Coronavirus
Jul 1st 2020, 3:37 pm
#1952
Oscar nominated
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Moncton, NB, CANADA
Posts: 50,863
Re: Coronavirus
It's America but...
If more Americans wore masks the pandemic would slow, experts say
Maybe the air is different up here or there's something unusual about the way we exhale, sneeze and cough. 
Or does mask wearing actually make sense? 
If more Americans wore masks the pandemic would slow, experts say
A cultural shift among Americans to adopt mass mask wearing would be one of the simplest and most effective ways to curb further devastation from the coronavirus pandemic, according to public health experts.States that reopened businesses early when case numbers were relatively low, such as Texas and Florida, have been forced to reimpose restrictions on bars and restaurants to slow a huge spike in infections. Such seesawing lockdowns could be largely avoided, experts say, if Americans embraced near-universal mask wearing.
More than 30,000 deaths could be avoided by October if 95% of Americans wear face masks in public, according to research by the University of Washington.
More than 30,000 deaths could be avoided by October if 95% of Americans wear face masks in public, according to research by the University of Washington.
Or does mask wearing actually make sense?
Jul 1st 2020, 3:39 pm
#1953
Listen to the Music
Joined: Mar 2013
Location: Fraser Valley BC
Posts: 4,728
Jul 1st 2020, 3:54 pm
#1955
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Coronavirus
So am I if I go to the supermarket or pharmacy. With the added disadvantage that I have no idea whether other people are infectious whereas the doctor at least has a pretty good idea that the person they are seeing is ill and possibly they even know what's wrong with them.
Does that object falling on your head hurt me and others too? It's about the benefits to the many, not just the few. Or the one. ....
Does that object falling on your head hurt me and others too? It's about the benefits to the many, not just the few. Or the one. ....
Good points, both of them, and you're not even a risk professional! 
I was about to make the second point myself, that if something falls on you at Costco, it doesn't put your elderly parents at risk when you visit them next weekend, nor does it put your colleagues at risk in your office or factory when you return to work, or customers/ clients if you work in a service industry. I would argue that experience assessing risk in an industrial setting puts Engineer_Abroad at a disadvanage in assessing pandemic risk, because the causes (visible/ measureable threat v non-visible/ unknown threat, and that could be caused by a visitor to the location, not by something falling from the racking or by a piece of machinery), and results (injury at a specific location at a single time v onward spread to an unknown number of future victims) are totally different.
Last edited by Pulaski; Jul 1st 2020 at 4:37 pm.
Jul 1st 2020, 4:30 pm
#1956
Yo
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 24,474
Re: Coronavirus
Good points, both of them, and you're not even a risk professional! I was about to make the second point myself, that if something falls on you at Costco, it doesn't put your elderly parents at risk when you visit them next weekend, nor does it put your colleagues at risk in your office or factory when you return to work, or customers/ clients if you work in a service industry. I would argue that experience assessing risk in an industrial setting puts Engineer_Abroad at a disadvanage in assessing pandemic risk, becasue the causes (visible/ measureable threat v non-visible/ unknown threat), and results (injury a specific location at a single time v unward spread to an unknown number of future victims) are totally different.
Jul 1st 2020, 4:33 pm
#1957
Oscar nominated
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Moncton, NB, CANADA
Posts: 50,863
Jul 1st 2020, 4:57 pm
#1959
limey party pooper
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 9,982
Re: Coronavirus
In olden days, pre corona, we medical professionals used to wear regukar masks to protect the parient from us and n95 masks to protect ourselves from the patient. Patients and visitors were asked to wear a mask if they had a cough or cold. Proven infection control measures. Why do some of you think it's any different now when it's even more important?
Jul 1st 2020, 6:16 pm
#1960
Banned
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 19,879
Re: Coronavirus
In olden days, pre corona, we medical professionals used to wear regukar masks to protect the parient from us and n95 masks to protect ourselves from the patient. Patients and visitors were asked to wear a mask if they had a cough or cold. Proven infection control measures. Why do some of you think it's any different now when it's even more important?
Jul 1st 2020, 6:20 pm
#1961
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Coronavirus
Last edited by Pulaski; Jul 1st 2020 at 6:27 pm.
Jul 1st 2020, 6:23 pm
#1962
Banned
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 19,879
Jul 1st 2020, 6:36 pm
#1963
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Coronavirus
I take occasional pot-shots against such nonsense in comments under news videos posted on YouTube, but p!$$!in9 in the wind doesn't begin to describe the futility of trying to apply logic in the face of such madness. A couple of days someone accused me of being "a slave" by following the order to wear a mask (as an aside I have been wearing one on my weekly grocery expeditions, and the other rare trips I make away from Pulaski Manor, since March when "they" (WHO, US gov, UK gov, etc.) were busy telliing us not to wear masks). I responded by noting that there are already laws requiring him to wear enough clothes to cover his genitals, and asking him if that made him a slave too? I didn't get a reply!
Jul 1st 2020, 7:09 pm
#1965
Oscar nominated
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Moncton, NB, CANADA
Posts: 50,863