Attendance policy from JP...

[clonedude]

I shouldn’t have said “end the virus”, that will never happen.

We just have to make that curve go down, not just plateau where it is.

Medical frontline workers were being interviewed last night and they were saying it has gotten just as bad as it was at the first peak again for them. I’m not sure what state that was in?

They can’t take much more of this. Do we want to have no medical people to take care of us anymore, or hospital beds?

Yes, there are more important things than sports people.

 

[cycloneG]

That's not going to get rid of this virus though - not even a little bit. At best, it slows it down. How much can be argued, as if people aren't watching/attending a college athletics event, plenty will be attending other things with plenty of people in attendance.

If you're prepared to never see another Cyclone athletic event, surely you're prepared to never attend a job again/never go to a restaurant/never go anywhere to buy anything that's not life or death essential? Even all of that won't get rid of this virus - but if that's your goal, why stop at viewing (not even attending) athletic events?

To hell with all the people who depend on athletics for a living, to put food on the table for their kids. Should be plenty of other jobs for them with unemployment through the roof & hiring freezes all over the place, right? Hospitals have plenty of beds, plenty of ventilators.

Anybody want to figure up the risk of covid-related death for 30k people attending an event (even counting community spread) vs risk of death for 60k+ people driving to/from an athletic event pre-covid? If you can share facts that show the covid chance is higher, I'll change my opinion. If not, you should be advocating for no athletic events/concerts/large forms of entertainment - ever - since entertainment is not worth any amount of possible death (according to your own words).

In the case of SARS-CoV-2, evidence is growing that superspreading is a hugely significant factor of total transmission.

In our study, just 20 percent of cases, all of them involving social gatherings, accounted for an astonishing 80 percent of transmissions. (That, along with other things, suggests that the dispersion factor, k, of SARS-CoV-2 is about 0.45).

A study published in The Lancet in late April, based on data from Shenzhen, southern China, about suspected cases among travelers from around Wuhan, concluded that 80 percent of transmissions were caused by 8-9 percent of cases.

A recent preprint (not yet peer-reviewed) about 212 Covid-19 cases in Israel between late February and late April traced 80 percent of the transmissions back to just 1-10 percent of cases.

With other coronaviruses like SARS and MERS as well, a small group of superspreaders was responsible for a large majority of all transmissions.

It stands to reason, too, that a highly contagious person is more likely to spread the infection in a crowd (at a wedding, in a bar, during a sporting event) than in a small group (within their household), and when contact is extensive or repeated.

But the record in both places, and elsewhere, points to the same conclusion: It’s not just that superspreading events are happening with SARS-CoV-2; they appear to be driving much of the pandemic.

The epidemic’s growth can be controlled with tactics far less disruptive, socially and economically, than the extended lockdowns or other extreme forms of social distancing that much of the world has experienced over the past few months.

Forget about maintaining — or, if infections resurge, resuming — sweeping measures designed to stem the virus’s spread in all forms. Just focus on stopping the superspreading.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/opinion/coronavirus-superspreaders.html

 

[Raiders70]

I think the solution is simple. You mandate mask wearing for everyone in the country from now until the end of the calendar. Make exceptions for kids under the age of 9 or so. If people are wearing masks, staying home when sick and practicing proper hand washing the chances of contracting are very low. The problem is that I no faith that most Americans will follow this because they are stupid and I have even less faith that the Federal Government would impose such guidelines.

I have some concerns about having people wear masks long term and trying to eliminate all contact with germs. It's similar to the idea that if you sit around and watch Tv instead of being active and exercising your body becomes weak. Same thing with your immune system. If it never has to work it will become weaker and weaker and society will become more susceptible to all bacterial and viral illnesses. This used to be the consensus of the medical/scientific community but this has gone out the window with Covid 19 which does have an elevated mortality rate as compared to the flu but it still appears to be less than 1%. My question is what happens when something escapes from a lab with more of a punch and we all have crappy weakened immune systems? Food for thought?

 

[jsb]

I have some concerns about having people wear masks long term and trying to eliminate all contact with germs. It's similar to the idea that if you sit around and watch Tv instead of being active and exercising your body becomes weak. Same thing with your immune system. If it never has to work it will become weaker and weaker and society will become more susceptible to all bacterial and viral illnesses. This used to be the consensus of the medical/scientific community but this has gone out the window with Covid 19 which does have an elevated mortality rate as compared to the flu but it still appears to be less than 1%. My question is what happens when something escapes from a lab with more of a punch and we all have crappy weakened immune systems? Food for thought?

I’m assuming you are not a doctor or infectious disease expert. The consensus among those that are is that for now wearing a mask is the safest thing to do. We should listen to them.

these same experts seem sure that we will have a vaccine fairly soon. At that point we can probably stop wearing masks and our immune systems will be fine.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I’m assuming you are not a doctor or infectious disease expert. The consensus among those that are is that for now wearing a mask is the safest thing to do. We should listen to them.

these same experts seem sure that we will have a vaccine fairly soon. At that point we can probably stop wearing masks and our immune systems will be fine.

Yeah, I think wearing masks in response to the immediate threat is a good thing (along with continuing to get out of the house and interacting with the world), and setting them aside later is the best course. Our immune systems tend to weaken when not being regularly challenged in a too-sterile environment.

https://health.usnews.com/wellness/...s-could-more-dirt-and-germs-boost-your-health

“I’m a sound believer that we’re too clean of a society,” says Dr. Christopher Carpenter, section head of infectious diseases and international medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. “Our fear of germs has pushed us too far into trying to keep everything safe and sterile. That extreme is harming us more than it’s helping us.”

“We are getting far too sterile,” adds Kiran Krishnan, a microbiologist and chief scientific officer for Microbiome Labs, based in St. Augustine, Florida. “Exposure to microbes is an essential part of being human. Most of our immune system is comprised of tissue that requires activation by the microbes we’re exposed to. The immune system requires the presence of friendly bacteria to regulate its functions. Think of the immune system as an army, with tanks and missiles but no general to lead them. That’s the role friendly microbes play in your body; they’re the general.” The vast majority of microbes, 97% to 99%, are benign or beneficial, and they are the best protection to fight pathogenic microorganisms, Krishnan says."

 

[Raiders70]

I work in health care and there are definitely a lot of doctors, nurses, etc. who question the one dimensional Covid strategy. There is more of a split on what the response should be than you might think.

 

[Gunnerclone]

The argument is quite a bit more layered than that. If I paint the argument as not playing football in 2020-21 is Iowa State no longer being a Power 5 school vs. the potential of an Iowa State player actually dying of this virus is less than .5% (approximately the same pct risk of an on-field non-virus death) then I’m sure it is quite as simple. This is a risk analysis situation. Everybody seems to think we just miss 2020-21 and we pick right up in 2021-22 with a vaccine. What if there isn’t a vaccine? We just are never going to have high school athletics, college athletics, pro sports, concerts ever again. Once again a bit more layered argument then you suggest.

I have some concerns about having people wear masks long term and trying to eliminate all contact with germs. It's similar to the idea that if you sit around and watch Tv instead of being active and exercising your body becomes weak. Same thing with your immune system. If it never has to work it will become weaker and weaker and society will become more susceptible to all bacterial and viral illnesses. This used to be the consensus of the medical/scientific community but this has gone out the window with Covid 19 which does have an elevated mortality rate as compared to the flu but it still appears to be less than 1%. My question is what happens when something escapes from a lab with more of a punch and we all have crappy weakened immune systems? Food for thought?

OMFG. 3 months. It’s been about 3 months. Here’s some food for thought. Stop spreading COVID and making excuses for why it’s necessary.

 

[nfrine]

Think of the positives of reduced attendance...cell phone coverage should be better on game day.

 

[Urbandale2013]

Its amazing to me how many people think "just make a decision in mid-August"...do you know the logistics of an event like this?

Yeah. The logistics really don’t change that much IMO if the decision is fans vs no fans. The big logistical issue would be concessions. I’m not sure you have to have concessions to have fans. You can allow people to bring food in.

 

[Raiders70]

OMFG. 3 months. It’s been about 3 months. Here’s some food for thought. Stop spreading COVID and making excuses for why it’s necessary.

I know you will feel the same way if we are still told to wear masks a year from now which is highly likely to be the case. At some point wearing masks is not a good strategy for overall health and a strong immune system.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

I know you will feel the same way if we are still told to wear masks a year from now which is highly likely to be the case. At some point wearing masks is not a good strategy for overall health and a strong immune system.

A year from now.......how about forever? Because there has never been an "effective" vaccine developed against a virus that has the ability to "drift/shift".

 

[Cyclad]

I have some concerns about having people wear masks long term and trying to eliminate all contact with germs. It's similar to the idea that if you sit around and watch Tv instead of being active and exercising your body becomes weak. Same thing with your immune system. If it never has to work it will become weaker and weaker and society will become more susceptible to all bacterial and viral illnesses. This used to be the consensus of the medical/scientific community but this has gone out the window with Covid 19 which does have an elevated mortality rate as compared to the flu but it still appears to be less than 1%. My question is what happens when something escapes from a lab with more of a punch and we all have crappy weakened immune systems? Food for thought?

I think the point that people miss when talking mortality is that this seems highly contagious. So, if the death rate when you get it is the same as the flu, but you are 10x more likely to catch it, it is 10x more deadly. I just made up the 10x number for illustration, not sure what the exact number is, but certainly high, Take Ebola, extremely deadly, but very hard to get it. So, not too hard to contain. I would say Covid is a far, far greater threat than something like Ebola.
US flu deaths in 2019 were 34,200. We have what now, 120,000 in 5 months?

 

[Raiders70]

A year from now.......how about forever? Because there has never been an "effective" vaccine developed against a virus that has the ability to "drift/shift".

Yeah I think that when a vaccine is developed they will say this is only partially effective at best(which will be true) so everybody still needs to wear their masks.

 

[CTTB78]

Why isn't the Story County Health Board chastising this?

And, what about the Johnson County Health Board? Have they weighed in on their opinion regarding fans in Kinnick this fall? Keith Murphy should be all over this.

 

[knowlesjam]

Think of the positives of reduced attendance...cell phone coverage should be better on game day.

Maybe they can finally fix the bathrooms in the SEZ...

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Think of the positives of reduced attendance...cell phone coverage should be better on game day.

Well it couldnt get worse that is for sure.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I know you will feel the same way if we are still told to wear masks a year from now which is highly likely to be the case. At some point wearing masks is not a good strategy for overall health and a strong immune system.

Do you have some research to prove this?

 

[WooBadger18]

I have some concerns about having people wear masks long term and trying to eliminate all contact with germs. It's similar to the idea that if you sit around and watch Tv instead of being active and exercising your body becomes weak. Same thing with your immune system. If it never has to work it will become weaker and weaker and society will become more susceptible to all bacterial and viral illnesses. This used to be the consensus of the medical/scientific community but this has gone out the window with Covid 19 which does have an elevated mortality rate as compared to the flu but it still appears to be less than 1%. My question is what happens when something escapes from a lab with more of a punch and we all have crappy weakened immune systems? Food for thought?

I don't know. Let's quarantine you, expose you to smallpox, and see what happens. Have to toughen up your immune system /s

No, your thought is stupid. I'm not saying it isn't true in some contxts, but we should npot be doing it with COVID.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

I don't know. Let's quarantine you, expose you to smallpox, and see what happens. Have to toughen up your immune system /s

No, your thought is stupid. I'm not saying it isn't true in some contxts, but we should npot be doing it with COVID.

Did you just compare a respiratory disease that has the ability to mutate many times to smallpox?

 

[clonedude]

I think a lot of people are in denial or maybe just don’t understand just how seriously close to the brink this country is right now?

We should have a LOT more concerns right now than if there will be sports this year IMO. That’s all I’ve been trying to say.

I feel like in 6 months to a year from now, we’ll be looking back and realizing how stupid it was to be worrying about sports.