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West-Ad8798 t1_ixxy9x8 wrote

I just don’t understand how countries like Japan and Korea are getting hit this hard. Especially when hygiene and masks are so popular.

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cmrdgkr t1_ixy69mz wrote

Because they're still testing. Other countries probably have this much as well but they're not doing that much official testing and tracking.

Just left Korea for the UK. It's completely different here. If I get COVID here, and it isn't serious enough for hospitalisation, I don't think anyone is even going to know or record it.

Also population density doesn't help.

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djb1983CanBoy t1_ixy8zac wrote

I got covid a couple months ago for the first time. I looked into telling the government - found out theres no way to do it.

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alien_from_Europa t1_ixyunuy wrote

>found out theres no way to do it.

For US:

You just call/message your primary care provider and they'll either order additional testing for you at your doctor's office if you're sick or you can get lab testing at nearby pharmacies.

>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “strongly encourages” everyone who self-tests to report their positive results to a health care provider, who may order a P.C.R. test or otherwise report the data to state authorities. But only a few state health departments, including those in Colorado and Washington, collect data from home tests. Others, like in Massachusetts and New York, allow individual county health departments to decide whether they want to collect home test results.

https://archive.ph/bj0Rk

But yes, doctors are only required to report lab tests to the CDC.

>CDC strongly encourages everyone who uses a self-test to report any positive results to their healthcare provider. Healthcare providers can ensure that those who have tested positive for COVID-19 receive the most appropriate medical care, including specific treatments if necessary.

>In most jurisdictions, healthcare providers who diagnose COVID-19 are required to report those cases to public health.

>The US Government does not want to construct any barriers that would deter the use of self-tests.  COVID-19 surveillance continues to be based on results from laboratory testing. The primary role of case reporting is to allow public health agencies to take actions to mitigate disease spread. The public health community, including CDC, is confident that situational awareness remains strong without receiving self-test results.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/testing/self-testing.html

In Massachusetts, for example, you can use the state's app to share your test anonymously, but it won't be counted towards official numbers.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/share-your-positive-covid-test-anonymously-with-massnotify

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N8CCRG t1_ixyynmd wrote

My parents live in a rural red county. They got COVID (verified by at home testing) about a month ago. They were planning on just toughing it out, but I bullied them into at least contacting their primary care physician to inform them and under the assumption the PCP would report the result. The PCP requested no lab testing or anything though, and I have no idea if they reported the cases or not.

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AustinLurkerDude t1_iy231gi wrote

There's also ppl with no PCP or health insurance who don't bother getting lab tests

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Gabbstah t1_ixyjwr1 wrote

Lol what? I live in S Korea and there's a million avenues for reporting covid. My local city hall has a direct line specifically for reporting personal cases if you tested at home.

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djb1983CanBoy t1_ixz8naz wrote

Ontario, canada. We have a trump-light premier of our province, doug ford. You might have heard of his brother, rob ford, the crack smoking mayor of toronto who died a few years ago, Rob Ford.

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KeythKatz t1_ixyw5kk wrote

I was just in Korea for a few weeks, I hate how emergency mobile alert broadcasts were abused daily or every few hours just to tell people how many local cases there were.

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Leading-Two5757 t1_ixzb22w wrote

And now you’re reading headlines about a surge in cases. Almost as if they saw an emergency coming.

How dare they use an emergency system to portray a coming emergency. Shame on them.

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KeythKatz t1_ixzg806 wrote

A surge in cases is no longer an emergency as in 2020. Is using an emergency system to basically broadcast regular news, causing some to turn off the alerts entirely, in a locality where storms and tsunamis matter, not counter to the point of having an emergency system? The broadcasts weren't even large numbers, more like "there were 8 cases in your neighbourhood yesterday" and "here is your nearest vaccination center", as 2 separate alerts.

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natsunshine t1_ixz85q6 wrote

If you tested positive for PCR and provided your home address, then your info & test results will go directly to your local health department & state health department through electronic lab reporting. There’s no need to call them because most of them will not take at-home results.

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djb1983CanBoy t1_ixz998m wrote

We dont have any states in canada.

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natsunshine t1_ixz9y0u wrote

Pretty sure Canada has electronic lab reportings because it has a more advanced epi system than the US. We envy your universal healthcare.

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djb1983CanBoy t1_ixzak4s wrote

Its not as great as its crcked up to be, but i never think about going to my doctor, as it costs nothing.

If i test positive with a takehome test, they say to stay home, and only certain groups of the population have ever been eligible to get lab tests.

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Gb_packers973 t1_iy0oso8 wrote

Thats the beauty of the push for rapid test kits.

Our country would be screwed if everyone was still PcRing. The numbers would be insane.

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LimaBeansAreGood t1_ixydotm wrote

Eh. I’m an ICU nurse in the US. We’re getting a hospitalization spike, it’s just not bad enough to hit the news yet.

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cmrdgkr t1_ixyejev wrote

I never said you weren't getting a hospitalization spike. But if 100,000 people got covid today and in the US 1000 went to the hospital, then the US might only think they've got 1000 new cases because that's all they track. In Korea they still track positive tests regardless of whether or not you went to the hospital. That's why certain countries are still showing large numbers like this because they're tracking all cases, not just the ones that wind up in hospital.

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Flymia t1_iy1xlvm wrote

I went to a PCR test ran by Miami-Dade County in September. Was positive, got a call from the Florida Dept. of Health the next day.

The numbers are a lot higher, but with vaccinations, and prior infections, serious illness is not showing as much, and tons of people just never test, or just test at home. People are more worried about the FLU and RSV right now.

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TailRudder t1_ixyjtev wrote

That's not what he's saying though. The tracking mechanisms have been greatly diminished.

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alien_from_Europa t1_ixyz025 wrote

>it’s just not bad enough to hit the news yet.

Here's the official data from the HHS data hub in the US:

Number Type 🏥 %
692,244 Inpatient Beds 5,293 Hospitals N/A
511,596 Inpatient Beds in Use 5,292 Hospitals ~74% beds in use
29,450 Inpatient Beds in Use for COVID-19 5,170 Hospitals ~5.76% patients with Covid

You can also search capacity for specific hospitals on this site:

https://public-data-hub-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/pages/f498500804b3412fa096e8d6e0c8f0d4

And don't forget the beds are also getting filled up now with RSV and flu cases.

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NobodyGotTimeFuhDat t1_ixy09f6 wrote

Because Covid-19 is now endemic like the flu and is here to stay.

It’s never going away and this is something that is going to wax and wane in virility for the rest of our existence most likely.

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Grouchy_Occasion2292 t1_ixyy60k wrote

That doesn't make it okay. That doesn't mean we don't need mitigation efforts. It doesn't mean we don't need to track it. We track the flu even though it is also endemic. How is any of that relevant? We already know that repeat exposure to COVID damages the immune system.

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Trugdigity t1_iy1hr8i wrote

We also only track lab proven instances of the flu. If i catch the flu and it’s not bad enough to at least send me to doctors nobody knows I have it.

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Flymia t1_iy24uvm wrote

Exactly, which is what is happening with COVID.

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NobodyGotTimeFuhDat t1_ixzgxs4 wrote

I didn’t say that it is okay or that it shouldn’t be treated. And nor did I say that it isn’t dangerous or health hazardous. 🤷‍♂️

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Flymia t1_iy24t6p wrote

Where is this idea that we don't track it? We just don't see it on TV. I got covid in September and was called and emailed by Fla. Dept. of Health. It is not like everyone with the flu takes a test that goes to the government.

We track what we can, but it is just part of life at this point.

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EggPan313 t1_ixzjiw1 wrote

I see COVID and the US response to this as the reality of just how much of a failure our society has become.

We really cannot do big things anymore as a society. We cannot depend on people to fix big problems together. It's utterly disappointing.

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Flymia t1_iy24mij wrote

> just how much of a failure our society has become.

Failing from keeping a virus that is many times more contangious than the FLU or common cold from being endemic is not a failure of socieity.

We basically shut down the world for a few months, and that did not work. It would have had to be a complete martial law, lock down, for months, no flights, no shopping, no school, no work, nothing. Not even take out dinner.

The virus was always coming for us. Lockdowns were just to keep numbers down, and not overwhelm healthcare facilities.

The virus will always be around, and has been becoming less and less severe, hopefully that trend continues.

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hatsune_aru t1_iy41dz8 wrote

yeah, in hindsight, i think the lockdown had some pretty good compliance before the vaccine came out, and the lockdown worked pretty decently, and we were able to contain it decently until the vaccine came out.

and the vaccine came out rather rapidly and the sensible people who wanted to get it could get it fairly easily.

I'd dare to say the system worked?

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Mangos66 t1_ixy0lpz wrote

You can't develop covid can you? You can only catch it from others, how is it like the flu

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Steavee t1_ixy0vm5 wrote

You can’t just develop the flu either…

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EatingMyOwnWings t1_ixy1f1x wrote

You can’t possibly believe that you can just magically conjure up the flu. Please tell me I misread this.

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DataCassette t1_ixy6cym wrote

Well, you see, when the four humors are out of balance...

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Stingray88 t1_ixy26hg wrote

You can’t develop the flu either. You catch it from others.

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shanghairolls99 t1_ixy6k00 wrote

surprise pikachu face

But... I thought....everyone knew.... That you dont develop flu.......

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jlee-1337 t1_ixygjwi wrote

Everyone around me and in the office is getting covid. But I think the government stopped keeping numbers so Google shows that numbers are way down but in reality I think they're going up a lot higher right now

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apmgaming t1_ixy7mxe wrote

They're also still gathering data for positive test results with a population that is highly likely to self-report if positive.

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WontArnett t1_iy0ccxt wrote

The new strains are much more infectious and masks hardly help.

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authentic_mirages t1_ixzbiyd wrote

Re: Japan, where to begin? The government restricted the 4th shot to people over 60, blatantly lying that those were the only people who could be harmed by Omicron. Now that the Omicron shot is out, people aren’t bothering to get it because they believed that. Gov’t has been quite open about choosing the economy over people’s health. Everybody’s going back to restaurants and social gatherings. Most citizens are still uninformed about the fact that you can catch Omicron every 4-6 weeks, and about things like long Covid and high-filtration masks. There are tons of people who don’t know about the importance of ventilation. Lots of them even still think that kids can’t get sick, or that it’s not dangerous if they do. Fully half the time I’ve known someone to show up with symptoms, they say it’s just allergies or “a cold.” Almost nobody gets tested anymore unless they have a fever that doesn’t go down for several days (actually that’s pretty much been the case since 2020, but at least the threat was taken more seriously then). A lot of cities don’t even publicize case numbers anymore. Most people are expected to test at home and self-report results now using a bunch of paperwork and several steps, which of course isn’t happening much. So we’ve basically been in one long wave since January of this year, with a few minor dips. [edit: I forgot that over the summer the government conducted a misleading campaign that made people think masks caused heatstroke. Before scientists could debunk it, we were having record numbers.]

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vodged t1_ixzfyv2 wrote

that's what most of the world is doing though, UK for example, most of the year we've had all restrictions removed, nobody masks, only vulnerable or over 50s are allowed the 4th shot. life is back to normal here, for better or worse.

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Silverseren t1_ixzzrxh wrote

And yet we still have over 30,000 new daily cases and at least 300 deaths per day here in the US.

And that's just the reported numbers.

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AustinLurkerDude t1_ixy7asv wrote

Those places are extremely crowded, subways, apartments, restaurants. Also they have a culture of eating out, so you could get it at lunch/dinner etc.

Than there's the usual places like church and school, where ppl will attend even if they're feeling sick.

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Grouchy_Occasion2292 t1_ixyyg9v wrote

That sounds like every city ever in the US. It has nothing to do with location everything to do with testing.

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AustinLurkerDude t1_ixzfbsr wrote

School and church similar but restaurant, apartments, subways much less crowded in USA. Only NYC comes close, but you're right we should still see similar hotspots.

Even with no testing the hospitals should still show the same critical cases as Asia.

I wish there was more contact tracing to understand how this virus spread. Maybe the papers are still under peer review, love to understand this.

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j821c t1_ixydg0e wrote

Likely because the places where people are actually catching it are largely in private settings or other places where people would not be wearing masks (meals with friends at restaurants, clubs, bars etc). I highly doubt anywhere near as many people are catching covid walking through the grocery store as are catching it at family gatherings for example (even in western countries with no mask mandates). While masks are effective, far too many people act like they're a cure all when really they just improve the situation to an extent

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Grouchy_Occasion2292 t1_ixyyee8 wrote

We don't know that. You can't use speculation as evidence. 😂

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j821c t1_ixzjsrk wrote

No but we're allowed to speculate on the internet 🤷‍♂️. A lot of countries got hit really hard with omicron and covid in general despite mask mandates and high compliance so clearly masks either aren't that effective at stopping spread (I doubt this) or most people are catching covid where they aren't wearing masks. Ontario, Canada had by far its largest wave despite a mask mandate that had well over 90% compliance.

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authentic_mirages t1_iy2lorf wrote

Everyone knows how widely accepted masks are in Japan, but unfortunately there are misconceptions that go along with that acceptance. People will wear masks in a large restaurant with high ceilings, then go into a small poorly-ventilated bathroom and take the mask off to cough and blow their noses.

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moishepesach t1_iy1lff3 wrote

I had covid twice in 2022. I was masked up, etc. and boosted. That OMI doesn't like to take no for an answer.

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Dreamerlax t1_iy2h3bo wrote

People take off their masks and spend hours eating and drinking in bars and restaurants.

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hau4300 t1_ixy89w6 wrote

South Korea lifted its face mask requirement in Sept. The number of people who have contracted COVID is much smaller than that of the US. So, now they are catching up.

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emptysuitcases t1_ixye0cf wrote

We lifted all outdoor mask mandates. Still have to wear them indoors in all places outside your home. Thus, lots still wear them outside when they are going in and out a lot (commuting, shopping, etc).

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[deleted] t1_ixyroxw wrote

[removed]

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isitaspider2 t1_iy1mbjy wrote

Correct. You still have to wear masks in all indoor settings.

Source: I live in Korea.

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TailRudder t1_ixyjy74 wrote

Not true. You don't have to wear them while dining inside. It's also extremely lax, most people take off their mask as soon as they walk into a restaurant or don't even bother putting it on to begin with. Bars are also packed and nobody masks in them.

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emptysuitcases t1_ixyoq35 wrote

Correct.. We also don't have to wear a mask eating. (Have we ever??)

We still have the indoor mask mandate. That was my only point. It did not go away in September.

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