COVID-19 Outbreak Information Updates (Reboot) [over 150.000,000 US cases (est.), 6,422,520 US hospitilizations, 1,148,691 US deaths.] (2 Viewers)

[SharonT]

And there are plenty of people who were absolutely fanatical about mask-wearing who still caught it, and others who've never once worn a mask but never contracted COVID. We all have anecdotal evidence but if you look at the spread of omicron, mask wearing didn't slow it down one bit.

If it makes someone feel better to wear a mask, nobody's stopping them. But once the virus entered into omicron levels of transmissibility, cloth and plain surgical masks became superfluous. But everyone got anchored to the idea that masks work and we're loathe to acknowledge the fact that they dont because it feels like giving ground to the anti-vax, covid-deniers.

Stating opinions as fact doesn't make them fact. "We're loathe?" No, "we're" not. Not sure who needs convincing or what purpose twisting events into a "Ha, I told you" moment even serves.

Let's try again.

"When a threat changes, we need to change our response."

Simple. Does not include inflammatory partisan wedges. Acknowledges reality. Does not tie correlative events as cause. Does not trigger the mentally/emotionally fragile into overreacting or giving money.

If your claim is that "masking did not work against omicron" then okay. Let's look at ALL the variables systematically moving forward. Except this particular virus is/was elusive, testing sporatic, humans being humans, etc.

If not masks, do we bolster ventilation systems in preparation for the next wave, or even to improve conditions and productivity in general?

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Feds extending the mask mandate for travel for 15 more days. More COVID theatre...

In a post-Omicron world, anything less than a K95 mask is theatre IMO. A plane (or subway car or restaurant) full of people in cloth or plain surgical masks is basically at the same risk as a plane full of people without masks. In the real world, the masks that 99.9% of the public wears are pretty much worthless.

It's like rubbing a rabbits foot but it provides the illusion of safety, so here we are.

Really surprised this is coming from you, TBH. You're not prone to hyperbole.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Really surprised this is coming from you, TBH. You're not prone to hyperbole.

I literally quoted public health experts who say regular masks don't stop omicron.

Look at the rates of omicron spread in areas with a mask mandate versus areas without one last December-February - the omicron wave hit just as hard in "masked" areas as it did in the rural south/midwest.

Whatever value there was in 'everyday' masks in stopping Covid up until last winter, it went away with omicron. I understand that is not what people want to hear but it is still the case.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Stating opinions as fact doesn't make them fact. "We're loathe?" No, "we're" not. Not sure who needs convincing or what purpose twisting events into a "Ha, I told you" moment even serves.

Let's try again.

"When a threat changes, we need to change our response."

Simple. Does not include inflammatory partisan wedges. Acknowledges reality. Does not tie correlative events as cause. Does not trigger the mentally/emotionally fragile into overreacting or giving money.

If your claim is that "masking did not work against omicron" then okay. Let's look at ALL the variables systematically moving forward. Except this particular virus is/was elusive, testing sporatic, humans being humans, etc.

If not masks, do we bolster ventilation systems in preparation for the next wave, or even to improve conditions and productivity in general?

Masking did not work against omicron.

The rest of this I don't know what else to say that isn't totally unrelated to the topic, so I'll just let it go.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

Masking did not work against omicron.

The rest of this I don't know what else to say that isn't totally unrelated to the topic, so I'll just let it go.

Can we see your sourcing proving masks were ineffective against omicron?
I'm not taking about YouTube and podcasters.. Real scientific sources.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Can we see your sourcing proving masks were ineffective against omicron?
I'm not taking about YouTube and podcasters.. Real scientific sources.

With omicron, you need a mask that means business

To block a variant this transmissible, scientists say you need an N95 or other high-filtration mask. Here's how to find a good one and when to wear it.

www.npr.org

"Cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron," says Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech who studies how viruses transmit in the air.

Omicron is so much more transmissible than coronavirus variants that have come before it. It spreads at least three times faster than delta. One person is infecting at least three others at a time on average, based on data from other countries.

"It's very contagious," says Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "And the kind of encounter that you could have had with prior versions of the virus that would have left you uninfected, there's now a good chance you will get infected from it."

source for that graph (though I did not try to re-verify the data) https://data.cdc.gov/Policy-Surveil...erritorial-Public-Mask-Mandates-Fro/42jj-z7fa

Cloth masks inferior for protection against airborne viral spread: Simulations reveal low filtration efficiency in woven fabric

A new study examines the efficacy of particle filtration by woven fabric, which consists of fibers twisted together into yarns. There are, therefore, two lengthscales: the diameters of the fiber and the yarn. Using 3D imagery produced by confocal microscopy to see the air flow channels, the...

www.sciencedaily.com

Omicron ripped through the entire US/world, masked or unmasked.

 

[Taurus]

Because... the risk of breathing in a small particle is greatest when you're closest to that (possibly/probably) asymptomatic person?

Because... it's the nice thing to do to ridicule someone who could possibly be immune-compromised and wants to reduce risk AND get out of the house?

Or it's just time to build back up those walls between us? In case we forget it's beautiful weather outside and we have much to be thankful for.

Oh, I'm fine with pointing out inconsistencies with mockery, so long as the goose can take it as well as dish it out. Because the opportunities for mockery are vastly (with over a million deaths now) on the side of caution.

If you're going to have indoor eating/drinking at all, yeah, just take your mask off at the door and roll the dice as you enter. The quarter of a second of protection a mask offers as you walk by an asymptomatic carrier is gonna be more than offset by the two hours you spend in the same room with them with neither of you masked.

Sorry to seem so contrarian but it has snowed here the last three days in a row, that "beautiful" weather outside can go fork itself

 

[bigdaddysaints]

Those articles don't say masks are ineffective, they say cloth masks are inferior to n95 masks. When they mentioned cloth masks, they mentioned ones made from t shirts and jeans, not the lined cotton masks that most used. They actually mentioned surgical masks worked well as long as you wore them correctly, which would be the same for even the n95s.

 

[Eeyore]

Once again. I'm reminded why I bailed on this thread

 

[Sun Wukong]

Once again. I'm reminded why I bailed on this thread

Yeah, this thing is intolerable now. It's just an infinite loop of the exact same arguments happening over and over again with the exact same outcome. Disaster.

 

[Saint_Ward]

I literally quoted public health experts who say regular masks don't stop omicron.

Look at the rates of omicron spread in areas with a mask mandate versus areas without one last December-February - the omicron wave hit just as hard in "masked" areas as it did in the rural south/midwest.

Whatever value there was in 'everyday' masks in stopping Covid up until last winter, it went away with omicron. I understand that is not what people want to hear but it is still the case.

You're missing the nuance of my post and you also ignored the rest of the article you posted. You're making this very binary for some odd reason. Even in areas that have heavy mask usage, there are many around them who don't.

The point of the article was that with Omicron, we'd better step up our protection, not just do the minimum. However, while one line says

“Cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron,” said Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech

She then followed it up with more 'color'

Marr described cloth masks as marginally okay, but with omicron just “okay” isn’t good enough. She cited a study conducted by The University of Hong Kong which found that the omicron variant infects and multiplies 70 times faster inside the human respiratory tract tissue than the delta variant. That research is currently under peer review for publication.

Later it talks about how gaiters increased droplets, but we all talked about that study a year or so ago... the measured fomites.. which could also be dust, fabric debris, etc. They also didn't wash any of the masks before testing. So, they couldn't distinguish between spittle going through the mask, or dust/debris from the outside of the mask being ejected.

Leana Wen, public health professor at George Washington University and an emergency physician, has urged the public to wear high-quality masks and described cloth masks as, “little more than facial decorations.” She said cloth masks should not be considered an acceptable form of face covering and that the U.S. should require and distribute medical-grade surgical masks.

Despite the ongoing research on the various strengths of different face masks, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said this week during a White House COVID-19 response press briefing that the health agency was not going to be changing their mask guidance. She said updated information would be published on the CDC’s website to reflect the different levels of protection different masks provide.

So, the point was they wanted to ratchet up the guidance because cloths masks were ok, but not good enough to them, and they wanted people in surgical masks... she's not even saying N95 masks, which aren't surgical masks.

So, I'll agree that not all masks are created equal. I'll agree that some masks aren't as effective. But I won't agree and say they do nothing. And I won't agree that just because some people will choose to wear less effective masks on a plane, that the whole thing is theater.

Sometimes requirements are the minimum, not the best or perfect. It's like pieces of flair. 15 is the minimum required, but do you want to be seen as someone who just does the minimum?

 

[Saint_Ward]

In happier news. Despite a small uptick in the NE USA, Cases are mostly still low.

Areas in Europe that spiked a month or so ago, are racing downwards. The explosion of cases here hasn't happened again.

Things here have been mostly normal. Nice to see the situation improving overall.

Hope this means supply chain issues start to ease.

 

[Dago]

What You Need to Know About Covid Masks in the Age of Omicron

From what to wear to how to avoid counterfeits, experts weigh in on the latest advice about masks and Covid-19

www.smithsonianmag.com

This is one of the best articles I have seen and apparently on a fairly large study, cloth masks only provided a 5% reduction in transmission. Now the article doesn't get into how much people were in enclosed proximity to each other (these were villages in Africa) so that is one variable....although when you consider our jobs and society, I would be willing to bet that Americans spend more time in larger groups inside.
Add to that, the article states that 60% of the KN95 masks being sold here are fake and it is fair to ask if the results are worth the cost and inconvenience

 

[SaintInBucLand]

It was amazing to see so many videos from planes yesterday as people cheered when the pilot announced no more masks.

 

[efil4stnias]

Hope this means supply chain issues start to ease.

hmmm ...i didnt see any issues with the cocaine supply chain.