2021/2022 School Year

mellownomad7 said:I can already see the tiny bioterrorists getting blamed for today's growth numbers. 🤦
Total lockdown, everyone's heading straight to the basement until next season. ☕

Cheers

Oh, please, stop the drama and quit jumping to conclusions.
☕
Today's jump isn't because of school—classes have only been back in session for three days, so nobody is actually attributing it to that yet.
At least, not anyone with half a brain.

We all knew these numbers were going to climb weeks ago; the summer season is over, people are getting back from vacations, and testing has ramped up.
Cases go up because viruses thrive in enclosed spaces, when coworkers are huddled together, or when people pack onto public transit... and yeah, that includes schools, unfortunately.

.... Look, the numbers will rise, and it's just a perfect storm of different factors, one of which happens to be the start of the school year...

And I’m not even talking about restrictions right now, or what should or shouldn't happen (just trying to get ahead of the inevitable backlash/questions/comments about that). I'm simply stating the facts. Honestly, I'm sick of it too—I'm fed up with masks and all these rules... but that doesn't change the reality that the virus is clearly here and spreading... and this specific variant is obviously much more contagious. 🤷

mellownomad7 said:I can already see the tiny bioterrorists getting blamed for today's growth numbers. 🤦
Total lockdown, everyone's heading straight to the basement until next season. ☕

Cheers

Exactly.
All those weddings happening over the last few Fridays and Saturdays have absolutely nothing to do with Covid. 🥳

I’m expecting an even bigger surge, especially when I hear how many people are planning to attend weddings this weekend or over the next two weekends in September. Some folks are actually struggling because they can't get their Covid clearance; they've already had it, but while they're waiting on their doctor to send over that little piece of paper, their best friends—the newlyweds—are trying to convince them that nobody is going to check anyway and it's not a big deal to show up without it.

Weddings and baptisms are usually once-in-a-lifetime events.
So when people show up, if they have a tiny sniffle or a slight headache, they aren't exactly going to skip it—it only happens once! Everyone is happy, dancing, sweating, hugging, and kissing. It's maximum closeness, and of course, there are no masks, because that would just ruin the makeup and the whole vibe.

Then some of them head straight back to work on Monday (some even go to school or daycare). It isn't really an issue for those who are vaccinated or have recovered, but there are plenty of people who aren't. And honestly, hosting a wedding for fewer than 100 people just doesn't make sense financially, neither for the couple nor the caterers.
But we won't be reopening nightclubs because the younger crowd hasn't been vaccinated, 🥳
and we'll probably close schools because the kids haven't been vaccinated either.
The fact that a large group of 60 to 80-year-olds doesn't want to get the shot doesn't seem to matter; they can do whatever they want, including attending weddings. 🥳

Robert Hernandez11 said:Oh, please, stop the drama and quit jumping to conclusions.
☕
Today's jump isn't because of school—classes have only been back in session for three days, so nobody is actually attributing it to that yet.
At least, not anyone with half a brain.

We all knew these numbers were going to climb weeks ago; the summer season is over, people are getting back from vacations, and testing has ramped up.
Cases go up because viruses thrive in enclosed spaces, when coworkers are huddled together, or when people pack onto public transit... and yeah, that includes schools, unfortunately.

.... Look, the numbers will rise, and it's just a perfect storm of different factors, one of which happens to be the start of the school year...

And I’m not even talking about restrictions right now, or what should or shouldn't happen (just trying to get ahead of the inevitable backlash/questions/comments about that). I'm simply stating the facts. Honestly, I'm sick of it too—I'm fed up with masks and all these rules... but that doesn't change the reality that the virus is clearly here and spreading... and this specific variant is obviously much more contagious. 🤷

Who's even talking about smart people? 🤣

... but that doesn't change the fact that the virus is clearly here and spreading...

Just like a million other things. Honestly, we just need to get back to living life and stop making such a huge deal out of everything. ☕

later

mellownomad7 said:Who's even talking about smart people? 🤣

... but that doesn't change the fact that the virus is clearly here and spreading...

Just like a million other things. Honestly, we just need to get back to living life and stop making such a huge deal out of everything. ☕

later

It is quite difficult to just "resume normal life" when, for instance, you lose two family members to Covid, or colleagues end up suffering from severe symptoms and long-term complications. How can one then suggest that masks aren't necessary, or that we should skip vaccinations and act as if things haven't changed since before the pandemic? Who is going to shoulder the risk of endangering someone else's health? I have been personally overcome by this virus—twice, in fact, and I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone... I am still dealing with neurological symptoms to this day.

Look, you’re basically living in a fallout shelter for the rest of your life. Not my fault, though—you gotta go embrace nature sometime.

Cheers

vividstag6 said:It is quite difficult to just "resume normal life" when, for instance, you lose two family members to Covid, or colleagues end up suffering from severe symptoms and long-term complications. How can one then suggest that masks aren't necessary, or that we should skip vaccinations and act as if things haven't changed since before the pandemic? Who is going to shoulder the risk of endangering someone else's health? I have been personally overcome by this virus—twice, in fact, and I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone... I am still dealing with neurological symptoms to this day.

My maternal grandmother passed away from colon cancer, and now my mother is fighting that same battle. As for me, I’m already navigating the whole gauntlet of colonoscopies and endoscopies, and I'll likely be doing plenty more—just praying to God I don't get hit with the worst of it. But what’s the point? Everyone has their own struggles, and everyone's pain feels like the heaviest.

mellownomad7 said:Look, you’re basically living in a fallout shelter for the rest of your life. Not my fault, though—you gotta go embrace nature sometime.

Cheers

If I were the only one complaining, I might understand, but there are far too many people suffering from horrific symptoms and long-term consequences who suddenly decided they want things back to exactly how they were before Covid. It seems some people refuse to grasp that this is a virus capable of hitting individuals incredibly hard—even fatal in some cases—and that it spreads with terrifying speed, not to mention the mutations... But by all means, let's just scrap the restrictions and spread it everywhere...

vividstag6 said:If I were the only one complaining, I might understand, but there are far too many people suffering from horrific symptoms and long-term consequences who suddenly decided they want things back to exactly how they were before Covid. It seems some people refuse to grasp that this is a virus capable of hitting individuals incredibly hard—even fatal in some cases—and that it spreads with terrifying speed, not to mention the mutations... But by all means, let's just scrap the restrictions and spread it everywhere...

In my own neighborhood, I know plenty of people over 50 who aren't vaccinated and have no intention of being. They haven't even had the virus before. One woman is heading to a wedding this weekend, and two others are planning to go next week. I'm not even counting the younger crowd; they'll likely breeze through it.
People have gone a year and a half without any real celebrations, and honestly, we all need to live our lives and make up for lost time.
If people aren't worried about their own safety, why should I be worried for them? It just frustrates me that we're even debating school restrictions when you can basically walk into the country without a care—take a quick negative test in the morning, deal with a headache by the afternoon, and find out you're PCR positive with a mountain of symptoms the day after.
It especially gets under my skin when I hear how easy it is to bypass rules at weddings, treating those Covid certificates like they're just a formality, yet in schools, based on what we see in the news, they'll still end up shutting down entire classrooms.

So, what’s the deal with this kid who refuses to wear a mask? They aren't letting him into school, yet the deputy from the CDC said there wouldn't be sanctions for children. On what legal grounds are they barring him from class?

neonfalcon99 said:So, what’s the deal with this kid who refuses to wear a mask? They aren't letting him into school, yet the deputy from the CDC said there wouldn't be sanctions for children. On what legal grounds are they barring him from class?

Which kid are we even talking about? Even here, they weren't letting kids in—not even last year.

vividstag6 said:If I were the only one complaining, I might understand, but there are far too many people suffering from horrific symptoms and long-term consequences who suddenly decided they want things back to exactly how they were before Covid. It seems some people refuse to grasp that this is a virus capable of hitting individuals incredibly hard—even fatal in some cases—and that it spreads with terrifying speed, not to mention the mutations... But by all means, let's just scrap the restrictions and spread it everywhere...

Look, here's the thing: we're dealing with a new strain.

But it's not exactly "new" anymore. We know what we're looking at, and most of us have already run into it.
We know which groups are at risk, we have the tools, and it's basically up to the individual now.

There's no reason to keep calling this a "pandemic" or maintaining these quasi-emergency measures.

Personally, I don't even think this wave is strictly Covid; it could be anything.
My whole family ended up catching some nasty stomach bug/vomiting thing recently.
I managed to dodge it. 😁

If they had actually gone to get tested, who knows what kind of joke of a result they would've gotten.

Bottom line, this whole thing doesn't make sense anymore.

Later.

mellownomad7 said:Look, here's the thing: we're dealing with a new strain.

But it's not exactly "new" anymore. We know what we're looking at, and most of us have already run into it.
We know which groups are at risk, we have the tools, and it's basically up to the individual now.

There's no reason to keep calling this a "pandemic" or maintaining these quasi-emergency measures.

Personally, I don't even think this wave is strictly Covid; it could be anything.
My whole family ended up catching some nasty stomach bug/vomiting thing recently.
I managed to dodge it. 😁

If they had actually gone to get tested, who knows what kind of joke of a result they would've gotten.

Bottom line, this whole thing doesn't make sense anymore.

Later.

Perhaps you might consider treating yourselves with something akin to a horse dewormer?

slyfox43 said:Perhaps you might consider treating yourselves with something akin to a horse dewormer?

Is that how Americans do things? ☕

It's just the usual seasonal bugs going around.

Check out this link, pretty interesting stuff.

– A new virus popped up. For some, it feels just like the flu—intense headaches, body aches, muscle pain. Others are dealing with diarrhea, coughing, or sinus issues. The big thing is to get tested immediately to rule out Covid. You can use an at-home kit, but if that comes back positive, you’ll need a PCR test to confirm it. Your doctor will give you the referral. The main symptom of the Delta variant currently spreading across America and the rest of the world is fever, though fewer people are reporting loss of taste and smell lately, even though it's still a symptom. Delta also brings on headaches, runny noses, sore throats, and loss of appetite, making it look a lot like any other common virus. So, go get tested, because if you have it, you could spread it to a ton of people – according to one epidemiologist.

Later.

People talk about it constantly, and I’ve noticed that posting nothing but praise seems to be a favorite pastime on this forum lately, so I figured some might actually start following their own advice. It would be a shame if all this talk about stomach bugs remained purely theoretical.

Of course, there will always be viruses going around—there always have been, and there always will be. I'm glad you managed to dodge this one. From what I've seen with my own family, we've dealt with far fewer of these issues than the national average since the pandemic and all those safety protocols kicked in.

vividstag6 said:It is quite difficult to just "resume normal life" when, for instance, you lose two family members to Covid, or colleagues end up suffering from severe symptoms and long-term complications. How can one then suggest that masks aren't necessary, or that we should skip vaccinations and act as if things haven't changed since before the pandemic? Who is going to shoulder the risk of endangering someone else's health? I have been personally overcome by this virus—twice, in fact, and I certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone... I am still dealing with neurological symptoms to this day.

So, where are you even located? How old are you? Any underlying health issues?
You got sick twice? How exactly? Was it officially confirmed as Covid or what?

Samuel Turner2 said:So, where are you even located? How old are you? Any underlying health issues?
You got sick twice? How exactly? Was it officially confirmed as Covid or what?

Washington, D.C. I'm 36 years old, no other medical conditions—I’d consider myself a fairly healthy individual, actually. I don't smoke, I don't drink. My first bout was caught from a colleague; the symptoms were absolutely brutal, and the recovery was a long, drawn-out process... I’d say I'm still dealing with some lingering effects. The second time, thankfully, the symptoms were much milder—I attribute that to being vaccinated. That instance happened at a wedding, where a massive number of us ended up catching it. Both instances were officially confirmed via antigen and PCR testing. This virus is fundamentally different from the flu; I have no desire to ever relive that first experience... it completely leveled me.

Wrap up the school year and start packing those cables.
Let them reform, reorganize, or shuffle things around however they want, because the current education system clearly isn't built to handle a pandemic, and the principals and administrators simply haven't risen to the occasion.
As of tomorrow, an entire high school class is stuck staying home for online learning. Why? Because one student tested positive, even though they weren't even physically at school yesterday.
With a massive 60-hour delay, they’re forcing an entire classroom into isolation, completely ignoring all the previous announcements stating that only the students sitting nearby would be affected.

The whole system is a joke. Honestly, they might as well just keep everyone home for a year while they actually build up some real capacity—both physical and staffing—because what we're seeing right now is totally senseless.

mellowskipper said:Which kid are we even talking about? Even here, they weren't letting kids in—not even last year.

It was all over the news sites yesterday and today. In most places, including parts of the Midwest, they haven't been allowed in school for three days now. I'm not entirely sure which grade it is, maybe 7th.

coastalorca43 said:Wrap up the school year and start packing those cables.
Let them reform, reorganize, or shuffle things around however they want, because the current education system clearly isn't built to handle a pandemic, and the principals and administrators simply haven't risen to the occasion.
As of tomorrow, an entire high school class is stuck staying home for online learning. Why? Because one student tested positive, even though they weren't even physically at school yesterday.
With a massive 60-hour delay, they’re forcing an entire classroom into isolation, completely ignoring all the previous announcements stating that only the students sitting nearby would be affected.

The whole system is a joke. Honestly, they might as well just keep everyone home for a year while they actually build up some real capacity—both physical and staffing—because what we're seeing right now is totally senseless.

That isn't standard procedure. I was just in a classroom where a rapid test flagged one positive case, which was later confirmed by a PCR test. That student and two others are home now. Everyone else stayed at school.

copperpuma11 said:That isn't standard procedure. I was just in a classroom where a rapid test flagged one positive case, which was later confirmed by a PCR test. That student and two others are home now. Everyone else stayed at school.

How did they decide on those two specifically?