[CoachKandSportsguy]

The reason that we have masks, social distancing, quaratines, shut downs, etc, is that the medical field actually has little information to accurately calculate risk, risky behaviors, successful preventable measures, etc. Risk with the seasonal flu is very well known from the years of study and testing and development of effective shots. In order to begin to calculate COVID risk, successful transmission reduction and quality care to maintain lives, there needs to be reliable data, then quality analysis, then quality testing, then the data and the research will converge on a risk profile which can be used to guide future behaviors. All that takes time, effort, cost, and skill. All that doesn’t happen as fast as other parts of daily life (behavioral recency bias).

What most everyone is struggling with, is uncertainty and ambiguity about risk. WE appear to be no exception, and I am no exception either. The people who can adapt to the currently much higher level of risk of uncertainty and ambiguity to daily routines, and can manage their situation through adaptability, will survive longer and better than those who can't or don't. (Darwin’s theory and behavioral attribution bias)

As a financial data guy, who has built datawarehouses with millions of customer data records, like between 50M and 100M records of 2M customers, the average person can get easily overwhelmed with data, to the point of confusion. That is what is happening right now, as can be seen with posts and threads on here debating accuracy of links, studies, experts, etc. and the fact that there are changes in reported data. Unless you have experience with regulatory reporting, large data sets, making future decisions with limited information, most likely the data and information you are reading will confuse you, and cause you to question everything.

Let me say that right now, medical data for something as new and difficult as COVID19 is not as clean and reliable as the standard data for your annual physical. The situation is much more complex, there are many more procedures, there are new system issues as most if not all systems were not set up for pandemics from 100 years of not having them. However, today's systems are providing the data you see in graphs which 10 years ago, you could not get the data as rapidly and consistently on a daily basis, as one can now. So everyone is benefitting, but as you can also see, is being data overwhelmed and misinterpreted by those who don't have the data skills or are compensated for not knowing the details/validity.

CoachK has spent many weeks, over 4, working on medical data quality issues, medical data reporting issues, system data quality issues, and reporting regulations within a large medical system with electronic medical records not set up for a covid pandemic. She has a computer science degree, a masters in medical informatics, and I will say, the data is not “perfect” and there are lots of people working 10-12 hours per day and on weekends to report accurately.

So, ask yourself, are you a person who relies on consistency and routines? If so, from personality studies, you are having a relatively harder time adapting, than those personality types who are less dependent upon routines and consistency. The message board is not a source of clarity for information overload. The best source of anxiety reduction is less information and more comfortable daily routines and entertainment. The choice for longer survival is yours, choose wisely.

sportsguy

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I see it as fairly straight-forward, without the need to overanalyze at all:

1. The risk of a very grueling, painful death of drowning by your own body fluids has increased greatly in the past few months.
2. If you want to minimize the risk almost completely, you can isolate yourself until the risk has passed. This is not practical for a number of reasons which don't really matter.
2. If you want to reduce your risk, and can accept a margin of error, then wash your hands, don't touch your face, keep 6 feet away from anyone you don't already live with, and if you can't do that, then cover your face.

That is all.

[billethkid]

At some point we will know better what the numbers really are and their impact on infections and survival.
Where testing has been done there seems to be an underestimating of the actual number of infections. Hence the number who remain asymptomatic is up, total infections are up and the death rate is lessened.

And a new risk calculation comes about.

Once that is known then we can make our decisions how to live our lives. Just like knowing the risks of driving your car but almost everybody does. Or that other group that knows the risk of not getting a flu shot, but choose not to get it.

Right or wrong as time plays out and more becomes known, those same decisions will be made for the current virus.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by billethkid

At some point we will know better what the numbers really are and their impact on infections and survival.
Where testing has been done there seems to be an underestimating of the actual number of infections. Hence the number who remain asymptomatic is up, total infections are up and the death rate is lessened.

And a new risk calculation comes about.

Once that is known then we can make our decisions how to live our lives. Just like knowing the risks of driving your car but almost everybody does. Or that other group that knows the risk of not getting a flu shot, but choose not to get it.

Right or wrong as time plays out and more becomes known, those same decisions will be made for the current virus.

If you drop to the bottom, bottom line. Almost everyone agrees that those who are dying most are old people.

I'd just as soon not.

[JoelJohnson]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

If you drop to the bottom, bottom line. Almost everyone agrees that those who are dying most are old people.

I'd just as soon not.

So I guess you're saying "Old People" are expendable.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by JoelJohnson

So I guess you're saying "Old People" are expendable.

I am pretty sure the lady did not say that. You did.
Her comment was that older people are doing the bulk of the dying, which is about the only fact most 'experts' seem to be able to agree on.
And like most of us, she would like to stick around for a lot longer!

[Travelhunter]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

I am pretty sure the lady did not say that. You did.
Her comment was that older people are doing the bulk of the dying, which is about the only fact most 'experts' seem to be able to agree on.
And like most of us, she would like to stick around for a lot longer!

Me too