Because the percentage tells you how likely you'll come into contact with an infected person. If 100 result positive out of 1,000,000 tests, that means the positive cases are rare. If you come in contact with 20 people in the course of your day, it's very unlikely any of them are infected. However, if 100 are positive out of 500 tested, you'd better not leave your house at all, because out of 20 people you meet, 5 are likely to be infected.

Thank you, bvlenci. That makes sense.

Yes, thanks BVL. That's a very clear way of looking at it. Sadly the UK government is not publishing test results in anything like a sensible fashion so infection rates v numbers tested is very hard to calculate. It only publishes numbers of tests in hospitals and care homes, not those in the general population. The only thing that I know about my area is that out of 500,000 people in Cornwall, about 500 have officially died of covid, though the actual number is likely to be higher than that if the excess deaths are looked at.

I totally understand the protests, but absolutely do not understand how being in these massive groups, most often without masks, is now acceptable, yet you cannot have a wedding with more than 10 guests etc. So hypocritical.

Things are slowly opening up here, but so many people are just diving in head first and forgetting all caution. Drives me up a wall. I can finally get my hair done next week, and even that has me wondering what that will be like. I know that they have to place a towel over my face while they are washing my hair. I'm ok with any precautions, but it will seem odd just because our new norm is so different from what it used to be like.

Our daughter lives in a small apt in Seattle. She has a huge park directly across the street from her so goes there, but has to avoid the weekends because so many people drive there and it gets extremely overcrowded. She goes grocery shopping once every few weeks. Otherwise the only other place she has been since the first of March is to our house in the suburbs. It took a long time to convince her to even come as she is extremely cautious with this virus. She studied epidemiology in college and so is much more informed than we are. Once she came over here, I could tell it did her a world of good. She has huge Bernese dog, and boy that pup sure was happy to have a yard to romp in and to play with our dogs. Our son and his gf come over too, as they isolate during the week. So they either come here or go skiing (one area is still open with very limited reservations or else they go touring).

Our friend/husbands coworker who had Covid is back in the hospital with pneumonia. He spent 3 months in the hospital and rehab, was released to a family members home for only a couple weeks before being admitted to ICU again. It really makes it hit home.

I'm not sure it's hypocritical.
The protests have already resulted in an undeniable "awakening" and will hopefully continue to be a motivation for crucial societal progress.
Weddings, though of course greatly entertaining and "something to remember", are not essential to anybody other than the individuals involved.

Me, too.
I think it drives a lot of people up a wall. People like your daughter who appreciate the science and hence the very real threat of this virus, are trying to remind us, but their warnings seem to be falling on deaf entitled ears.

LucieV--I still think it is hypocritical. The rules are not consistent. I don't care which groups it is, you play by the rules and the rules should be enforced for everyone. I agree that the protests have brought a lot of awareness to people, which is good, don't get me wrong on that. I am very proud our daughter. So many people bash the millennials, but from what I have seen, it is the adults in the generations before them that are more cavalier about it. Our kids friends are taking this very seriously. Our daughter has only seen one friend during this, from a distance. The friend brought her a cookbook and left it in her driveway then walked back to the park, then our daughter went and picked up the book and walked back to her front door. So they were talking from across the street and the driveway, so a good distance. Our neighborhood is still doing Facebook live Bingo on Friday nights. My husband said I have turned into an old person, lol. The neighbor that started it lives 3 doors from me, and I haven't seen her in person in months, but it is fun to at least see her on Friday nights during Bingo.

I know what you mean about the rules, mms.
My impression is that the majority of people are pretty much doing whatever they want to do. Some people are really good at "interpreting" rules and justifying their behavior; and all that "remember that you're making these sacrifices for the good of all of us" seems to be easily ignored. No wonder we're getting spikes consequent to Memorial Day; and I have zero doubt that we'll be getting spikes consequent to the protests.

I don't know what the answer is, but I know that where there is good leadership, people are more willing to work together, to be considerate of each other, to appreciate that their actions have consequences.

LucieV—I totally agree. People are interpreting the rules to fit what they want. It is frustrating to me when just a little bit of thinking of others could possibly save someone’s life.

My friends were supposed to visit Italy in April. I’m not sure that they will be refunded for tickets bought in advance, but I believe that they will still have a chance to walk around Italy more safely.

Longer video from Venice, probably while still under lockdown.

Even reducing tables from 1.5 meters apart to 1 meters is a big difference for some restaurants in Rome.


But even with the reduction, they've gone from 120 to 30 tables.

Watching that literally gave me pain, scrb.
I don't know why, but seeing Italy -- a country that is characteristically so joyful and vital and sensual -- so repressed and depressed particularly throws me off.

I hate this virus and what it has done to the world as much as I've ever hated anything in my life. All the "positives" that people keep referring to (learning to live simply, realizing what's important in life, bleahbleahbleah) just do not outweigh the negatives, imo. At least not at this point anyway.

Surviors of red zones in Italy are shunned in other parts of Italy.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20..._b-aplnews_d-1

Rome tourist businesses off more than 50%.

Business owners even miss peculiar tastes of Americans.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/romes-e...try-in-crisis/

Another article about how the loss of American tourists is affecting the tourism industry. It cites some interesting stats, 16 million Americans visit Europe each year and almost half or 6 million go to Italy.


https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/i...-19/index.html

Everyone wants vaccines ...

Thx for the above Scrb. We all need to spare a thought for the smallish, family-run hotel or trattoria that went out on a limb financially last fall and did major renos. Life has never been fair.

I am done. The end.

The city centres aren't in trouble because of the lack of US tourists. It's the cumulative effect of everything. Smart working is hurting all the business that used to cater to office workers. That ends up hurting more than the lack of tourists for many businesses.

Infection and death rates in Italy are now around what they were back in the spring. But instead of being concentrated in one part of Lombardia, it's all over the country.

There is pandemic fatigue and there isn't the same level or sorrow at the mounting levels of new infections and deaths like there was back in the spring. Or so says the Washington Post.

But the losses are still deeply felt, as with this one extended family in Bologna:

https://apple.news/A7tEYDl1MSb2f_GrlZJPkTw

If you read to the bottom of the linked article, the related stories are even more heartbreaking.