Gozit

Ontario yesterday stopped short of re-imposing the mask mandate for indoor public spaces but is looking to extend the high risk mandate (hospitals, colleges/universities, etc)....and is "strongly recommending" indoor masking. Why not just take people's emotions and feelings out of it and just mandate it again? This is so dumb. Exactly where I thought it was going to go, another huge case bump and i'm sure by the end of the summer / into the fall, more public health restrictions will be back.

Almost Canadian

As restrictions are lifted, case numbers will rise. This was expected and has been seen in jurisdictions all over the world. So long as that doesn't result in the healthcare system being overwhelmed, which it never has, what is the issue?

There has never been a randomized clinical trial that shows the masking makes a significant difference anyway.

Gozit

I agree with you, but it seems like the government is sowing the seeds to make this an excuse to bring back other public health restrictions / lockdowns, etc. I'd rather them bring back masking to make it look like they are doing something rather then more restrictive measures. This is not the US where they will get away with completely abandoning restrictions.

Almost Canadian

I completely agree that this is a political issue rather than a science issue. However, while the media continues to put physicians on the tv that recommend that everyone will die unless restrictions are imposed, and while politicians are allowing them to do so without putting forward experts that disagree, you will continue to see children walking around outside, with no-one else within 10 metres of them, wearing masks. It's lunacy but a fact of life unfortunately. Hopefully, such politicians will get kicked from office come election time.

BristolUK

Somebody does love his dog whistle and snippets of misinformation doesn't he.

From the CDC Updated Dec. 6, 2021

BristolUK

Philadelphia becomes first major US city to reinstate indoor mask mandate

bats

That's a very good point and something I've wondered about. i recall a couple of accidents where a kid has run across the road and been knocked down by errant drivers.

Danny B

That aint what the WHO said

Masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives; the use of a mask alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection against COVID-19.

Almost Canadian

I thought Bristol couldn't hear me anymore. Anyway, once again, he has failed to respond to what I stated. The only randomized clinical trials that have been conducted (Denmark and India) showed that masking, with the types of masks most people use, had little effect.

Gozit

I'm afraid the only viable "other options" will be worse then the current incumbents in Ontario if they are voted out.

bats

That phrase " with the type of masks most people use" is all important. Three layer cloth masks were better than nothing in the beginning when alternatives were hard to find but the saggy, old, one layer fabric masks are a waste of time. IMHO if there aren't mask mandates the govt should provide N95 masks and educate more on the benefits of wearing them along with hand sanitising and distance, At least the N95 gives the wearer some protection against those who don't believe in infection control measures

BristolUK

The CDC didn't say masks alone it just said that masks were of benefit just as the above says that.
I focused exclusively on research showing masks were of benefit because of AC's false claim.

BristolUK

You were quoted so I saw your misleading statement.

See that's what I meant about dog whistle. You make a statement that everyone is going to interpret one particular way but you throw in a subjective word like significant and a randomised to claim that wasn't what you said.

And now you're claiming I didn't read you properly by mentioning Denmark and India which were not in the post quoted by gozit. Very dishonest of you.

You keep quoting the CDC - or rather you don't quote them, you just say what you think they said - and I quote the very same CDC back at you and you dismiss it.

printer

But this is purely a political "look what we did" argument for any government. We need to face facts, masks alone will NOT solve this or even reduce the numbers significantly enough it's just a simple political tool to show us how good our leaders are at looking after us without actually causing any huge disruption in peoples lives. They know and we know that effective tools for seriously reducing numbers are painful and hurt business but also cost governments massive amounts of money, masks cost them nothing yet back when we had a brief respite and masks were lifted here it coincided with start of summer in Kelowna and as if by magic numbers went up so they jumped on it and said masks back on much to our dismay yet it took weeks before we saw any real reduction in cases and then that coincided with end of summer and tourists going home and we kept the mandate going until 3 weeks ago. Current variants along with normal living and travelling will cause this to continue to spread regardless of whether we wear masks indoors.
Lets take control of our own health without waiting for the government to tell us what to do. We are still wearing them in all medical settings as per BC health order and in all aircraft when travelling and anyone can wear one whenever and wherever they like and if they don't like that's fine too just don't belittle anyone who chooses to wear one.

Paul_Shepherd

This is it, everyone needs to respect the individuals opinion, I went into Home Depot last night to pick up some paint... I was unsure of the colour match, so I asked an assistant for advice, she was wearing a mask, and I wasn't, so as she walked over to me, (knowing we would be in a closer contact space) I said to her "oh I have a mask do you want me to wear it, its no problem..." she smiled - at least I think she did, I couldn't see behind her mask) she replied no its ok, its no problem. I said ok and continued with my question. This is where we need to be... repsectful of each other's decisions, but I don't see that improving.

Just reading through all these comments, we certainly do live in a divided world now don't we; in just about every way possible, with covid its over a medical opinion....(and it is just an opinion not fact as not even doctors can agree on what should or shouldn't be done) ....then to amplify it its all politicised and stoked by our biggest enemy the media (and social media) to make it even worse. Sadly the division doesn't stop at covid, its everything now, race, gender, sexuality, climate, religion, there is no unity anymore, that's long gone, what a sad divided world we now live in.

On a happier note its a short work week... I am going to focus on the happier things in life... and try and convince myself to stop watching the news....