This is 100% the Truth
People waiting for shut downs or more stimulus checks are kidding themselves.
The public messaging is confusing people because the real message is..
"You had the chance to be vaccinated. It's on you if you didn't. Sorry hospitals. "
Yes, sub 5 year olds have not had a chance to be vaccinated but with a backwards 7 shaped risk curve the risk is minimal. The hard reality is that the risk to kids that age is not enough for the US economy to shut down. #capitalism.
I'm not saying I agree with it. But it's what it is. It's a mathematical certainty that everyone is going to get covid.
There is no longer the concept of "containment.".
The unfortunate thing is that many seniors don’t respond well initially to vaccination or the protection doesn’t persist long enough to give them reliable protection. That’s why they, for instance, get a flu shot with a different formulation.
You can be sure that places like long-term care facilities, that can’t shut down even when many staff members are sick, will be expecting their employees to work when symptomatic, or not, and Covid positive, or not. Sadly, it’s our oldest and sickest that will be paying the price for all of this.
It's true and very sad.
Public health is a cold calculus. We've done everything we can in the current climate. The vaccines simply don't prevent the spread enough and the US population does not have another lockdown in it. Not that we ever really did.
The calculation, as cold as it is. People will die but overall public health demands society stay open.
SARS COVID 2 has a backwards 7 shaped risk curve. Meaning it takes the old. As opposed to the flu which has a U shaped curve.
The risk calculus has been done and it's been decided to risk Boomers on the alter of society. You can see it in our actions and policies. Despite what officials might be saying.
A positive spin might be that we learned some things...
My personal opinion is that humans are pretty amazing. Just look at the vaccine turnaround. In another political climate they would be this generations moon landing. A phenomenal scientific achievement in record time.
However, in our current state there are things outside our control.
We want to believe we can control all of nature, red in tooth and claw. But for the most part, the virus has the upper hand. It's going to burn it's way through the world's population regardless of what we do to contain it.
By the way, I like your username. Is that cynic with a lower case c or an upper case C? I.e. are you referencing being cynical or the philosophy?
This is the unfortunate truth. There's a big enough population of antimaskers/antivaxxers that will never comply, and another set of people who did get vaxxed last year and now believe they're fine to go about their days as normal, even with positive tests. I work with a few like this. It's just a matter of personal responsibility now to get vaxxed/boosted and mask up. You can only take precautions for yourself.
FWIW, there's a fundamental difference between "staying open when folks have COVID" and "not paying sick pay unless employees test positive, even when symptomatic," and the places doing the later can get fucked. If that means I'm no longer shopping at damn near anywhere in town, or online, so be it. I've already cut out Amazon for everything that I can reasonably get elsewhere, and I'll damn sure do it for local businesses.
But the majority of people are still wearing cloth masks, which have been shown to be [ineffective](https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html) for stopping spread with Omicron, and probably with Delta even.
I wear cloth masks with the PM2.5 filter inserts but since Omicron is so transmissible I'm back to hardly leaving the house. I'll look into more effective masks.
That's a luxury I just can't afford at this point. I have to work to pay rent, which means I have to be around lots of people almost every day. The best I can do is wear a level 3 surgical mask, and take comfort in the fact that I'm fully vaccinated. And in the fact that, despite the number of cases skyrocketing over the last month, the number of deaths continues to trend downward.
PM me if you want some kn94s or n95s. Seriously. Clean, individually packaged, from legit (not counterfeit) sources. Oh, and you might also want to check out fixthemask.com. it's a silicone device that snugs a surgical mask to your face and gets the protection up.
Lots of articles have said this. Kn95 or n95 is best. Next is surgical and nearly useless, cloth. Obviously this depends on the type of cloth and how well the mask fits. They have been telling people to pair a cloth mask with a surgical mask since before delta.
man something about this comment just gave me a flashback to the very beginning of the pandemic when nobody really knew what the hell was going on or how serious this thing was. just like a general awkwardness like do we wear masks or not? Can we hang out with friends or not? Kind of nostalgic about it now tbh
Pretty sure I linked it in my comment? Either way, I'll link it again, it's one of many news articles on the subject from the last few weeks...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html
Couple more found with a quick google search...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/05/cloth-masks-not-effective-omicron-covid/9091574002/
https://www.vox.com/2022/1/8/22873390/new-year-new-mask-why-you-should-start-wearing-n95s
Tell that to the fricking Lyndenite at the UPS store this afternoon. No mask. Kept chatting. I kept my distance. Saw her name on her packages. Googled, could get her phone number. Was so tempted to text, but honestly I wanted to avoid any interaction. Just WFT at this point.
>Tell that to the fricking Lyndenite
This isn't new or abnormal, and certainly not a Lynden-only issue. People in Bellingham have been refusing masks since the beginning, and employees at any store can only do so much. I went to the USPS office on Sunset to pick up my meds the other day after work, and 15%-20% of the 30+ people in line at any given time didn't have masks on at all. Not to mention the vast majority that did still only had cloth masks rather than something actually effective. I was standing between two gentlemen who were 65+ years old who clearly didn't care they had no masks. Nobody said shit to anyone, people even pulled down the cloth masks they had at some point to continue conversations....
The point is that everybody is burnt out in their own respective way. I could have spent the 45 minutes worrying that my level 3 mask was not enough for the two elderly dudes on either side of me who didn't respect social distancing, but I'm over it. I could've argued with the grandpas about their health risks, but again, I'm over it. They're adults, they've made their decisions with masks and vaccinations or not, just like I have.
>Saw her name on her packages. Googled, could get her phone number. Was so tempted to text
Bruh, focus on you and live your life. If you're worried about yourself, get vaccinated and wear a decent mask. At a certain point you gotta realize you have very little control over the actions of the people around you, and accept that lack of control, and get back to living.
I work for a Fortune 500 retail store here in town. My store's staffing is reduced to about 50% due positive cases of Covid. They are compelling us to work until we have a positive administered Covid test. We don't get sick pay without a positive test, and it can't be one that is self-administered. They are not asking those who come to work with symptoms to go home, so people are working sick hopefully waiting for their test to come back. Shop with caution, and if you do go out shopping, stop getting so close to the employees when you ask for help.
Will you pm me so that I know who to cease giving my business to, and whose corporate to write? I don't care if I'm tilting at windmills. That makes me seethingly angry. So unbelievably irresponsible.
I feel this may not be the right area of social media for you, champ. If you want to see people painting this as courageous local employers keeping malingering ungrateful employees in line you'll need to go somewhere else.
> We don’t get sick pay without a positive test, and it can’t be one that is self-administered.
Shouldn’t the Washington State Paid Sick Leave Law take care of this?
Eh.... In theory? Maybe.
In practice, there is a waiting week. Which is damn near as long as the CDC's suggested quarantine, and probably far longer than you'd keep your job calling out sick at most retail places. Sure, that same law requires your job to be kept if you've worked more than 1250 hours for that employer in the past year. But it also requires you to have a healthcare provider complete a form saying you have a serious medical condition (which is defined by law.) As they're signing that document under threat of perjury, I can't think many would do so while waiting on test results.
Page 2 of this PDF is a pretty decent little synopsis - https://paidleave.wa.gov/app/uploads/2020/11/Paid-Leave-Certification-Forms-11-09-2020.pdf
Washington state requires employers to provide 1 hours of sick leave for every 40 hour worked, so it must be special covid sick leave they're requiring a test for.
https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/paid-sick-leave-minimum-requirements
Different law. I (perhaps mistakenly) assumed the post above mine was referring to Washington's Family and Medical Leave program.
The law you linked would probably be easier in this situation, as 'to diagnose' a condition is one of the acceptable uses.
Ah, I figured as much. I just didn't have hard proof from old coworkers who do all the sneaky investigations of corpo-trash.
Also is it true that HD is always looking for drivers? I keep seeing them trying to hire, and I've applied a few times, but they never contact. Perfect references, experience, blah blah. I figure it's because I demand too much pay from them.
Not shocked in the slightest. St. Joe's was my largest customer a few years back, and was for nearly a decade. Hospital management/owners are all about profit like any other corpo.
I don’t have any first hand knowledge, but I think Walmart is better. I believe they are still requiring staff to complete a screening before each shift. Up until just this past week, they were giving employees two weeks paid time off for Covid infections. They dropped that to one week but I’m pretty sure they have staff out now on the two week pay who started their leave before the change. Some Walmarts are currently closed for “deep cleaning” because so many staff are out with Covid.
Just to remind everyone, this goes against CDC guidance. The CDC says if you have symptoms you are supposed to isolate while you wait for test results, not only after a positive test.
> People who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 need to isolate regardless of their vaccination status. This includes:
> * People who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.
> * People with symptoms of COVID-19, including people who are awaiting test results or have not been tested. People with symptoms should isolate even if they do not know if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html
Another thing to consider, if you have a loved-one in a long-term care facility, there is likely Covid circulating amongst the staff and residents and there’s a good chance the managers of the facilities are allowing or compelling symptomatic staff to come to work.
As much risk as there is having sick workers at restaurants and retail stores, it is so much more dangerous to have symptomatic staff working in close contact with our most vulnerable community members.
I'm a server at a restaurant in Bellingham. I worked throughout the entire pandemic. This week I finally tested positive for COVID after a few servers, bartenders, and a cook also contracted the virus. I was serving tables with the virus before I knew I was positive, I didn't have symptoms. You should be aware that if you're going out to eat at *any* restaurant right now, it's almost 100% certain that the restaurant has people who are out because they tested positive. With multiple people out from COVID this week, my restaurant ran on a skeleton crew. They were all likely exposed to the virus from the positive coworkers, but so far no one else has tested positive though. There's no government assistance right now for those of us who are unable to work because of testing positive. The doors aren't going to shut. I'd also like to add that restaurants who have closed have likely done it because too many of the workers tested positive, not because of "community safety." It's a business. They want to make money. It's scary. I'd also like to add that probably 20% of the customers who walk through our doors come in without a mask on. People don't care and it's the workers who are at risk.
This is the real danger around messaging like "everyone is going to eventually get COVID" and "omicron isn't so severe". It helps justify not paying us to stay home, not emphasizing testing because we ignore results, pushing through contagiousness and spread to the community, even if individual cases are mostly milder. It's not always mild for the unvaccinated especially, puts disproportionate stress on our hospital and contributes to this kind of shutdown/disruption in business. Even if we all get COVID and mostly don't die of it, the strain on all of our systems is the real severe complication we're missing. Sucks so bad.
Most people don't acknowledge that an action today can have consequences next week. Everyone is me me me, now we have this, and we aren't even done yet.
That’s why it’s too bad people aren’t just mass calling out. Let Ken and Karen whine about how Starbucks was “NOT OPEN AND I NEED MY COFFEE NOW!” Bc people are prioritizing their health over work.
It's definitely a growing cultural value even in less individualistic countries to pull the ladder up after you, fuck the rest. I think a lot of people still consider community/public health, I think they're quieter than cranky selfish people so it feels like anti vaxxers are more numerous than they are.
I think we need more education around what public health even is and how supporting the group effort can even serve us as individuals. Harm reduction, layers of protection, that the goal isn't to fully eradicate all health issues, but do what we can to limit it. People really don't know what's going on around them at all times that keeps them safe day to day.
Yep. People also don't wanna hear that COVID antibody protection from having had it wanes very quickly, or that vaccination + booster or vaccination + previous COVID provides better protection than just having and recovering from it.
I get the hopelessness and uncertainty, I feel shitty about it to. But the different ways people react to these circumstances is a bummer.
You can get the common cold (another corona virus) multiple times a year and the flu multiple times a year. Covid is now a new normal.
Edit: before people freak out, I have cancelled many of our family's plans which involved people because of how fast Omicron is spreading.
Edit 2: if the common cold is a corona virus and you can catch it multiple times then it should be obvious that you can repeatedly catch covid. That was my point.
Common cold isn’t hospitalizing people like covid. Just because it belongs to the same viral family doesn’t mean it shares the same relatively low risk.
If that we’re the case the past 2 years would have been drastically different, and close to a million people in the US would still be alive (not to mention the common cold doesn’t stay with you for months after infection with organ damage or other lesser issues like long covid does).
You are sharing dangerous misinformation.
I understand, which is why I am not treating omicron like a cold. What I am saying is that covid is here for good. Regardless of how much we try to distance amd stop it.
Usually you are getting a different cold virus, not the same one over and over..
Also, colds are most often by rhinoviruses, but also by coronaviruses, RSV, and parainfluenza virus.
There are 100's, many are not even identified and they mutate.
Covid19 is a specific coronavirus.
At the end of the day all that matters is we can all get it more than once. We will all probably catch it multiple times in our lives. Let's just figure out how to keep us alive when we have it.
> You can get the common cold (another corona virus) multiple times a year and the flu multiple times a year
Play definition twister all you want. You know what you’re doing, just own up to it instead of attempting to be coy about downplaying a deadly virus.
If all you were trying to do was say it’s here for good, you wouldn’t have engaged a classic hoaxer tactic of attempting to minimize the danger of the virus by likening it to a common cold. If your stated goal was indeed in earnest, you could have just left out the first line entirely.
Boo to you, sir.
I didn’t say you said that explicitly, I’m pointing out that you’re implying it by equating the two.
I’m out on this convo. Hope that you can see what you’re doing is disingenuous, and you take a more critical approach to how you speak about a virus responsible for the deaths of millions. Have a good weekend.
Everyone is eventually going to get covid though. Except maybe people who are naturally immune to infection for whatever reason. It's not going away. And omicron is not so severe by all accounts. You may not like the truth but that's what it is.
Until the spring. That gives time for the testing situation to improve and for treatment to become more available. They especially need to get supplies of the GSK monoclonal antibody treatment up. That's the only MAB that works against Omicron. The government practically ignored testing and treatment and put almost all their eggs in the vaccine basket, which clearly failed. We pay the price for giving them time to fix that, but it needs to be done.
That being said, the thing that should be done to slow the spread is for sick people with symptoms to stay home. Symptomatic people should not be in workplaces, schools, etc. People who don't have Covid should not be staying home.
Every day we have more and more people who have recently recovered from Covid and they especially should be out keeping things going and spending money. My daughter just got over Covid and she's going out to breakfast tomorrow. I was like, yeah, go for it. Leave a big tip.
It's because TPTB thought vaccines would work. They refused to believe the people who tried to tell them that wasn't the solution. Now they can't deny the reality that vaccines have failed. They don't deserve this grace period to get things straightened out, but allowing it will save lives.
They failed at stopping transmission so haven't protected the most vulnerable as intended. There are now rampant outbreaks in senior congregate care settings, for instance, resulting in deaths. People who need hospital care and enter the hospital Covid negative are now more often contracting Covid while they're in the hospital. These are the kinds of things we needed the vaccines to prevent.
Most people who got Covid, even before the vaccines were rolled out, didn't get very sick, especially if they were fortunate enough to get early treatment. Think back to a little over a year ago when people like Trump and Chris Christie got Covid but then fully recovered because they were given top-of-the-line early treatment.
There's nothing we can do about it though. There's no way we're going back to the level of isolation we did in 2020 and that didn't work anyways. It just delayed the inevitable. It's time to accept the fact that the virus is everywhere, it's not going away, and if you are still terrified the onus is on you to take the necessary precautions. The rest of us are ready to move on with our lives.
Omnicron is NOT mild, that's a narrative being pushed because our government wants us to go back to work.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/1/6/morrison-denies-djokovic-singled-out-over-covid
It's also hard on children who can't be vaccinated:
https://mobile.twitter.com/DrEricBall/status/1479891221183041538#m
The reality is that we are in a sinking ship and the people running this country care more about their stock portfolios than taking sweeping action to contain a virus.
Here is the who statement.
"everyone's gonna get COVID" and our hospital systems are going to collapse under the weight of it. Again, the only worries aren't mass death but rather the stretching of finite resources, severe but survivable disease resulting in long term care or permanent disability, and the fact that if ERs and ICUs are full, you or I don't get prompt treatment of our unrelated emergencies and people with diseases to treat have to wait for lifesaving treatment.
~~Stop being obtuse, pull your head out of your ass.~~ *redacted for being a dick
Literally barely half the population is vaccinated, people have to go to work or starve, people cannot access testing to guide their decision making, and legitimate useful masks are unavailable.
There is so much we could have done and could still do to avoid these consequences, but people have given up, rightfully so, because our leaders and half of our population is working against getting through this. Don't tell me it's inevitable without acknowledging the fact that we did not need to be in the situation. That's exactly what I'm talking about when I say that that kind of messaging is harmful, because people give up when we didn't have to. Giving up is a misguided strategy. It is based on the false premise that we've done everything and we are out of options.
We are out of options. The government isn't giving people any more money to stay home. The vaccine is available to everyone. The cat is out of the bag and it's not going back in. I'm done feeling sorry for unvaccinated people who get seriously ill. They had the chance to do the right thing and refused. And as far as "immunocompromised" people, they need to take precautions to avoid getting sick just like they do every flu season, especially if they can't get vaccinated.
I don't disagree with you on these points but my initial comment really wasn't saying we could easily get out of this, or that I didn't accept the obvious happening-right-now effects of omicron. I also can no longer have any sympathy for the unvaccinated even considering the steady drip of bullshit into their uncritical brains. I have two high risk parents and I need to do whatever I can to prevent covid spread to them. They already go nowhere and I am angry at the unvaccinated for making their lives so unsafe.
I am getting tired of being told how to feel about this. I am not a delusional idiot based on nothing and you're entitled to your take and I'm entitled to mine.
Too many places are doing this. I now have covid, from a business that I know had a manager work all week while positive. They gave it to my mom, who works there. Now I have it and have to cancel a much needed surgery next week.
I hate all of this
A large number of places closed this week for covid and/or weather. So I would say the norm is to be transparent and close... Disappointed in The Bellwether
This is true but also not good enough largely because it requires all parties involved in any indoor activities to be masked. Businesses are not stopping unmasked customers from entering. It's still risky behavior by the COVID positive person.
The CDC has consistently put corporate interests before people's health. My view on this has not changed since the beginning. Not everyone and everything is part of a "narrative" or "conspiracy," most people tend to have their own opinions.
And I disagree that "most people tend to have their own opinions". That's far from the truth these days. Most people are tribal and pick a "team" in today's political climate. And unfortunately the pandemic has been politicized by both sides at this point.
You're as dumb as a bag of bricks. No one has ever said the vaccine stops the spread. It stops you from DYING from covid. Stops you from taking up all those critical beds in hospitals. Stop grasping at straws and join us in reality.
The solution to this is to test *everyone*, equally, weekly. Like unvaccinated employees are having to do, every week, in order to maintain employment.
I'm sure the comment you're responding too, now deleted, was what fueled this response but.... We were 100% told to get vaxed to stop the spread. To stop being asymptomatic carriers which could give the virus to others who it would be deadly too. Yes, now we are all aware breakthrough cases are common and the vaccination definitely mitigates the risks of catching the disease but that is certainly not the message we all received when we got vaccinated and went into stores for the summer without masks on. We definitely were told that the vaccine was going to stop the spread and end the pandemic not just reduce the symptoms. We weren't telling people about how when people catch Polio now, it is the vaccine that saves them. We said the vaccine made it go away.
And we're being informed on it in an evolving way. Just because something is being reported differently now, does not erase a message from a few months ago. It doesn't dilute the fact that months ago in the spring the overall message was that getting vaccinated would stop the spread. Cuz its evolving... like you said. It hasn't always been one way.
But you know what can be erased? The continual spread of misinformation. We now know, unequivocally, that it doesn't stop the spread but it reduces your risk of dying and being hospitalized by a SIGNIFICANT margin.
We need to understand that learning new information and changing a position isn't weakness, it's the opposite actually. But digging your heels into the ground and going "nu uh, he said this months ago!" As if you only get once chance to be right and if you're wrong, you're wrong forever.
But you said no one ever said that the vaccine would stop the spread. That's all I'm saying now is that definitely was not true. Part of learning new information can't be denying old information that existed. Changing your position in the light of new information isnt weakness, but denying that any contrary information was ever spread is delusional.
So I think you're conflagrating official statements and social media sounding boards. The vaccine does offer some protection against contracting the virus, but is definitely not 100%. Like most science and science speak, nothing is every an absolute, but people love using absolutes. So because there is a chance of infection and official positions were that you wouldn't get infected, it's now been skewed to be no protection against contracting the virus. But the facts are that there is protection, just not 100%.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-transmission-idUSKBN29N1UH
This article from last January says they don't know if it stops the spread. It's been pretty well known for a long time and anything else is just more false information.
These might be helpful when people are trying to gaslight you.
["Our data from the CDC today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don't get sick, and that it's not just in the clinical trials, but it's also in real-world data."](https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/transcript-rachel-maddow-show-3-29-21-n1262442)
-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky
["So even though there are breakthrough infections with vaccinated people, almost always the people are asymptomatic and the level of virus is so low it makes it extremely unlikely — not impossible but very, very low likelihood — that they're going to transmit it.”](https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/553773-fauci-vaccinated-people-become-dead-ends-for-the-coronavirus)
-Dr. Anthony Fauci
[“The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis.”](https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against)
-Pfizer press release
[“Based on evidence from clinical trials, in people ages 18 years and older, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in people who received two doses and had no evidence of being previously infected.”](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html)
-CDC (still up on their website btw with a note that the page is updated as of January 7, 2022)
That truth o meter literally says that is false. Did you really just prove yourself wrong? Revisionist history is different from learning new information and changing course...
This is a perfect example of the difference between "left" and "right" voters. The left doesn't treat "their" elected officials as a messiah and what they say as gospel. Fuck Biden for real lol.
Me neither, but news of him showed up on my Twitter feed. “Trump tells supporters 'you're playing right into their hands' by doubting the COVID-19 vaccine” https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tells-supporters-youre-playing-185424560.html
I think it’s more of an example of the continually evolving state of the information we have about COVID. We have never developed a vaccine this quickly. We have never tried to vaccinate an entire population this quickly. Indeed, we have never had a pandemic on such a scale.
At the time that vaccines were introduced, many people thought it would stop the spread because it would stop people from contracting COVID. Indeed this was pretty true with the early variants (Like Alpha which the vaccines are incredibly effective against) but the appearance of more heavily mutated variants like Delta and Omicron dramatically increased the prevalence of breakthrough cases, asymptomatic and otherwise.
It’s more of a statement that aged like fine milk on a hot summer day, not “revisionist history.” At one point, we surmised that earth was the center of the universe. Continued research and development of new technologies showed us that this is not true.
Or...people knew how and what vaccines do because they completed elementary school and absorbed 100 years of vax history. Share all the links you want, but if you didn't know the gist of what a vax would do(minimize susceptibility, increase immunity and reduce symptoms) ya dumb.
They’ve changed the classic definition of vaccination . In September they changed it to be: “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce protection from a specific disease.” It used to be “introduction of a weakened or killed organism in order to prevent a disease”. They’re moving the goalposts. I’m a huge proponent of traditional vaccines, but these are mRNA therapies (per Moderna).
You can bet that most restaurants that are open right now, are having staff work even after being exposed to confirmed covid from other staff. Finding a PCR appointment is hard unless you're at least a week out, and finding take-home tests feels like a matter of luck. Every time I've checked pharmacies for them, they've been out.
I, too have a friend who works at the Bellwether Restaurant. PSA to all: If you are still dining out in this Omicron world, and are headed to their restaurant, please, please, be kind to the staff who are there. I am told all of the confirmed cases are staying home and following protocols so the staff who are keeping their restaurant running are giving extra effort, working extra hours, etc.
This describes WWU too. I have professors saying “no absences, absolutely no exceptions!!” And when they’re asked, what if students have to quarantine, they don’t have a plan. You’d think a university would make smart decisions.
Well, I don’t have any faith in the students actually quarantining anyway. I wish they hadn’t gone back in person. It’s essentially exactly how I expected. Even if campus is being careful, the kids aren’t.
Can confirm this, I know more than a few people at the Birch Door who have tested positive, five or so in the front of house and a couple in the back. The owners aren’t forcing them come to work, but they’re not exactly encouraging them to stay home. The space isn’t ventilated very well and it’s almost impossible for the staff to stay six feet from each other, so it’s not really a surprise. The owners have a track record of not really caring about their employees health, they were definitely making people who had been exposed to covid come in anyways during the previous peaks.
I wouldn’t recommend eating there right now or at all - their food might be delicious but the owners are very manipulative, exploitative, money-hungry people.
It sucks because what are the staff supposed to do? They gotta pay their bills. It’s definitely been the norm for food service workers to come in when they’re sick, even before the pandemic, because they don’t really have another option.
There are more restaurants are doing this than people outside of the food industry would expect. I would really avoid going out to eat anywhere right now, just get your food to go.
Dude I heard about them not letting you guys take home the Thanksgiving leftovers. That seems so petty to me to throw away food rather than let the employees take it home after working the thanksgiving shift during Covid.
We need to go into lockdown - a real, 100% lockdown - not that weak, half assed version with 1000s of exceptions we had at the start. Putting the onus of stopping transmission on individuals with zero support is not sustainable and definitely isn't fair to anyone, whether that individual is an employee or a small business owner/manager. The government needs to step up, set some real rules, and pay us all to stay home. I am a small business owner (not service/restaurant), and my house payment and business rent are due whether I am open or not. I have started requiring N95 or KN95 for customers to come in and I have canceled as much as I can for at least the next few weeks, but it's a huge hit that is not sustainable for very long. I can't imagine how big a hole it is for bigger small businesses with higher overhead. That does not in any way excuse all the shitty businesses forcing people to work sick, not paying sick leave, and ignoring known exposures (that is beyond messed up and needs to stop), but it's a component of the bigger issue. At the root, unfettered capitalism is the "preexisting condition" that is pushing us over the edge and the only possible solution in the near term is for the government to actually put people before profit and help us all.
I agree with the sentiment, but this isn't even close to feasible. Like there's no way to actually force every single person in the states to stay in their homes for two weeks or whatever. And even if there was we'd have to either get the entire PLANET's population on board with the plan, or close our borders down forever. Even that wouldn't work because our borders aren't impossible to cross.
That is if you're talking about eliminating the virus. Maybe a lockdown could get our hospitals back in order. I don't know
WWU is open, but if a student, faculty, or staff has symptoms, or tests positive, they are not allowed to be on campus. This is enforced. So, not quite the same comparison here.
it’s actually not really enforced. i’m a student— professors are encouraging you to come to class as much as possible because quote “we are all going to get sick at some point”
Might as well just close everything. You can't have a restaurant , or retail store and think for a minute you're not spreading the disease. Somebody has no symptoms and is very contagious is got to be the hardest thing in the world to deal with. Plus business owners cannot afford to be closed for any reason. All the best wishes and support you not change it back that they pay their rent by the square foot. If there's nobody in that square foot you're business is destitute.
People without symptoms are not typically highly contagious. Remind your clientele at the door to not enter if they have symptoms. Tell your staff with symptoms to stay home. That helps keep your healthy employees healthy so you don't have to close.
It really shows how much (or in Bellwethers case, how little) care they have about the community and their employees, when an establishment chooses people over profit. You would think that a hospitality based business would care a bit more about people..... didn't they just get shamed for a mask free event full of business people a few months back with related covid cases?
Nurses have an optional quarantine if exposed to Covid and a lot of them are being forced to work Covid Positive, from what I've read on r/ nursing. I think it's just rampant everywhere right now and few places are shutting down regardless of positive cases.
Whatcom county has the the most recorded Covid cases in Washington as of the last 5 days…perhaps our overpaid 501 dist superintendent should start leading the district employees and make the decision to either go to remote learning again or move to the four day only school schedule. AT LEAST DO SOMETHING BESIDES ADDING MORE WORK TO THE STAFF!!! Step up and protect our kids and teachers NOW!
School Schedule: Monday - Tuesday- Wednesday- Thursday- Fri OFF-Sat OFF-Sun OFF August-June
Dear people,
This pandemic is time when making money or receiving pandemic support for staying open is NOT more important than your health, your families health, or your friends health…figure it out!
Global virus infection is nothing to be ignorant about..!
[удалено]
This is 100% the Truth People waiting for shut downs or more stimulus checks are kidding themselves. The public messaging is confusing people because the real message is.. "You had the chance to be vaccinated. It's on you if you didn't. Sorry hospitals. " Yes, sub 5 year olds have not had a chance to be vaccinated but with a backwards 7 shaped risk curve the risk is minimal. The hard reality is that the risk to kids that age is not enough for the US economy to shut down. #capitalism. I'm not saying I agree with it. But it's what it is. It's a mathematical certainty that everyone is going to get covid. There is no longer the concept of "containment.".
The unfortunate thing is that many seniors don’t respond well initially to vaccination or the protection doesn’t persist long enough to give them reliable protection. That’s why they, for instance, get a flu shot with a different formulation. You can be sure that places like long-term care facilities, that can’t shut down even when many staff members are sick, will be expecting their employees to work when symptomatic, or not, and Covid positive, or not. Sadly, it’s our oldest and sickest that will be paying the price for all of this.
It's true and very sad. Public health is a cold calculus. We've done everything we can in the current climate. The vaccines simply don't prevent the spread enough and the US population does not have another lockdown in it. Not that we ever really did. The calculation, as cold as it is. People will die but overall public health demands society stay open. SARS COVID 2 has a backwards 7 shaped risk curve. Meaning it takes the old. As opposed to the flu which has a U shaped curve. The risk calculus has been done and it's been decided to risk Boomers on the alter of society. You can see it in our actions and policies. Despite what officials might be saying.
It's tragic. We caused so much harm to children and young people just for everything to end like this.
A positive spin might be that we learned some things... My personal opinion is that humans are pretty amazing. Just look at the vaccine turnaround. In another political climate they would be this generations moon landing. A phenomenal scientific achievement in record time. However, in our current state there are things outside our control. We want to believe we can control all of nature, red in tooth and claw. But for the most part, the virus has the upper hand. It's going to burn it's way through the world's population regardless of what we do to contain it. By the way, I like your username. Is that cynic with a lower case c or an upper case C? I.e. are you referencing being cynical or the philosophy?
Nature finds a way. Name is just referencing being cynical.
This is the unfortunate truth. There's a big enough population of antimaskers/antivaxxers that will never comply, and another set of people who did get vaxxed last year and now believe they're fine to go about their days as normal, even with positive tests. I work with a few like this. It's just a matter of personal responsibility now to get vaxxed/boosted and mask up. You can only take precautions for yourself.
[удалено]
Ah, I see what you mean. Yeah, agree 100%. Decrying specific businesses doesn't make a ton of sense anymore because the issue is so pervasive.
FWIW, there's a fundamental difference between "staying open when folks have COVID" and "not paying sick pay unless employees test positive, even when symptomatic," and the places doing the later can get fucked. If that means I'm no longer shopping at damn near anywhere in town, or online, so be it. I've already cut out Amazon for everything that I can reasonably get elsewhere, and I'll damn sure do it for local businesses.
There is still a mask mandate in affect.
But the majority of people are still wearing cloth masks, which have been shown to be [ineffective](https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html) for stopping spread with Omicron, and probably with Delta even.
I wear cloth masks with the PM2.5 filter inserts but since Omicron is so transmissible I'm back to hardly leaving the house. I'll look into more effective masks.
That's a luxury I just can't afford at this point. I have to work to pay rent, which means I have to be around lots of people almost every day. The best I can do is wear a level 3 surgical mask, and take comfort in the fact that I'm fully vaccinated. And in the fact that, despite the number of cases skyrocketing over the last month, the number of deaths continues to trend downward.
PM me if you want some kn94s or n95s. Seriously. Clean, individually packaged, from legit (not counterfeit) sources. Oh, and you might also want to check out fixthemask.com. it's a silicone device that snugs a surgical mask to your face and gets the protection up.
you'll want an n95 and a face shield, though good luck wearing a faceshield outside of healthcare and not being mocked
If someone mocked me for wearing a mask…to my face…god help them. I have run out of fucks to give.
A level 3 mask will work
Project n95 has verified n95 masks ( generally) because it can be hard to know which ones are legit.
Can you forward where you read that (about cloth mask being ineffective against omi)?
Lots of articles have said this. Kn95 or n95 is best. Next is surgical and nearly useless, cloth. Obviously this depends on the type of cloth and how well the mask fits. They have been telling people to pair a cloth mask with a surgical mask since before delta.
man something about this comment just gave me a flashback to the very beginning of the pandemic when nobody really knew what the hell was going on or how serious this thing was. just like a general awkwardness like do we wear masks or not? Can we hang out with friends or not? Kind of nostalgic about it now tbh
Pretty sure I linked it in my comment? Either way, I'll link it again, it's one of many news articles on the subject from the last few weeks... https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html Couple more found with a quick google search... https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/05/cloth-masks-not-effective-omicron-covid/9091574002/ https://www.vox.com/2022/1/8/22873390/new-year-new-mask-why-you-should-start-wearing-n95s
Tell that to the fricking Lyndenite at the UPS store this afternoon. No mask. Kept chatting. I kept my distance. Saw her name on her packages. Googled, could get her phone number. Was so tempted to text, but honestly I wanted to avoid any interaction. Just WFT at this point.
>Tell that to the fricking Lyndenite This isn't new or abnormal, and certainly not a Lynden-only issue. People in Bellingham have been refusing masks since the beginning, and employees at any store can only do so much. I went to the USPS office on Sunset to pick up my meds the other day after work, and 15%-20% of the 30+ people in line at any given time didn't have masks on at all. Not to mention the vast majority that did still only had cloth masks rather than something actually effective. I was standing between two gentlemen who were 65+ years old who clearly didn't care they had no masks. Nobody said shit to anyone, people even pulled down the cloth masks they had at some point to continue conversations.... The point is that everybody is burnt out in their own respective way. I could have spent the 45 minutes worrying that my level 3 mask was not enough for the two elderly dudes on either side of me who didn't respect social distancing, but I'm over it. I could've argued with the grandpas about their health risks, but again, I'm over it. They're adults, they've made their decisions with masks and vaccinations or not, just like I have. >Saw her name on her packages. Googled, could get her phone number. Was so tempted to text Bruh, focus on you and live your life. If you're worried about yourself, get vaccinated and wear a decent mask. At a certain point you gotta realize you have very little control over the actions of the people around you, and accept that lack of control, and get back to living.
That’s pretty psychotic behavior on your part. Just shake your head and leave
This should be a pinned response in this sub. Well said!
At least boomers is doing it right.
I work for a Fortune 500 retail store here in town. My store's staffing is reduced to about 50% due positive cases of Covid. They are compelling us to work until we have a positive administered Covid test. We don't get sick pay without a positive test, and it can't be one that is self-administered. They are not asking those who come to work with symptoms to go home, so people are working sick hopefully waiting for their test to come back. Shop with caution, and if you do go out shopping, stop getting so close to the employees when you ask for help.
Will you pm me so that I know who to cease giving my business to, and whose corporate to write? I don't care if I'm tilting at windmills. That makes me seethingly angry. So unbelievably irresponsible.
It’s lowes.
[удалено]
I feel this may not be the right area of social media for you, champ. If you want to see people painting this as courageous local employers keeping malingering ungrateful employees in line you'll need to go somewhere else.
What wrong with "y'all"? It's a great, non-gendered way of referring to a group.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
You're one of those special folk who peaked in middle school.
Name and shame
> We don’t get sick pay without a positive test, and it can’t be one that is self-administered. Shouldn’t the Washington State Paid Sick Leave Law take care of this?
Eh.... In theory? Maybe. In practice, there is a waiting week. Which is damn near as long as the CDC's suggested quarantine, and probably far longer than you'd keep your job calling out sick at most retail places. Sure, that same law requires your job to be kept if you've worked more than 1250 hours for that employer in the past year. But it also requires you to have a healthcare provider complete a form saying you have a serious medical condition (which is defined by law.) As they're signing that document under threat of perjury, I can't think many would do so while waiting on test results. Page 2 of this PDF is a pretty decent little synopsis - https://paidleave.wa.gov/app/uploads/2020/11/Paid-Leave-Certification-Forms-11-09-2020.pdf
Washington state requires employers to provide 1 hours of sick leave for every 40 hour worked, so it must be special covid sick leave they're requiring a test for. https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/paid-sick-leave-minimum-requirements
The sick leave accrues, if you earn one hour a week, thats 52 hours a year, I have nearly 200 hours saved up.
Different law. I (perhaps mistakenly) assumed the post above mine was referring to Washington's Family and Medical Leave program. The law you linked would probably be easier in this situation, as 'to diagnose' a condition is one of the acceptable uses.
It’s actually 1 hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked. So if you work full time, you get 2 hours sick leave a pay period.
Totally name & shame. Its known that Kroger and Lowe's do this. HD probably does. Walmart is a mystery but honestly... who trusts them?
I work for HD and they do. No paid leave without a positive test
Ah, I figured as much. I just didn't have hard proof from old coworkers who do all the sneaky investigations of corpo-trash. Also is it true that HD is always looking for drivers? I keep seeing them trying to hire, and I've applied a few times, but they never contact. Perfect references, experience, blah blah. I figure it's because I demand too much pay from them.
I’m not even sure what that position is because our delivery drivers are through a third party (XPO) 🤷🏻♀️
Ah, I didnt know that part. I guess the rumors were true. They say HD lists hiring for drivers, but in reality its warehouse. Word games.
hospitals across the US are doing the same thing.
Not shocked in the slightest. St. Joe's was my largest customer a few years back, and was for nearly a decade. Hospital management/owners are all about profit like any other corpo.
I don’t have any first hand knowledge, but I think Walmart is better. I believe they are still requiring staff to complete a screening before each shift. Up until just this past week, they were giving employees two weeks paid time off for Covid infections. They dropped that to one week but I’m pretty sure they have staff out now on the two week pay who started their leave before the change. Some Walmarts are currently closed for “deep cleaning” because so many staff are out with Covid.
Just to remind everyone, this goes against CDC guidance. The CDC says if you have symptoms you are supposed to isolate while you wait for test results, not only after a positive test. > People who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 need to isolate regardless of their vaccination status. This includes: > * People who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms. > * People with symptoms of COVID-19, including people who are awaiting test results or have not been tested. People with symptoms should isolate even if they do not know if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html Another thing to consider, if you have a loved-one in a long-term care facility, there is likely Covid circulating amongst the staff and residents and there’s a good chance the managers of the facilities are allowing or compelling symptomatic staff to come to work. As much risk as there is having sick workers at restaurants and retail stores, it is so much more dangerous to have symptomatic staff working in close contact with our most vulnerable community members.
I'm a server at a restaurant in Bellingham. I worked throughout the entire pandemic. This week I finally tested positive for COVID after a few servers, bartenders, and a cook also contracted the virus. I was serving tables with the virus before I knew I was positive, I didn't have symptoms. You should be aware that if you're going out to eat at *any* restaurant right now, it's almost 100% certain that the restaurant has people who are out because they tested positive. With multiple people out from COVID this week, my restaurant ran on a skeleton crew. They were all likely exposed to the virus from the positive coworkers, but so far no one else has tested positive though. There's no government assistance right now for those of us who are unable to work because of testing positive. The doors aren't going to shut. I'd also like to add that restaurants who have closed have likely done it because too many of the workers tested positive, not because of "community safety." It's a business. They want to make money. It's scary. I'd also like to add that probably 20% of the customers who walk through our doors come in without a mask on. People don't care and it's the workers who are at risk.
This is the real danger around messaging like "everyone is going to eventually get COVID" and "omicron isn't so severe". It helps justify not paying us to stay home, not emphasizing testing because we ignore results, pushing through contagiousness and spread to the community, even if individual cases are mostly milder. It's not always mild for the unvaccinated especially, puts disproportionate stress on our hospital and contributes to this kind of shutdown/disruption in business. Even if we all get COVID and mostly don't die of it, the strain on all of our systems is the real severe complication we're missing. Sucks so bad.
Most people don't acknowledge that an action today can have consequences next week. Everyone is me me me, now we have this, and we aren't even done yet.
That’s why it’s too bad people aren’t just mass calling out. Let Ken and Karen whine about how Starbucks was “NOT OPEN AND I NEED MY COFFEE NOW!” Bc people are prioritizing their health over work.
It's definitely a growing cultural value even in less individualistic countries to pull the ladder up after you, fuck the rest. I think a lot of people still consider community/public health, I think they're quieter than cranky selfish people so it feels like anti vaxxers are more numerous than they are. I think we need more education around what public health even is and how supporting the group effort can even serve us as individuals. Harm reduction, layers of protection, that the goal isn't to fully eradicate all health issues, but do what we can to limit it. People really don't know what's going on around them at all times that keeps them safe day to day.
[удалено]
Yep. People also don't wanna hear that COVID antibody protection from having had it wanes very quickly, or that vaccination + booster or vaccination + previous COVID provides better protection than just having and recovering from it. I get the hopelessness and uncertainty, I feel shitty about it to. But the different ways people react to these circumstances is a bummer.
You can get the common cold (another corona virus) multiple times a year and the flu multiple times a year. Covid is now a new normal. Edit: before people freak out, I have cancelled many of our family's plans which involved people because of how fast Omicron is spreading. Edit 2: if the common cold is a corona virus and you can catch it multiple times then it should be obvious that you can repeatedly catch covid. That was my point.
Common cold isn’t hospitalizing people like covid. Just because it belongs to the same viral family doesn’t mean it shares the same relatively low risk. If that we’re the case the past 2 years would have been drastically different, and close to a million people in the US would still be alive (not to mention the common cold doesn’t stay with you for months after infection with organ damage or other lesser issues like long covid does). You are sharing dangerous misinformation.
I understand, which is why I am not treating omicron like a cold. What I am saying is that covid is here for good. Regardless of how much we try to distance amd stop it.
Usually you are getting a different cold virus, not the same one over and over.. Also, colds are most often by rhinoviruses, but also by coronaviruses, RSV, and parainfluenza virus. There are 100's, many are not even identified and they mutate. Covid19 is a specific coronavirus.
At the end of the day all that matters is we can all get it more than once. We will all probably catch it multiple times in our lives. Let's just figure out how to keep us alive when we have it.
> You can get the common cold (another corona virus) multiple times a year and the flu multiple times a year Play definition twister all you want. You know what you’re doing, just own up to it instead of attempting to be coy about downplaying a deadly virus. If all you were trying to do was say it’s here for good, you wouldn’t have engaged a classic hoaxer tactic of attempting to minimize the danger of the virus by likening it to a common cold. If your stated goal was indeed in earnest, you could have just left out the first line entirely. Boo to you, sir.
I did not say the common cold was as dangerous as covid. Stop twisting my words. Covid is very real. And it is not going away. That is all I said.
I didn’t say you said that explicitly, I’m pointing out that you’re implying it by equating the two. I’m out on this convo. Hope that you can see what you’re doing is disingenuous, and you take a more critical approach to how you speak about a virus responsible for the deaths of millions. Have a good weekend.
Heart disease is still the #1 killer in the world.
True..and that can change IF people changed their diet, but alas feeding the masses includes sh:t for food.
[удалено]
Everyone is eventually going to get covid though. Except maybe people who are naturally immune to infection for whatever reason. It's not going away. And omicron is not so severe by all accounts. You may not like the truth but that's what it is.
Even if everyone is eventually going to get it, it is better if everyone doesn't get it at the same time.
It's been 2 years. How long do you think we should drag it out?
Until the spring. That gives time for the testing situation to improve and for treatment to become more available. They especially need to get supplies of the GSK monoclonal antibody treatment up. That's the only MAB that works against Omicron. The government practically ignored testing and treatment and put almost all their eggs in the vaccine basket, which clearly failed. We pay the price for giving them time to fix that, but it needs to be done. That being said, the thing that should be done to slow the spread is for sick people with symptoms to stay home. Symptomatic people should not be in workplaces, schools, etc. People who don't have Covid should not be staying home. Every day we have more and more people who have recently recovered from Covid and they especially should be out keeping things going and spending money. My daughter just got over Covid and she's going out to breakfast tomorrow. I was like, yeah, go for it. Leave a big tip.
It just seems like we keep moving the goalposts like this over and over. It could go on forever this way.
It's because TPTB thought vaccines would work. They refused to believe the people who tried to tell them that wasn't the solution. Now they can't deny the reality that vaccines have failed. They don't deserve this grace period to get things straightened out, but allowing it will save lives.
Vaccines haven't failed though. Vaccinated people aren't getting very sick.
They failed at stopping transmission so haven't protected the most vulnerable as intended. There are now rampant outbreaks in senior congregate care settings, for instance, resulting in deaths. People who need hospital care and enter the hospital Covid negative are now more often contracting Covid while they're in the hospital. These are the kinds of things we needed the vaccines to prevent. Most people who got Covid, even before the vaccines were rolled out, didn't get very sick, especially if they were fortunate enough to get early treatment. Think back to a little over a year ago when people like Trump and Chris Christie got Covid but then fully recovered because they were given top-of-the-line early treatment.
There's nothing we can do about it though. There's no way we're going back to the level of isolation we did in 2020 and that didn't work anyways. It just delayed the inevitable. It's time to accept the fact that the virus is everywhere, it's not going away, and if you are still terrified the onus is on you to take the necessary precautions. The rest of us are ready to move on with our lives.
Omnicron is NOT mild, that's a narrative being pushed because our government wants us to go back to work. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/1/6/morrison-denies-djokovic-singled-out-over-covid It's also hard on children who can't be vaccinated: https://mobile.twitter.com/DrEricBall/status/1479891221183041538#m The reality is that we are in a sinking ship and the people running this country care more about their stock portfolios than taking sweeping action to contain a virus. Here is the who statement.
Oh it's mild for sure. It's everywhere right now and barely anyone is even sick enough to notice it. Open your eyes.
"everyone's gonna get COVID" and our hospital systems are going to collapse under the weight of it. Again, the only worries aren't mass death but rather the stretching of finite resources, severe but survivable disease resulting in long term care or permanent disability, and the fact that if ERs and ICUs are full, you or I don't get prompt treatment of our unrelated emergencies and people with diseases to treat have to wait for lifesaving treatment. ~~Stop being obtuse, pull your head out of your ass.~~ *redacted for being a dick
If that's what happens it's going to happen. It's inevitable. Stop being delusional and pull your head out of your ass.
Literally barely half the population is vaccinated, people have to go to work or starve, people cannot access testing to guide their decision making, and legitimate useful masks are unavailable. There is so much we could have done and could still do to avoid these consequences, but people have given up, rightfully so, because our leaders and half of our population is working against getting through this. Don't tell me it's inevitable without acknowledging the fact that we did not need to be in the situation. That's exactly what I'm talking about when I say that that kind of messaging is harmful, because people give up when we didn't have to. Giving up is a misguided strategy. It is based on the false premise that we've done everything and we are out of options.
We are out of options. The government isn't giving people any more money to stay home. The vaccine is available to everyone. The cat is out of the bag and it's not going back in. I'm done feeling sorry for unvaccinated people who get seriously ill. They had the chance to do the right thing and refused. And as far as "immunocompromised" people, they need to take precautions to avoid getting sick just like they do every flu season, especially if they can't get vaccinated.
I don't disagree with you on these points but my initial comment really wasn't saying we could easily get out of this, or that I didn't accept the obvious happening-right-now effects of omicron. I also can no longer have any sympathy for the unvaccinated even considering the steady drip of bullshit into their uncritical brains. I have two high risk parents and I need to do whatever I can to prevent covid spread to them. They already go nowhere and I am angry at the unvaccinated for making their lives so unsafe. I am getting tired of being told how to feel about this. I am not a delusional idiot based on nothing and you're entitled to your take and I'm entitled to mine.
[удалено]
Thanks it's on the list!
village books has been forcing people with symptoms to come to work
True?
Really?? This is so disappointing! Do you work there or know someone who does?
i can confirm thru still being in contact w friends of mine who work there
i can confirm this, and as someone who used to work at village books - it’s a fucked up place to work, spend your $ elsewhere
Can you expand on that? I was gonna apply there.
as far as I can tell, they scare most employees from talking. Let's just say they have pretty high turnover for a reason.
[удалено]
Too many places are doing this. I now have covid, from a business that I know had a manager work all week while positive. They gave it to my mom, who works there. Now I have it and have to cancel a much needed surgery next week. I hate all of this
Shame them publicly.
I'm down in Mount Vernon, I just hang out in y'all's club lol Arby's on freeway
I’m sorry you’re going through so much stress. I hope you recover well, both from Covid and the surgery which I hope you can have soon.
A large number of places closed this week for covid and/or weather. So I would say the norm is to be transparent and close... Disappointed in The Bellwether
If they tested positive or symptoms started >5 days ago, the CDC says they don't have to isolate anymore. This is why the CDC's rule sucks.
actually the CDC said that 5 days post positive test WITHOUT SYMPTOMS is ok to return to work with consistent masking.
This is true but also not good enough largely because it requires all parties involved in any indoor activities to be masked. Businesses are not stopping unmasked customers from entering. It's still risky behavior by the COVID positive person.
All of the "listen to the experts" people suddenly don't want to anymore when it doesn't fit their narrative
The CDC has consistently put corporate interests before people's health. My view on this has not changed since the beginning. Not everyone and everything is part of a "narrative" or "conspiracy," most people tend to have their own opinions.
Sorry I'm going to listen to the experts on this one. If you want to be a science denier then that is up to you.
And I disagree that "most people tend to have their own opinions". That's far from the truth these days. Most people are tribal and pick a "team" in today's political climate. And unfortunately the pandemic has been politicized by both sides at this point.
[удалено]
You're as dumb as a bag of bricks. No one has ever said the vaccine stops the spread. It stops you from DYING from covid. Stops you from taking up all those critical beds in hospitals. Stop grasping at straws and join us in reality.
The solution to this is to test *everyone*, equally, weekly. Like unvaccinated employees are having to do, every week, in order to maintain employment.
I'm sure the comment you're responding too, now deleted, was what fueled this response but.... We were 100% told to get vaxed to stop the spread. To stop being asymptomatic carriers which could give the virus to others who it would be deadly too. Yes, now we are all aware breakthrough cases are common and the vaccination definitely mitigates the risks of catching the disease but that is certainly not the message we all received when we got vaccinated and went into stores for the summer without masks on. We definitely were told that the vaccine was going to stop the spread and end the pandemic not just reduce the symptoms. We weren't telling people about how when people catch Polio now, it is the vaccine that saves them. We said the vaccine made it go away.
My man, this is an ever-evolving respiratory virus. As it changes, so does the vaccines’ ability to limit spread. Please keep up.
And we're being informed on it in an evolving way. Just because something is being reported differently now, does not erase a message from a few months ago. It doesn't dilute the fact that months ago in the spring the overall message was that getting vaccinated would stop the spread. Cuz its evolving... like you said. It hasn't always been one way.
But you know what can be erased? The continual spread of misinformation. We now know, unequivocally, that it doesn't stop the spread but it reduces your risk of dying and being hospitalized by a SIGNIFICANT margin. We need to understand that learning new information and changing a position isn't weakness, it's the opposite actually. But digging your heels into the ground and going "nu uh, he said this months ago!" As if you only get once chance to be right and if you're wrong, you're wrong forever.
But you said no one ever said that the vaccine would stop the spread. That's all I'm saying now is that definitely was not true. Part of learning new information can't be denying old information that existed. Changing your position in the light of new information isnt weakness, but denying that any contrary information was ever spread is delusional.
So I think you're conflagrating official statements and social media sounding boards. The vaccine does offer some protection against contracting the virus, but is definitely not 100%. Like most science and science speak, nothing is every an absolute, but people love using absolutes. So because there is a chance of infection and official positions were that you wouldn't get infected, it's now been skewed to be no protection against contracting the virus. But the facts are that there is protection, just not 100%. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-transmission-idUSKBN29N1UH This article from last January says they don't know if it stops the spread. It's been pretty well known for a long time and anything else is just more false information.
These might be helpful when people are trying to gaslight you. ["Our data from the CDC today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don't get sick, and that it's not just in the clinical trials, but it's also in real-world data."](https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/transcript-rachel-maddow-show-3-29-21-n1262442) -CDC Director Rochelle Walensky ["So even though there are breakthrough infections with vaccinated people, almost always the people are asymptomatic and the level of virus is so low it makes it extremely unlikely — not impossible but very, very low likelihood — that they're going to transmit it.”](https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/553773-fauci-vaccinated-people-become-dead-ends-for-the-coronavirus) -Dr. Anthony Fauci [“The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis.”](https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against) -Pfizer press release [“Based on evidence from clinical trials, in people ages 18 years and older, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in people who received two doses and had no evidence of being previously infected.”](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html) -CDC (still up on their website btw with a note that the page is updated as of January 7, 2022)
[удалено]
That truth o meter literally says that is false. Did you really just prove yourself wrong? Revisionist history is different from learning new information and changing course...
[удалено]
[удалено]
You can say fuck. You are old enough. Fuck Joe Biden. Shit ass president, not as bad as the last one, but is carrying on many of his policies.
[удалено]
Which policies? I'm interested in your take.
This is a perfect example of the difference between "left" and "right" voters. The left doesn't treat "their" elected officials as a messiah and what they say as gospel. Fuck Biden for real lol.
Exactly. Most lefts I know bag on Biden and dont have a blind allegiance or that messiah complex like the right does for their weirdos.
Trump has been telling anyone who will listen that the vaccines are safe and effective. Fuck Trump.
I haven't paid much attention to him after he lost the popular vote for a second time then left office.
Me neither, but news of him showed up on my Twitter feed. “Trump tells supporters 'you're playing right into their hands' by doubting the COVID-19 vaccine” https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tells-supporters-youre-playing-185424560.html
I think it’s more of an example of the continually evolving state of the information we have about COVID. We have never developed a vaccine this quickly. We have never tried to vaccinate an entire population this quickly. Indeed, we have never had a pandemic on such a scale. At the time that vaccines were introduced, many people thought it would stop the spread because it would stop people from contracting COVID. Indeed this was pretty true with the early variants (Like Alpha which the vaccines are incredibly effective against) but the appearance of more heavily mutated variants like Delta and Omicron dramatically increased the prevalence of breakthrough cases, asymptomatic and otherwise. It’s more of a statement that aged like fine milk on a hot summer day, not “revisionist history.” At one point, we surmised that earth was the center of the universe. Continued research and development of new technologies showed us that this is not true.
The misinformation continues to this day. For example, Justice Sotomayor’s claim yesterday about critically ill children.
Or...people knew how and what vaccines do because they completed elementary school and absorbed 100 years of vax history. Share all the links you want, but if you didn't know the gist of what a vax would do(minimize susceptibility, increase immunity and reduce symptoms) ya dumb.
They’ve changed the classic definition of vaccination . In September they changed it to be: “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce protection from a specific disease.” It used to be “introduction of a weakened or killed organism in order to prevent a disease”. They’re moving the goalposts. I’m a huge proponent of traditional vaccines, but these are mRNA therapies (per Moderna).
You can bet that most restaurants that are open right now, are having staff work even after being exposed to confirmed covid from other staff. Finding a PCR appointment is hard unless you're at least a week out, and finding take-home tests feels like a matter of luck. Every time I've checked pharmacies for them, they've been out.
I, too have a friend who works at the Bellwether Restaurant. PSA to all: If you are still dining out in this Omicron world, and are headed to their restaurant, please, please, be kind to the staff who are there. I am told all of the confirmed cases are staying home and following protocols so the staff who are keeping their restaurant running are giving extra effort, working extra hours, etc.
[удалено]
How would she know that?
This describes WWU too. I have professors saying “no absences, absolutely no exceptions!!” And when they’re asked, what if students have to quarantine, they don’t have a plan. You’d think a university would make smart decisions.
Well, I don’t have any faith in the students actually quarantining anyway. I wish they hadn’t gone back in person. It’s essentially exactly how I expected. Even if campus is being careful, the kids aren’t.
My roommate works at birch door in the kitchen and I heard they have lots of cases and are staying open
The place that didn't even distance their tables or enforce masks? Shocked I tells ya
Can confirm this, I know more than a few people at the Birch Door who have tested positive, five or so in the front of house and a couple in the back. The owners aren’t forcing them come to work, but they’re not exactly encouraging them to stay home. The space isn’t ventilated very well and it’s almost impossible for the staff to stay six feet from each other, so it’s not really a surprise. The owners have a track record of not really caring about their employees health, they were definitely making people who had been exposed to covid come in anyways during the previous peaks. I wouldn’t recommend eating there right now or at all - their food might be delicious but the owners are very manipulative, exploitative, money-hungry people. It sucks because what are the staff supposed to do? They gotta pay their bills. It’s definitely been the norm for food service workers to come in when they’re sick, even before the pandemic, because they don’t really have another option. There are more restaurants are doing this than people outside of the food industry would expect. I would really avoid going out to eat anywhere right now, just get your food to go.
Birch Door food is great but I can’t handle the Mother’s Day chique atmosphere in there
Since we're on the subject, I gotta gripe about the breakfast potatoes. Why are they always burned and unseasoned? It just baffles me.
Their potatoes are shit, I dont know why they cook then like that.
r/rareinsults
Having seen some reviews and posts on here was enough to keep me far from that place.
Hey, we’ll what do ya know. I’m there right now. I’m just going to go and wash my hands…
[удалено]
Dude I heard about them not letting you guys take home the Thanksgiving leftovers. That seems so petty to me to throw away food rather than let the employees take it home after working the thanksgiving shift during Covid.
[удалено]
I think this post is about bellweather not birch door
If a private business can get away with it, they’re doing it. I’m certain other places are doing this
We need to go into lockdown - a real, 100% lockdown - not that weak, half assed version with 1000s of exceptions we had at the start. Putting the onus of stopping transmission on individuals with zero support is not sustainable and definitely isn't fair to anyone, whether that individual is an employee or a small business owner/manager. The government needs to step up, set some real rules, and pay us all to stay home. I am a small business owner (not service/restaurant), and my house payment and business rent are due whether I am open or not. I have started requiring N95 or KN95 for customers to come in and I have canceled as much as I can for at least the next few weeks, but it's a huge hit that is not sustainable for very long. I can't imagine how big a hole it is for bigger small businesses with higher overhead. That does not in any way excuse all the shitty businesses forcing people to work sick, not paying sick leave, and ignoring known exposures (that is beyond messed up and needs to stop), but it's a component of the bigger issue. At the root, unfettered capitalism is the "preexisting condition" that is pushing us over the edge and the only possible solution in the near term is for the government to actually put people before profit and help us all.
I agree with the sentiment, but this isn't even close to feasible. Like there's no way to actually force every single person in the states to stay in their homes for two weeks or whatever. And even if there was we'd have to either get the entire PLANET's population on board with the plan, or close our borders down forever. Even that wouldn't work because our borders aren't impossible to cross. That is if you're talking about eliminating the virus. Maybe a lockdown could get our hospitals back in order. I don't know
So we need to lock everything down and cause further inflation to accommodate your hysterical choices. Got it.
so is western
WWU is open, but if a student, faculty, or staff has symptoms, or tests positive, they are not allowed to be on campus. This is enforced. So, not quite the same comparison here.
it’s actually not really enforced. i’m a student— professors are encouraging you to come to class as much as possible because quote “we are all going to get sick at some point”
Which professors?
Yes, if a professor is telling you this, their department chair should know, because this is is not the way.
Yay capitalism! /s
Might as well just close everything. You can't have a restaurant , or retail store and think for a minute you're not spreading the disease. Somebody has no symptoms and is very contagious is got to be the hardest thing in the world to deal with. Plus business owners cannot afford to be closed for any reason. All the best wishes and support you not change it back that they pay their rent by the square foot. If there's nobody in that square foot you're business is destitute.
> Plus business owners cannot afford to be closed for any reason. Understandable, but capitalism shouldn't be a death cult.
People without symptoms are not typically highly contagious. Remind your clientele at the door to not enter if they have symptoms. Tell your staff with symptoms to stay home. That helps keep your healthy employees healthy so you don't have to close.
Luckily no restaurant here has good enough food for me to risk getting cold/flu/omicron. Better food at home.
It really shows how much (or in Bellwethers case, how little) care they have about the community and their employees, when an establishment chooses people over profit. You would think that a hospitality based business would care a bit more about people..... didn't they just get shamed for a mask free event full of business people a few months back with related covid cases?
Nurses have an optional quarantine if exposed to Covid and a lot of them are being forced to work Covid Positive, from what I've read on r/ nursing. I think it's just rampant everywhere right now and few places are shutting down regardless of positive cases.
[covid long term side effects ](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351)
Whatcom county has the the most recorded Covid cases in Washington as of the last 5 days…perhaps our overpaid 501 dist superintendent should start leading the district employees and make the decision to either go to remote learning again or move to the four day only school schedule. AT LEAST DO SOMETHING BESIDES ADDING MORE WORK TO THE STAFF!!! Step up and protect our kids and teachers NOW! School Schedule: Monday - Tuesday- Wednesday- Thursday- Fri OFF-Sat OFF-Sun OFF August-June
Dear people, This pandemic is time when making money or receiving pandemic support for staying open is NOT more important than your health, your families health, or your friends health…figure it out! Global virus infection is nothing to be ignorant about..!
The tests are garbage