Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

ruggedjackal46 said:Do you honestly think hospital bed capacity is the ultimate metric for healthcare quality? Is Bulgaria supposed to be the gold standard for medicine in Europe now?

That whole "you think" thing you're doing really reminds me of that super annoying "sooo, what u saying is..." trope people use when they're trying too hard.🤣

ZZ is holding a perfectly reasonable position here; he definitely showed restlesssurfer97 who's boss, and he’s probably passing the time during this break by binge-watching Messi's highlight reels. At this rate, we’ll soon have to organize a massive petition to Anderlon to finally let him change his handle from brightpilot6 to Xavi Hernandez ☕

And what kind of position is restlesssurfer97 even playing when ZZ starts showing his teeth? 🍿

Mortality rates might look low on paper, but for the person actually dying, it's a solid 100%.

urbanhawk17 said:Mortality rates might look low on paper, but for the person actually dying, it's a solid 100%.

Honestly, it’s the only statement made so far during this entire crisis that actually rings true...

urbanhawk17 said:Mortality rates might look low on paper, but for the person actually dying, it's a solid 100%.

Every single minute you spend on this planet is just one minute less of your life left🐔

Finally, we’re seeing some actual data regarding the testing numbers over in China, apparently they're hitting about 50,000 tests a day over in Wuhan.

If the whole world had just shut down for twenty days, quarantine would have actually worked and saved the economy. This current approach is just dragging things out indefinitely.

Two days ago, our infection numbers were higher than they were twenty days ago, yet now we're talking about easing restrictions. Twenty days ago, the only thing we heard was #StayHome.

Why ease up now instead of twenty days ago? 🤷

When this second wave hits, are we going to be told to #StayHome for another month and a half?

What if the virus has mutated by then?

ruggedjackal46 said:Do you really think the US would have a lower mortality rate if we had an equivalent number of cases?

I guess the mortality rate stays pretty much the same everywhere globally once you adjust for age groups. What really varies is how many infections actually get detected. For instance, Singapore shows about 12,000 confirmed cases and 12 deaths, which is 0.1%. In Italy, they report 190,000 confirmed cases, but given the scale and testing capacity, the actual number could be anywhere from 2 to 20 million. Even in New York, there are probably already around 4 million infected people, though official stats don't show that yet. Those specific figures can feel a bit meaningless. So, maybe the mortality rate is essentially equal in the US, Sweden, Singapore, or New York.

In India, general mortality has dropped drastically since the quarantine started; I heard undertakers are actually worried about their jobs. Apparently, there's a lack of the usual foot traffic from trains, cars, and so on.

restlesssurfer97 said:Honestly, I feel like if the US saw a death rate that high among those infected, it would probably just be because our healthcare system is struggling so much right now.

I mean, look, we all know why Italy is seeing such massive numbers, and I haven't really dug into the data on Sweden yet, but don't even get me started on Belgium—it’s like, what is even happening over there lately? 🤷

It seems to me that the sudden surge in patients caused total chaos in Sweden. And hey, maybe their healthcare system isn't all that amazing either, you know? But I honestly don't know; I can't keep up with Swedish media or know exactly what they're reporting on the matter. Regardless, I don't think America could handle a sudden spike of several thousand cases any better.

restlesssurfer97 said:That whole "you think" thing you're doing really reminds me of that super annoying "sooo, what u saying is..." trope people use when they're trying too hard.🤣

I don't catch the reference, but fine, I'll stop nitpicking too. 🤣

brightpilot6 said:In Sweden, they probably have fewer hospital beds because they just fold them up into armchairs when they aren't being used. Why don't they just give us the actual count of those medical recliners instead? ☕

🤣

Krunoslav Capak, the absolute genius 🙏

What really gets under my skin is how the response is identical to every other similar catastrophe; there’s zero dialogue and absolutely no room for an opposing viewpoint. We have these epidemiology experts constantly cranking up the panic levels while systematically dismantling the economy.
The go-to argument is always some moralistic lecture about how we can possibly care about money when people are dying.
It doesn't matter that for anyone under 65, the threat level of this disease is roughly on par with the risk of a fatal car accident. It doesn't matter that you aren't catching this thing just by walking into a grocery store. The only thing that matters is blindly following the "experts."
The whole approach is designed to stifle debate; if you don't fall in line, you're labeled morally bankrupt, and the personal attacks start immediately.

Why has this cold, calculated logic been completely ignored during this crisis? Why is the only narrative allowed to be one of pure catastrophe? For days on end, we were fed nothing but increasingly dire forecasts in the media, with scientists practically competing to see who could predict the most apocalyptic scenario. Even our own leaders and the international establishment have been flipping their stances constantly.
If you dare to ask even a single question, you're immediately met with condescension and moralizing references to the thousands of deaths in Italy.
We implemented lockdowns and brought the entire economy to its knees, and frankly, these quarantines will serve as the perfect excuse for economic stagnation for the next decade.
Politically speaking, it’s already obvious that this is being exploited; popularity is surging for almost everyone in power, with the notable exceptions of Donald Trump and Bolsonaro.

Vili and his crowd will spend years trumpeting how much they "saved" through lockdowns—a metric that is impossible to actually quantify. It will be much easier to measure the lives lost because of the fallout from these very restrictions once the economic depression truly hits.

I find this absolutist attitude from the experts infuriating. Aside from Sweden, most of the rest of the world played it safe in a way that feels downright cowardly.
Look, to achieve any significant goal—whether in life or in economics—you have to embrace risk and the uncertainty of success. Instead, by sticking to these "safety first" strategies, we are just digging ourselves deeper into trenches and hiding from an invisible enemy.

Even if there's a 100 percent chance that nothing happens at all, we'll still find ourselves being judged by these self-appointed moral saints who condemn anyone who refuses to follow their path... because apparently, seeing the bigger picture is a sin...

Krunoslav Capak, the head of the CDC, mentioned that cloth masks aren't exactly recommended for strictly medical purposes, though he did point out that even a simple cloth one helps catch those aerosols you get from coughing or sneezing. He’s suggesting people wear them in crowded indoor spots where everyone is packed in, and honestly, he thinks it might even be a good call for certain outdoor settings too.

"It would be really great if people just started wearing masks," Capak said.

Then you had the Secretary of Homeland Security, Davor Božinović, weigh in on the whole mask situation too.

"We've moved into a new phase here, and there was no way we would have stepped into this stage if citizens weren't actually following what we told them. This second phase really comes down to how much we stick to all the basic epidemiological guidelines, including wearing masks. We aren't talking about surgical medical masks here, just covers for your mouth and nose to help stop droplet transmission. The recommendations we’re releasing today are meant to help both regular folks and business owners organize themselves so we can breeze through this second phase with minimal infections and stay one step ahead of the virus," Božinović concluded.

he he

First off, they weren't telling anyone to wear masks because they didn't have any in stock. Now, suddenly, after two massive shipments of 70 and 50 tons of medical supplies just landed, everyone’s acting like wearing a mask is mandatory all of a sudden.

And they’re back at it again with the fantasies, whether we're talking about being stuck indoors or even out in the open... honestly, if they just started recommending masks every single day, it would be over and done with.
Americans are proven to be incredibly obedient, and they basically treat the command center like some kind of altar.

Elizabeth Mendoza said:First off, they weren't telling anyone to wear masks because they didn't have any in stock. Now, suddenly, after two massive shipments of 70 and 50 tons of medical supplies just landed, everyone’s acting like wearing a mask is mandatory all of a sudden.

And what about everything I’ve been typing for the last month and a half, all just to watch them try to justify their own incompetence by intentionally pushing the wrong advice? It’s honestly pathetic.

I still vividly remember that Open segment at the start of this whole crisis, when Alemka and Fižulica were guests; Fižulica looked almost embarrassed to even be wearing a mask after Alemka claimed they weren't even important, and he just sort of sheepishly admitted he was wearing one just so he wouldn't have to touch his face, looking just like a little puppy staring at Alemka.

Look, I don't have anything against Alemka personally, but she clearly messed up too, and honestly, regarding those masks, they should have just been upfront from the very beginning and said they were recommended, and that would have been that.

Thanks to Sweden, we’re actually going to have something to compare this to. In a few months, or maybe even a year, once everything finally settles down ( 🤣 ), we'll see the real numbers. Honestly, I’m ready to bet money right now that it’s going to be a pathetic rate—just a tiny footnote in the history books.

Thank God there are other countries finally starting to wake up. The Governor of California just ordered autopsies for all those suspicious cases from December

edit: Just so people don't think I'm out of touch with the Coronavirus situation, my cousin is actually in the hospital because of it 🤣 there's about 20 of them in that ward, and nobody's actually sick; they're basically dying of boredom, being total pains, and just waiting to get discharged 😁 he didn't even have symptoms, he just got tested because of contact.

Paul Sanders5 said:Thanks to Sweden, we’re actually going to have something to compare this to. In a few months, or maybe even a year, once everything finally settles down ( 🤣 ), we'll see the real numbers. Honestly, I’m ready to bet money right now that it’s going to be a pathetic rate—just a tiny footnote in the history books.

Thank God there are other countries finally starting to wake up. The Governor of California just ordered autopsies for all those suspicious cases from December

edit: Just so people don't think I'm out of touch with the Coronavirus situation, my cousin is actually in the hospital because of it 🤣 there's about 20 of them in that ward, and nobody's actually sick; they're basically dying of boredom, being total pains, and just waiting to get discharged 😁 he didn't even have symptoms, he just got tested because of contact.

And once again, you've got silly Americans leading the way on 🙏🙏🙏

The death toll in the USA is ten times higher than what we're seeing in China. What kind of leadership does that even suggest?

Sweden has a death count roughly equal to our current infection numbers. Look, countries like Sweden or Germany can afford to take those kinds of risks because they have robust healthcare systems capable of absorbing a massive surge in patients. Our healthcare system is already straining at the seams; they're turning away people who don't even have Coronavirus just to keep up. What on earth would happen if we had 20,000 active cases instead of 2,000?

Honestly, this whole situation is a tectonic disaster. It’s a complete wreck for the economy, and it’s just as messy for politics, especially now that the crisis management team has basically become an unquestionable authority. No matter how you slice it, it's a total mess.