It is very wrong to scare people this way. Many people need to travel to Florida for serious reasons - seeing family, work, health care. We plan to go to Florida to see our grandchildren. If people are vaccinated and follow precautions, they will be fine. There are known risk factors for getting COVID - living in large households, attending social events, working in a setting with lots of interaction with people, etc. And if someone gets COVID, Florida is maybe one of the best place to be, with its treatment centers.
Please stop fear mongering and blaming. People have sacrificed a great deal for COIVD. They have lost their jobs, and been separated from family and friends. Rates of anxiety, depression and substance use have gone way up. People have not been able to see their dying loved ones because of COVID. People need to start living, seeing their families- prudently of course.
Maybe you should scare people away from New York? NY has the highest COVID death rate in the US And unlike Florida, this was due to a deliberate government policy of placing infected patients in nursing homes - surely one of the greatest public health scandals in modern history.
I dont think anyone knows why Florida is having a surge of cases. But it's not due to their vaccination rate. Florida's rate is almost exactly the US average - 50.87%, versus 51.08% US average. And other countries with higher vaccination rates than the US have had inexplicable spikes too, eg Israel, the UK. There's a lot of research and thought going into the causes of this - eg Moderna is not fully protective against the Delta variant; Pfizer is probably even less protective. So there will probably be a need for booster shoots.
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ikahan
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Ikahan, I think I know which posts your comments relate to in particular. An alarmist comment has been deleted by Admin on that thread. However, we don’t want posts to be made simply to raise disagreement between members on here so I’ve edited out your identification of the person whose comments you object to. Whilst I don’t fully endorse some of your observations or conclusions, it does concern me that Florida has been singled out very harshly by some, creating a sense of fear. This kind of alarmist comment is unnecessarily scary for members who live, work or visit there. I’m too far from Florida to fully appreciate the Covid situation there but it’s clear these comments have upset you.
Some areas are impacted much more seriously than others for a host of reasons. We don’t need politicking around this or a blame culture to be generated.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that some areas, right across the world, represent a higher Covid risk than others just now and as blood cancer patients, we must exercise a more acute sense of personal protection in those areas. This should not include fear mongering and targeting certain communities.
Hi I live in Florida. I dont feel anymore vulnerable than I did a year ago. I decided a few months ago it was safe to not mask in larger stores and began to eat indoors. Then things seemed to ramp up right after I returned from my first trip. I flew to DC in July. Luckily my trip was uneventful health wise. When I got home beginning of August, I decided to wear my mask in stores. I am picking and choosing once again what social activities I will participate in. It is because the children returned to school last week and unfortunately it has taken a year to start affecting 30 years and younger, that we are in the news so much.
The first 3 days of school here, there were 100 reported cases of covid amongst school aged children. A few teachers unfortunately got the virus as well. Florida for those who are not familiar with geographically is huge. I am guessing it could fit between Va. and Maine. That is a lot of territory. So unfortunately we get all grouped in the same situation. It is about a 12 hour ride from the Keys to the Panhandle. What is going on in the Panhandle is not necessarily happening in West Palm Beach.
We do get quite a few visitors all year round. We are highly populated in some spots and very sparse in others. That makes a huge difference in our numbers. Are you aware that once you get covid testing, your name is not remembered each and every time you have to get tested? So for example if I get tested, then i repeat it 3-4 times to hopefully get a positive results- all those times get put into the total cases for that day/week. Can u imagine all the people who get the virus test again and again till they get a postive result. So if 50 people are counted for- each time they test, it gets counted as tho a new person got the virus. I do believe the basic numbers but I always say if 250 were positive today- maybe 60 of then are repeat testers and not new cases. I had to test before a minor surgery few months ago so I got put in the count for "testing" that day. I would not have gotten a test if i didn't need the surgery.
No matter where anyone lives- we are all able to catch the virus. Whether we do or not can be up to common sense and some luck. I have a CLL friend in FL who did not go out an entire year and 4 months to do anything. She started a few stores and maybe one or two lab places, always wearing a mask and guess what- she got covid. Fortunately she is home and doing ok. So she stayed home all that time and the few times she ventured out- she got it.
Agree- no one should say where anyone should go or not. Stay safe!
Agreed, it’s not about where to go that is safe. It’s to calmly look around yourself and take precautions. CLL patients need extra measures of caution. That applies anywhere. That’s all we can do.
On top of that making this a political issue has significantly slowed vaccination efforts. Schools already require many vaccinations for example so why is a Covid vaccination such a big deal? Politics is the answer. I detest the far right AND the far left in this country. Most of us are in the middle.
The known risk factors that you mention were valid pre-delta. Delta is much more infectious therefore you need to be much more careful to avoid infection. Serious reasons are very individual I would say. Seeing family would not be such for me but I understand that for others it might be. Treatment or ensuring my livelihood would be one of those. As long as you are fully aware of the risks all should be okay. It's an informed choice you make. You call the shots and you bear the consequences no one else.
I live in Florida and I have friends and family who have postponed travel here because of the high number of cases. When I go out I wear a mask but I'm one of the very few. As far as vaccination rates that depends on what county where I live fortunately many are vaccinated but that’s not the case everywhere. My daughter in law is a elementary school teacher she will not visit us and wears a mask now even in her home because of the number of cases in school.. so everyone has to make a decision based on what information they have.
Ikahan - Your posts makes some good points (and a couple I’d like to comment on). I can sense and feel your frustration… you just want to see your grandkids n I get that. We have a couple g-kids and they are important to see! The blame game does nothing well, your right on that point.
But… “doing the right things” does well!
So we are over a year n a half in this pandemic and as a nation here in US (as a whole) we are not all there in understanding (and more importantly doing!) what it’s gonna take to kill the covid beast. Gotta get to herd immunity.
A 50% typical state vaccination rate isn’t cutting it. No mask mandates isn’t cutting it, vaccines not yet approved for kids under 12 is not cutting it, not yet having FDA approval for vaccines (get that done FDA!) so we can make it mandatory that kids get vaccinated (like we had to for polio, measles, chic pox, etc) is not cutting it and also so maybe some non-vaxers will change their minds. Those are the more “easy” to fix hurdles we in US gotta focus on to help propel the % towards reaching herd immunity.
Once we can make a big dent in the above “needs”, then states like Florida, and elsewhere states (like mine), can actually look ahead to a more normal life and end the blaming, finger pointing, political bashing and so on that has no place in a pandemic to begin with!
But those that haven’t come around to the above points, or had the opportunity to (e.g., in case of vaccines for kids under 12) need to. It’s that simple and life as we know it will improve if we just get more folks to do those simple acts. There not “sacrifices” either… I hate that word in a pandemic … it’s simply the right thing to so get the vaccine, so wear a mask, and so work together as a team to get to herd immunity. We all will win.
That’s not a rant, it’s simple logic. The longer folks don’t do those simple things, the longer the pandemic will roar on and folks like you ikahan (and I too) will remain upset and for good reasons.
Gotta get to herd!
Nike needs to make a new tee-shirt with their swoosh n “Gotta Get to Herd” slogan.
The answer is simple: no precautions at all. Live like nothing is happening. Vacation, eat, party. This is why Florida, as well as, all of us along the Gulf Coast are eat up with Covid right now. Our hospitals are full. Heck, our City sent out an alert 2 days in a row that there are NO ambulances or rescue vehicles available. Private or city/county owned.
I could respond but choose not to. Rather I say let’s not turn COVID and people’s care into politics. We (and the politicians) need to follow what the CDC and top doctors say. Period.
This post has run it’s course and is simply turning into political commentary. Please take the precautionary messages from the content but further comments are now being turned off.
Newdawn
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Forming a CLL support group in southeast florida
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So sick of COVID conspiracy theorists!!
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