Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: Friday, society, access)

[bohemka]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

On that note, I understand that the governor's office is supposed to come out with a major report on Covid-19 in Mass, plus a process for reopening today. I am very interested to see what's in these things.

I'm surprised these reports and guidelines weren't made public before today (assuming they will be today). Are we technically open without guidelines right now? Is there anything to keep a "non essential" business from just flipping the switch and opening at full capacity?

[BostonMike7]

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/re...-summary-plan-


Looks like May 25th, the entire state of MA will be lining up for a haircut.

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/re...-summary-plan-


Looks like May 25th, the entire state of MA will be lining up for a haircut.

Haha, I literally texted my stylist within seconds to figure the best way to book (have tried calling and emailing salon, but no response). She said most of the stylists have kids, so even if the salon is open, until childcare is re-opened, many won't be working.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by justyouraveragetenant

I dont ignore pieces of info and I read and watch links. I was assuming the masks worked to some degree.

Masks work great. They just don't work in the way you want them to. You seem to only care about how well a mask protects you. The point of a cloth/surgical mask is that if everyone wears them, it lowers the transmission rate and reduces the risk for everyone in contracting the disease.


As a generic comment about the issue in the United States, I see this as the main problem. The right wing media and right wing social networking is totally libertarian. Everything is in the context of "what does this do specifically for me?" Mask wearing is a good example. A cloth mask doesn't do much of a job protecting me. What it does is lower the transmission rate to protect society if we all wear one in public places. If we could all dig a moat around our houses and line the ramparts with weapons to fend off invaders with no reliance on the rest of society, libertarian works fine. Maybe that's how things worked when the United States was frontier and self-sufficient settlers but we don't live in that kind of society.

[OutdoorLover]

NBC Boston has 29 slides from the governor's office in this page:

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coron...setts/2126266/

[BostonMike7]

Many people will be waiting (im)patiently for the "plans to be announced soon" regarding the 2020-2021 school year.

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

As a generic comment about the issue in the United States, I see this as the main problem. The right wing media and right wing social networking is totally libertarian. Everything is in the context of "what does this do specifically for me?" Mask wearing is a good example. A cloth mask doesn't do much of a job protecting me. What it does is lower the transmission rate to protect society if we all wear one in public places. If we could all dig a moat around our houses and line the ramparts with weapons to fend off invaders with no reliance on the rest of society, libertarian works fine. Maybe that's how things worked when the United States was frontier and self-sufficient settlers but we don't live in that kind of society.

I disagree that those questioning the effectiveness of masks only care about what's in it for them. It's that the information has been confusing.

Most shrug this off by saying that in the beginning, the concern was around front-line workers had access to PPE. But it's not that, either. It's that top scientists have told us that the masks aren't effective. And now we are supposed to accept that they are without questioning it.

"The masks sold at drugstores aren't even good enough to truly protect anyone, Fauci said." -- this is a quote from February where Fauci was specifically talking about how the gaps in masks make them so inefficient that it isn't worth it to bother with them.

Then, from more recently:

"Face masks in public spaces do not provide any greater protection to the population," Johan Carlson from the Swedish Public Health Agency Folkhälsomyndigheten said at a press conference on May 13th.

Swedish health authorities argue that keeping a distance, washing your hands, not touching your face, and staying at home if you experience any symptoms are still the best ways to halt the spread of the coronavirus. There is a concern that wearing face masks would make people follow these guidelines less strictly.

I wear a mask when I go out and am not against it...if it helps. But I don't think those questioning it are just selfish people who don't care about others. I understand there has been confusion about the effectiveness.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by lrfox

In fairness, it’s not “Republicans,” it’s a small subset of conspiracy theory nuts who identify with a variety of political beliefs. As someone who leans a good deal left of center on most issues, this MA COVID-19 thread has been one of the better examples of agreement on both sides of the aisle that I’ve seen in a while in CD. Many of the posters here who are in support of the restrictions and safety measures are Republican (or at least conservative). We have a few who are a little nutty and tend to regurgitate misinformation, but for the most part, they’re in the minority.

The problem is that the Republican party has been co-opted by them. The subliterate yawper in the White House leads the charge latching onto every lunatic conspiracy theory and quackery. It's kind of pointless to enumerate all the examples since they're endless. My take is that a small group of extremely wealthy people led by Rupert Murdoch have co-opted the Republican party using fringe issues to get people to vote for the party that cuts taxes for those extremely rich people and abandons government regulations that are good for society to the benefit of those rich people. Flag burning. School prayer. They're gonna take your guns. Baby killers. Now masks are added to the list. They turned politics into tribal warfare. It's just like pro sports. Your guy is a juicer but my guy is great despite cheating with steroids or beating his wife or killing someone. Manny's just being Manny but ARoid is an evil steroid guy. That's now how politics works. Social media and very biased news sources. Any moderate gets shouted down.

[justyouraveragetenant]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Masks work great. They just don't work in the way you want them to. You seem to only care about how well a mask protects you. The point of a cloth/surgical mask is that if everyone wears them, it lowers the transmission rate and reduces the risk for everyone in contracting the disease.


As a generic comment about the issue in the United States, I see this as the main problem. The right wing media and right wing social networking is totally libertarian. Everything is in the context of "what does this do specifically for me?" Mask wearing is a good example. A cloth mask doesn't do much of a job protecting me. What it does is lower the transmission rate to protect society if we all wear one in public places. If we could all dig a moat around our houses and line the ramparts with weapons to fend off invaders with no reliance on the rest of society, libertarian works fine. Maybe that's how things worked when the United States was frontier and self-sufficient settlers but we don't live in that kind of society.

Ill just respond to this once I dont want this to get off topic. I dont think the right wing media is very libertarian . This country used to be a lot more conservative in the 1960's Jfk WOULD be a republican today. In alot of cases there is not much difference between dems and republicans. I Believe in individual rights over group rights. In that way more people are protected because the group can not single out or take anyone's rights away. As a american your supposed to believe in individual rights. Just because i believe in individual freedom there can be common courtesy such as wearing a mask. which I have no problem with and if i was to take a plane I think i would want everyone to wear a mask.

I think part of the problem is a lot of people here only know left wing people or that think in a similar way. there is a degree of indocturination in colleges and universities.

libertarianism can still work today. by the way I am not a full libertarian. there are some that think there is no need for a goverment which is completely ridiculous, its just a lot of people in massechusetts are leaning towards authoritarian. I cant blame you because your cirlcle of friends might think the same way you do.

I took a political test and i am somewhere around the middle of being libertarian.

you can point the finger at all political groups one thing is for certain the country has become even more polarized .

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The problem is that the Republican party has been co-opted by them. The subliterate yawper in the White House leads the charge latching onto every lunatic conspiracy theory and quackery. It's kind of pointless to enumerate all the examples since they're endless. My take is that a small group of extremely wealthy people led by Rupert Murdoch have co-opted the Republican party using fringe issues to get people to vote for the party that cuts taxes for those extremely rich people and abandons government regulations that are good for society to the benefit of those rich people. Flag burning. School prayer. They're gonna take your guns. Baby killers. Now masks are added to the list. They turned politics into tribal warfare. It's just like pro sports. Your guy is a juicer but my guy is great despite cheating with steroids or beating his wife or killing someone. Manny's just being Manny but ARoid is an evil steroid guy. That's now how politics works. Social media and very biased news sources. Any moderate gets shouted down.

Agree but the Democrats are just as guilty of this. We have become a society of echo chambers from both sides competing.