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Even the medical office tests have false negatives. My guess is that at least 90 percent of people have had some kind of Covid infection since the pandemic started. There might be weaker strains that haven’t been isolated yet.

theres a park and ride off exit 48. park there, walk up larabee road to main st(westbrook) / brighton (portland) take the number 4 bus into town. the number 4 goes past deering oaks

I live in Bar Harbor but the over the top tourism gets to you after a while.

I kind of like Castine. Lots of historic homes and way more low key and less touristy.

They’re all pretty much the same. Use Google Maps.

Last time I went to Pride, I parked on Cumberland behind the Merrill Auditorium. There's no reason to park as far away as Deering Oaks.

I think it’s reasonable for a layman to ask the question about comparison of Flu and Covid hospitalization rates though.

Flu is the context folks are more familiar with, so if knowing a relative baseline were possible (I know it’s not b/c of Flu testing/reporting issues) that would be useful info for most folks.

My experience is that the at-home kits show false NEG results. This has happened with a few folks I know. When they went to their Dr, they tested POS. One had tested NEG twice daily at home for 4 days.

Many people I know don't even bother testing anymore. If they get sick, they believe it's either Covid, Flu, RSV, or a bad cold, and there's not much to be done about any of them, unless they develop severe symptoms.

Per Cochrane, not enough data from the right kind of studies to make any conclusion.

New York Times, Zeynep Tufekci, March 10, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/opinion/masks-work-cochrane-study.html

>The debate over masks’ effectiveness in fighting the spread of the coronavirus intensified recently when a respected scientific nonprofit said its review of studies assessing measures to impede the spread of viral illnesses found it was “uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.”
>
>Now the organization, Cochrane, says that the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.
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>“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane review shows that ‘masks don’t work,’ which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor in chief of the Cochrane Library, said in a statement.
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>“The review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses,” Soares-Weiser said, adding, “Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask wearing itself reduces people’s risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses.”.
>
>. . .
>
>She said that “this wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize,” and that Cochrane would revise the summary.
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>Soares-Weiser also said, though, that one of the lead authors of the review even more seriously misinterpreted its finding on masks by saying in an interview that it proved “there is just no evidence that they make any difference.” In fact, Soares-Weiser said, “that statement is not an accurate representation of what the review found.”

Do you have a garage you’d recommend?

There’s something so special about how Baxter restricts access. I’d hate for anything to change that would increase the number of people in the park.

Park in a garage and walk.

Probably the great majority of positive Covid tests are with home test kits and never reported, so they don’t make it into statistics. Many of these are mild or asymptomatic cases but it’s part of the spread of the virus.

Baxter’s protections are much more wilderness oriented than the national parks. Wilderness comes first there, recreational activities second.

i had covid 2 weeks ago and i’ve never been so sick in my life. i had to go to the doctor’s the other day because my asthma has gotten so bad that im having attacks almost daily

No, most of that area North of Baxter is harvested and is responsible for keeping hundreds of wood workers employed

Please fucking no, that’s the one place I can spend a week without seeing other people….So many good fishing spots that are barely touched by anyone. No Thanks

Good day to take a ride up to Presque Isle for lunch :)

You don’t need to drink alcohol or smoke a bong to be friends with someone. This mentality is why I’d never be friends with you

It's not the first time this has been discussed. It was strongly opposed 50 yrs ago and will prolly not go forward again. Mainers have done a good job managing their wilderness since the 70s. It's so beautiful

Hey enjoy your little cabin. Hope you die out there lol loser

Truth is, there are just plenty of people who really don't care that much. It's kind of a "cultural thing". In certain groups, the "culture" is to REALLY care about covid. But in some other groups, it's pretty much the opposite.

For instance, I'm a healthy liberal cis male in my early 30's, most of my friends are cis males and tend to lean left politically, although most are not very politically focused. Most of the people I know don't really care about covid. Most have had it more than once. They'll get it, quarantine, then get back to normal life and just keep going. I think there are lots of folks who regard covid in this way now. It's just an acceptable level of risk for them, and they're willing to run through the quarantine if they need to.

Me on the other hand, I seem to care a tiny bit more than my peers. For example, I still wear a mask in high risk situations (when traveling, if I went to an indoor concert, etc). But even me, I generally am not wearing a mask at the grocery store and places like that, and am more-or-less just living my life as usual. I got the first booster but never got the bivalent because I was seeing mixed information on whether it makes sense for a young healthy person to get the vaccine or not. It DOES have verified risks, and I figured I'd be better off just continuing to be kinda careful with mask wearing in high risk situations, and run without the most recent booster.

I managed to go 3 full years without catching covid, but just this past week I came down with it for the first time. It feels like a bad flu to me. I do kinda wish I'd gotten the recent booster, and probably will get boosted at some point in the next several months just because I'd like the extra protection.... but beyond that, I don't intend to change how I live my life too much.

It does seem like covid is more-or-less here to stay, and I don't think this type of approach is reckless. I don't blame or judge those who take even "riskier" approaches to life than I do.

You throw "National" in front of park and the crowds will come. Of course there are some exceptions like Gates of the Artic and Isle Royale, but those parks are a real pain in the ass to get to. It would probably cause a drastic increase in visitors to Baxter since it would be surrounded by the new national park. Good luck getting an opportunity to hike Katahdin then.

The area is so remote that I don't see it needing protection. There's no jobs up there and little in the way of infrastructure to accommodate lots of growth. The woods have already been logged for the most part, so it's not exactly old growth forest we're talking about protecting here. I personally don't like the idea, but if it happens, it happens.

There's not really much attraction. Baxter is cool because of Katahdin and the Appalachian trail. This is just a swath of wilderness. I don't see the attraction of visiting but I do like the idea of protecting it.

York. I lived there for a little while, and it is beautiful. I like long sands. Short sands has like it's own little town, which is neat. And of course, the lighthouse. It's a cool place