[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

Get a vaccine and carry on. That's the best we can do. Masking and shutting down is a bandaid and causes other significant problems such as no money to buy food, pay rent/mortgage, and other essential expenses.

I just heard "an expert" recommending to avoid unnecessary trips and contact with others as numbers increase. Huh? What are we supposed to do crawl in a bunker with some MREs and come back out in 2030? So many people, including the young, are still suffering the adverse effects on their mental health due to limited contact for a good part of last year. Many were just starting to get back to a more normal life. We can't return to Fall/Winter/Spring 2020/2021.

Amen. This is becoming "2 decades to bend the curve" instead of 2 weeks. Was it Obama who said "Never let a good crisis go to waste?"

[in_newengland]

It's said to be bad in VA and Maryland now, coming up from places like FL and TX. That's the Delta. Delta hasn't really hit us in CT yet. It would be nice if people could wear masks for a little while longer to keep it at bay. It's not necessary for CT to get Delta. We could probably prevent it if more people would cooperate instead of saying they're tired of this or they want their freedom or whatever. THINK!

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Delta hasn't really hit us in CT yet.. It's not necessary for CT to get Delta.

Huh? Delta accounts for 80% of all new COVID cases in Connecticut.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

It would be nice if people could wear masks for a little while longer to keep it at bay. We could probably prevent it if more people would cooperate instead of saying they're tired of this or they want their freedom or whatever. THINK!

I’ll just leave this right here:

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

Get a vaccine and carry on. That's the best we can do. Masking and shutting down is a bandaid and causes other significant problems such as no money to buy food, pay rent/mortgage, and other essential expenses.

I just heard "an expert" recommending to avoid unnecessary trips and contact with others as numbers increase. Huh? What are we supposed to do crawl in a bunker with some MREs and come back out in 2030? So many people, including the young, are still suffering the adverse effects on their mental health due to limited contact for a good part of last year. Many were just starting to get back to a more normal life. We can't return to Fall/Winter/Spring 2020/2021.

Amen!

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

Get a vaccine and carry on. That's the best we can do.

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Amen. This is becoming "2 decades to bend the curve" instead of 2 weeks. Was it Obama who said "Never let a good crisis go to waste?"

Agreed. We've been makng steady inroads unitil they threw us a Doc Gooden curveball. Uncle Charlie. Dropped right off the table it was so good. They pulled the wildcard out of the deck. They knew it was there the whole time just waiting for the right moment. This ain't over.

[BobNJ1960]

Hartford, Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport-all have the indoor mask mandate back.

Economy (particular nightlife based including amphitheater): Brace for Impact. Stylo is more representative than many give him credit for, regarding cutting back on socializing amidst heavy restrictions IMO. I recall how dead area restaurants were last year. Lately I was delighted to see big crowds every weekend at Stonebridge Restaurant enjoying live music outside--very crowded environment. Much needed business shot in the arm.

So far, Milford has resisted the urge wisely. My hunch is, if done in next 10 days, the Oyster Festival crowd tanks dramatically, and arts and crafts booths do worst than they have in decades. The event is a much needed economic shot in the arm after the last 17 months.

a 7 day daily average of 1 Ct death a day does not merit monstrous restrictions IMO. We average 75% of that in Connecticut car accident deaths annually. I assume driving will still be allowed. I agree with following the numbers, but they do not warrant IMHO giant spikes in regulations yet-not even close. Cases are up, but serious cases are not unmanageable.

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/...te/connecticut

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

a 7 day daily average of 1 Ct death a day does not merit monstrous restrictions IMO.

"Monstrous restrictions" aren't needed. What's needed is the basics to keep the transmission rate down. It's kind of pathetic that after 18 months of this, there aren't ventilation standards. I should be able to go to a restaurant and know that the air is circulated and filtered well enough that I'm unlikely to get sick. Ditto classrooms. As it is now, I can choose to do everything normally except for bar/restaurant wearing an N95 mask with pretty high confidence that I won't get a viral load that will overwhelm my vaccinated immune system. And after 18 months, we haven't stepped up domestic N95 mask production. The FDA-certified ones are reserved for health care workers. The NIOSH-certified ones were available a month ago but are like buying toilet paper again. Cloth masks and surgical masks are pretty useless as PPE.

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

It's kind of pathetic that after 18 months of this, there aren't ventilation standards. I should be able to go to a restaurant and know that the air is circulated and filtered well enough that I'm unlikely to get sick. Ditto classrooms.

This is a very difficult problem for a number of reasons. Many buildings are very old and/or have design restrictions which make upgrades to the type of ventilation system you are talking about economically or physically impossible. For a school the cost could be $10 million dollars or more per building to retrofit. Many restaurants are in buildings which would similarly need to be significantly modified to accommodate the HVAC system. That level of modification may also necessitate bringing other systems up to current codes. This is a financial cost that may not make business sense for the restaurant owner and/or building owner.

The answer is to get vaccinated and carry on. If someone gets COVID with a vaccine they are much less likely to get seriously ill. We can't eliminate all risk. For someone with respiratory issues such as asthma, wearing a mask causes its own problems.

CT did a great job getting people access to the vaccine as soon as possible. By May, nearly everyone in CT could have easily gotten an appointment that worked with their schedule. After a few problems at the beginning, places like CVS couldn't have made the process any easier. At this point, if someone eligible for the vaccine chooses not to get one it is their own doing.

As you pointed out, most masks are ineffective as PPE. We are never going to get, nor should we require, all people to wear an N95 mask. It would also be physically impossible to enforce. Therefore, a mask mandate is useless and in my opinion, and it may discourage those on the fence from getting vaccinated.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Somewhat less.

It may slow the spread but this will eventually find every last person to infect eventually with its contagiousness. Given CT is nowhere near hospital capacity, I truly do not know the point of kicking the can down the road slightly. Let’s just continue the vaccine campaign.

People are sick of it all. In a state like CT where the numbers that count are low, I hope we can soon move on and learn to live with it.

Numbers are relatively low but still on the increase rather than the decrease. I guess you're not watching the situation in the South where there's virtually no ICU beds available and people are having to postpone cancer treatments over that. Will you still say this if we get to that?

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

The point isn't that there'd be no Delta if all of the unvaxxed were masked, it's that there'd be considerably less of it.

^This x10. It's not a coincidence that things went rampant after May 14 (change in CDC guidance), when the unvaxxed acted unscrupulously, thinking the whole thing was over.