Global Pandemic Part III: A typical Spring, Just Ask China

[MrsSpringsteen]

The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has reached a record low in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said Wednesday, a sign that enough people are being tested and that the city has control of the virus.

"This is extraordinary," de Blasio said during a press conference.

"Now we all know every day can vary. We all know there is no single perfect measure, but the fact that with expanded testing and more and more outreach all the time, you now see a number as low as 0.24 percent for the New York City infection rate, this is striking," he added.

The World Health Organization recommends a test positivity rate of 5 percent or less before communities safely reopen. Rates in New York city and New York state are among the lowest in the nation.

 

[BEAL]

https://twitter.com/mollyjongfast/status/1296437984104001538?s=21

We did it!! Nurse from NJ says it’s over!!

Take your vitamins and get your sunshine. Don’t forget to hug your grandma

 

[anitram]

Usually I look forward to September - it's always been my favourite time of year. As a student, I loved school and going back to see my friends. As an adult, it's always felt like a re-boot at work after summer vacations, and the start of that push before the holiday break. Plus the humidity goes away and the weather is quite lovely here.

But this year I am really dreading the fall. Uncertainty about school for my son and what that will look like, the inevitable rise in cases, the question of whether we should not have the kids see the grandparents once they are back in school/daycare (which is just a miserable solution for everyone), another potential shut down and what that means for the companies for which we work and so on.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

https://twitter.com/mollyjongfast/status/1296437984104001538?s=21

We did it!! Nurse from NJ says it’s over!!

Take your vitamins and get your sunshine. Don’t forget to hug your grandma

It’s really funny because the right keeps on trying to cite “medical authority” and reverts to nurses and doctors all the time. More often nurses.

I hate that it’s become a class based thing but the left in turn cites, yknow, studies and research papers rather than anecdotal evidence (though does revert to anecdotal doctor talk too).

Let’s be clear: nobody gives a shit what a neurosurgeon has to say. They might be smart but this isn’t their field. Nobody gives a shit what a nurse has to say. They may be experienced but this isn’t their field. It’s valuable to get both opinions, which may be more educated than those not working in medicine, but these roles aren’t public health or medical research. Their takes arent that impactful or meaningful.

 

[BEAL]

https://twitter.com/aslavitt/status/1296875997871120392?s=21

This administration is so bad. Not sure anyone else in the world could be this inept

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The Trump WH goal is to reduce testing in order to make the numbers appear better before the election. By any and all means possible.

 

[BEAL]

Actually they’re going to allow the market to be flooded by potentially flawed tests.

 

[the tourist]

So the schedule for our school district just came out and I give a hearty LOL to it. When 80% of students participate one day a week or less, maybe they’ll change it up. It’s way, way, way too involved for a kindergartner. Screen time from 8:30-3 daily with one fifteen minute recess and a thirty minute lunch? Homeschool it is I guess.

 

[LemonMelon]

I was homeschooled for kindergarten because my mother was in a traveling physical therapy role at the time. My transition into 1st grade wasn't perfect, but my grades were good.

 

[BEAL]

PLASMA!!!

That’ll be what we hear about for the next week.

FDA wanted to see more data / evidence before approving.

Trump is desperate

 

[LemonMelon]

Haven't we been using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 since March? I didn't think it required authorization.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Haven't we been using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 since March? I didn't think it required authorization.

Yes as far as I know convalescent plasma has been used for months now. Trump is grasping at straws.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

From an article on cnn.com

Convalescent plasma is taken from the blood of people who have recovered from Covid-19. At the end of March, the FDA set up a pathway for scientists to try convalescent plasma with patients and study its impact. It has already been used to treat more than 60,000 Covid-19 patients.


The press conference should be entertaining, if only for the way Donnie pronounces the word plasma.

 

[BEAL]

The issue is that the data hasn’t shown it to be real effective (yet), so using the emergency declaration on something that is unknown hurts the science and medical community.

Doctors think the plasma should have a positive effect but due to iffy studies we just don’t know if it goes. It’s minimal at best.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Well the emergency declaration is no coincidence. It's scary and dangerous that a President can wield power in that way. That's where we are. He actually tweeted that the deep state was slowing it down on purpose. Then a few days later there's the declaration.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

New York Times Opinion

So You Think New York Is ‘Dead’
(It’s not.)

By Jerry Seinfeld

Mr. Seinfeld is a comedian.

Aug. 24, 2020

When I got my first apartment in Manhattan in the hot summer of 1976, there was no pooper-scooper law, and the streets were covered in dog crap.

I signed the rental agreement, walked outside, and my car had been towed. I still thought, “This is the greatest place I’ve ever been in my life.”

Manhattan is an island off the coast of America. Are we part of the United States? Kind of. And this is one of the toughest times we’ve had in quite a while.

But one thing I know for sure: The last thing we need in the thick of so many challenges is some putz on LinkedIn wailing and whimpering, “Everyone’s gone! I want 2019 back!”

Oh, shut up. Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side.

Listening to him go, “I used to play chess all day. I could meet people. I could start any type of business.” Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.

He says he knows people who have left New York for Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, Indiana. I have been to all of these places many, many, many times over many decades. And with all due respect and affection, Are .. You .. Kidding .. Me?!

He says Everyone’s gone for good. How the hell do you know that? You moved to Miami. Yes, I also have a place out on Long Island. But I will never abandon New York City. Ever.

And I have been onstage at your comedy club Stand Up N.Y. quite a few times. It could use a little sprucing up, if you don’t mind my saying. I wouldn’t worry about it. You can do it from Miami.

There’s some other stupid thing in the article about “bandwidth” and how New York is over because everybody will “remote everything.” Guess what: Everyone hates to do this. Everyone. Hates.

You know why? There’s no energy.

Energy, attitude and personality cannot be “remoted” through even the best fiber optic lines. That’s the whole reason many of us moved to New York in the first place.

You ever wonder why Silicon Valley even exists? I have always wondered, why do these people all live and work in that location? They have all this insane technology; why don’t they all just spread out wherever they want to be and connect with their devices? Because it doesn’t work, that’s why.

Real, live, inspiring human energy exists when we coagulate together in crazy places like New York City. Feeling sorry for yourself because you can’t go to the theater for a while is not the essential element of character that made New York the brilliant diamond of activity it will one day be again.

You found a place in Florida? Fine. We know the sharp focus and restless, resilient creative spirit that Florida is all about. You think Rome is going away too? London? Tokyo? The East Village?

They’re not. They change. They mutate. They re-form. Because greatness is rare. And the true greatness that is New York City is beyond rare.

It’s unknown. Unknown anyplace outside of New York City.

You say New York will not bounce back this time.

You will not bounce back. In your enervated, pastel-filled new life in Florida. I hope you have a long, healthy run down there. I can’t think of a more fitting retribution for your fine article.

This stupid virus will give up eventually. The same way you have.

We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you. And it will sure as hell be back.

Because of all the real, tough New Yorkers who, unlike you, loved it and understood it, stayed and rebuilt it.

See you at the club.

Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) is a comedian who lives with his family in New York.

i needed this

 

[Irvine511]

i needed this

zero overhead is awfully hard to argue with tho.

 

[DaveC]

very cool for a guy with almost a billion dollars in the bank to shit on people who are considering leaving one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world at a time when the benefits of paying to live there are far fewer.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I really question why I still come to this dumpster fire of dispair sometimes.

 

[DaveC]

well i'm in the exact situation of living in an extremely overpriced downtown real estate market where the premium i'm paying in rent to live here hasn't exactly given me much value for the past six months and doesn't look to get back to what it was any time soon.

it's fucking expensive to live here in a tiny one-bedroom apartment. now there's nothing to do around here except sit by the lake and go out to eat. i can do that in a much cheaper city and in about a month it'll be too cold to even do that. i never have to go back to the office and can do my job remotely from anywhere in the country. i don't really want to live here anymore, and my SO and i have been considering a move out of the city to a place where we can actually afford to buy a home and have a family, which is completely impossible even on our combined above-average salaries in downtown toronto.

so excuse me if i don't exactly feel sympatico with a billionaire calling people like me phony, whiny quitters doomed to failure just because the world being upended has caused us to reassess our life situations and maybe make some changes.

 

[Irvine511]

On the bright side, falling NYC real estate is making my dreams of a Manhattan pied-a-terre that much closer to reality.

 

[BEAL]

well i'm in the exact situation of living in an extremely overpriced downtown real estate market where the premium i'm paying in rent to live here hasn't exactly given me much value for the past six months and doesn't look to get back to what it was any time soon.

it's fucking expensive to live here in a tiny one-bedroom apartment. now there's nothing to do around here except sit by the lake and go out to eat. i can do that in a much cheaper city and in about a month it'll be too cold to even do that. i never have to go back to the office and can do my job remotely from anywhere in the country. i don't really want to live here anymore, and my SO and i have been considering a move out of the city to a place where we can actually afford to buy a home and have a family, which is completely impossible even on our combined above-average salaries in downtown toronto.

so excuse me if i don't exactly feel sympatico with a billionaire calling people like me phony, whiny quitters doomed to failure just because the world being upended has caused us to reassess our life situations and maybe make some changes.

This is how i viewed the piece and same situation here in San Diego. I’ve started to question why pay a fortune for one bedroom when i could own a house somewhere cheaper and yet still get the same pay or even keep same job.

The weather is tough to leave. But soon we’ll all be surrounded by firenados so maybe leaving is a good idea

 

[Irvine511]

I do think it’s a little premature to call cities dead. They are frustrating, right now, because the things that cities do best — art, food, theater, culture — are exactly the things we can’t do right now. Plus it’s summer and people want to be outside.

I also agree thet I wouldn’t want to be remote 100% of the time. But to only have to go in 1-3x a week, and to work remotely for August? Hell yes. A lot of us work punishing hours. Give us at least this.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

CNN is reporting that the Trump administration is asking if a vaccine could receive emergency authorization before phase 3 trials are complete. Motives obvious.

If this is true it's wrong beyond words.

 

[BEAL]

The vaccine will come with a months supply of Trump Steaks

 

[Hewson]

I do think it’s a little premature to call cities dead. They are frustrating, right now, because the things that cities do best — art, food, theater, culture — are exactly the things we can’t do right now. Plus it’s summer and people want to be outside.

I also agree thet I wouldn’t want to be remote 100% of the time. But to only have to go in 1-3x a week, and to work remotely for August? Hell yes. A lot of us work punishing hours. Give us at least this.

I don't think they're dead by any means, but there will be a significant down period.
They'll bounce back, but it will take a long time to get back close to 2019 levels.
Commercial real estate is going to suffer for a while.

 

[LemonMelon]

CNN is reporting that the Trump administration is asking if a vaccine could receive emergency authorization before phase 3 trials are complete. Motives obvious.

If this is true it's wrong beyond words.

I predicted this at least two months ago. It's going to happen and Russia was the first domino.

 

[Vincent Vega]

very cool for a guy with almost a billion dollars in the bank to shit on people who are considering leaving one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world at a time when the benefits of paying to live there are far fewer.

I'd understand that sentiment if Seinfeld had gone after regular people for whom the economic reality is like you described, but as I understand this article was particularly in response to someone who certainly didn't leave because high prices drove him out of the city.

And what's this point of, "You have X amount of money, so please stop talking" that's become so en vogue lately? I see it again and again. Of course it has relevance when a rich person scoffs at people with low incomes talking about their struggles, but it shouldn't become a reflexive, "I don't like the argument, so let me hold his wealth against him."

I would venture a guess that someone like Seinfeld has sympathy for the economic struggles of people, and inflated estate prices driving out persons with what should be sufficient incomes, but that wasn't the argument here, since it was in response to a completely different type of person.

 

[anitram]

Seinfeld drama aside, COVID will have major short and long term impacts on both commercial and residential real estate.

Businesses in high cost areas are doing the math and asking why they are paying for empty space when many/ most of their office employees are all too happy to work from home half or even most of the time. You can easily devise an office sharing mechanism - two people per office, each has it on assigned days and the rest of the time you work from home. If that cuts office space in half, who wouldn’t take it? As for residential space it’s exactly what Dave said - for a long time many people have been tied to very high cost markets because that’s where their employers are located. Anybody related to banking, stock markets and associated professional services had to pay an arm and a leg to live where these are located. If they are working from home then there is zero reason to stay.

I have joked that I don’t want to live out the next pandemic in a highly populated area and it’s really only a partial joke...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I'd understand that sentiment if Seinfeld had gone after regular people for whom the economic reality is like you described, but as I understand this article was particularly in response to someone who certainly didn't leave because high prices drove him out of the city.



And what's this point of, "You have X amount of money, so please stop talking" that's become so en vogue lately? I see it again and again. Of course it has relevance when a rich person scoffs at people with low incomes talking about their struggles, but it shouldn't become a reflexive, "I don't like the argument, so let me hold his wealth against him."



I would venture a guess that someone like Seinfeld has sympathy for the economic struggles of people, and inflated estate prices driving out persons with what should be sufficient incomes, but that wasn't the argument here, since it was in response to a completely different type of person.

Thank you.