How can there not be a COVID-19 thread?

Well, this is scary. Where the second case of omicron has been found...

bleedingcool.com

Anime NYC Javits Center Attendee Is Second American Omicron Case

I've just got back from San Diego Comic-Con this very hour, and spend time at the airport spitting into tubes in case I came home bringing the Omicron
bleedingcool.com
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I've just got back from San Diego Comic-Con this very hour, and spend time at the airport spitting into tubes in case I came home bringing the Omicron coronavirus variant with. Not that likely, even though the first confirmed case was in California. And as the second Omicron case in the US has just been identified – and they went to a different comic con on a different coast, Anime NYC. at the Javits Center in Manhattan, New York – also home to New York Comic Con.
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As the person attended a convention. If they believe he was infected while at the con, that could be a contract tracing nightmare. Conventions at the Javitts are monstrous. Not counting all the surrounding areas to visit as well.

www.nbcnewyork.com

Minnesota Man Who Traveled to NYC for Javits Convention Is 2nd US Omicron Case

New York officials say they will not overreact to Thursday’s development, but “we should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city.”
www.nbcnewyork.com www.nbcnewyork.com
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The U.S. has now confirmed its second omicron variant case -- in a Minnesota resident who recently traveled to New York City for a two-day convention at the Javits Center in Manhattan, the state's Department of Public Health said Thursday.

The news came the same day the state reported 11,300 new positive cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day total since late January, along with new months-long highs in daily deaths and statewide hospitalizations.

Omicron has yet to be confirmed in the Empire State but as Gov. Kathy Hochul has said, "It's coming."

The Minnesota case is an adult male who lives in Hennepin County and had been vaccinated, officials said. He attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center from Nov. 19-21. It's not clear what else he may have done in New York City during his visit, but he developed mild symptoms on Nov. 22 and was tested for COVID two days later, officials said. His symptoms have since resolved.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and other officials, as well as public health leaders, had said it would only be a matter of time before omicron was detected locally -- and that window appears to be shortening rapidly. New York state sequences only about 3.5% of positive COVID samples for variant isolation, similar to other states -- but it means that variants like omicron can circulate widely undetected for some time.
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JayMysteri0 said:
Well, this is scary. Where the second case of omicron has been found...




As the person attended a convention. If they believe he was infected while at the con, that could be a contract tracing nightmare. Conventions at the Javitts are monstrous. Not counting all the surrounding areas to visit as well.
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Honestly, I couldn't care less about this. The moment the evolutionary advantage was shown, it was clear the new variant would get is soon. There's a reason WHO traditionally does not encourage travel """bans""" (these are travel restrictions and not bans).
 
P_X said:
Honestly, I couldn't care less about this. The moment the evolutionary advantage was shown, it was clear the new variant would get is soon. There's a reason WHO traditionally does not encourage travel """bans""" (these are travel restrictions and not bans).
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The reason I found this scary, is because I myself did go to those conventions before the pandemic began. As I mentioned conventions at the Javitts Center are large. With the NY Comic Con pulling an attendance of 250K +. This Anime con had supposedly around 35K, which involves people from all over the country and various parts of Europe. We can't of course easily tell how someone got infected, but when that convention disperses that alone maybe a frightening expansion of the virus.

For the most part mask mandates are in place, and in the case of the Comic con aggressively followed. Yet it still isn't enough, but so many fans keep hoping things will return to normal sooner than later.

I myself was quietly hoping that I'd be able to hit a big con next year, but I'm wondering if that's going to happen.
 
I have a ticket for a concert in another city in the middle of this month. I'm already thinking about whether or not I should just cancel the hotel reservation now, give my friend who had purchased tickets for several of us the money for my ticket now, and stay right here at home..... Sigh. Actually, I'll wait a week or so, see if the concert is canceled by the artist, which of course could happen....
 
JayMysteri0 said:
The reason I found this scary, is because I myself did go to those conventions before the pandemic began. As I mentioned conventions at the Javitts Center are large. With the NY Comic Con pulling an attendance of 250K +. This Anime con had supposedly around 35K, which involves people from all over the country and various parts of Europe. We can't of course easily tell how someone got infected, but when that convention disperses that alone maybe a frightening expansion of the virus.

For the most part mask mandates are in place, and in the case of the Comic con aggressively followed. Yet it still isn't enough, but so many fans keep hoping things will return to normal sooner than later.

I myself was quietly hoping that I'd be able to hit a big con next year, but I'm wondering if that's going to happen.
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Saw this on the ABC evening news and man it's flat out scary, like you said they had mask and vaccine requirements and everyone was wearing masks in the footage they showed.
 
JayMysteri0 said:
For the most part mask mandates are in place, and in the case of the Comic con aggressively followed. Yet it still isn't enough, but so many fans keep hoping things will return to normal sooner than later.
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A very good friend just starting reworking at Javits after ~18 months absence. Her agency practically begged her to come back and train others. She asked for guaranteed safety protocols and her ability to work on a per event basis. I think she's opting out of the larger events and wants nothing to do with enforcing/encouraging mask wearing and social distancing protocols.

Not sure if she worked AnimeCon as I was out of the City. I'll check when I get back this weekend as we're planning to meet up in person for the first time since the Pandemic.
 
ronntaylor said:
A very good friend just starting reworking at Javits after ~18 months absence. Her agency practically begged her to come back and train others. She asked for guaranteed safety protocols and her ability to work on a per event basis. I think she's opting out of the larger events and wants nothing to do with enforcing/encouraging mask wearing and social distancing protocols.

Not sure if she worked AnimeCon as I was out of the City. I'll check when I get back this weekend as we're planning to meet up in person for the first time since the Pandemic.
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There were reports that at the Comic Con, there was the obligatory sorts that weren't big on the masks. One was a store owner who brought floor space. The Javits staff wasn't playing, the store owner basically pissed away his money over a mask mandate he clearly was made aware of weeks ago. The staff got praise for how they handled enforcing mask use, for those I read & spoke to that went to the con.
 
JayMysteri0 said:
There were reports that at the Comic Con, there was the obligatory sorts that weren't big on the masks. One was a store owner who brought floor space. The Javits staff wasn't playing, the store owner basically pissed away his money over a mask mandate he clearly was made aware of weeks ago. The staff got praise for how they handled enforcing mask use, for those I read & spoke to that went to the con.
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Good for them for handling it, unfortunately that's what is going to have to happen in order to prevent the spread.
 
JayMysteri0 said:
The reason I found this scary, is because I myself did go to those conventions before the pandemic began. As I mentioned conventions at the Javitts Center are large. With the NY Comic Con pulling an attendance of 250K +. This Anime con had supposedly around 35K, which involves people from all over the country and various parts of Europe. We can't of course easily tell how someone got infected, but when that convention disperses that alone maybe a frightening expansion of the virus.

For the most part mask mandates are in place, and in the case of the Comic con aggressively followed. Yet it still isn't enough, but so many fans keep hoping things will return to normal sooner than later.

I myself was quietly hoping that I'd be able to hit a big con next year, but I'm wondering if that's going to happen.
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Well, I still don't see the surprise. Vaccines are phenomenal but not perfect, masks are good if of adequate material and worn properly but still not perfect, and when people socialize outside the convention, these things are just bound to happen especially when that socialization happens in closed spaces in the middle of COVID season.

If you ignore omicron, there's nothing new here.
 
We may never get back to the conditions that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nor should we, since we were blissfully ignorant. However, we now have the tools to return to a reasonable way of life by co-existing with SARS-CoV-2 and many other pathogens. Unfortunately, we won't get there in a silo, especially when so many in government, right-wing media, and others work actively against appropriate measures.
 
P_X said:
Well, I still don't see the surprise. Vaccines are phenomenal but not perfect, masks are good if of adequate material and worn properly but still not perfect, and when people socialize outside the convention, these things are just bound to happen especially when that socialization happens in closed spaces in the middle of COVID season.

If you ignore omicron, there's nothing new here.
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I wasn’t talking about surprise in any way. I mentioned how I found it scary that an event I’ve gone to in the past turns into the place where someone catches a new version of COVID.

One doesn’t plan to go to a con, concert, or the movies, and return home with a barely discussed COVID mutation.

Looking at it like that though, yeah I’d still be a little surprised. I don’t think we are so collectively jaded, comfortable, or even numb yet, that every time you attend a public gathering you think you might come home with a new strain of COVID from somewhere else in the world.
 
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JayMysteri0 said:
I wasn’t talking about surprise in any way. I mentioned how I found it scary that an event I’ve gone to in the past turns into the place where someone catches a new version of COVID.

One doesn’t plan to go to a con, concert, or the movies, and return home with a barely discussed COVID mutation.

Looking at it like that though, yeah I’d still be a little surprised. I don’t think we are so collectively jaded, comfortable, or even numb yet, that every time you attend a public gathering you think you might home with a new strain of COVID from somewhere else in the world.
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Fair enough. In my perspective these are things that had been happening without our knowledge before we actively started surveying for them. But I’m also definitely that jaded. Comes with the profession.
 
JayMysteri0 said:
Well, this is scary. Where the second case of omicron has been found...




As the person attended a convention. If they believe he was infected while at the con, that could be a contract tracing nightmare. Conventions at the Javitts are monstrous. Not counting all the surrounding areas to visit as well.
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I thought about that as soon as I read it. This was one of only two people who were diagnosed with Omicron at the time…but what a place for that person to be. 😕

On the lighter side, however, I saw this comment from social media.

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The vaccine is working:


Perhaps the most highly vaccinated large county in America, according to New York Times data, is Montgomery County, Md., just outside the District of Columbia. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 93 percent of those 12 and older there are fully vaccinated, compared to around 70 percent nationally. The number dying over the past week is eight times as high nationally — 3.4 per 1 million — as it is in Montgomery County — 0.4 per 1 million — even as Montgomery County is near some virus hotspots.
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The relative rate is similar in two of the handful of other most-vaccinated large counties in the country: Dane County, Wis. (home to Madison), where 86 percent of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated, per the CDC, and San Francisco, where 84 percent are vaccinated. Dane County also has 0.4 deaths per 1 million despite being in one of the most hard-hit regions, the Midwest.

Slightly fewer people 12 and over are vaccinated in New York City, though still north of 80 percent. Over the past week, it has registered a per-capita death rate about one-third the national average.
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Saw that article today in the Post and was surprised that Fairfax County, VA, wasn't mentioned..... The counties immediately surrounding the Washington, DC area are going to have higher numbers when it comes to vaccinations than some of the counties further south in the more rural parts of the state.
 
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