btickler wrote:
I_Really_Am_Toxic wrote:
I really don’t see Covid as a major issue anymore. We kinda just coexist with the virus.
6.5 million deaths is your idea of co-existence?
Yes.
Just kidding, that was like 2 years ago. Nowadays, we may still see people fall flat from the virus but the mandates for masks and stuff aren't as strict as it was circa 2020 and 2021, hence why I said we just co-exist with it. And don't get me wrong, 6.5 million deaths is a lot, and it will take time to recover from that, as well as the dents it made in the economy, trying to not get too much into politics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly announced on Oct. 5 that it will no longer provide public information on daily COVID-19 cases and deaths across the U.S. Instead, the CDC plans to release weekly data reports beginning on Oct. 20, which marks a big change from the information the agency has shared during the majority of the pandemic. The CDC's data has been viewed as a dramatic undercount for months due to just how many people are testing for COVID-19 at home and not reporting their results to local health authorities (who then notify the CDC), John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and epidemiological researcher at the University at Buffalo/SUNY, tells Yahoo Life. So, that's led people to try to find indicators of the next COVID-19 wave in other areas — like Yankee Candle reviews. Yes, people are actually looking at reviews for the popular candle company to try to predict if there will be a rise in COVID-19 cases. The connection is fairly simple: When there's a rise in reviews from people who say that their candles have no smell, there will also be a rise in COVID-19 cases. The theory, as it stands, is that these people are actually infected with COVID-19 and don't realize it. "COVID is not the only thing that causes loss of taste and smell," he says. And, while previous variants of the virus caused loss of taste and smell, the Omicron variant — which is dominant in the U.S. right now — in particular is not linked to this. Infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Yahoo Life that there's just too much "noise" to make this a valid indicator. While experts say this is a fun experiment, they're not putting too much stock in it. "This is pretty much witchcraft," Sellick says. "We have not done a very good job with predicting anything with this pandemic. I, for one, will not be checking out candle reviews to try to see if a wave of COVID-19 is coming."
I had NO idea there was a Covid denying medical group. 
this "co-existing" talk really irks me. here's why. i believe the anti-vaxxers have forced this coexistence. if we had achieved herd immunity, i believe there would have not been so many mutations and infections.
yes, this is my belief, because there is no way to turn back the clock and somehow convince idiots that the vaccine is safe and does not magnetize one or contain microchips from bill gates. however, evidence supporting my belief/theory can be found by looking at vaccinations (and the refusal of) for measles and polio.