To Mask or not to two - Mask Megathread cont.

Seanergy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117774993#Comment_117774993

Has anyone told them that kids don't social distance?

They do not need to be told, see 2nd paragraph.

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775323#Comment_117775323

At least this time around, they're recommending opening windows. I'm sure that might help.

Oh, except, I came across something that said mechanical ventilation is better than opening windows. These ventilation systems aren't in schools. Oh well. Why stop there. Might as well tell children not to wash their hands as well.

Seanergy

Gardaí on the case of Healy-Rae pub gathering of maskless crowd.

https://extra.ie/2021/08/19/news/irish-news/gardai-healy-rae-pub-gathering

fun loving criminal

What's the answer to all this? All along they were telling us vaccines were the answer and the way out. But look how that has turned out. They don't give sterilising immunity and you can still catch and spread covid.

They're still maintaining the distancing and hand washing. Just maybe they were wrong about masks from the beginning and just too cowardly to admit it.

Seanergy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775433#Comment_117775433

Might as well tell children not to wash their hands as well.

Strangely enough they nearly were going to do that.

I see people driving alone in their cars wearing masks.

I see people out walking wearing masks.

I see people jogging wearing masks.

I see people double masking and wearing a visor.

People have lost their minds..

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776112#Comment_117776112

Early in the pandemic, there was a concern about being infected via eyes, hence the visors additional to masks. I think the jury is still out on that but if you have something conclusive that the virus can't spread via that mechanism please share.

Delta variant is highly transmissible.

Double masking increases the fit & filtering of the cheap disposable masks.

People fit on the masks and wear them to the shops, keep them on in the car, instead of fiddling with the mask and taking it off and on again.

All perfectly reasonable if you thought about it.

I guess you probably won't though, as you'd have to think about it for more than a second and try to empathise with other people's concerns.

thebronze14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776198#Comment_117776198

Mad that in a society were basically every adult that wants to be vaccinated is that people are still talking and behaving like this! I'm happy to wear a mask in shops/crowded settings but posts like that make me think some people will never get over the fear of this virus!

Unicorn Milk Latte

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776112#Comment_117776112

That's a very small group of overly anxious, poorly informed people. The main point is, their behaviour does not harm anybody. And being scared in a pandemic is understandable. Show some compassion.

Make 1 observation on the thread. Attacked 2 times. I was trying to point out that people are so battered by information on a daily basis they don't know what to think. But I suppose you can't say anything like that on boards these days without getting some snarky comments passed towards you..

Seanergy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776268#Comment_117776268

but posts like that make me think some people will never get over the fear of this virus!

All the evidence from the Sars outbreak in Singapore points to SFA fear once the public have been candidly informed.

The fear narrative is peddled by the logically challenged as a coping mechanism.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/114564889#Comment_114564889

That seems like a nice get out clause from wearing one. To justify it to yourself that others are ONLY wear masks for the moral high ground standpoint

A poster already referenced seat belts, years ago many drivers did not bother wearing one now most people wear them as a matter of course. It is proven to save lives.

Drink driving is another one - these days most sensible people realise that drink driving costs lives. Years ago this was laughed at and dismissed. Now the evidence shows the contrary and most sensible people do not drink and drive.

The use of phones while driving is another newer version of the drink driving. Again most sensible people comply and understand its dangers. Those who don't normally suffer from some form of addiction to their phone. Or simply don't care about their own safety or others safety.

The masks are similar in their effect to the above examples when they were new for Irish society. However, the difference is with the masks some people find it more difficult to accept, because the benefits are less tangible and more abstract.

People can see how a seat belt stops a person flying through a windscreen. It is easily visible and tangible. The same with drink driving

People can see the drunk/mobile phone user swerving on the road and driving erratically people can see it is a danger.

The masks cause some people another problem because some feel it is imposing on them as a person, rather than seeing the intangible benefits to others and themselves.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776330#Comment_117776330

I think your post was met with the same level of snark it originated with :)

You'll notice I didn't put up any defence of joggers, they're a free fire zone for you.

revelman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776112#Comment_117776112

Are you in Asia by any chance?

Here in Ireland, I’ve seen random people out and about wearing masks but I think, more often than not, it is because they have forgotten to take off their mask after coming out of a shop etc. Once or twice I have started driving my car before remembering I was wearing a mask. I have never once seen someone jogging with a mask on.

So, when you say you see people doing these things, if you are in Ireland, I’m assuming you are talking about a random few people every now and again... And come on, how many people have you really seen jogging with a mask on?

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776048#Comment_117776048

Why bother with any of the measures at all? They're treating kids as if they are stupid and can't handle these health measures. They very much can. They have to be thought to dress themselves, tie their shoe laces, how to wash their hands, brush their teeth. Kids need to be thought how to use face masks as well.

xhomelezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776112#Comment_117776112

I see some people still keep posting the same nonsense over and over..

Seanergy

Why bother with any of the measures at all?

All the other other measures didn't create a stalemate within the Expert Advisory Group(EAG), masks have. If masks hadn't, I'd imagine we would have been looking at 6+ masking up or at the very least 9+ from summer 2020.

The division within the EAG on masks cannot be understated.

Community masking was supposed to be introduced as part of exiting lockdown at the begining of May, but this didn't happen, partly due to the internal division within the EAG. It would appear once the EAG decided that U13's wouldn't be included in Mandatory Community Masking(MCM), normal business resumed for MCM and it got rolled out.

Many excuses came out of the EAG in the mettings surrounding MCM but the the primary excuse being given by the EAG right now in the latest V4 COVID-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable operation of Primary and Special Schools is irritating:

"In childcare and educational settings, the implementation of mandatory face-covering usage is challenging, as it is known that children will have a lower tolerance and ability to use the face covering properly, and use of face-coverings by teachers and staff caring for very young children may cause undue stress to the children."

Is it the Anti-mask parents who present the challenge or is it just challenging for the EAG? Surely they are not referring to the children in general.

I would also question the "it is known" and the "undue stress" excuses.

I still am to see a child/U13 wear a mask below the nose.

Unicorn Milk Latte

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776330#Comment_117776330

Make 1 observation on the thread.

When you say

People have lost their minds..

that's not an observation, it's an attack.

I can understand that there is little patience at this stage with people that, after a year and a half, still have not understood how masks work. But, unlike the antimaksers, the overly cautious do no harm.

Seanergy

If supply is not there and 1 million Irish kids go back into school in September, school may not be open for very long.

https://cheddar.com/media/mask-shortage-concerns-emerge-as-covid-delta-variant-explodes

Seanergy

Making face-coverings a requirement for younger children in school could have unintended consequences, such as increasing face-to-face contact, according to the HSE schools response lead. 

Dr Abigail Collins, a consultant in public health medicine, said public health hasn’t seen enough evidence to support a recommendation that requires all younger children to wear face coverings in school.

Guidance sent to primary schools this week by the Department of Education described mandatory face-covering usage as "challenging" amongst childcare and primary schools. 

It can be quite difficult for young children to put a face covering on, and for them to stay on during school, she added.

Younger students or those who wear glasses may need help from a teacher with their face covering. 

"Then they go to help them, you are getting someone face-to-face really close, touching around their mouth and around their ears to help with that.”

“So actually, while we are not sure we are preventing, we definitely know we are adding to the risk by having people close by requiring them to do that, to put the face mask on. These are the kind of things that are discussed; on average do we think there is enough evidence to support reducing the risk further, without introducing unintended consequences.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40362881.html

Unicorn Milk Latte

In the US, the mask fights are turning into physical violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmtfFAqUwtI

At this time, educating people about the efficacy of masks is futile. If they haven't understood it by now, they won't understand it if you explain it another 50 times.

I do agree with the demands to not make masks for kids in schools mandatory. Simply for pragmatic reasons, to reduce the fighting. Give parents a choice between sending the kids to school and wear a mask, OR keeping kids at home and let them learn remotely.

Unicorn Milk Latte

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117778001#Comment_117778001

Dr Abigail Collins, a consultant in public health medicine, said public health hasn’t seen enough evidence to support a recommendation that requires all younger children to wear face coverings in school.

She's making such a good point. Everybody knows that children don't breathe air in and out through their mouth and nose, so existing studies about the efficacy of masks obviously don't apply to them.

OK, seriously, children were actually included in studies that show the efficacy of masks, like this one:

http://ftp.iza.org/dp13319.pdf

Seanergy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117778378#Comment_117778378

I do agree with the demands to not make masks for kids in schools mandatory. Simply for pragmatic reasons, to reduce the fighting.

Massive difference between not making masks mandatory for children in Primary School whilst encouraging mask uptake and saying 'Not enough evidence'.

The article in question stinks, nearly every paragraph can be pulled apart.

Seanergy

Current IPC in schools are copper fast and have stood the test of time.....WTAF

Did Martin Cormican write this article for the IE?

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117776112#Comment_117776112

I see people who pull off their face masks to talk to people face-to-face and indoors.

Along with people who talk to people with the mask under the nose. The best one I've seen were two idiots talking to each other both of them with their nose hanging out.

Along with people who wear their masks as a chin strap indoors in a public setting.

People just don't understand the simple concept of masks. You wear it because you might be infected. You don't go and take it off, wear it on your chin, or under the nose while others are around.

These people are much worse than people on their own wearing a mask outdoors.

mfceiling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117785008#Comment_117785008

This^^

The amount of clowns walking around with the mask either covering their mouth and not their nose or just on their chin.

Don't bother wearing it at all because you're only making an idiot out of yourself by wearing it like that.

Also noticing people not bothering to sanitise their hands anymore and the 2 metre rule has gone completely. The amount of pricks I've had this last while literally breathing on the back of my neck is unreal.

Seanergy

How in the world did the 'Irish Experts' go from masks as a choking hazard for under 2's(CDC advice) to masks as a choking hazard for under 13's???

Seanergy

Outnow.

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117785131#Comment_117785131

You're not the only person who has the same thing with pricks on the back of you.

I also see so much not bothering to sanitise their hands either. Nor do they sanitise with their own sanitiser at the sanitising station.

Also using shared bathrooms in work. Nobody washes their hands properly. You know the procedure... rub hands palm to palm, interlock fingers, rub back of both hands, rub thumb on both hands and rub fingertips in a circular motion in your palm... Nobody does this in my place of work.

One person splashes her hands with water, get some soap and rinses the soap of. No hand rubbing at all. It makes me cringe with the amount of dirty people out there.

I clean the taps and door handles when I get into the bathroom in work, go of and do my business and hope nobody touches them before I do.

Some people like to say masks don't belong outside an operating theatre and blame the increase of cases on masks. Why stop there? The handwashing procedure above is what doctors use. So maybe hand washing is the problem and not face masks.

patnor1011

Masks worked as PR stunt mainly when we did not know much about this virus. Nobody bothers with masks anymore. In a place where I work out of 100 residents about 5 of them go around with mask on. Rest of the people moved on. Majority is fully vaccinated and about half already had covid.