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Since you mention it....I was just on Facebook and a friend who is currently in London with her family has been posting tons of pics every day and I see absolutely nobody in any of them is wearing a mask (including her). Pics from both outdoors and indoors. Museums, restaurants etc. I'm sure some people are wearing masks, but what I just saw from her vacation pics certainly supports your observation above.
Yeah, we were shocked. Overall as a society I would say the UK has about a 5-7% rate of masking. The States are at least three to four times higher than that (I'm basing my estimate on the Midwest where we currently live; California is higher).
I also still use antibacterial wipes after visiting stores & touching all sorts of surfaces. It may not be necessary, but I've always had a bit of OCD & washed my hands a lot since a teen... I even do it when home alone.
I started doing that a lot when covid was still completely new and then that habit regressed a bit to the mean, but am finding myself returning to being a lot more vigilant lately because of monkey pox. Yes, I know the odds of my having it bad or even catching it aren't high, but, just like with masks, it's no sweat off my back and I'd rather protect myself than not.
What point are you trying to argue? Nobody is saying coughing is exclusively covid.Sure, that may be true, for many reasons - from the fact that outside of major cities reporting capabilities aren't nearly as good to the fact that when you have a house every mile or so, spreading covid is kind of difficult. But so what?Again, correct.Also, correct. However - and this is the fine point you seem to be either unwilling or unable to comprehend - covid is NOT the flu. We, as a society, understand and know how to treat the flu and the flu is literally orders of magnitude less deadly or damaging than covid. We do not yet fully understand covid.Nobody is advocating for "stop living", whatever that means. All I was saying was that there is more cause for concern now than before 2020 when someone is coughing next to you. Simple logic makes that statement irrefutable.
I never claimed Covid was the flu. We stopped living for 2 years! Some states were shutdown with ridiculous restrictions. We have lost so many businesses and jobs during this. Come to a small rural town and see what has happened. Main street isn't full anymore! The businesses are gone because they were forced to be closed for many months.
Logic? Covid isn't the only bug on the planet. Coughing doesn't mean one has Covid. I know people who never had a cough and had Covid. Many people will live the rest of their lives in fear over Covid. Many people have stopped living their lives. I know people who didn't leave their house for months. Some still only leave once a month to stock up on groceries that they can't get delivered.
Not for someone with breathing problems. I was actually told yesterday to take mine off in a hospital by a hospital employee because it was impacting my breathing. I have asthma and can't breathe well wearing a mask. Not being able to breathe is hardly a minor inconvenience.
Not for someone with breathing problems. I was actually told yesterday to take mine off in a hospital by a hospital employee because it was impacting my breathing. I have asthma and can't breathe well wearing a mask. Not being able to breathe is hardly a minor inconvenience.
Obviously you are an exception. But a severe case of covid might cause you breathing problems too, so you should be happy other people wear them and not ridicule them.
Not for someone with breathing problems. I was actually told yesterday to take mine off in a hospital by a hospital employee because it was impacting my breathing. I have asthma and can't breathe well wearing a mask. Not being able to breathe is hardly a minor inconvenience.
I'd change hospitals! I have asthma and chronic bronchitis and MrsM has COPD. Our pulmonologist told us to mask up
I never said you did. Yet you keep mentioning the flu in the context of covid.
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We stopped living for 2 years!
Really? Why'd you do that? In the past two years I have traveled to Europe three times, to California twice, to Minnesota, New York, Virginia, and moved twice between Michigan and Illinois. All masked, all after I was vaccinated. (In fact the only - literally, the one, lone - time that I relaxed my masking, I got covid the same day. Good luck convincing me masks don't work.) So may I suggest that you're exaggerating just a little bit?
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Some states were shutdown with ridiculous restrictions. We have lost so many businesses and jobs during this.
As soon as vaccines became available and it became evident they were effective, most of those shutdowns ended. What other alternative was there, though? To just let the virus run wild throughout the population and wipe out the weakest? Sweden tried that, with not so great results (while being a LOT more disciplined than the U.S.).
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Come to a small rural town and see what has happened. Main street isn't full anymore! The businesses are gone because they were forced to be closed for many months.
Most rural areas you're describing did not, in fact, shut down. They may have lost owners/clients to covid, that much is true, but it's a pretty well-publicized fact that the more rural the area, the less likely it is to follow mask mandates and to vaccinate.
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Logic? Covid isn't the only bug on the planet. Coughing doesn't mean one has Covid.
This conversation has started to circle. Meeting adjourned.
Obviously you are an exception. But a severe case of covid might cause you breathing problems too, so you should be happy other people wear them and not ridicule them.
I'm not ridiculing anyone for wearing a mask. If you want to go for it. I already said that on this thread. There's a difference between wearing a mask and living your life in fear. Plenty of people are barely living their lives these days.
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This conversation has started to circle. Meeting adjourned.