Coronavirus

[Pariah]

I'd like to apologize in advance, because this is going to sound awful.  But why not run the airplanes at full capacity? I mean, if you're stuck inside a sealed metal tube with a bunch of other people, and even one of them is a carrier, you're going to be exposed because all the air you're breathing is recycled. You can't just roll down the windows at 30,000 feet. I don't see how the number of other people on the plane is going to make that big a difference.

 

I suppose you can do temperature checks and ask potential flyers about their symptoms, and deny boarding to people who are infected or at risk of being carriers. But if somebody has a big important meeting in New York and flying is the only way to get there, they're not going to tell the airline that they've had a dry scratchy cough for the last two days and risk missing their meeting.

 

Honestly, I don't think flying with any number of strangers is safe right now. But if we're going to do it anyway--because airlines have to generate revenue somehow, right?--then why not go ahead and fill the planes and be done with it?

 

I know there are a couple of people on this board who have to fly as part of their job duties. You have my sympathies and my best wishes that you can avoid getting sick. I wish you didn't have to risk your health this way.

[Cancer]

  I last took a flight in 2014 (and prior to that I think was 2007).  Not gonna be me propping them up.

[Old Man]

2 hours ago, Pariah said:

I'd like to apologize in advance, because this is going to sound awful.  But why not run the airplanes at full capacity? I mean, if you're stuck inside a sealed metal tube with a bunch of other people, and even one of them is a carrier, you're going to be exposed because all the air you're breathing is recycled. You can't just roll down the windows at 30,000 feet. I don't see how the number of other people on the plane is going to make that big a difference.

 

It's counterintuitive, but studies that have been conducted into aerosol transmission on board aircraft suggest that proximity and masks really do matter--it's not as simple as being sealed in a can with hundreds of other people.  The air does get filtered as it is recirculated, anyway.

 

Then again, some of your fellow passengers are bound to be like this guy:

 

[Cancer]

"Doomscrolling" sounds like how you reactivate Fu Leng in Legend of the Five Rings.  Don't do that.

[Pariah]

2 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

It's counterintuitive, but studies that have been conducted into aerosol transmission on board aircraft suggest that proximity and masks really do matter--it's not as simple as being sealed in a can with hundreds of other people.  The air does get filtered as it is recirculated, anyway.

 

I did not know that. Thank you for the clarification.

[Cancer]

"How Arizona lost control of the epidemic" from the Washington Post

 

Could also plausibly go in the Politics thread.

[Lord Liaden]

15 hours ago, Starlord said:

 

Almost certainly invented by a Canadian.

[Lord Liaden]

5 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

It's counterintuitive, but studies that have been conducted into aerosol transmission on board aircraft suggest that proximity and masks really do matter--it's not as simple as being sealed in a can with hundreds of other people.  The air does get filtered as it is recirculated, anyway.

 

Then again, some of your fellow passengers are bound to be like this guy:

 

 

That is a metaphor on SO many levels.

[Badger]

6 hours ago, Cancer said:

  I last took a flight in 2014 (and prior to that I think was 2007).  Not gonna be me propping them up.

Never flown ever. When TSA went crazy, vowed never to.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I haven't flown in a very long time. Don't have a need to, can't afford to, and my ongoing pain issues would make a flight to the Midwest utterly miserable. And this is without any viral concerns.

 

 

[unclevlad]

5 hours ago, Cancer said:

"How Arizona lost control of the epidemic" from the Washington Post

 

Could also plausibly go in the Politics thread.

 

This is heart-rending.  This is precisely why the entire point at the start was to NOT OVERLOAD THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM!!!  We are so screwed up.  So incredibly, totally jacked up as a society.  Hubris, thy face be America.

 

Over the last 6 days, over 19,000 new cases.  That's 1 out every ~380 people.  In the last 10 days, over 30,000...or 1 case per 240 people.  I really feel sick to my stomach over this.

That's even before mentioning my brother moved to the Phoenix area to escape Denver's cold weather.  The good news is, it was planned he'd work from home in the first place, as part of this.

[Lord Liaden]

To be fair, the American people have been given extremely mixed messages about this virus, and it's just human nature when given contradictory information and advice, to go with the one that most matches our inclinations.

 

Now, the people in positions of authority who have deliberately misled the public because it suits their personal agendas, deserve to burn in Hell. Or freeze, if they like hot weather.

[Badger]

I just know having been in essential/expendable category, I think is starting to take a bit of a mental toll last few weeks.

 

Hopefully more the fact I have worked more 1st shift than normal. I am a night person, and having to work mornings messes with me.

[ScottishFox]

21 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

“Because [of] the economics of our industry, most airlines have a break-even load factor of 75 to 80 percent, so clearly capping flights at 55 to 60 percent, which is what we’re doing right now … is not sustainable.” – gives us an idea what the next few months will hold. 

 

They're not the only industry in this bucket.  Throw in bars, restaurants (mitigated a little by food delivery services), movie theaters, any public sporting events, etc.

 

Granted, the death rate is still quite low in Texas, but we're definitely moving upwards.

 

Case count is skyrocketing.  Our daily rate is about 10x of what it was a month ago.

 

On the plus side I did *not* get COVID-19 from the surgical center.

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

I won't get my own results until Wednesday or Thursday, which means that regardless of whether Oregon returns to Stay-at-Home, I'm stuck here until at least Saturday.

 

Oh what fun.

 

It's going to be hard to put this genie back in the bottle, isn't it?

[tkdguy]

The SF Bay Area had been planning to reopen last week, but a spike in new cases stopped it.

 

My company has put forth the possibility of partially reopening. I opted to keep working online. I'd have to take public transportation if I went back, and I live with people who are at high risk of getting COVID-19.

 

Plus, being an introvert, I don't mind being isolated.

[unclevlad]

3 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

I won't get my own results until Wednesday or Thursday, which means that regardless of whether Oregon returns to Stay-at-Home, I'm stuck here until at least Saturday.

 

Oh what fun.

 

It's going to be hard to put this genie back in the bottle, isn't it?

 

Which is why the rush to reopen was so horrifically misguided.  

[Matt the Bruins]

On 6/28/2020 at 8:28 AM, Hugh Neilson said:

Meanwhile...some airlines are moving back to full bookings.  The candour of one airline - “Because [of] the economics of our industry, most airlines have a break-even load factor of 75 to 80 percent, so clearly capping flights at 55 to 60 percent, which is what we’re doing right now … is not sustainable.” – gives us an idea what the next few months will hold. 

 

Comparing 55% to 75%, and 60% to 80%, raising the ticket price by 35% or so would raise the revenues for 55 - 60% load to 75% to 80% load.  So, are we willing to pay that much more for air travel in order to enable the airlines to operate under a model which permits social distancing?

 

I would happily pay 35% extra on flights to not have some motor-mouthed harpy with BO spilling over the armrest against me, or an unsupervised brat kicking the back of my seat. That's a lot better than the 2x to 3x cost of first class to escape cattle car conditions.

[unclevlad]

47 minutes ago, Matt the Bruins said:

 

I would happily pay 35% extra on flights to not have some motor-mouthed harpy with BO spilling over the armrest against me, or an unsupervised brat kicking the back of my seat. That's a lot better than the 2x to 3x cost of first class to escape cattle car conditions.

 

That is a good point.  Last time I flew was to attend GABF in 2018, and the only reason it wasn't a problem flying up was, it left rather early and I think everyone just zoned out.

 

That said, one person flying once in a while...+30% might be ok.  But back in the day?  There were 5 of us.  I do not recall ever flying for a vacation.  (OK, this was SoCal, so we didn't fly to Disneyland or the beach, we drove.)  But, let's say 4 full-ticket fares for parents and 2 teens?  That's gonna be a stiff premium.  That said, given that they're not trying to sell nearly as many seats...it might work out.

 

Another aspect is whether they can actually consistently reach 50%.  Because, atop that extra charge, there's gonna the issues of where you're going to stay, where to eat, in your destination city.  Disneyland and Disney World are still both closed.  Hotels are trying to reopen...but this is an issue, and I'd need to research what room rates are like.  If they're up similarly, that will really hurt.

[Cygnia]

[Joe Walsh]

CDC Says US has ‘way too much virus’ to control pandemic as cases surge across country:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/29/cdc-says-us-has-way-too-much-virus-to-control-pandemic-as-cases-surge-across-country.html

 

[Cancer]

Six months of COVID-19

[Michael Hopcroft]

And yet some people still use words like "Plandemic", which is utter insanity. The very unpredictability of the virus is an argument against that thinking. Buyt how do you convince someing that this is just nature run amok when they don't believe in the neutrality of nature?

 

Unless, of course, nature is not neutral...

 

 

[Old Man]

California and Texas set new records yesterday for new cases/day.  Florida fell off the pace a bit but their numbers are less reliable than China's so who knows?  Arizona still streaking ahead in the per-capita race.    How many of these new cases will be fatalities in the next few weeks? 

[Pariah]

In the immortal words of Asia, only time will tell.