Two Everett breweries forced to close because of customer who went barhopping while waiting for a Covid-19 test - which came back positive

Really? The people that made the decision know my name and my home address and nothing else. Everyone is tested if they need to be onsite even if they are 100% isolated at home and working in a one person office. There is no correlation at all between who is being tested (at my job) and who is most exposed. Sorry, you are just flat out wrong about this.

That's because most who are being tested are being tested for reasons other than they were exposed or have symptoms.

That's 9 positives per 1000 tests.

You are claiming that tens of thousands of people isolate themselves when tens of those will be infected.

Think about that for a minute.

Then check this out:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-updates-and-information#what-...

If your employer thinks you’re a risk. Then something you do makes you a risk

I don't think they're doing it because they think you're "a risk", they're trying to...create a firewall of sorts? That's the wrong term, I know. But they recognize that being alive and without covid antibodies is "a risk" in this world today, and they're trying to catch it early. It's just like responsible dine-in businesses require contact information so they can do contact tracing if need be: if other precautions fail, this is how they minimize the damage.

two of my cousins who work in nursing homes get tested every other week. and if someone tests positive, that moves to every week. One of them actually administers the tests to their co-workers.

So you can count on 1 middle MA and 1 western MA places providing testing for their employees.

When you go to events that cater to gay people it's not uncommon to have bowls with condoms all over the place and free testing for STDS at tents etc.

Gosh, brunch has gotten fancy.

the AIDS crisis resulted in practicing safe sex - using condoms and expecting every partner is infected with HiV. And also resulted in Universal Precautions that every time bodily fluids are exposed to another party to be protected by gloves, gown and mask to prevent infections. At the time, patients were insulted if a doctor came in protected due to stigma attached to HiV. Now it is a standard operating procedure in medical facilities and noone thinks anything about it. Now with Covid-19; I would expect that Universal Precautions be amended to what we are experiencing today. In a few years; we will be accosted to the full precautions and think nothing of what we see today.

Having free condoms at events is definitely a gay thing - a holdover from the AIDS Crisis. However decades later that is far less prevalent. As we moved further from AIDS being a death sentence and now a more accepted illness the use of condoms has decreased as well. HiV has not gone away but is now considered more mainstream - and much more could be written but is irrelevant to the HiV vs Covid correlation.... To put the condom and face-mask in a parallel: safer sex/condom use became accepted as a way to protect both/all participants for a targeted population. We have become somewhat accepting of currently wearing face-masks with the expectation that it is a temporary necessity to slow the curve, while shopping, to get us to a vaccine etc. There is still a good percent of the population that refuses to wear a mask and a larger population that reluctantly wears it (generally when required to enter an establishment) but doesn't believe it is needed. I believe that as time marches on, few people will regularly wear a mask, people will expect herd immunity to become prevalent. Even with a vaccine being approved by the first of the year; it will take several more years for the general population to be inoculated. Notwithstanding local governments pushing for face-masks long into the future; I do not see it becoming part of our every day lives as in other countries.

I lived thru the AIDS Crisis and readily accepted the changes that came from it. I have an immune-compromised system and have come to terms that I likely will wear a mask in public for the rest of my (hopefully long) life.

You mean, most parents just don't keep costco size boxes of condoms around during their kids teen years and have standing permission on file with their docs for STD tests?

Then again, I fought the insurance so my boys could get the HPV vaccination.

Based on your lack of grasp of the epidemiological principles involved, and some poorly aimed moral outrage. This could be easily solved by going to mass.gov and following the links for learning about how testing works.

I have read the guidelines, toots - I am a professional epidemiologist and it is my JOB to read them AND understand them. I have also published papers on workplace transmission of viruses through ventilation systems, and helped build a prototype machine for testing mask efficiency back in the SARS 1 era. You only *think* you know what you are talking about.

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-updates-and-information#what-...

Not everyone has the luxury to hide in their cave, require others take risks to bring them groceries, and then lecture people based on what they don't know or what they partly know. A prime example of your moral scolding based on half-known info is your statement that "bars are open but not libraries".

That is not what the situation actually is. Some libraries have held outdoor events and are circulating books by contactless pick up. Indoor bar service is still not available in most cities and towns, and has strict rules. Both Bone Up and Night Shift are seating and serving by reservation only on the outdoor patios and not indoors.

The reopening guidelines are here, and be aware that many local boards of health are being more strict than the state permits: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/reopening-massachusetts

Sometimes half knowledge is more hazardous than no knowledge.

Libraries CAN be open right now.