Senate Pandemics in the Age of Globalization: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion: See OP Warning

@gezvader28 If you are fully vaxxed, your odds of getting infected even in that situation are low but again mask quality really matters so definitely if you can go with a N95 or KN95 masks which are available via Amazon for under $2 a pop. The supply chain for them are really good so no worries about taking it from an older and/or more vulnerable person.

 

This is a central problem of the pandemic. It's taken many forms since March 2020, but the lack of enforcement of various mandates is a major part of what's kept the pandemic going. I think it's a particularly American problem; not limited to us, but more severe than most places. We're conditioned to not "make a scene," sometimes at any cost. All it's taken for a lot of people who refuse to either wear a mask or wear a mask correctly to do what they want is for them to continue their behavior. Flying is one area where this hasn't been the case as much as elsewhere, partly because you're a literal captive audience. The Biden administration's executive order in January helped a lot with this, as it enabled crew members to point to a federal law, rather than internal policies.

For the most part, Americans have been allowed to do what they want without fear of meaningful consequences (being shamed on a momentarily viral youtube video doesn't qualify). Even in places that required mask usage at the height of the pandemic this past winter, all it usually took was someone pulling their mask down after entering and daring anyone to do something about it. On public transit here in Phoenix, there's almost no real enforcement of the federal mask-wearing law. That's no doubt in part because many of the people tasked with such enforcement don't believe in masks and are among those who believe and spread disinformation.

Anyway, it's not surprising that a country where consequences for those with power are rare is struggling to get through the pandemic. We value superficial harmony and go along to get along. The virus doesn't care, of course. It does what it does. Until we're collectively willing to do what @Darth Guy said and fire people for refusing to get the vaccine, and promptly escort people out of stores (and then ban them from returning) for not wearing a mask, we'll be here for a long time to come.

 

Honest question: what is the difference between an N95 mask and a KN95 mask? I know in the early days of the pandemic we were told to not wear N95 masks because supply was critically low and they were desperately needed by healthcare workers. I gather that the supply issue is no longer an issue for N95s, but I still don't know what the difference between that and a KN95 is.

 

KN95's come from China and have varying levels of quality control. They are both supposed to filter 95% of particles below a certain size, but in America N95's are required to be vigorously tested.

If you only have access to KN95's, put a surgical mask over it. In fact, double-masking is a good idea in high-prevalence areas if you're going to be indoors with crowds. It will likely return as a recommendation this fall and winter, as well.

 

DeSantis had a "discussion" today that included a child psychologist that affirmed children wearing a mask was "child abuse" and there was no science a mask could stop viruses anyways.

 

OK, so essentially N95 and KN95 masks are "supposed" to be the same thing but N95 masks have much better quality control? Good to know.

I do have in-person university classes this fall, along with likely some in-person job interviews (as I graduate in December), and I don't know yet if the university is going to reimplement mask requirements. Ohio law bans them from requiring or incentivizing unapproved vaccines or discriminating against refusal to take an unapproved vaccine, so until we get full approval from the FDA, vaccine mandates are illegal here and any mask, distancing, or other requirements have to be uniform regardless of vaccination status.

 

Truth

I ordered some good KN95's and N95's. Came today:

https://www.projectn95.org/

 

went to the movie theatre first time in over a year that my double-vaxed kicked in after 2 weeks, still masks are mandatory and half capacity but wasn't even at half and had all the rows infront of me blank and anyone else was behind me. kept mine on except maybe a dozen times pulled down temporarily to take a sip of water (unlike last year I felt confident to bring a drink). Looked behind me a few rows back ppl at the back were probably mask-less with concessions the whole time (and heard somebody cough which I assumed was a covid case) but I wasn't as incredibly freaked out being double vaxed and all already with only 100 active cases in the city. 2nd time I used the doorknob I did use my shirt though, maybe should bring disposable gloves for that.

 

I can't even remember the last movie I saw in a theater.

... what came out in summer of 2019?

Maybe Avengers.

 

Disposable gloves are pretty overkill since this is respiratory transmission unless you're opening the door with your mouth.

 

The last movie I saw in theaters was March 8, 2020 we saw Onward and I knew it was dangerous, but I promised my son we'd go see it and nothing was closed yet. Everyone was pretending all was well. Craziest part was I bought my son popcorn and another kid we didn't know moved down a few seats and shared with him. Yeah, I am too nice to tell a kid I don't know to get his hands out of my son's popcorn and my son was nice enough to share.

I actually miss going to the movies with my son and wonder when it will ever feel safe to go back.

 

No kids to deal with, but I've been back once, and have two more coming up, where I've taken advantage of theatres that have a way to rent out a theatre. At least here, Cinemark is doing it at a pretty reasonable price. $150 for a theater during the week and up to 20 people. So getting to 15 people or so its cheaper than what I was used to paying for a movie.

Only going with people that are also fully vaccinated and it is wonderful.

 

@blackmyron Ironically kids seem to be the least effected by it and most likely to comply with mask mandates. Heck my boys even tell me to make sure my mask is onproperty and help their baby sister out since her mask falls off some since she is five. The adults who are screaming "I rather die then have my kid wear a mask" are the ones who don't listen to their kids. DeSantis has put himself in a real pickle though since the Delta Surge will peak potentially when school starts in a few weeks yet has made it illegal for masks to be mandated at schools. It's bad enough we are only having "recommending masks" to start the school year but at least we got very strong vaccination compliance among our student body and we will be doing testing surveillance with both the spit and rapid test. I cannot imagine being in a grade school in say Florida where no kids are vaccinated due to age, very low vaccination rate among staff & even more inexplicably have ZERO migration policies in place, not even testing surveillance. I'm sure DeSantis will blame it on someone/something other then himself and the MAGAers will nod in approval.

@jcgoble3 If your school is not making vaccines mandatory or at the very least not making life very difficult on the unvaxxed, then I would definitely look into a KN95 or N95 mask for the classroom and stuff. Remember though that while the mask can help, the heavy lifting of what will keep you safe and healthy will be done by the vaccine. It will *knock on wood* keep your odds of having a breakthrough case low. Just the mask puts the odds even a bit lower that you will have a breakthrough case. Here is actually a really good article on how the vaccines were set up to handle different variants:




Ironically she also wrote a really good piece also on why us fully vaccinated should mask up in certain situations:



As my cousin who is a doctor said to a bunch of us at a family BBQ on Sunday, "just because we gave you a new tank to go out in the world doesn't mean you go crash it every five seconds to see how tough it is". So yes while it's definitely suggested you wear a mask even fully vaccinated in certain situations like in the classroom, don't fret about it too much and don't panic if you forget to put it on or something. Again the vaccine is doing the heavy lifting. The mask is just there has a little extra cushion. I think some vaxxed folks have panicked which is exactly what the anti vaxxers want and that needs to stop.

@Fifi Kenobi Yeah if your going to wear a mask, go with a good one if you can. Again we are swimming in them so there is plenty to go around. Heck there are some really good deals out there right now just like there is on disinfectant wipes and cleaners which I freely admit I stock up on. Full house here so just like paper towels + toilet paper (which I stock up on as well since there are also deals for both at Costco the past month or two) so will use all of that even if school coming up and will all be home much less.

@Runjedirun You are pretty safe to go back now even with your not vaxxed like mine are especially if you go at not a popular time though a mask would be prudent for obvious reasons. My kids have turned into old men and a old bettie so like me they perfer to stay home. Instead of going to see Black Widow in the theater, my brothers youngest two came over and the boys had a few friends over as well to watch it via Disney+ Premier Access which they all absolutely loved as our sectional was big enough for all of them. I pick up a couple pizzas from Costco and my wife made popcorn and mixed it with some carmel corn. They absolutely love it!

I do think the pandemic just accelerated the timeline of younger generations preferring to watch content including movies at home instead of the theater. The boys did not see a ton of movies in the theater before the pandemic hit and my daughter saw ONE movie in the theater before it hit. So to them it's an experience that really is not that important. It is to our generation that finds the movie theater experience sknce growing up it was part of our social ecosystem......but so was going to Blockbuster Video. I think for the younger generations going to the movies was something that "our parents did" as their social ecosystem is in a much different place now aka online.

Here btw is the presentation that the CDC gave today:

https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2021/han00447.asp?ACSTrackingID=USCDC_511-DM62418&ACSTrackingLabel=HAN 447 - General Public&deliveryName=USCDC_511-DM62418

95% of it is about how unvaxxed people are driving cases and hospitalizations therefore the need to try and get as many people vaccinated ASAP is imperative especially as we go thru the Delta Surge. 5% (and that is being generous) is their recommendation to fully vaxxed people in high tranmission states/areas should wear a mask in certain situations particularly if they are older and or have other issues.

Yet the only headline from this was "CDC reverses course and says vaccinated people should wear a mask". I swear the anticaxxers are winning the narratives game and the "liberal press" is helping them.

And I am glad a doctor said what I been thinking for awhile now:



Millions and millions of vaccine doses are about to expire over the next few doses thanks to the antivaxxers. As @DarkGingerJedi said even with kids + full authorization we are looking at best about 75% of America vaccinated. Why on earth are we going to keep doses for people who we know will never EVER taking them even if you mandate it when you have a majority of the country willing to take a third dose? Yes I totally agree we need better vaccine equity around the world but it's too late for many of these doses to be shipped abroad therefore it's either let them go to a waste (which is a sin in my opinion) or potentially going to already fully vaxxed people as a way to keep up effaicy and more importantly perhaps lead to better long term protection. So if it's proven to be safe and effective, I think we should definitely get a third dose rather then let them go to waste. To me that is a no brainer.

 

The man is an unbearable, corrupt idiot.



He deserved this.

There is more speculation that relations those who contracted Covid and survivors of it will sue Fox News for fraud. I certainly hope so. Right now, I'm so angry that I wish Jyn Erso and the Rogue One crew were real, so they could arrest Tucker Carlson.

 

You pasted the wrong tweet here (duplicate of the second).

Yeah, I'm definitely not panicking. I haven't started wearing a mask again yet as case numbers are still low around here, though I've considered it. I'll probably order some N95s when I get paid next week. I need to order a few other things on Amazon anyway.

According to the map here, my county and the most important adjacent counties are white (high vaccination rate and low incidence), which is good. Some of the more rural and less populated adjacent counties have a low vaccination rate, but the incidence rate remains low throughout the region with the closest high incidence county about 100 miles away. Hopefully the incidence rate here stays low.

 

https://www.klcc.org/post/covid-case-spike-lane-co-triggers-public-health-pleas

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavi...combat-resurging-covid-19.html?outputType=amp

Oregon health officials have recommended that everyone wear a mask indoors due to there spread of the Delta variant. Lane County has suggested that vaccinated people should convince unvaccinated people to get the vaccine. I think this is a good idea. I'm trying to persuade my friend in town to get it. She is not some anti-vaxxer. She has fibro and she seems to believe that the vaccine wouldn't be good for her personally. But I'm not convinced. I'm willing to pay for her to get it myself. She doesn't go out much and works form home. Still, this Delta variant has been caught by many unvaccinated people here.

 

According to the NYT database, today was the first day since 2/11 that the US surpassed over 100,000 new cases in a single day.

U!S!A! U!S!A! U!S!A!

 

I have serious questions as to where they got that number. It looks like it may be reflecting stochastic processes in case reporting (particularly Florida reporting numbers weekly)

 

That’s a good point. I just looked at the individual states’ data and you’re right, FL doesn’t report cases on the weekend or Monday anymore, so this likely includes weekend cases, at least for that state.

 

4 states only report weekly.

 

I like that Florida clearly thought that this would be a good distractionary tactic, and instead it results in "hey, Florida just reported 75,000 more COVID cases", which sounds way worse to many people than a daily number since it's changing less day to day.

 

Dispatches from reality.

 

I feel like the only children who feel mask wearing is abusive are the grown-ass 'adults' who constantly whine about the 'punishment' of having to wear a mask.

Seriously. It's not abusive. It's not a punishment. It's a simple way to show others (and even teach kids) you care about your and other's health.

 

Here's one of those freedum smiles:

Passenger smashes MBTA bus window after being asked to put on mask, police say