Skullo

Utah started opening up in the middle of May.Now we are setting new records almost daily.Southern Utah is mostly rural and sparsely populated ,so was spared of much Covid. They are in the green “new normal phase” basically everything open with few restrictions.
A bunch of organized rides and events are on again.These will draw people from The north, Arizona , Nevada and California.
I would love to participate but at 69 ,too risky for me. Don’t want to stay at motels or eat at event rest stops.Let alone ride in groups.
Here is one I did last year.
https://ridesouthernutah.com/races/e...eid=1277c15abc
Half the people out here don’t seem to care. They just want their lives back. No patience and don’t know what sacrifice is.
The politicians are spineless.Yeah we have protests and riots also.
I have been self isolating and riding solo.
I usually lurk the forums but felt like saying something tonight.

MinnMan

I see what you mean.

This is part of what is really disturbing. Not only the disasters in FL-TX-AZ-CA, or the other disasters in NC-SC-GA-TN-AL (4500 cases in Georgia today), but so many of the other states are also creeping in the wrong direction. Like Utah, Nevada, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas, just to name a few.

Buckle up.

Hondo Gravel

I love Utah I had a blast at Moab. Utah has everything for any outdoor sport there is. Even cow tipping ... Not forgetting the awesome National Parks that are in Utah. Get control of it before it hits the Salt Lake area.

DrIsotope

What I'd like to see is an overlay of daily tests administered over new daily cases. Are people getting sick in increasing numbers, or are there just more tests being performed on any given day? Modeling estimates (which we would need to use due to low testing numbers relative to the total population) would say that the US alone has had over 30 million cases so far. But single-day deaths peaked over 2 months ago. Who knows when we'll actually get an accurate picture. Could take years.

MinnMan

People are getting sick in increasing numbers. This can be seen from the positivity rate - the fraction of tests that come back positive. If the cause of apparent increased infections was increased testing, then the positivity rate should be going down. (If the number of positive tests increases with a constant positivity rate, then the number of people getting sick is authentically increasing) The graph below is for Arizona. The curve shows the positivity rate

MinnMan

Single day deaths peaked 2 months ago, but they are rising again. Also, hospitalization rates have skyrocketed. The new surge is very very real and very dangerous. We don't need to wait to have an accurate picture. We have that picture now, and it say, we're not in a good place..

MinnMan

Also, this, showing that the states with high recent numbers of reported cases are also those with high positivity rates. Not good.

MinnMan

Hospitalizations and ICU capacities are also indications that the current situation is a real crisis, and not mostly from increased testing. DrIsotope

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html

"At least 56 intensive care units in Florida hospitals reached capacity on Tuesday, state officials said. Another 35 hospitals show ICU bed availability of 10% or less, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration in that state."

"California is only one of several states that are reporting record numbers of hospitalizations. Medical facilities in Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are being overrun by the surge of cases."

Skullo

Salt Lake City was the hot spot from the beginning. international airport and all the ski resorts bringing people in from all over.Salt Lake City and Salt Lake county are under mandatory masks.Youth sports have been going since June 7. The parents come and sit together with no masks. Saw a large tournament yesterday on my ride. Food venders were there preparing food with no masks. It goes on and on.My money says hospitals will be overwhelmed in less than two weeks.
We had low Covid numbers before they opened up. Young people thought it was over.