Masks in public now mandatory statewide (West Hollywood: station, cities, distance)

[goodheathen]

Originally Posted by DriveNotCommute

I usually try to avoid double posting but I wanted to separate this more direct answer separately from the satire above.

I don't think I was among the people who freaked out during the shutdown. Go out as needed, be careful, minimize exposure to other people because we are dealing with a lot of unknowns. Use the common sense that is adapted to what we should have picked up in middle- or high school biology. Of course, minimal protective gear just makes sense. Wiping things down in bleach is basic microbio management although for myself, I make a reasonable compromise and occasionally use rubbing alcohol on packaging only.

I confess to not having read Stranger in a Strange Land but enjoyed thinking about the scenario. So taking your example within the limit of what you posted, I wouldn't know if there are face-mask versions of hypochondriacs. The part I agree with is that, even if it's from fiction, a lot of our attitudes come from our culture/environment that we live in.

BTW, how were you defining "adamant pro-mask?" My reading was that it implied scenarios where people will insist on others wearing masks when there should be no need for it. But I'll point out the situations of an "adamant" pro-mask is pretty rare, like people wearing masks in baths, pools, or with close people that they live with.

Facts:
1.) Research shows that Covid-19 is most easily spread by airborne droplets
2.) Masks, regardless of varying effectiveness, absolutely provide some effect at all (a low bar is all we need)
3.) The lower-filtration masks provide more protection for outbound spray than inbound, which is still an important aspect of risk management

The big picture is risk management. The low-filtration masks are far less uncomfortable than the ones with serious filtration ratings. They do less but they are better than nothing and thus the rational choice.

Here's a real-world example from hospitals, labs, sterile medical device manufacturing, pharmaceuticals manufacturing, silicon manufacturing; places where you can find clean room environments. Everything that is done there depends on the workers' ability to follow procedures and execute aseptic gowning and lab techniques adequately. The whole process basically boils down risk management and probabilities. It's possible to set up BSL-4 (CDC death-zombie virus level) environments for all of this but the end products for the market would be prohibitively expensive, yes even more than whatever the hell hospitals are charging for them already. So we manage the risk out there with good process, good training, followed by good discipline and execution by the staff. And even then every once in a while an idiot will make it through all of that process and brilliantly contaminate a batch of product costing tens of thousands of dollars in raw materials, tens of thousands more in invested labor, and then tens or hundreds of thousands beyond that in lost revenue and profit that the product was supposed to have generated. Occasional failed lots are expected but nobody gives up on making advanced modern goods for the market because of it. The industry learns from its mistakes and revamps their processes, and gets better.

So there you go, I took us on a tangent but masking is about basic risk management where the relative cost is very low. I think it's hard for there to be "excessive" masking in public given how low the bar is for wearing the basic masks, compared to the potential return. There has yet to be a situation where Covid has dropped enough to where we are free and clear after all, at least around SoCal as a whole.

Only serious thing I can think of is maybe a rural town with literally no visitors, even from family, and therefore no Covid cases. Some slim risk of contamination through goods or truckers shipping stuff in, maybe but not enough to be masked out there. I can see an adamant masker in that scenario being a germophobe, sure.

And to put it all into some irrelevant perspective, let's look at this from the berserk A.I. or a wisher-of-the-monkey's-paw point of view: The easiest way to solve the problem that Covid poses to humanity is to eliminate humanity.

One of the likely next steps is to require, with some health exceptions, workers in various industries to wear high-filtration masks.

[Bill the Butcher]

Was in the Home Depot yesterday and for the first time ever it looked like 100% of customers inside were wearing a mask. Before it had been around 60% mask wearing. I didn’t notice goin fm in but they must have been turning away customers without a mask.

[Fisherman99]

Newsom is making the right decision for public health...still waiting for the day when the infections/deaths decrease for at least 14 days straight...let alone a vaccine...

[CA4Now]

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have experimented with different materials and styles of non-medical masks and found that a well-fitted stitched mask made from two layers of quilting fabric was the most effective in stopping the spread of droplets from emulated coughs and sneezes.

They also compared a loosely folded homemade face mask, such as one you could make with a handkerchief or T-shirt, a bandana-style face covering and a cone-style non-sterile commercial mask that is usually available at pharmacies.

They found that droplets from a simulated uncovered cough were able to travel more than 8 feet; with a bandana they traveled 3 feet, with a folded cotton handkerchief, they traveled 1 foot, 3 inches; and with the cone-style mask, droplets traveled about 8 inches. With the stitched-quilting fabric mask, they traveled 2.5 inches.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/healt...scn/index.html

[CA4Now]

A National Mask Mandate Could Save The U.S. Economy $1 Trillion, Goldman Sachs Says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahha...I#2f4e6a7f56f1

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Reprinted from Nextdoor with permission:

Masks Save Lives. I took a walk today around town and I counted, in my head, those wearing masks vs. those not wearing masks. It was nearly 50/50. It boggles my mind to think of how easy it is, yet so many people choose not to wear one, for one reason or another.

Here is a picture of me in the cockpit of my aircraft. I have two masks with me. One is on my face. It literally prevents me from dying every time I go fly. The other is the red, white, and blue shemagh around my neck. When I’m done flying, I take my flight gear off and wrap my shemagh over the lower half of my face. I wear it at work while in uniform and I wear it around town as a civilian. It too literally saves my life every time I wear it.

So much anger and political perversion revolving around masks right now. As someone who trusts science EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I go fly, I prefer to use scientific fact in my decision making. The facts are these:

1. No, wearing a mask is not an infringement on your rights.
2. No, you will not get carbon dioxide poisoning by wearing a mask.
3. No, you don’t have herd immunity.
4. No, wearing a mask is not an outward display of some political agenda.
5. Yes, masks will slow the transmission rate of this virus.
6. Yes, less masks being worn will translate to more germs transmitted.

Now, if you are a mask wearer, I want to personally thank you. Your actions will never go fully appreciated, nor will anyone give you a medal, but you are a hero in your own right.

If you don’t wear a mask, whether you are unwittingly or willfully ignorant, shame on you. When this is over, no one will publicly call you out, your selfishness will likely never see the karma it deserves, but shame on you for thinking you’re better than any other person walking around. Shame on you for thinking you’re entitled to a certain way of life because you claim some idealogical superiority over others.

Someone wiser than I once said, “freedom isn’t free.” The freedom we enjoy today came by way of sacrifices made by our earliest American brothers and sisters that far exceed anything you or I have given up.

[tikkasf]

It is just a modest expense & inconvenience to regularly wear a mask when out and about.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

....the essence of what all the scientific research on COVID-19 cases is telling us really isn’t up for debate, she said.“There’s lot of ways you could get it, but most people are getting it from breathing in the air of an infectious person.

Well, this is from a seismologist, right? Not that she's wrong regarding the bolded part, but the statement lacks important nuance. Sharing the air of an infected person in a tiny backpacking tent is different from sharing the air in a cavernous big box store, which in turn is different from sharing the air in the global dome of the atmosphere at large. The point is, the amount of infected air you're exposed to matters. A lot. So does the length of time you're exposed to it.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by goodheathen

One of the likely next steps is to require, with some health exceptions, workers in various industries to wear high-filtration masks.

Our local mask order at first only required employees to wear them. That quickly turned into everyone. Without a doubt the next step would be to raise the level of effectiveness of the gear or simply add to it. As the excellent post you quoted says, it's a big numbers game as that's how risk management works. Right now, the rules are loose and the definition of mask is broad --too broad to be totally effective.


But the thing is, the average person can't just whip up a PAPR hood system the way they can turn an old pair of boxer shorts into a cloth face covering to sell on etsy.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by joosoon

The point is, the amount of infected air you're exposed to matters. A lot. So does the length of time you're exposed to it.

Obviously, which has been pointed out on this thread and many others.