The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

News and events of the day
ap215
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Sources: U.S. Olympic bobsled team dealing with COVID-19 'nightmare'

The United States bobsled and skeleton team has been dealing with COVID-19 trouble a week before the Olympics, with multiple positive tests affecting travel plans in recent days, sources told Yahoo Sports.

One bobsledder, Josh Williamson, revealed Wednesday that he had tested positive. He was, according to three sources familiar with the situation, not the only team member affected. Multiple coaches, support staff and at least one other athlete have tested positive, sources said.

https://www.aol.com/sports/olympics-tea ... 56061.html
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney Isolating After Positive COVID Test.

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus- ... 4d0daf2df5.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and “will be isolating and working remotely for the recommended period of time,” according to a news release from his office.

The Utah Republican is fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 and is not showing any symptoms, the statement said. His wife, Ann, tested negative for the virus.

The senator’s office provided no additional details.

Romney, who was the GOP nominee for president in 2012 and the former governor of Massachusetts, is among a group of other congressional lawmakers that have contracted the virus recently, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
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ZoWie
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

Post by ZoWie »

Now the papers are saying the case rate is starting to decline, while meanwhile everything I see in the real world looks more like the entire population is getting it. Closed stores, missing doctors, longer waits for everything, and deliveries that happen late or not at all. Signs everywhere saying "bear with us in this staffing emergency." Meanwhile, once again, that plain old "Everyone I know has it," even though really they don't. Just feels like it.

Just like the other big R-sub-zero freakouts.

I don't even read the papers much any more. Mostly the sports. They like the Rams, but admit SF seems to have their number. TV slavishly quotes the day's numbers, and then it's on to the latest scary crime story or impending wind storm, usually with helicopter coverage. That gets turned off pretty fast. Don't need it.

I briefly look at Nooz on line sometimes, just long enough to know that they still create a world that might exist statistically, but is at odds with first person sense data.
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Number6
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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I attended our Democratic Club meeting, yesterday, in the city's library large meeting room. The club went back to in-person meetings a couple of months ago and the requirement to attend was you had to wear a mask. When I arrived, not only did I have to wear a mask, which was no problem, we also had to show proof of vaccination. Luckily, I keep a photo of my vaccination card on my phone as well as an online image of my vaccination status from the state of California.

BTW, at our meeting, out of the 80 Democratic Clubs in the county we were informed the San Diego County Democratic Party we were the runner-up as the best club in the county. This is outstanding for our leadership and our club in that Coronado is the reddest city in the county and we've made big inroads over the past 10 years.
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ap215
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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This could've been done right now.

T-Mobile will fire unvaccinated corporate employees starting April 2nd

T-Mobile will fire corporate employees who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2nd, reports Bloomberg. The carrier confirmed the deadline after the outlet obtained an internal email in which Deeanne King, T-Mobile’s chief human resources officer, said the company will put employees who have gone out and only gotten one dose as of February 21st on unpaid leave.

“T-Mobile’s badge-controlled offices continue to be accessible only to those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and we have shared with employees that we are requiring office workers to be fully vaccinated by April 2nd,” a spokesperson for T-Mobile told Engadget. “We understand that this is a deeply personal decision for some employees but we believe that taking this step will put us in the best position to protect our T-Mobile community.”

https://www.engadget.com/t-mobile-vacci ... 38946.html
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Don't let the headline fool ya. There's a little surprise in the last paragraph.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/myth-spartan ... 31055.html
This Myth About the Spartans Just Got Blown Up
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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When Covid started, there was this myth that only people over 65 had anything to worry about. That came from early statistics and might have been true for maybe a month, but it soon became clear that the virus could and did kill anyone of any age in its most extreme form.

Unfortunately, since this culture is extremely ageist, it persisted in the usual right wing denial circles as this idea that old people had led long and productive lives, and now it was time for them to get sick, die, and let the pandemic die out with them, while the rest of us only get mild cases and then we're done with it. You still see this weird idea in the usual circles. Let's all get it, and then we're done.

Won't work. Natural immunity doesn't last for life. It lasts 6 months if you're lucky.

One guy even said it would be sad to sacrifice old Granny, but it was for the greater good. As the writer here hints in that last paragraph, the Spartans weren't even that bad. They might have culled the herd a bit, but they never would have said anything like well, let's let Granny die, the rest of us will just go on about our business and the pandemic will end.

It was actually clear all along that saying that was no better than the former "keep it in the colored neighborhoods, they're overpopulated anyway." Yes, the usual people used to say that, but now it's not acceptable. It seems clear that the usual people are not that far along on ageism. Well, they're not getting any younger either. Denial is more than a river in Egypt.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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ZoWie wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:13 am When Covid started, there was this myth that only people over 65 had anything to worry about. That came from early statistics and might have been true for maybe a month, but it soon became clear that the virus could and did kill anyone of any age in its most extreme form.

Unfortunately, since this culture is extremely ageist, it persisted in the usual right wing denial circles as this idea that old people had led long and productive lives, and now it was time for them to get sick, die, and let the pandemic die out with them, while the rest of us only get mild cases and then we're done with it. You still see this weird idea in the usual circles. Let's all get it, and then we're done.

Won't work. Natural immunity doesn't last for life. It lasts 6 months if you're lucky.

One guy even said it would be sad to sacrifice old Granny, but it was for the greater good. As the writer here hints in that last paragraph, the Spartans weren't even that bad. They might have culled the herd a bit, but they never would have said anything like well, let's let Granny die, the rest of us will just go on about our business and the pandemic will end.

It was actually clear all along that saying that was no better than the former "keep it in the colored neighborhoods, they're overpopulated anyway." Yes, the usual people used to say that, but now it's not acceptable. It seems clear that the usual people are not that far along on ageism. Well, they're not getting any younger either. Denial is more than a river in Egypt.
i liked how the author wrote it. i didn't see his point coming. imagine an anti vaxer basically agreeing with the article and then reaching the last paragraph.

So ya, F' off Rand. The last paragraph suits you to a t.
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carmenjonze
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Number6 wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:47 pm I attended our Democratic Club meeting, yesterday, in the city's library large meeting room. The club went back to in-person meetings a couple of months ago and the requirement to attend was you had to wear a mask. When I arrived, not only did I have to wear a mask, which was no problem, we also had to show proof of vaccination. Luckily, I keep a photo of my vaccination card on my phone as well as an online image of my vaccination status from the state of California.

BTW, at our meeting, out of the 80 Democratic Clubs in the county we were informed the San Diego County Democratic Party we were the runner-up as the best club in the county. This is outstanding for our leadership and our club in that Coronado is the reddest city in the county and we've made big inroads over the past 10 years.
Yes but do you have good snacks??

JK, glad to know of your involvement with them.
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ZoWie
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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I've spent enough time in Coronado to agree completely that a vibrant Democratic Club there is a major achievement. Take a bow.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
Motor City
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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https://twitter.com/CaliforniaLabor/sta ... 0583813120
COVID has made it painfully clear: Our health care system is broken. But we can fix it with #CalCare: Guaranteeing comprehensive, high-quality health care for ALL Californians.

#AB1400 is the right policy. Now is the right time.
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Number6
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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carmenjonze wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 2:07 pm Yes but do you have good snacks??
Uh, no. Usually, we're allowed to have a refreshments table but until the COVID thing passes the library won't let us have one. When we did, we had some good goodies.
JK, glad to know of your involvement with them.
Believe it or not, back in the early 70s, back in my youth, I was the president of the club. Today, I like to work behind the scenes rather than being one of the faces of the party locally.
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Number6
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Washington State files suit against COVID testing company for ",,,invalid, false and delayed" COVID-19 test results to Washingtonians, or provided no results at all..."
Center for COVID Control and its primary laboratory, Doctors Clinical Lab, provided "invalid, false and delayed" COVID-19 test results to Washingtonians, or provided no results at all, according to the complaint from the Washington State Attorney General's Office.

"The company’s unlawful practices included storing tests in garbage bags for over a week rather than properly refrigerating them, and backdating sample collection dates so that stale samples would still be processed," according to a press release from the office. "Employees reported that the company instructed them to 'lie to patients on a daily basis' when Washingtonians complained about their delayed results."

The state is suing Center for Covid Control, Doctors Clinical Laboratory and Center for COVID Control founders, husband and wife Akbar Syed and Aleya Siyaj, for violations of the Consumer Protection Act. The office said it plans to file a motion for preliminary injunction soon "to immediately stop the Center for COVID Control’s unlawful conduct."

Multiple other states and federal officials are investigating the company and lab. The Minnesota Attorney General's Office filed a civil complaint two weeks ago alleging the testing chain and lab "provide inaccurate and deceptive" test results, fraudulently reported negative results and "represented to the federal government" that people with private or public insurance were actually uninsured.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tests ... li=BBnb7Kz
If the allegations are true the I hope those responsible at the company receive prison terms. Clinical labs and testing labs have national and state standards they must follow and how hard is it to follow those standards? I JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) provides the guidelines to provide patient care for hospitals and clinics to follow and they provide them with checklists to follow. The checklists are designed to ensure compliance with standards and to identify where an organization is deficient which allows them to take corrective action.
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ap215
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Employees quit over 'catch the virus' promotion at Washington state bar

Employees at a Washington state bar quit over their former employers' "catch the virus" COVID-19 promotion.

Vessel Taphouse owner Steve Hartley told The Daily Herald that four employees quit their jobs and three bands refused to play at the pirate-themed bar over the promotion.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... li=BBnb7Kz
ap215
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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CDC advises against travel to Mexico, Brazil, Singapore

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday issued travel advisories for a dozen countries — including Mexico, Brazil and Singapore — citing high rates of COVID-19 infections.

These countries were raised to the CDC's highest COVID-19 warning, "Level Four: Very High."

https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... -singapore
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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Covid’s deadly trade-offs, by the numbers: How each state has fared in the pandemic
POLITICO’s State Pandemic Scorecard shows how state decisions impacted lives, jobs, education and social well-being.
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2 ... scorecard/

States that imposed more restrictions such as stay-at-home orders and mask requirements did experience lower rates of death and hospitalizations.

[snip]

.... States whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism suffered the most economically, with Hawaii and Nevada hit hardest.

[snip]

During the pandemic, Republican-led states tended to be more resistant to mask mandates and stay-at-home edicts while Democratic governors, by and large, embraced those public health precautions, even at the expense of the local economy.

That pattern is evident in the scorecard’s health category; the states with better health outcomes tend to be run by Democratic or moderate Republican governors who imposed health restrictions and reopened slowly. Fourteen of the top 15 states in health voted for President Joe Biden, with the exception of Alaska.


[snip]

Large southern states with Republican governors, however, experienced worse health outcomes. Almost all of the states ranked at the bottom for health voted for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Vermont, a blue state run by a Republican governor, earned a nearly perfect score in the health category. Health officials there credit the state’s decision to lift lockdown restrictions in phases.

[snip]

For the most part, states that scored well in the health category also scored well on social well-being. The states that did best came from different geographies and partisan leanings: Hawaii scored highest, followed by New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Indiana. Those that scored at the bottom were solidly red states: Wyoming, Mississippi, West Virginia, South Dakota and Arkansas.

[snip][end]

BTW, no, I am not ignoring the pandemic tradeoffs noted in this analysis, particularly how closed schools affected learning educational outcomes (although I notice some remote learning advocates are now changing their tune), or the economic impacts, but note that the worst economic impacts occurred in states most dependent on tourism, which might be due to things other than policy (i.e. peoples' reactions and travel choices).

But I'm sick and tired of this bullshit about how there was no difference between red and blue state health outcomes. And as this analysis notes, it is NOT just due to vax uptake that these differences can be observed.
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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I could quote documentation for the rest of the day on how Florida, with its seditious governor and its horse-dewormer surgeon general, is a superspreader. Or you could just ask the 80 year old oxygen-dependent woman whose case is all over the Internet. She went there because well, covid is not really as big a deal as liberal media make it out to be, and now she has it.
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ProfX
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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DeStupid continues to push for monoclonal antibody treatments, which evidence shows while they could be occasionally effective for earlier strains (and may, just, possibly, have saved Trump's life) (alas? :D ), (it depended on the time of treatment), have little to no effect on Omicron.

Anyway, his new surgeon general was part of the so-called "America's Frontline Doctors," as I've pointed out.

P.S. his brilliant decision to smaller-government block cruise lines from checking vax status has already led, unshockingly, to a number of huge outbreaks on cruise ships.
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ProfX wrote: Tue Feb 01, 2022 11:42 am DeStupid continues to push for monoclonal antibody treatments, which evidence shows while they could be occasionally effective for earlier strains (and may, just, possibly, have saved Trump's life) (alas? :D ), (it depended on the time of treatment), have little to no effect on Omicron.

Anyway, his new surgeon general was part of the so-called "America's Frontline Doctors," as I've pointed out.

P.S. his brilliant decision to smaller-government block cruise lines from checking vax status has already led, unshockingly, to a number of huge outbreaks on cruise ships.
ALL of this is because of something the stupidest person alive said, otherwise NONE of this group of tens of millions of MAGA would question the vax or masks. NONE of them would.

Was there a tiny group who was always against vax, of course. Is there a minority group which has good reason to question such things, yes again. But the TENS OF MILLIONS of maga, NONE of them were any of this prior to dumbshit , proof is ask them did they oppose vax for their kids, etc....flu vax.

And it is worldwide now, you can find the dumbshits worldwide.
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ProfX
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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I can't blame the entire denialist movement worldwide on Trump ... he was more symptom than cause.

Anyway, just saw this graphic, gotta repost it.

Image
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Motor City
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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It doesnt help that our nation has been soaking in stewing in misinformation for the last 20 years and our news media and representatives went through this transformation to feed us disinformation about the wars even going so far as to fight against and hunt down people who informed us about it. They basically became this machine this big, huge mis information machine which with covid trying to deal with eradicate it became a terrible terrible burden.
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ZoWie
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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The media do have a rather sorry history of cheerleading the various rally-the-base wars started by presidents for less than honest reasons. This is hardly new. "You guys take the pictures, I'll supply the war" dates to Hearst Newspapers and the Spanish-American War.

CNN sent me over the edge when it started giving huge blocks of air time to Pentagon psyops where uniformed personnel from the media department went live on air to babble about "long term denial of assets" and "force multiplication." I have no issues with home front considerations, but this stuff made war sound less like violent confrontation using lethal force, and more like the stock market. They've since gotten a little less open with their corporate rah-rah, but only a little. They've sure been out to get Biden, as one would expect.

MSNBC was a vapid and poorly rated little channel that ran thinly-veiled violence porn about prison discipline and lurid sex killings until someone had the balls to put Olbermann on criticizing bush/cheney and their oil crusade in the Middle East. The rest is history. There is obviously a demand for balanced coverage, so the junk that dominates 80% of our TV is obviously more about keeping advertisers happy.

I think covid was sensationalized early on, causing panic. After that, it's mostly Faux and the Internet that popularized anti-vax and drumpf's bullshit about bleach and horse dewormer, to the point where agitation in favor of same has actually stopped commerce in some US-Canada border crossings.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60218354

Faux is given something of a free pass, proving that PICON and the Fairness Doctrine are indeed dead at the FCC, but we already knew that. It's still debatable whether fucker carlson's shenanigans and the crap being allowed on private social network platforms is shouting fire in a theater. I am inclined to believe that some of it has indeed reached this traditional threshold for going after what would otherwise be free expression.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
Motor City
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opntZr5vg_c
Scientists discover shockingly high rates of COVID infections among white-tailed deer

Scientists have recently discovered what they are calling a silent outbreak of coronavirus among white-tailed deer. William Brangham reports about how one of the most ubiquitous species in North America contracted COVID, and what that means for the future of the pandemic.
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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An Army officer could face a court-martial for refusing an order to wear a mask, refusing to telework, and failure to submit a negative COVID test.
A junior officer assigned to the Army Public Health Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, faces a special court-martial for failing to obey COVID-19 mitigation measures, Army Times has learned.

1st Lt. Mark Bashaw’s arraignment is “pending” on three specifications of “failure to obey lawful orders,” said Becca Nappi, a spokesperson for the installation.

He’s charged with refusing an order to telework and showing up to Aberdeen Proving Ground “after failing to submit a negative COVID-19 test or [submit]” to a test, Nappi said. The installation requires that unvaccinated personnel submit a negative test result before entering their worksites, according to its website.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your ... ovid-test/
I think there's more to this story than what's reported. Normally, refusal to obey an order will result, after an Article 32 investigation, with a Article 15 - Nonjudicial Action, however, the accused is allowed to refuse the Article 15 and request a court martial. IMO, by choosing the court martial, an Article 15 punishes him but keeps him in the Army. A court martial punishes him much in the same way as an Article 15 but it can also order him discharged from the Army which is what I believe he want. Either way, if found guilty he'll have a federal conviction on his record which will last for 30 years meaning if he applies for a government job or as a contractor to the federal government the conviction may prevent him from obtaining a security clearance and/or the job.
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Number6
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Re: The Covid-19 Pandemic Thread

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This afternoon I was at the Navy Exchange and noticed they had a table of hand sanitizers for sale for $0.25 each. The bottles ranged in size from 4, 7, and 8 ounces.I remember at the beginning of the COVID pandemic hand sanitizer was going for a couple of dollars for a small bottle and now there’s an excess of it.
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