Hellcats

50 ADULTS in a bar isn’t close to kids in a school or a football field.

While schools can model some of what they do after professional sports and colleges, we have to remember high schools don't have near the resources either of those two have. I read the other day the NFL is looking at putting a style of masks inside the helmet.

Not to mention the reason to play in the first place. Billions of dollars push these teams where high school is just playing for pride.

Even with A/B, AM/PM, or alternating weeks there is a lot to think about; sports can muddy the pond unless the entire team is on one schedule.

@hoops5

Transitions have to be cut to a minimum and public spaces cut out, including cafeterias. School will be nothing like we have known it before. I honestly am not looking forward to being the social distancing police. :facepalm:

The guiding document heavily suggested a split type schedule. I would be shocked if schools didn't use some form of that model. Somebody would be in hot water if they didn't and it was recommended.

State of Kentucky - Population 4,468,000

As of Wednesday, May 20, 2020

 

1 in 823 of us presently has Covid

 

Over the duration of this "pandemic" - 1 in every 12,207 of us have died.

The majority are elderly with other existing conditions.

Even at 50% Nursing Home/Federal Prison that brings the number to 1 in every 24,414 of we Normal/Healthy folks have died from it.

 

Since I'm not one of the unfortunate folks to have it or have died from it, I'd say these are pretty acceptable numbers.

 

Since it's been 24 days (over three weeks) since Tennessee has opened up to indoor dining, etc., and their numbers have not skyrocketed out of control, it seems to me like an "At Your Own RisK" policy need be put in place for the rest of us.

Nobody would be forcing anyone to do anything they didn't want to do.

State of our nation.

You sure have glossed over a whole lot.

The fact those numbers are so low may be attributed to a two month statewide lock down.

There may be some states that have had success opening back up, and I'm not saying we will not make progress here in KY, but our neighbors to the south have cooked the books.

The guidelines for reopening Kentucky schools have been shared through school districts.

The list of guiding questions are thorough (16 pages), and give school administration a lot to work on. I could be wrong, but I only saw one that pertained to sports and extracurricular activities.

How will schools and districts ensure that extra-curricular and co-curricular activities – such as clubs, student organizations and sports – are both safe and meaningful?

Observations

1. One question doesn't point to extracurriculars being a high priority.

2. "both safe and meaningful" ---eek! I'm not posting the rest of the questions on here, but this could be hard to prove in comparison to what will be occurring in the school day.

Before anybody loses their mind and accuses me of "gloom and doom," I'm just passing on the information in a realistic sense. The document used the phrase "new normal" several times and that sounded nothing like the old normal. To be honest, I don't even understand how a high school conducts in-person school following those guiding questions much less have any extracurriculars. I sure am glad it's all over my pay grade!

You leave out the 3rd option: that it was just a whole bunch of nothing. My hospital of employment led our region in preparedness and testing. I stopped following the numbers two weeks ago when it became obvious that nothing was happening:

 

3000 tests

150 positives

30 hospitalizations

5 deaths

 

I work in one emergency department in a multi-hospital system. We average 300 patients per day between our two busiest ER’s. We’ve been seeing about 120 because people are scared to leave their houses. Since the shut downs began, I’ve taken care of one patient who actually tested positive, and she had zero symptoms. She was tested for nursing home placement.

 

We have lost 40 million dollars since this started.

 

The bottom line, just as I predicted on day 1, this has been a whole bunch of nothing.

We live in a rural state and have been in two months of stay-at-home lowering the effects. Let's hope it stays that way, and we don't see what other places have seen.

I can agree with all points there. People are on edge and need to stay in their lane and I'm not talking about the one way lanes at the stores either, those are pretty much useless as well. But yeah a business has every right to refuse entry to a customer that is not wearing a mask though. To be honest I haven't encountered one of those businesses yet, in fact most that I'm in don't even have their employees wearing masks.

As of Monday every business I went into all the employees had on masks. In the auto parts store, I didn’t wear a mask, because I saw I was the only car in the parking lot . FWIW, my mask was in my pocket if business picked up, or I was asked to put it on.

Coaches are getting antsy and are worried about their kids, but until we see what happens after 2-3 weeks of reopening all arguments are moot.

This thing has either gone dormant for the season or is a powder keg and sports are the least of our worries.

I don't necessarily disagree with Guru's statement. But outside of that is why would the people wearing masks want to confront and potentially get in a hands on altercation with someone not wearing one? That seems counterproductive to me as well as a good way to get exposed to said virus. Why not just distance yourself from whomever isn't wearing the mask?

 

Seems like a much better idea to me than confronting them and telling them they have to wear one. I can't see anything good coming from confronting or fighting with someone just because they're not wearing a mask. If the mask wearer is that concerned about it then stay away from them or just stay home. You can literally order anything you would ever need to survive these days so they're essentially picking a fight, with someone they likely don't want to fight with.

I agree with the idea no good can come from confronting someone not wearing a mask. Businesses have every right to turn away antimaskers.

On the flip side, don’t come at anyone for wearing a mask.

A few reports from Europe over the wkd.

1. Spain reported that serology reports are showing only 5% of their citizens have had the virus. Their numbers are still worse per million than the US.

2. France opened some schools and have already had to shut some down as kids have tested positive of COVID-19.

3. Sweden still not a model.

Apparently, I wasn’t on Lake Cumberland at the right time.

sad.

One of the many faces of corporate America.

Corporate America wants us to wear masks?

Maybe you’re right; a false sense of security that will get us out making and spending the almighty dollar instead of worrying about the health of millions who are susceptible to death from this virus.

In case no one recognizes that’s the Rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin. Who knew he turned into a sissy mask wearer?

Disease has brought many a tough man to his knees. The real survival of the fittest is those who adapt to the world around them.

What does one have to do with the other?

Nothing. Just a weak fallacy.

If we are entering the "play at your own risk" stage wouldn't that count for everything?

FWIW, I support every change in the game to avoid concussions.

The more I think about it the more I believe football, on all levels, will go on as normal in the fall.

I agree. That doesn't mean it is safe or even takes that into consideration.

But I'm starting to realize I'm looking for things many aren't.

On a side note...If we have football this fall with no real change in this whole Pandemic, the concussion issue is over, right?

In a sense yes. Maybe not so much yet that it isn't going to spread. But there is one of two things going on in KY.

 

1. We're not testing enough and that is not giving us a true representation for what is happening in the state.

 

or

 

2. We've achieved some kind of a herd immunity. Probably not a completely effective herd immunity but it's enough to keep our numbers lower.

 

Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri are all reporting significantly higher numbers then KY. All are reporting significantly higher infection rates. Sure, some may be due to population size.

 

Lastly, I won't speak in absolute certainties on this. It's still too new and there is so much inconsistent information out there to form absolute certainties. What I do know is it has been here long enough to know that it's not as deadly as what some are saying. It's not worth bringing our economy to its knees.

 

I have eight people in my work group. I'd put money on 3 out of the 8 already having the virus back in January. I coached eight young boys in basketball. I'd put money on 4 of them already having the virus back in February. I can't explain why or how I haven't gotten it unless I'm one of the asymptomatic people.

Until an effective antibodies test we are all guessing. My issue is that Kentucky would have seen more deaths earlier if we had CV running rampant. Deaths nor hospitalizations didn't start occurring until the disease made its way into the state, and then we shutdown before the :poop: hit the fan.

When New York City is only showing 21% of citizens have been exposed it's really hard to believe that Kentucky has had 60-70% exposed for herd immunity.

KY has to test more until that happens we are guessing and both options with guessing are bad.

That sounds waaayyyy too extreme to me.

Presently in our county that contains 7 football playing schools, only 1 in 2,000 of our normal/healthy residents that includes teenagers, but excludes nursing homes, has been diagnosed with the disease.

 

Our teens find ways to get together, hang out, and socialize, yet have not spread the disease among themselves, but you purport that if one football player contracts the disease that 49 more will have it the next day. C'mon, That is totally unreasonable.

 

If that is the case we might as well all go out and shoot ourselves, because this disease is going to win out and we are all eventually going to catch it..

 

While 99% of your post seems well thought out and well informed, you are saying that by playing football, our 1 in 2,000 number would have the potential to jump to 50 of 50, or with seven teams competing 350 of 350 among football players.

 

No way!!!

The teens may not have the disease. That may not be the case when the world goes from 5 mph to 60 mph over the next few months.

That comment was on the ability of containing this disease to one kid in a locker room, so maybe it will be less about when he contracts and more about the time he becomes contagious.

Chances are that kid had been contagious for 3-4 days before he felt he needed to go to the doctor. He practiced, coughed on, drank after, yelled at, etc. his teammates during those 3-4 days.

Moderna stock was around 20 at start of the year. Now its over 60. Vaccine or not, somebody is making money on this.

So a company that has never produced a product in over 9 years of existence will create a vaccine for a category of virus that has never had a vaccine.

Yeah, I could see where there could be publicity stunts and unreal expectations to make a few quick bucks. Let's hope it's a miracle.

On a separate note, Wuhan reported 6 new cases over the weekend and by Monday had developed a plan to test 11 million of people in 10 days. Take that with a grain of salt.

IMO, we are in for along road if this is what it takes to control this thing.

Antibody testing reveals COVID-19 has been in Ohio since January, health officials say

 

Health officials said as COVID-19 testing increases in Ohio, they expect to learn more about the virus and how long it has been in the state.

 

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton announced Monday that they have found five different cases in five different counties that the date of onset of symptoms was in January.

 

This confirms that it was more widespread way earlier then we were led to believe. This could potentially explain why our area hasn't been greatly affected.

Just to clarify...you believe the few cases in Ohio spread it around the Midwest fast enough to develop a herd immunity?

Were our football teams made up of 85 year olds with underlying conditions, we would have a serious problem.

It's become obvious that teens are the least affected by this and the major reason given for not allowing high school sports, etc, is that they might become carriers of the disease and infect their grandparents. I honestly don't feel that the locker room environment, close contact, sideline interactions would spread the disease to where they themselves would come down with the virus.

The bigger concern to me would be fans and crowd control.

One problem with this take is we take precautions on teams to prevent the spread of staph, viral stomach bugs, etc. within teams, yet we are willing to risk the spread of a disease that is exponentially more contagious and dangerous. As a coach, that is hard to wrap my mind around when I think of the countless hours of training I have had just to coach the game of football.

In all reality, we don't know what this disease does to teenagers. The reaction to CV has primarily been triaged with older folks getting the most attention, because they are on the verge of dying. But what does it do to kids? Some new info is coming out that is alarming.

If 1 player catches CV the whole team will have it by day 2. There is no way social distancing occurs in locker rooms across the state, and if anybody believes that then I have the CV cure in my laundry room; I'll sell it to you. Absolutely can not happen. What happens when that one case pops up on a team? That team's season is basically over, and not just that one. Their two previous opponents (and their opponents and their opponents...) will have to be tested with their season in jeopardy.

Fans can't happen. We still have people smoking in the stands. It's not many, but it has been nearly two decades since smoking was banned. It will take a miracle to get people to social distance much less wear a mask.

HS sports in 95% of the cases in KY are shoestring operations with coaches doing everything from taping ankles to cutting the grass to driving the bus, and now they are going to be expected monitor and control the spread of a largely asymptomatic disease all the while being in the demographic that's in the most danger. No pressure.

As I started this post I was like 50/50 about school and football this fall. When I started thinking of the real logistics of the game...I'm at about 10% now.

I read about Tennessee not reporting CDC numbers in a couple different articles but I can't get the links to work anymore without being a subscriber to that papet. Google Tennessee coronavirus low and maybe you will be able to read the stories in The Tennessean. Tennessee is not reporting deaths the same way as other states and they admit it.

You can Google the CDC provisional deaths. TN is either lying or the entire nation should be using the treatments they are using.

A remarkable thing happened yesterday with the death count being low as it had been since March 29. I'm sure there is a scientific reason and it was just a coincidence that yesterday was Mother's Day.

Deep down I want to believe it was the will of these victims holding out on that day.

That ties in to another CV19 item I have read about. In younger people under 40 who have the virus there is a higher risk of blood clots and strokes.

And kids showing signs of Kawasaki disease, a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of some blood vessels in the body.

The state of New York alone damn near doubled their population.

 

It also should be taken into account that the Swedes don’t live in the exact same conditions as Americans.

Geographically

Sweden is 11% larger than California.

California has 37 million people vs. Sweden's 10 million

California

60,000 cases and 2400 deaths.

Sweden

25,000 cases and 3000 deaths

We know these numbers grow exponentially, but just for giggles let's adjust these by population. (3.7)

Sweden (adjusted)

92,500 cases

11,100 deaths

Personally, I think taking away hugging friends and family takes away the essence of the ceremony itself. Take away crying parents in the stands and the many photos with friends, faculty, and family, and it is a sterile, less meaningful event.

 

Sounds cold, but I would just cancel the whole thing. It is a sacrifice and a big disappointment, but this is our current situation. It is a unique learning experience for our new grads. In ten years, their memories of this will be stronger than the average high school grad.

This is what I see many schools doing.

I saw this morning that a group of Laurel County students challenged the school district's graduation plan that prohibited parents from attending a filmed 10 student graduation. The judge ruled in the students' favor, and now the district has to reevaluate.

What are some of the best options out there for graduation?

IMO, Laurel County's seemed reasonable. If parent's are allowed only 2-3 students could graduate at a time, which would take FOREVER!!

May as well take the drug overdoses off. Not one time has anyone cared about drug addicts. The faux concern about them now is insulting.

 

Hell, suicides too for that matter. Suicides have been mentioned more in the last month than in the previous 45 years of my life.

 

I never would have thought that drug addicts and suicidal humans would be used as props in an attempt to win an argument.

It's a flawed argument to begin with because it's making the assumption that all drug overdoses and suicides are happening because people are getting laid off. Like people lose their jobs, and immediately go out and start shooting herion. These sorts of issues are way more complicated and much deeper than just losing a job.

How do we know if these ODs or suicides are not caused by the loss of a loved one to CV, or a medical worker that starts battling depression or anxiety after what they’ve seen?

Both of these incidents have been reported.