Hidalgo to order Harris County to wear masks in public for 30 days (Houston: foreclosed, crimes)

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by hendersj31

I don't mind the mask if it is helping those who are at risk. Who knows, I could be carrying the virus asymptomatically and give it to the poor old lady working the register at Randalls. Plus I wear the N95 and then put a Lone Star Beer bandana over it and I get to go around looking like an outlaw.

Great approach! Put on that bandana and cowboy hat and have some fun, people. Save the kvetching about the loss of your liberties to something that actually hurts you.

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by DanielWayne

Are people really that inconvenienced by something as trivial as wearing a mask? A mask. You are temporarily giving up the tiniest sliver of civil liberty to protect elderly and the immunocompromised and possibly slow down undetected asymptomatic spread of a disease that has shut down countries across the globe. We are being asked to participate in an action that has GLOBAL implications, and all I see is a lot of whining about constitutional rights (I mean on social media and news story comments).

I wouldn't have a problem if I thought it would actually be helpful. I do have a big problem with being mandated to do something that even the government only a few weeks ago said was ineffective. Most people will end up wearing cotton-based homemade masks. When WHO goes into an Ebola hotzone, why do they wear hazmat suits and not a ratty old t-shirt around their face?

The mask thing just doesn't pass the smell test. The science didn't change overnight. The virus didn't suddenly grow large enough to be blocked by cotton threads. So far as I can tell the masks are mostly a version of mental placebo for a scared populace.

Even if you agree 100% with the mask decrees, does it not seem fishy for the government to do a total 180 about-face essentially overnight?

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by GreenBouy

I still question where the legal authority comes from for her to do this. Counties have no law or ordinance making ability, unless there is a state law that exits, what is law enforcement enforcing?

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Viruses are one billionth of a meter in size. That scarf or t-shirt is really effective keeping out something that small.

Well I googled her and wow she is only 29 years old and graduated from Stanford. I guess she is smart and talented if she graduated from Stanford and got this role only at the age of 28. She probably has better career than anyone here on CD combined.
No matter what she says, you have to obey her orders at least in respect to her career achievements.

[usc619]

I tried to see good in her and give her a chance, but she is turning out to be a huge disappointment. I do agree with the mask order, but it shouldn't have taken this long to make the call.

[Ghost Town]

If I remember correctly, the governor of Texas can override her order. We might hear something from him later.
But at least she is kind of cute. Looks much older than her real age, but that's a sign of wisdom!
And to some extent it makes sense: it was quite difficult to get a mask couple of weeks ago. It was easier to get infected while searching for a mask than to get mask. But these days pretty much everyone has mask.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Viruses are one billionth of a meter in size. That scarf or t-shirt is really effective keeping out something that small.


Expect Fort Bend County to photocopy Harris County's decree and post it in a day or two since KP George follows Lina Hidalgo around like he is a little puppy. It might take longer depending on how long it takes George to figure out how the copy machine works.

Do some Googling on the subject, and you will find that scarfs, bandanas, and often those cheap masks, don't do much of anything except make people feel good. You cannot get a perfect seal around the mouth and nose with them, so not so effective.

I'll add, first hand experience, when I was doing some drywall work recently, I used those masks, and it helped to a degree, but after hours of work, when I took the mask off and looked in the mirror, I clearly had white traces on my skin (around nostrils) where the dust was entering the mask, so there is that for what it's worth.

I guess if it makes people feel better, there is some worth to that, but not much. And as others have hinted, the government cannot mandate me to buy anything, so are masks going to be provided?

I'm going to bet that the Texas AG will say it cannot be enforced. We'll see.

[Zhang Fei]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Do some Googling on the subject, and you will find that scarfs, bandanas, and often those cheap masks, don't do much of anything except make people feel good. You cannot get a perfect seal around the mouth and nose with them, so not so effective.

I'll add, first hand experience, when I was doing some drywall work recently, I used those masks, and it helped to a degree, but after hours of work, when I took the mask off and looked in the mirror, I clearly had white traces on my skin (around nostrils) where the dust was entering the mask, so there is that for what it's worth.

I guess if it makes people feel better, there is some worth to that, but not much. And as others have hinted, the government cannot mandate me to buy anything, so are masks going to be provided?

I'm going to bet that the Texas AG will say it cannot be enforced. We'll see.

Back in the day, I did some work for Habitat for Humanity as a volunteer breaking down brick walls with a sledge hammer. My breathing protection was one of those paper dust masks with the profile of half of a large grapefruit. At the end of of a day's work, I took the mask off. I looked like a coal miner from one of those documentaries. A little lighter under the mask, but not much.

[Zhang Fei]

Gov. Greg Abbott says he’s ready to re-open ‘massive amounts of businesses’
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/new...n-15219805.php

The US has shut down at least 1/4 of the economy. As a matter of fiscal necessity, it may have to open up regardless of the path the epidemic takes. Persisting in these shutdowns could lead to economic collapse, given the way business insolvencies will have cascading effects throughout the economy.

[VitaminB12]

Seems like a no brainer if you are going to reopen the economy.

[mkwensky]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

I wouldn't have a problem if I thought it would actually be helpful. I do have a big problem with being mandated to do something that even the government only a few weeks ago said was ineffective. Most people will end up wearing cotton-based homemade masks. When WHO goes into an Ebola hotzone, why do they wear hazmat suits and not a ratty old t-shirt around their face?

The mask thing just doesn't pass the smell test. The science didn't change overnight. The virus didn't suddenly grow large enough to be blocked by cotton threads. So far as I can tell the masks are mostly a version of mental placebo for a scared populace.

Even if you agree 100% with the mask decrees, does it not seem fishy for the government to do a total 180 about-face essentially overnight?

The idea behind the mask ordnance, which the other three major Texas cities also passed, is not that those masks will protect wearers, but to prevent those wearing them from spreading their aerosols 6 feet or further. Even if they're not 100% effective cutting down the amount of droplets in the surrounding to a fraction can still be very helpful.
I think there is some basis to this. The infection rate in most Asian countries are much lower and masks are ubiquitous there.