

[TR561]

You are not allowed to enter a Vegas casino without a mask (or any other store in America unless you are vaccinated). If you are vaccinated you can do all of those things legally.

I'm not sure of the Vegas requirement but I read it as you will not be allowed entry to SBH if not vaccinated (at least until it changes again?)

[Jim A]

The below is why I think St Barth and other Countries have or are considering different entry rules for vaccinated and non-vaccinated tourists. I am posting this as part of the discussion about the recent rule changes, but I also fully understand it may lead to the "hijacking" of a thread if I post it somewhere else, so I'll post it here instead. The article I pulled this data from is about a week old. They only used official State data. States that don't put out this info were excluded.

• Almost all (more than 9 in 10) COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have occurred among people who are unvaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated, in those states reporting breakthrough data (see Figure 2).
• ​
  
  • The reported share of COVID-19 cases among those not fully vaccinated ranged from 94.1% in Arizona to 99.85% Connecticut.
  • The share of hospitalizations among those with COVID-19 who are not fully vaccinated ranged from in 95.02% in Alaska to 99.93% in New Jersey. (Note: Hospitalization may or may not have been due to COVID-19.)
  • The share of deaths among people with COVID-19 who are not fully vaccinated ranged from to 96.91% in Montana to 99.91% in New Jersey. (Note: Deaths may or may not have been due to COVID-19.)

Figure 2
Share of Overall COVID-19 Cases by Those Fully Vaccinated v. Those Not Fully Vaccinated Among Reporting States

Cases Hospitalizations Deaths

State	Share of Overall Cases Among Fully Vaccinated	Share of Overall Cases Among Not Fully Vaccinated*
Alaska	4.0% 4.0%	96.0% 96.0%
Arizona	5.9% 5.9%	94.1% 94.1%
Arkansas	3.6% 3.6%	96.4% 96.4%
California	1.4% 1.4%	98.6% 98.6%
Connecticut	0.2% 0.2%	99.9% 99.9%
Delaware	1.0% 1.0%	99.0% 99.0%
District of Columbia	1.3% 1.3%	98.7% 98.7%
Idaho	1.2% 1.2%	98.8% 98.8%
Indiana	1.1% 1.1%	98.9% 98.9%
Maine	1.3% 1.3%	98.7% 98.7%
Massachusetts	1.0% 1.0%	99.0% 99.0%
Michigan	1.6% 1.6%	98.4% 98.4%
Montana	3.2% 3.2%	96.8% 96.8%
Nebraska	0.4% 0.4%	99.6% 99.6%
New Jersey	0.2% 0.2%	99.8% 99.8%
New Mexico	1.2% 1.2%	98.9% 98.9%
Oklahoma	0.8% 0.8%	99.2% 99.2%
Oregon	1.9% 1.9%	98.1% 98.1%
Rhode Island	1.7% 1.7%	98.3% 98.3%
Tennessee	0.4% 0.4%	99.7% 99.7%
Utah	3.2% 3.2%	96.8% 96.8%
Vermont	1.6% 1.6%	98.4% 98.4%
Virginia	0.7% 0.7%	99.3% 99.3%
Washington	2.0% 2.0%	98.0% 98.0%

NOTE: *Those not fully vaccinated includes those who unvaccinated, not yet fully vaccinated, or where vaccination status is unknown. Only states that have collected data on breakthrough COVID-19 cases for more than a month have been included.SOURCE: KFF Analysis of State Level Data; Johns Hopkins University PNG

[JEK]

Expect to see full authorization of all EUA vaccines by the end of the month.

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[Jim A]

[JEK]

It is almost like there is some strange correlation going on here? Ah, the vaccinated are spreading the virus to the unvaccinated! No, that can't be it

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[Jim A]

I'm going to just post this here because I don't want to de-rail a thread or try and make some kind of statement other than just sharing my experience from my recent flight.

So about 20 minutes into our flight from SJU to JFK my personal thoughts of feeling safer on a flight where everyone needed to present a negative COVID test for travel were reinforced. This isn't to pretend that tests are 100% accurate of course or that a negative test result from 3 days earlier means a person is still negative and is just my personal feeling. YMMV.

So after they gave us our drinks the 3rd person in our little row had his mask off while drinking his beverage - just like a lot of other people of course. He was told by the flight attendant that he needed to lift his mask up in between sips. He immediately was agitated and told the FA to "show him where it states that in the rules" and followed it up with "the CDC doesn't say that I have to do that". Clearly the next minute was going to decide if we were in the middle of a viral video or not. Luckily he pulled up his mask and mostly followed the airline protocol for the rest of the flight. sidebar: to be honest, IMO, the FA didn't handle it too well either and was dripping with attitude and a few minutes later they made an announcement that wasn't just politely stating the rule, but was also dripping with attitude about mask wearing. In addition one of the FA's mask was constantly below his nose which was pretty ironic of course.

Now we are all at different places on the spectrum when it comes to mask wearing and vaccination and my personal experience (YMMV) has been that in general many of those who are not vaccinated are also those who are less likely to follow the mask/hand washing/whatever other rules or precautions are out there closely - I don't care if you agree with this or not because this is again just my personal experience. So when I see someone so strongly against wearing a mask that they fight the rules, my guard goes up. This isn't a critique it's what I see in those I know well and what I see in the world around me every day. I don't have an issue with someone who chooses to not be vaccinated or chooses not to wear a mask, but if someone falls into both categories I'd rather not sit next to them on an airplane for 3 1/2 hours and while you never know who falls into what category, we all make assumptions based on the few minutes we spend around someone else. So now we are sitting right next to this person that most likely was not tested (he was only in Puerto Rico) and may or may not have been vaccinated (I have no idea) and clearly isn't a fan of wearing masks. We didn't dwell on it and it didn't change our flight much, but just a piece of information for people to make their own decision about before flying because there will be people on your flight that were not tested if you are going through either SJU or SXM. The more lenient rule won't change my thoughts on whether or not to travel one bit and I'm not even saying it is necessarily a bad thing to move past some of these rules, but I for one was very happy to spend 30 minutes going to get my COVID test knowing that everyone else was getting one as well. Now I only know the 8 people on my SJU to SBH (or SXM to SBH) flight tested negative recently.

[amaretosdefractor]

For me, the CDC is the only true authority. Many regional and local rules and behavior may obsfucate the message.

[cimomad]

I wouldn't put that tombstone in your garden quite yet. Now have Covid, and there were many people who suffer from that. When I was at home, it was terrible. My safety belt was - that website https://winnercivi.com/. I will leave you the link, the review that maybe will become your safety belt as well. Hope this info will help you a lot.