over60 Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 I just heard on the radio this morning that the CDC states there are 100,000 new cases of Covid per day now, which is 5 times higher than this time last year. This is terrible news for our activity. The current vaccines were designed to deal with the original Covid-19 of three years ago. The recent spike, although milder in symptoms, hospitalizations, and deaths, is the result of new strains since last year's Delta variant. And young people are contracting the virus much more than the original strain. A director at Northwestern Memorial Hospital here in Chicago said that it can take up to three days after contracting Covid before symptoms appear, meaning people can be spreading the virus without knowing they are endangering others. Since it's extremely contagious, many corps, including staff, can be infected in a matter of a few days. What happens to people who test positive? Do they isolate and miss practices? If so, for how long? I've been thinking about where the biggest danger exists for a touring corps. It's got to be the buses. It's been many moons since I was on a corps bus back in the early 1980s but I remember what goes on besides sleeping, things like horse-play, yelling, laughing, singing and yes, romance. Kissing is about the easiest way to transfer the virus. Practicing outdoors is really not too concerning because you are out in the fresh (hopefully) air with breezes blowing. But you can't stop Cupid. As Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) said over a hundred years ago, "Teenagers are nothing more than hormones with two feet". We may laugh at that witticism but it's has devastating consequences. The worst case scenario I can think of is for Covid to spread among most of the corps once they begin touring with long hours on the buses. This could mean, obviously, the loss of a tremendous amount of practice time, but more importantly, perhaps housing sites will withdraw their offers. Then what? If several (many?) corps withdraw from the tour and go home, will DCI be forced to cancel finals? DCI has already received $4.7 million dollars from taxpayers to continue operations. I don't think that will happen again. And, the corps are under tremendous financial strain and I doubt if more than a handful would survive another lost season. I can't imagine what fuel costs will be this year. My advice for all corps: WEAR MASKS ON THE BUSES!!! I hope my initial thoughts will not come true. I would appreciate hearing your more optimistic opinions or other helpful suggestions to assuage my fears . Let us pray. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerParent Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 Definitely a concern. Fortunately, it appears most states have peaked or are peaking now. Fingers crossed that cases will be well on the decline before corps head out on the road. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, DrummerParent said: Definitely a concern. Fortunately, it appears most states have peaked or are peaking now. Fingers crossed that cases will be well on the decline before corps head out on the road. Been following PA with an app since this started. Problem with peaking and coming back down is there will be another peak some time in the future. The chart showing cases since last March looks like a freaking roller coaster. Edited May 31, 2022 by JimF-LowBari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 Yep, it’s gonna be a total disaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerParent Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 1 hour ago, FTNK said: Yep, it’s gonna be a total disaster Well aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine 😂. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrummerParent Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 1 hour ago, JimF-LowBari said: Been following PA with an app since this started. Problem with peaking and coming back down is there will be another peak some time in the future. The chart showing cases for a over last 3 months (far back as it goes) always looks like a freaking roller coaster Based on the trends I see, it’s been a few months between peaks so if (IF) we’re peaking now, we shouldn’t have another peak before the season is over. I think the bigger concern is how long this peak lasts. I think corps probably need to consider some of the measures in place last year to reduce the risk of infection creeping in from outside the corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
over60 Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 23 minutes ago, DrummerParent said: Based on the trends I see, it’s been a few months between peaks so if (IF) we’re peaking now, we shouldn’t have another peak before the season is over. I think the bigger concern is how long this peak lasts. I think corps probably need to consider some of the measures in place last year to reduce the risk of infection creeping in from outside the corps. If I understand the situation medically, comparing this year to what happened last year is apples and oranges. Last year the Covid-19 vaccine was good a handling the original virus and the Delta variant, but I think the reason for the large upsurge in infections now is because the original vaccine is much less effective against what's here now so we have to just pray this current upsurge stops. I heard there might be a new vaccine in the Fall but that won't help us during the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 17 minutes ago, over60 said: If I understand the situation medically, comparing this year to what happened last year is apples and oranges. Last year the Covid-19 vaccine was good a handling the original virus and the Delta variant, but I think the reason for the large upsurge in infections now is because the original vaccine is much less effective against what's here now so we have to just pray this current upsurge stops. I heard there might be a new vaccine in the Fall but that won't help us during the summer. Biologically speaking, it makes sense for the virus to mutate to be less likely to cause serious symptoms & signs for an infected host (human). If you are a parasite & kill your host, it is analogous to killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Better to keep host alive so as to be able to propagate yourself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 46 minutes ago, DrummerParent said: Well aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine 😂. my father was just hospitalized with COVID, sorry I’m not in the mood to assume that everything will just be fine 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 8 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said: Biologically speaking, it makes sense for the virus to mutate to be less likely to cause serious symptoms & signs for an infected host (human). If you are a parasite & kill your host, it is analogous to killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Better to keep host alive so as to be able to propagate yourself. I keep reading that but keep remembering the second wave of 1918-1920 Spanish flu was the big killer. Just think mutations could go either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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