Coronavirus COVID-19 Acts Hysteria & Common Sense (York, Grant: assess, statistics)

[leadfoot4]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

I thought face masks were disposable wear once things. That would require lot of masks just for Alabama. Good luck getting those.

I know a lot of people are reusing face masks even medical professionals. Medical professionals have no choice because they don't have replacements. If regular people started buying up face masks that would make the shortage for medical professionals even worse.

Would you really want to cover your face with a potentially filthy face mask for week or more at a time?

I agree...........

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

I thought face masks were disposable wear once things. That would require lot of masks just for Alabama. Good luck getting those.

I know a lot of people are reusing face masks even medical professionals. Medical professionals have no choice because they don't have replacements. If regular people started buying up face masks that would make the shortage for medical professionals even worse.

Would you really want to cover your face with a potentially filthy face mask for week or more at a time?

The point for the community-at-large to wear them is not to prevent getting sick but rather to prevent / reduce the chance of getting others sick.

[harry chickpea]

*sigh*

First, notice that I said face coverings, and not masks. The N-95 masks and fancy powered air-supply masks need to go to the front line. I have my suspicions that the claims that masks don't work were primarily made to keep hoarders and those in panic from grabbing all of those, leaving the front line unprotected. I'm fine with that, but by this point there should be numbers of companies geared up to fill that void. If not, don't blame the public or even hoarders. They are just watching the clown car of ineffective and shifting responses and trying to stay out of the way.

Fabric masks and even plain dust masks offer SOME protection. Again, black and white thinking kills people. Say that a fabric mask is only 40% effective at catching virus particles. That means an infected person has less of a chance of spreading the disease. Exact figures of how much less are impossible to calculate, but as a conservative example and rough guess, one in five who were in passing contact with the infected person and would otherwise be contaminated enough to get the virus wouldn't.

Add in to that idea that a person who is not infected and wearing a mask might only have a 10% reduction in possibility of infection. If BOTH infected and non-infected are wearing imperfect masks, the rate of infection slows even more. THAT is the goal.

It appears that you are looking at face coverings in the public as personal individual protection only. That is NOT the major point. The point is to stop the unwitting spreaders who are ALREADY infected from being as able to easily spread the disease. It isn't their fault that they are sick and don't know it. A mandate for everyone to cover mouth and nose falls more in the category of traffic laws, where stopping at a four way stop has less to do with keeping you safe than keeping the family in the car you might hit safe and keeping the intersection functioning. It is a matter of a rule for social responsibility.

"Would you really want to cover your face with a potentially filthy face mask for week or more at a time?"

That is a completely bogus question. In case you didn't write it just for effect, I'll respond:

First, if you HADN'T worn a mask that week, all the crud it was covered with would have been in your lungs and nose, wouldn't it??? Which is better, that same exact crud in your lungs or on a dirty mask? I wear boots when I walk in cow manure. Those boots get dirty, and might even have manure on them when I put them back on. My feet remain relatively clean and I don't buy a new pair of boots every time I walk in manure. So much for silly questions and silly responses.

Second, with a fabric mask there is the possibility of washing it. Even with masks that cannot be washed, there are options to microwave them for 30 seconds, put a tablespoon of bleach in a mason jar and a pebble in it to keep the mask out of the bleach itself, then put the mask inside, seal it and stick it in the sun or warm spot and let the chlorine fumes kill for a day. That was very effective in the first world war as a killing agent.

Are fabric masks perfect? H*** NO!!! However, reducing the contagion rate is the goal and they can accomplish that.

In reality, a balaclava of ski mask with clear plastic eye coverings would be more effective, as it would prevent face touching, and removing the balaclava and washing it would kill what would have landed on the hair and face, in addition to protecting the vulnerable eyes. I doubt people are scared enough to accept that extreme at this point. If the death rate was 50%, you can bet that it would be considered.

Most people in the area are being very responsible and following the rules. Tightening the lockdown to what nearby states are doing will only have a slight incremental improvement over what is now happening. If the citizens of the state had the mentality of spring breakers, then yeah, a full on lockdown would make sense. I grant you that. However, Ivy is treating us as responsible citizens largely capable of self policing. I appreciate that.

The mandatory wearing of face coverings would, in my estimation, have a far greater and far less disruptive positive effect on reducing virus transmission rates.

BTW, having only designated pickers in grocery stores would stop what is now a major factor in the spread. I remember the days when people had a list, walked up to a counter, and a storekeeper gathered the items and placed them on the counter, not allowing the customer to wander the stockroom. If the pickers are regularly tested to not be spreaders, and people just pick the groceries up without personal contact, there is no spreading. It makes sense to now think of crowded big box stores that have easy access for unwitting spreaders as unrecognized killing fields.

[Rick In Madison]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

I thought face masks were disposable wear once things. That would require lot of masks just for Alabama. Good luck getting those.

I know a lot of people are reusing face masks even medical professionals. Medical professionals have no choice because they don't have replacements. If regular people started buying up face masks that would make the shortage for medical professionals even worse.

Would you really want to cover your face with a potentially filthy face mask for week or more at a time?

I've worn the same "disposable" mask for two straight summers while cutting grass and painting the outdoor furniture due to allergies. Plan on continuing the use until the elastic bands give out.

So, yes.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Rick In Madison

I've worn the same "disposable" mask for two straight summers while cutting grass and painting the outdoor furniture due to allergies. Plan on continuing the use until the elastic bands give out.

So, yes.

Yep, me too. Bought a whole box of surgical masks from Amazon a couple years ago, but I don't think they'd take them at the hospital if I tried to give them away - the box has sat open in my dusty garage. But it still helps when mowing and working in my shop (cutting and sanding wood). I have a couple of hard masks that may or may not be N95 but I don't like to use them in the summer heat - screws up my glasses when mowing in the heat. Two weeks ago I'd never heard of an N95 mask.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Rick In Madison

I've worn the same "disposable" mask for two straight summers while cutting grass and painting the outdoor furniture due to allergies. Plan on continuing the use until the elastic bands give out.

So, yes.

Reusing them to mow the lawn is thrifty with no danger but a bit different than a doc or nurse working over a patient with a ridiculously contagious disease. I reuse mine too unless they're just worn out or soaked with sweat.

[RocketDawg]

Along the same vein as Harry mentioned as "designated pickers" -- would using a service like Instacart with paid shoppers be safer? I suppose it would for the consumer, but what about the health of the shopper? Maybe the argument could be made that the shopper is younger and less likely to be killed by the virus, but there's still an increased danger for them.

[MisterEd51]

They interviewed someone on local TV today and asked if they advised us to wear masks. They hesitated and said masks do not guarantee that you will be protected from getting the virus. They are mostly a psychological thing. The interviewer added that maybe masks will make other people worry about getting too close to you.

Some people are not taking social distancing seriously. Two family members had confrontations with people that insisted on standing right behind them. After one of them confronted the other person he responded by on purposely sneezing on them. My family member proceeded to shove the other person. The police were called. The police told my family member he could leave because was acting in self defense. I do not know what happened happened after that. Technically what they did was a crime. Minimally they probably got a stern warning by the police.

[leadfoot4]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

They interviewed someone on local TV today and asked if they advised us to wear masks. They hesitated and said masks do not guarantee that you will be protected from getting the virus. They are mostly a psychological thing. The interviewer added that maybe masks will make other people worry about getting too close to you.

I agree, and one other noteworthy thought.....Last week, the "experts" told the general public that masks weren't a necessity. This week, they're hovering around making them mandatory, if you go out in public. HOWEVER, try to buy one....they were never a "readily availability item", and given the "panic buying syndrome" that has recently enveloped the country, masks, as well as many other items, are no longer able to be found, anywhere.

[Chris_NorthHSV]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

No. Ivy is correctly handling this. This will be a long haul, and people need the preparation time and as much income as possible to weather it.

What DOES need to happen are mandatory face coverings to blunt the infectiveness of those who are infected but don't yet know it.

Well now she has finally come the the realization of what needs to be done........

Stay at home orders start Saturday.