Considering that Covid-19 seems to be deadly only to the AARP crowd, the next election (if it happens at all) is likely to be decided by the youth of this country anyway.
(Whistling an old tune by that one-hit wonder Max Frost and the Troopers….)
Adam Black
Its not though.
Its also deadly to everyone who needs medical care but no more ventilators
HeatherJean
“In the U.S., of the cases for which there is data, only one person who died was in their 40s, while two people died in their 50s. Seven people were in their 60s, nine people in their 70s, 13 people in their 80s and 10 people were in their 90s.”
You spent a lot of time typing that, when you could have been working one of your 16 jobs, eating a spoonful of porridge/maggots, and considering every blink an unpaid micronap. Now get back to work, you entitled young ingrate.
I’ve met some really obtuse Nazis, or, at least, RWNJ’s who were probably 30 to 40 years younger than me. Gross generalizations are what they do. We shouldn’t. Plenty of boomers are on your side, though you* make it kind of tough. Many of us feel as frustrated as you do. I’ve been watching, and voting against, the country’s rightward swing for decades. As a country, we were given a very broad hint by the gas crisis in the ’70s, but, as a country, we failed to heed the warning. It was obvious to a whole bunch of us, though.
*As in you, or, at least, your post, not as in younger people in general.
Five million is still a pretty fuckin’ high death toll, though. I was thinking less than a hundred thousand, and that was scary enough.
Agemegos
Don’t take me too seriously, okay?
Given how infectious covid-19 is and it’s rather long latent period, there’s reason to fear that about 50–75% of the population will get a dose. Then if 1% of those infected die? That’s one in two hundred of population dead. Worldwide, about the same death toll as the 1918-19 flu pandemic. Out of six times the population.
Rose by Any Other Name
Fun fact – I think me and my family HAD it a month or so ago.
My 67 year old mother was in bed for two weeks (but never went to the hospital) with fever and basically every single covid-19 symptom.
My wife and I got stuffy noses and felt mildly shitty for a couple days but were otherwise fine.
Our kids, who were fully exposed, got nothin at all.
Since, at the time, we hadn’t heard anything, we just shrugged and went on with our lives.
A couple days ago, after all this hit, I called up my mom and was like “hey – doesn’t this sound exactly like that thing you had? Maybe you should get tested for antibodies”
And she was like “I thought of that too – but I checked and there’s nowhere around here where I can get tested to confirm.”
So yeah. I mean, it’s possible we had some other disease with the exact same symptoms that hit our family in the exact manner according to our respective age groups that it should. I teach English, not biology, so this is all conjecture. I mean I did before all the schools closed.
But… yeah. If we were infected… not impressed. 2/10, would not pandemic again.
Needfuldoer
So you’re saying you brought it here?
[That poorly drawn thinking emoji dot png]
thejeff
It’s unlikely – assuming your mom wasn’t fresh back from Wuhan or something. Seasonal flu is far more common – especially a month back.
clif
Hey, don’t confuse us with facts when we have a perfectly good opportunity to blame it all on Rose.
GutterChick
Yeah I crunched similar numbers after I finally got a report that noted its reproduction rate before and after major quarantine and unless some factors limit its exponential growth we’re looking at a disease at least as infections as H1N1 if not more with a much higher mortality rate. Even if we lower the global average mortality rate to 1% and lower the hospitalization rate to 10% then we’re still looking at a half a million death toll and a 6 million hospitalizations if it manages to infect as many people as H1N1 did in the US. The biggest concern here is the 6 million hospitalizations– nation wide we only have spaces for 600k more ER patients. Massive mobilization of resources needs to be done to prevent a paralyzing overload of our health care system and I don’t think our government is going to do that
Either an effective treatment needs to be developed soon to curb the number of critical cases, the spread needs to be quarantined (too late), or we gotta hope that the reproduction rate plateaus at a certain point in % of population infected
thejeff
Social distancing. Closures. Better practices in handwashing and the like.
Slow it down. Spread the epidemic out so those 6 million patients are spread out over 10 months instead of one.
We really screwed up early on and still aren’t looking great, but a lot of states are stepping up quickly and we’re starting to get those measures in place at an earlier point on the curve than Italy did. It’s possible we may still avoid the worst case scenario.
Agemegos
Now, no vaccine nor specific anti-viral treatment is going to touch this outbreak. The difference between 0:1% fatality rate (like modern seasonal flu) and 3.4% fatality (like early outcomes in China) comes down to adequate nursing and support for respiration if pneumonia develops. We want to spread out the peak so that hospitals &c. aren’t overwhelmed. But if you are in a place where the health care system is going to be overwhelmed, you’re individually better off getting sick now (before supplies run short) rather than in the peak of the first wave (expected in June).
I’d rather it not wipe out all of the people over 65. The presidential candidate I support is a 78 year old Senator, and I’d prefer he stay alive and hopefully win the 2020 election.
clif
Hopefully, but at this point I don’t have a lot of hope left, though I may still be good for another small donation. As far as I can tell, the logic goes something like this. Of the many wonderful and exciting candidates we started with, we have to consolidate around the one candidate no one is really excited about, except a few establishment party hacks, even though he’s tried to do some mildly horrible things in the past and is a gaff machine because this election is so important that we have to appeal to the people who are going to vote for the other guy anyway and besides if we go with the guy who is most likely to win, in the downballot elections the Republicans will call us socialists which they always do. Seriously, there is something there I don’t understand and if you understand it then I would really appreciate you explaining it to me in terms I would understand.
not someone else
Liberals hate socialists more than fascists.
thejeff
Biden’s strongest support is among African American voters. Has been all along. I’m willing to trust that – even though he was far from my first choice.
thejeff
At this point, the logic is this: Biden is clearly ahead. All the polling suggests he’s going to get even farther ahead this coming Tuesday. There’s almost no chance of Sanders catching up and that chance is almost certainly going to drop further on Tuesday.
Whatever the reasons for that, we have to start consolidating because this election is that important and we have to work together to win it.
This happens every election cycle – candidates lose and a lot of people have to let go. It can be hard and it can take time. I’ve had to do it twice this cycle. I’m trying to drum up my own enthusiasm for Biden, because he’s what we’ve got.
For those who can’t do that, it’s time to at least stop tearing him down, because we are going to need people to vote for him in November. Get behind a Senate or House candidate more to your liking. Put your energy there. Give Biden a Progressive Congress that will push him.
Coronavirus won’t wipe out America. In fact, the death rate for people under 50 is less than 1%. But then it climbs exponentially, until 80+ has about 15% mortality. I’d guesstimate that about 2% or less of the country will die.
It’s ironic: the demographic that COVID-19 kills is also the demographic that has socialized medicine in the US. We may not even be moved to demand health care overhaul.
We’ll have an economic disaster, some government overreach, some unnecessary tragedy, but the US will come out the other side mostly OK, sadder but wiser more outraged. In my cynical moments I think it will all be politicized and nothing will change.
The highest risk goes to men over 60 who smoke and have already high blood pressure or other problems.
1% of your roughly 330 Mio inhabitants would be 3 Mio deaths.
It is very likely, that the first reported fatality rates are much too height, as only people showing up ill at hospitals were counted as infected at all.
Nowadays, the idea is that about 80% have no or little symptoms, 20% get ill enough to need a hospital. So fatalities should be around a fifth of the originally reported rate.
Y’all forget one thing: rich old people don’t die of it, poors do. Call it cynicism or anyhint else, but I think that those who’ll die are going to be the old red guard of unionists who ate their dark bread their whole life.
CJ
Availability of artificial respiration is a factor and that relates to money, especially in the USA with it’s sad excuse of a public health system, but rich old people will die, too.
Point! Do we make it to another presidential-election year in the real world before the strip reaches November?
Prediction time! By the time Robin faces the ballot box in strip we’ll have VPOTUS Kampala Harris running for the presidency against a colony of avaricious wasps in a human-suit.
Agemegos
Stupid autocorrect!
It can’t spell “covid-19” either. My online game tonight is back on because of “vivid-19”
Agemegos
What are the chances that “Kampala” Harris is going to have to produce a long-form birth certificate to prove that she wasn’t born in Uganda?
Deanatay
BTW, when I see ‘covid’ I can’t help but think ‘corvid’. So, I’m officially dubbing covid-19 ‘Crow Flu’.
135 thoughts on “Reliable”
Ana Chronistic
too bad by the time the election comes around, Coronavirus will have wiped out America
or, at least everyone but us antisocial hermits
Doctor_Who
We need a pro-antisocial (does that cancel out to just social?) candidate to represent us.
Morgendorffer/Lane 2020!
HeatherJean
You Rang?
Considering that Covid-19 seems to be deadly only to the AARP crowd, the next election (if it happens at all) is likely to be decided by the youth of this country anyway.
(Whistling an old tune by that one-hit wonder Max Frost and the Troopers….)
Adam Black
Its not though.
Its also deadly to everyone who needs medical care but no more ventilators
HeatherJean
“In the U.S., of the cases for which there is data, only one person who died was in their 40s, while two people died in their 50s. Seven people were in their 60s, nine people in their 70s, 13 people in their 80s and 10 people were in their 90s.”
Reltzik
Assuming the internet doesn’t turn us into antisocial hermits first.
ValdVin
Bold of you to assume I wasn’t antisocial before I first ever used the internet.
Felix
Too late for me, but the rest of you do you, I’ll get back under my rock.
Geneseepaws
Rescession of 2008 we were evicted from under our rock. Now we’re just pulling leaves over ourselves at night.
thejeff
Oh, you have leaves. Lucky you.
Needfuldoer
Too late!
Agemegos
Sarah will be invincible!
GutterChick
Nazis, pandemics, and environmental collapse. Thanks, boomers, really passed on that torch there
Delicious Taffy
You spent a lot of time typing that, when you could have been working one of your 16 jobs, eating a spoonful of porridge/maggots, and considering every blink an unpaid micronap. Now get back to work, you entitled young ingrate.
LR
I’ve met some really obtuse Nazis, or, at least, RWNJ’s who were probably 30 to 40 years younger than me. Gross generalizations are what they do. We shouldn’t. Plenty of boomers are on your side, though you* make it kind of tough. Many of us feel as frustrated as you do. I’ve been watching, and voting against, the country’s rightward swing for decades. As a country, we were given a very broad hint by the gas crisis in the ’70s, but, as a country, we failed to heed the warning. It was obvious to a whole bunch of us, though.
*As in you, or, at least, your post, not as in younger people in general.
Delicious Taffy
It’s not going to wipe out America. At least 50% of 13% of us will be 36% okay.
Agemegos
I ballpark 1:6 million deaths in the USA within eighteen months. Five million tops?
Delicious Taffy
Five million is still a pretty fuckin’ high death toll, though. I was thinking less than a hundred thousand, and that was scary enough.
Agemegos
Don’t take me too seriously, okay?
Given how infectious covid-19 is and it’s rather long latent period, there’s reason to fear that about 50–75% of the population will get a dose. Then if 1% of those infected die? That’s one in two hundred of population dead. Worldwide, about the same death toll as the 1918-19 flu pandemic. Out of six times the population.
Rose by Any Other Name
Fun fact – I think me and my family HAD it a month or so ago.
My 67 year old mother was in bed for two weeks (but never went to the hospital) with fever and basically every single covid-19 symptom.
My wife and I got stuffy noses and felt mildly shitty for a couple days but were otherwise fine.
Our kids, who were fully exposed, got nothin at all.
Since, at the time, we hadn’t heard anything, we just shrugged and went on with our lives.
A couple days ago, after all this hit, I called up my mom and was like “hey – doesn’t this sound exactly like that thing you had? Maybe you should get tested for antibodies”
And she was like “I thought of that too – but I checked and there’s nowhere around here where I can get tested to confirm.”
So yeah. I mean, it’s possible we had some other disease with the exact same symptoms that hit our family in the exact manner according to our respective age groups that it should. I teach English, not biology, so this is all conjecture. I mean I did before all the schools closed.
But… yeah. If we were infected… not impressed. 2/10, would not pandemic again.
Needfuldoer
So you’re saying you brought it here?
[That poorly drawn thinking emoji dot png]
thejeff
It’s unlikely – assuming your mom wasn’t fresh back from Wuhan or something. Seasonal flu is far more common – especially a month back.
clif
Hey, don’t confuse us with facts when we have a perfectly good opportunity to blame it all on Rose.
GutterChick
Yeah I crunched similar numbers after I finally got a report that noted its reproduction rate before and after major quarantine and unless some factors limit its exponential growth we’re looking at a disease at least as infections as H1N1 if not more with a much higher mortality rate. Even if we lower the global average mortality rate to 1% and lower the hospitalization rate to 10% then we’re still looking at a half a million death toll and a 6 million hospitalizations if it manages to infect as many people as H1N1 did in the US. The biggest concern here is the 6 million hospitalizations– nation wide we only have spaces for 600k more ER patients. Massive mobilization of resources needs to be done to prevent a paralyzing overload of our health care system and I don’t think our government is going to do that
Either an effective treatment needs to be developed soon to curb the number of critical cases, the spread needs to be quarantined (too late), or we gotta hope that the reproduction rate plateaus at a certain point in % of population infected
thejeff
Social distancing. Closures. Better practices in handwashing and the like.
Slow it down. Spread the epidemic out so those 6 million patients are spread out over 10 months instead of one.
We really screwed up early on and still aren’t looking great, but a lot of states are stepping up quickly and we’re starting to get those measures in place at an earlier point on the curve than Italy did. It’s possible we may still avoid the worst case scenario.
Agemegos
Now, no vaccine nor specific anti-viral treatment is going to touch this outbreak. The difference between 0:1% fatality rate (like modern seasonal flu) and 3.4% fatality (like early outcomes in China) comes down to adequate nursing and support for respiration if pneumonia develops. We want to spread out the peak so that hospitals &c. aren’t overwhelmed. But if you are in a place where the health care system is going to be overwhelmed, you’re individually better off getting sick now (before supplies run short) rather than in the peak of the first wave (expected in June).
Rose by Any Other Name
Only the people over 65.
Down with the olds indeed.
Delicious Taffy
Look, you’re not supposed to say it. We don’t want them figuring it out before it’s too late, do we?
Geneseepaws
We already figured it out. The OST did an episode about “the Grups.” We grew up with “Logan’s Run.” We just didn’t have CRISPER.
Bicycle Bill
I’m gonna survive just to spite you.
Delicious Taffy
ok kratos
Rose by Any Other Name
I mean, I didn’t way I was happy about it or anything. Just that it isn’t gonna Thanos Snap the USA.
Although, the baby boomer generation did happen to get wiped out, I’d be in for one serious promotion.
thejeff
Well sure, but we know you’re unkillable.
Deanatay
Hey, c’mon now. All we really know is that OUR attempts have failed.
clif
Some day in the far future there will be a national holiday to honor old legendary Bicycle Bill who rode around the country planting bicycle trees.
Unless I’m confusing it with something else.
Keulen
I’d rather it not wipe out all of the people over 65. The presidential candidate I support is a 78 year old Senator, and I’d prefer he stay alive and hopefully win the 2020 election.
clif
Hopefully, but at this point I don’t have a lot of hope left, though I may still be good for another small donation. As far as I can tell, the logic goes something like this. Of the many wonderful and exciting candidates we started with, we have to consolidate around the one candidate no one is really excited about, except a few establishment party hacks, even though he’s tried to do some mildly horrible things in the past and is a gaff machine because this election is so important that we have to appeal to the people who are going to vote for the other guy anyway and besides if we go with the guy who is most likely to win, in the downballot elections the Republicans will call us socialists which they always do. Seriously, there is something there I don’t understand and if you understand it then I would really appreciate you explaining it to me in terms I would understand.
not someone else
Liberals hate socialists more than fascists.
thejeff
Biden’s strongest support is among African American voters. Has been all along. I’m willing to trust that – even though he was far from my first choice.
thejeff
At this point, the logic is this: Biden is clearly ahead. All the polling suggests he’s going to get even farther ahead this coming Tuesday. There’s almost no chance of Sanders catching up and that chance is almost certainly going to drop further on Tuesday.
Whatever the reasons for that, we have to start consolidating because this election is that important and we have to work together to win it.
This happens every election cycle – candidates lose and a lot of people have to let go. It can be hard and it can take time. I’ve had to do it twice this cycle. I’m trying to drum up my own enthusiasm for Biden, because he’s what we’ve got.
For those who can’t do that, it’s time to at least stop tearing him down, because we are going to need people to vote for him in November. Get behind a Senate or House candidate more to your liking. Put your energy there. Give Biden a Progressive Congress that will push him.
Plasma Mongoose
Than it shall be an election decided by who puts out the dankest memes.
Delicious Taffy
Looks like a landslide in favor of the LGBTQ+ community.
Plasma Mongoose
They do make interesting webcomics at least.
Chris Phoenix
Coronavirus won’t wipe out America. In fact, the death rate for people under 50 is less than 1%. But then it climbs exponentially, until 80+ has about 15% mortality. I’d guesstimate that about 2% or less of the country will die.
It’s ironic: the demographic that COVID-19 kills is also the demographic that has socialized medicine in the US. We may not even be moved to demand health care overhaul.
We’ll have an economic disaster, some government overreach, some unnecessary tragedy, but the US will come out the other side mostly OK, sadder but
wisermore outraged. In my cynical moments I think it will all be politicized and nothing will change.CJ
The highest risk goes to men over 60 who smoke and have already high blood pressure or other problems.
1% of your roughly 330 Mio inhabitants would be 3 Mio deaths.
It is very likely, that the first reported fatality rates are much too height, as only people showing up ill at hospitals were counted as infected at all.
Nowadays, the idea is that about 80% have no or little symptoms, 20% get ill enough to need a hospital. So fatalities should be around a fifth of the originally reported rate.
khn0
Y’all forget one thing: rich old people don’t die of it, poors do. Call it cynicism or anyhint else, but I think that those who’ll die are going to be the old red guard of unionists who ate their dark bread their whole life.
CJ
Availability of artificial respiration is a factor and that relates to money, especially in the USA with it’s sad excuse of a public health system, but rich old people will die, too.
Bruceski
A month ago: okay Boomer.
Today: are you okay Boomer?
Gab
Wait… I’m an anti-social support of Bernie and Warren… does that mean I’m an anti-socialist?!
Solenoid
either that or a socialist distancer
Schpoonman
Aw, dang, yo, she’s a wunderkind.
Kyrik Michalowski
If Becky was the candidate I might vote for her just to see what would happen. Until then, gotta vote for DeSanto right?
Reltzik
Write-in is an option.
…
Okay, Becky getting elected to congress instead of Robin. That’d be a twist.
Is that even possible? I think there might be an age restriction? *checks* Yup, 25 years old minimum.
Stephen Bierce
Becky will deliver the keynote speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention…presuming there is still a United States then.
Reltzik
Assuming THIS election is over by then.
Agemegos
Point! Do we make it to another presidential-election year in the real world before the strip reaches November?
Prediction time! By the time Robin faces the ballot box in strip we’ll have VPOTUS Kampala Harris running for the presidency against a colony of avaricious wasps in a human-suit.
Agemegos
Stupid autocorrect!
It can’t spell “covid-19” either. My online game tonight is back on because of “vivid-19”
Agemegos
What are the chances that “Kampala” Harris is going to have to produce a long-form birth certificate to prove that she wasn’t born in Uganda?
Deanatay
BTW, when I see ‘covid’ I can’t help but think ‘corvid’. So, I’m officially dubbing covid-19 ‘Crow Flu’.
You may meme, if you wish.
DSL
Judging by some of the memes, lots of people think COVID is spelled with an R.
Agemegos
The other day my sister realised with embarrassment that she had gone through an entire conversation referring to it as “contravirus”.
Geneseepaws
I thought her opposition was a donkey with a dog on its back, with a cat on hisback, With a rooster perched on herback, in a human suit.
CJ
The Bremen musicians were actually intelligent.
Agemegos
Republican National Convention.
I’ll bet a buck that Becky gets to be a Republican POTUS before Dorothy gets to be a Democratic one, or rather than Becky getting to be POTUS at all.
Needfuldoer
They run against each other, each vying for the smoldering remains of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Becky gets elected and replaces her running mate with Dorothy as VP, because her imaginary rivalry tells her to “keep your enemies closer”.
Agemegos
Two candidates, each the other’s running mate! It’ll be like the good old days when the candidate who came second became VP.
Reltzik
Don’t trust anyone over 30! Including me!
Doctor_Who
Is Robin over 30? We know she ran for office at 25, but has she had more than one term? She could be as young as 27.
Reltzik
“Don’t trust anyone over 30” doesn’t imply we should trust everyone under 30.
Kyoulkoa
I think the real key here, is how old is an old
Jamie
24.
meanderling
Aw, beans.