Masks

GT89 wrote: »

No they didn't stop the virus spreading in China. If masks are so effective then Covid would have been contained in China

Masks are one measure to help slow spread. They do not stop spread entirely, nobody has claimed that as far as I can see.

Mask usage also universal in Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan.

i_surge wrote: »

What concerns me is the ubiquity of papery surgical masks which are fairly ****. Low standards abound.

You embarrass yourself.

GT89 wrote: »

No masks in Sweden and society has not collapsed like some suggested it would. If no masks is good enough for Sweden then it should be good enough for Ireland.

Sweden has a far more compliant population than we have....... they take the advise of their government in good faith and with things like covid believe the powers that be know best. Don’t think that’d work here....... I can’t imagine why

This thread is demented.

Just be a sound person, wear a mask.

GT89 wrote: »

Ok Karen

Wanting to do whatever you want, because it inconveniences you to do otherwise, at the potential expense of others, is the epitome of "Karen" behaviour I'm afraid.

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

Just looking at this picture, and I wonder would viral load have anything to do with less people dying now? As in masks have been helping because people aren't getting as much virus in them?

Overheal wrote: »

Seems to make layman sense, your body has to fight off a smaller initial infection and exponential growth is not as virulent.

I posted this on another thread, but there's a pretty good study either just out, or soon to be published, conducted with the Swiss Army.

They tested two Army units who never had any contact with one another. Fairly safe to assume they both had very similar routines, lifestyles, daily activities etc.

On March 11th a positive case of symptomatic Covid19 was reported in Unit 1, which led the army to imposed strict rules about social distancing and handwashing for all units. March 31st they tested a small sample of Unit 2 and found no positive cases. So the basic idea here is that the virus was spreading around Unit 1 before the social distancing/hygiene rules were brought in, but Unit 2 was clean.

Fast forward a couple of weeks (April 14th) and they tested samples from both Units: in Unit 1, 62% came back positive, while in Unit 2, 14% came back positive. These were all asymptomatic, so traces of virus (i.e., Sars-Cov2) but not the illness (Covid-19). So two developments: (a) virus now spreading fairly strongly in Unit 1, and (b) virus now present in Unit 2, but lower presence.

Fastforward another 2-ish weeks (May 3rd), Unit 1 went on to develop 102 cases of the actual ILLNESS (Covid-19), while Unit 2 didn't see a single case.

They conclude: Social distancing and good hygiene reduces not only the risk that you get the VIRUS, but ALSO reduces the risk of you getting a serious case of the ILLNESS if you do catch it.

Until now the consensus was that the severity of the disease largely related to underlying health conditions and age. But what this Army study shows quite compellingly is that there is also a link between the amount of virus you are exposed to, and the severity of your illness. Anecdotally, this is also supported by the alarming number of otherwise young, healthy medical professionals dying from Covid 19, especially early on in the pandemic when they were probably not taking near the adequate measures with regard to exposure to the virus.

And you are absolutely right, the way we track this is by following the death rate, as masks, social distancing and good hygiene become more commonplace. Case increase, but a flattened fatality rate points to people getting the virus, but via reduced viral exposure, and resulting in less severe symptoms, if any.

I hope that when the time comes that it is safe to ditch the masks, the government and health authorities will publicly campaign (be it be advertising etc) that people can go to public places and are safe to do so without masks.

Tork wrote: »

The only link I can find (I went onto Twitter) is this French website https://qactus.fr/2020/08/03/q-scoop-le-juge-des-referes-condamne-la-ville-de-strasbourg/ It's connected to QAnon who wouldn't be what you'd call a reputable news source

I wonder is the poster mistakenly taking a 2017 ECHR decision connected to wearing burquas and niqabs in public? I don’t want to presume this and they should be given the opportunity to clarify.

joeguevara wrote: »

I wonder is the poster mistakenly taking a 2017 ECHR decision connected to wearing burquas and niqabs in public? I don’t want to presume this and they should be given the opportunity to clarify.

I just think society will at some stage require to get back to normal. Masks are not normal. People may wear them for years after covid. The longer this goes on, the longer it will take for society to readjust.

Ps if people want to wear burquas, off with them (as long as it's their choice)