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Face mask or no face mask?

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  • Here in California it’s a mandate to wear a mask and I’m glad! In the City of West Hollywood they are now fining people for not wearing a mask and I’m glad! All indoor dining in restaurants is closed but they allow outdoor dining with tables 6 feet apart where mask wearing is not mandated but even then I wear a face shield and have learned to eat under the face shield lol. When I go to the beach in a non-crowded area, I take it off, but that’s it. I think if everyone just wore the stupid mask for 14 days, stayed to themselves and didn’t cheat, we would have been over this months ago! dal354tefra5.jpeg

    9xtb5ce8monu.gif

    Matt Damon, put your mask on and keep your hands away from your face!

    Canned footage, but that was clever :)
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,498 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Wearing a mask in public, for me, has become like wearing a seat belt. I feel naked without it. Plus it covers my teeth in case I didn't see the broccoli.

    I wear one when required, but counting the days until not required. Will wear seat belt forever.
  • laurenq1991
    laurenq1991 Posts: 384 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    You are attributing stuff that annoys you in the media to me, which is unfair.

    No I didn't. I said "the media" is inaccurately representing statistics. You claimed that Italy had a lower death rate than the US, and I corrected it, with sources.
    Also, I think you are biased (assuming you are describing accurately what it is like around you) in that you are in one of the areas of the country where people may be verbally aggressive to those not wearing masks. Where I am, no one says anything, and it seems like (from what others have said) that in most areas of the country you are more likely to get mocked for wearing a mask.

    Well, I could just as well say you're biased for assuming that in "most" places you are likely to get mocked for wearing a mask. Most metropolitan areas are on the mask-shaming side of things, as are a lot of suburbs. That's not what I've seen online, either. There are videos online from all over the country of people getting yelled at and even beat up for not wearing a mask.
    If Italy doesn't have herd immunity (and the new cases don't seem to be in entirely different parts of Italy than that hit hard before), then we can't assume anyone does.

    Yes, exactly. But my point is, even if Sweden doesn't have herd immunity, their death rate is still on par with many European countries that locked down, such as Italy. Even if they do have an increase in cases at some point, as is happening in Italy, France, etc. it's probably not going to be worse than whatever is happening in these other European countries that locked down, based on historical precedent and the fact they've been open the whole time and therefore likely had more spread so far than these locked-down countries.

    And no matter how long a country locks down, it can't prevent the virus, it can only delay it. So there's no point locking down unless the hospital system is going to be overwhelmed, which, in Sweden, it never was.
    Frankly, what went on in Italy and NYC metro was horrific, and I'd prefer to avoid it elsewhere.

    It hasn't happened anywhere else despite many places being reopened almost totally for months. NY/NJ's situation was obviously due largely to the nursing home mismanagement, as well as poor hospital quality in certain areas (Elmhurst Hospital, for example, is notoriously awful, and was in one of the hardest-hit areas). I don't know what happened in Italy considering they had to triage patients and even NYC didn't, but I know that their medical system gets overwhelmed by the seasonal flu every year, so, maybe it's just not that great.
    In theory, other states here could have seen what was happening with the ones that got hit early and avoided it, and that's why people are saying the states getting hit now (I agree largely fir the first time) should have been more prepared.

    But they did. The case surges now are nothing compared to NYC or Italy. Don't believe the hype. (Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm)

    rbeu1i17wy9r.png
    Oh, and we didn't close borders with China in February, not even close,

    Can you do me a favor and at least rudimentarily fact-check these assertions you keep making? Because you keep saying things that are just factually inaccurate. We did restrict travel from China in February, and were criticized for it and called racist at the time. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/us/politics/trump-super-bowl-interview-coronavirus.html
    This is where we disagree. It seems to me that what we are doing now is what is prolonging the pandemic.

    How? Can you explain exactly how you think contact tracing and quarantining is going to eliminate the virus, as opposed to just delaying its spread?
    I am not saying any of the things you are arguing against.

    I never said you were.
    Cases will die down again, as they did before. They are quite low compared with ours, and especially look at deaths per capita.

    Ok, so it dies down again, and then what? Everything reopens, cases go up, everything closes, repeat ad infinitum? That's the strategy? If so, what is the end game?
    No one is demanding 100% effectiveness.

    Apparently they are, if entire countries are being shut down over a few hundred cases, and people are demanding shutdown until a vaccine and "if it saves only one life!" Do you think these "shut everything until a vaccine" people are going to accept "oh, wait, the vaccine is only 50 or 70% effective"?
    Schools being reopened in the US in a lot of places would probably lead to more community spread (that was an issue in Israel) because of the number of cases we currently have. And if they lead to even school-focused (students and teachers) outbreaks, the schools will be in a pattern of opening and closing, which is not helpful. I think it is important for schools to be open, as I am worried about the students not getting an education (or showing up at all), which is a problem in my local school district, but with the number of cases we have I don't think they would stay open, and I think we would have a spike. (The most recent studies seem to indicate that earlier beliefs that kids don't spread it are probably wrong.)

    The question is, what is the tradeoff between leaving things open and possibly having a few deaths, and the longer-term health consequences of keeping schools closed? That's a controversial question but that's what officials have to ask. In the H1N1 pandemic, people died as a result of schools being open (someone at my college even did), and yet they mostly stayed open with only a few short-term, localized closures. Now it's considered to be anathema to even bring up the question. Also, it's important to note that countries that left schools open, like Sweden, didn't have much spread within schools. Norway's public health minister stated that she regretted not leaving the schools open and closed them out of "fear."
    But AU actually followed a different path than we did and so didn't have to close schools, etc. The idea that they have been living under this horribly oppressive regime all this time and stuck in their houses since March is really inaccurate.

    When did I ever say they were living under lockdown since March? The lockdown they're living under now is horribly oppressive, but, no, it hasn't been going on since MARCH and I never said it did. However, I doubt they will be out of it anytime soon.
    Also, where I am and where you are, re-opening after two weeks would have likely resulted in hospitals being overwhelmed. My city/state flattened the curve and therefore we didn't end up having the problem with hospital/ICU space it initially looked like we might. But that process was not accomplished after 2 weeks, we weren't to the top of the curve until much later.

    Then why did they tell people it was two weeks, when it was obvious to anyone with a brain that it was going to be longer?

    In the NYC area we could have probably reopened in May or June and been fine. Meanwhile we still aren't reopened fully.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,498 Member
    Dnarules wrote: »
    lokihen wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Wearing a mask in public, for me, has become like wearing a seat belt. I feel naked without it. Plus it covers my teeth in case I didn't see the broccoli.

    I wear one when required, but counting the days until not required. Will wear seat belt forever.

    While I doubt it will become as cultural here in the US as it is in some Asian countries, I hope it becomes normal to wear one when we have colds and flu.

    I would like to see masks used more during flu season. Not mandated....but just a shift to people using the..

    Doubt it will happen on a widespread basis in most of the US. The places in Asia where you commonly see them being worn have terrible air quality and high population density.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Dnarules wrote: »
    lokihen wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Wearing a mask in public, for me, has become like wearing a seat belt. I feel naked without it. Plus it covers my teeth in case I didn't see the broccoli.

    I wear one when required, but counting the days until not required. Will wear seat belt forever.

    While I doubt it will become as cultural here in the US as it is in some Asian countries, I hope it becomes normal to wear one when we have colds and flu.

    I would like to see masks used more during flu season. Not mandated....but just a shift to people using the..

    Doubt it will happen on a widespread basis in most of the US. The places in Asia where you commonly see them being worn have terrible air quality and high population density.

    I think it's not just that, but also cultural. I live near an area with a good many East Asians in Chicago, and it was reasonably common to see people in masks before this.

    But I agree it's unlikely to catch on in the US.
  • laurenq1991
    laurenq1991 Posts: 384 Member
    edited August 2020
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    This is why this conversation is so frustrating. You misread or misrepresent what others say. You said Italy was having a spike in cases. I said it was nothing like the spike in cases the US is having -- you use as if equivalent places with far lower current cases than the US. Then you change the topic entirely to total per capita cases being (so far) more in Italy (which I knew, I have been obsessing about all the different stats for ages now), and so I pointed out a conflict in your arguments. Then you claim that I said that Italy has few deaths per capita than the US, which I did not say. This is why I don't think you are serious about wanting to have a real discussion, and I am done. Too bad, as I think we do have some areas of agreement. I am not merely reiterating whatever media stuff you think is annoying and so choose to argue against.

    Um, that's not what I said. I said that the areas of the US that are having a spike in cases are areas that never had one before. Whereas the areas of Italy that are having a spike in cases already had a surge. So it makes sense that the US would have higher case rates because those areas having spikes never had any population immunity. But I also wanted to clarify that Italy has higher deaths per million than the US because it's a common misconception that the US has higher deaths per million and I wasn't sure if you were alluding to that or not.
    Note the shifty change of claim. I said we did not close borders, as you claimed. Then you accuse me of being unaware that we "restricted travel" -- a different thing.

    I never said that we entirely closed borders. I went back and checked and my exact sentence was "We started closing borders in February before many other countries (and were vilified for it at the time)." STARTING to close borders does not mean they were entirely closed. It just means that the process was STARTED.

    However, there was such a huge backlash against it at the time and accusations of racism, it's no wonder it didn't get further. The WHO also claimed at the time that travel restrictions were ineffective at stopping disease spread (which actually turned out to be true, but only because it had already been in the US for months at that point, unbeknownst to us). Here is a press release from February 29th in which the WHO recommends against travel restrictions: https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/updated-who-recommendations-for-international-traffic-in-relation-to-covid-19-outbreak
    Oh, and I live in a big city, as explained, and what you claim happens re masks -- people being mean and aggressive to those not wearing them -- does not happen. Mostly people fight on NextDoor about it, much like here, but wouldn't dream of saying something to someone in person, as we don't do that.

    I've seen accounts to the contrary online. As I've said, in real life I haven't seen anyone not wearing a mask indoors, so I also haven't seen anyone confronting anybody about it.

    Anyway you keep misrepresenting what I said, yet are accusing me of doing that. For example claiming that I said Australia has been locked down since March, when I never said that.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,498 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    I wear one where required by law. I think they are security theater, but like the TSA, I'll play.

    The reason I think people resist wearing them is that they are being told they are a leper. You don't wear a mask to protect yourself - you do it because YOU are a filthy disgusting person who's very breath will be the death of someone else, how dare you subject people to the secretions of your respiratory system. No fever? No symptoms? Too bad! You are still dangerous! Cover that hole! No one's ever been this worried about people asymptomatic with the flu. Did you know people who get the DTaP/TdaP can still asymptomatically carry pertussis? No one cares - you are encouraged to get the vaccine (which allows you to carry the bacteria asymptomatically!) before handling newborns.

    And I don't even think they are very effective. But again, I'll play.

    Nobody seems to care that speaking to someone for 5 minutes or less in a normal voice doesn't carry the same viral load as coughing or sneezing, it isn't the same thing - you'd have to talk to someone for 30 minutes for the same amount of particulate as 1 cough - at what point does it become unsafe? The CDC seems to think 15 minutes at less than 6'. That isn't walking by someone in the grocery aisle or coming around a corner and passing someone.

    Again. I play. I follow the rules.

    I wish this people had play by the rules... But they party together, no masks, no social distance, and many innocent and vulnerable people are and will be paying the price of their stupidity and selfishness.

    Covid-19 cases tied to the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota have reached across state lines

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/21/us/sturgis-motorcyle-rally-sd-covid-nebraska-trnd/index.html


    That's sort of a no *kitten* Sherlock headline. The vast majority of the people at Sturgis are from outside SD. Makes sense cases will cross state lines.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    Running and hiding is not going to solve anything. Staying locked up is not healthy. We need to be exposed to germs and bacteria. If you are at high risk, then stay home. Our economy has taken a huge hit, I know as I'm an investor. Many people have lost their lives work. People have lost their jobs.

    I'm very sympathetic about those who've lost jobs and livelihoods. A number of those folks are my friends and relatives, as I'm sure is true for many people here. I'm concerned for the ones I know, and the ones I don't (and have been helping as able, in practice).

    I'm surprised, though, at the seeming implication that investors are suffering. (If the point, instead, is that investors have a clearer view of the negative economic consequences than the working folks, that seems improbable to me, too. Possibly on average they have a *more technical* view, at most.)

    So far, the markets have been almost absurdly stable, and have had some notable recent growth points that would've been pretty predictable, and potentially profitable for an investor with some insight and a quick-ish trigger finger, a few months back. (I say this as a US retiree from a job with only a defined-contribution retirement plan, not taking social security, so my entire (non-wealthy!) financial picture is investment-related, outside of my (non-investment) real estate and personal property. I'm watching that egg-basket closely, believe me.)

    It could fall apart at any moment, of course, but right now the markets here as a whole seem to be reasonably optimistic about the economic future. Market performance is pretty much the ultimate crowd-sourced opinion on that point, with all the advantages and demerits that crowd-sourcing always has (though the relevant crowd in this case is . . . invested, in many senses of the term).

    Whether predictable, managed shutdowns have a lower or higher impact on the economy than unpredictable ones related to acute Covid outbreaks . . . that's a whole other very complicated topic, not directly related to the masks/no masks questions. I don't think the answer either way is certain, unless someone believes the pandemic is primarily mythical.

    But yes, the economic consequences have been terrible, and massive.

    I have to agree about the investment picture, and I'm in a different country. Yes the TSX took a hefty downturn in mid-March but it has almost recovered to its previous level. I guess I've lost 8 months potential growth, but that's about it.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Dnarules wrote: »
    lokihen wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Wearing a mask in public, for me, has become like wearing a seat belt. I feel naked without it. Plus it covers my teeth in case I didn't see the broccoli.

    I wear one when required, but counting the days until not required. Will wear seat belt forever.

    While I doubt it will become as cultural here in the US as it is in some Asian countries, I hope it becomes normal to wear one when we have colds and flu.

    I would like to see masks used more during flu season. Not mandated....but just a shift to people using the..

    Doubt it will happen on a widespread basis in most of the US. The places in Asia where you commonly see them being worn have terrible air quality and high population density.

    I agree. Just a wish lol.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    edited August 2020
    .
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Dnarules wrote: »
    lokihen wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Wearing a mask in public, for me, has become like wearing a seat belt. I feel naked without it. Plus it covers my teeth in case I didn't see the broccoli.

    I wear one when required, but counting the days until not required. Will wear seat belt forever.

    While I doubt it will become as cultural here in the US as it is in some Asian countries, I hope it becomes normal to wear one when we have colds and flu.

    I would like to see masks used more during flu season. Not mandated....but just a shift to people using the..

    Doubt it will happen on a widespread basis in most of the US. The places in Asia where you commonly see them being worn have terrible air quality and high population density.

    I think it's not just that, but also cultural. I live near an area with a good many East Asians in Chicago, and it was reasonably common to see people in masks before this.

    But I agree it's unlikely to catch on in the US.

    No, it's because of pollution. The pollution in mainland China is so bad they have to wet the streets. They don't have regulations like we do here. A lot of that pollution winds up in Japan, that's why you see a lot of Japanese wearing masks.
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    mockchoc wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    mockchoc wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    Masks do nothing but give a false sense of security. You better wear a respirator, goggles, and gloves. Dispose of gloves before entering your vehicle. Sanitize your car and anything you purchased when you get home. You better take your clothes off in the garage, and immediately take them to the washer. Then take a shower. If not, you are putting a bandaid on a sucking chest wound.

    Hey you. :) I appreciate your thoughts on masks. I don't know if you mentioned social distancing or not. If you do that then masks are not so important. Are you doing that? That is really important.

    I go to the gym 3 days a week. I go to friends houses. I go to resteraunts. I'm not going to live in fear.

    Do you know what is funny? You ARE actually showing you are living in fear by behaving this way. Wishing you the best though. Sorry to read you are scared. We all are a little bit.

    I'm scared, because I don't wear a mask like a good little sheep?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    edited August 2020
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    mockchoc wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    mockchoc wrote: »
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    Masks do nothing but give a false sense of security. You better wear a respirator, goggles, and gloves. Dispose of gloves before entering your vehicle. Sanitize your car and anything you purchased when you get home. You better take your clothes off in the garage, and immediately take them to the washer. Then take a shower. If not, you are putting a bandaid on a sucking chest wound.

    Hey you. :) I appreciate your thoughts on masks. I don't know if you mentioned social distancing or not. If you do that then masks are not so important. Are you doing that? That is really important.

    I go to the gym 3 days a week. I go to friends houses. I go to resteraunts. I'm not going to live in fear.

    Do you know what is funny? You ARE actually showing you are living in fear by behaving this way. Wishing you the best though. Sorry to read you are scared. We all are a little bit.

    I'm scared, because I don't wear a mask like a good little sheep?

    Yep. I think so otherwise you wouldn't be raving on about it and just do it because you care about others and not just yourself. I don't need a mask. My city has no Covid so guess I'll let you get back to the gym. I have masks ready if it comes though.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Shout out to all my like minded and 'selfish' friends. Be safe those of you out in the counties, rural communities, and small towns of the United States where you've done perfectly fine so far. Remember, it's Friday and the mass exodus of city dwellers began upwards of 6 hours ago on the east coast and they may be heading to your area for the weekend to get some space and fresh air. Remember also, that although you've spent the past week being responsible, looking out for yourselves and local community, it is also you who are expected to help anyone other than yourself. This includes those which you would not have come into contact with except for the fact that they traveled to you. Wear a mask for 'their protection'.

    Are they coming over the boarder. Not sure where you are but if there is a hotspot over a boarder then it should be closed like ours is to hotspots.
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