Community Chat

[pitdakota]

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@Memebell wrote:

Which recommendations?   The one that told us to NOT wear masks because it wasn't necessary or the one now that says, oh yeah, on second thought wear a mask.    And then when confronted with the flip flop they said they only said that so people wouldn't buy them all up to preserve for medical workers. If that was the case back then, why not be honest about and not tell us FIRMLY that masks will NOT help you from getting the virus.    They didn't need to lie back then if they truly felt it was necessary.     Credibility is important.   And while we learn new things we didn't know every day, I don't think this was one we didn't know.   All we saw on TV were people in China wearing face masks everywhere.  

I personally wear one when I go to any place where there are more than one or two people.    But I also respect the right of those who don't choose to wear one.   I just don't get close to them.     We need to respect others choices.   That doesn't mean we can't disagree but we have the choice and ability to distance ourselves from them if we are concerned.   

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@Memebell, the change in recommendations for wearing a mask was really due to learning about this coronavirus and accepting how different it was than many other viruses out there.

As a nurse, I was right there with the experts.  I would not have recommended wearing a mask either in the beginning.  Before this we always looked at things that When someone had a serious respiratory virus they typically aren't out in mass at restaurants eating, going to basketball games, etc.  Not that some weren't, but usually many people didn't feel good so they tended not to do those things. 

Even with influenza, there is a very limited time of time of transmission during the incubation stage, so most people might drag their self to work, but they weren't going out and about socially after they started experiencing severe symptoms.  Even if they did, the person tended to look sick along with coughing, sneezing, etc.  So many might stay away from someone they knew that didn't feel well and was coughing.

So why wear a mask when it wouldn't guarantee that it would protect you from getting sick and going on what was common for most severe influenza like illnesses, people would be home sick anyway?  After all, they wouldn't be the ones eating out, going to concerts, etc. 

Ahhh....but then, the research and learning as we went along with this virus.  A very long incubation period.  Up to 14 days?  That was something.  And it was something not typical for respiratory viruses.  

Add to that we start to learn through research from other countries that were hit just as we were really starting to experience major outbreaks here that a person can be asymptomatic for days before experiencing any symptoms.

Further research then that not only could you be asymptomatic for days but that the person was the most infectious several days before they started experiencing symptoms.  Viral load and viral shedding was at its peak days before the person had symptoms.  We haven't seen anything exactly like that before.  Whole new ballgame. 

Then the research done by many that wearing masks could contain the respiratory droplets effectively to the infected person before they started having symptoms.

Well now, this is a whole new ballgame.  If research now supports that masks do effectively contain the respiratory droplets and we now know that people are the most infectious days before they start to experience symptoms why wouldn't they change that recommendation from what our recommendation had always been in the past?

What would you do if you found out they knew that all along and didn't tell the public and recommend masks?  

Yes, they needed to save PPE for the medical professionals especially since they were evaluating the research to validate whether or not they should change things.  No need to put out a recommendation and further jeopardize the supply for medical professionals before they had enough evidence in the research to validate the information they were receiving from China, Italy, and South Korea. 

This stuff about changing their tune is really ridiculous.  If a doctor puts you on a blood pressure medicine and then learns more about another medication via research that aligns better with your medical history are you saying the doctor is ridiculous for wanting to change your medication due to new information? 

Actually, I have been quite impressed that we know what we do now about a virus that 6 months ago no one in the world had heard of.  And yes, I want them to roll with the research evidence and change or make recommendation on evidence.

Wear a mask or not.  Your choice.  But by the way.....the latest evidence is that even wearing a cloth mask protects you from breathing in the respiratory droplets of someone else infected to a small degree.  So it could mean the difference between you actually getting the virus or not.  

[tototwo]

Seriously paraphrasing here.... but I've heard on news outlets that as of last week, all Covid-19 information and news will be directed to Health and Human Services (HHS) instead of the CDC.  Shortly after that, several Covid-19 news articles disappeared from the CDC website.  

[Marp]

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@germanshepherdlove wrote:

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@bunnygirlbrem wrote:

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@germanshepherdlove wrote:

In 2001, on the news we were told that some awful people would send us an envelope full of anthrax and because we didn't want to die from that we promptly jumped on amazon and ordered a tall box of N95 masks which cost back then about $20. 

I don't recall anyone telling the public then not to or that it would  create a shortage.  Maybe that's why we have a shortage now? Haha, I doubt it because many people bought it back then. The news said the anthrax was being sent through the mail...was that fake news....well we were not taking any chances of dying from anthrax and still have that box of N95 masks.  Never received our envelope filled with anthrax. 

Come to think of it I think we got a perscription of Cipro for each of us too.   I bet it's still in our cupboard.   

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Ummm, it *was* being sent through the mail...maybe not to the extent people thought it would happen, but it *wasn't* "fake news..."

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@bunnygirlbrem yes I know it wasn't fake news but it was fake news in my part of the country.  Never happened here despite all the talking about it and we were never discouraged by our GP to get each of us get a prescription for CIPRO for absolutely nothing, both of us had no illness whatsoever.  But he filled that request and all we said was we heard in the news one needs CIPRO if they get a dose of anthrax. Strange times.  

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@germanshepherdlove, are you serious with that statement?  News is fake if it does not affect your part of the country!  There are no appropriate (or allowable) words.

[Venezia]

@pitdakota - Thank you for your well-written and thoughtful post #131 on the timeline and reality of this pandemic.

As someone with a science background myself, I will always listen to the science and the medical professionals.  The whole point of research into something like this is to learn more and update the population as necessary.  Nothing is static, especially with an unknown quantity.

Stay well.

[Firefly901]

I have watched with amazement and despair the attention and the ongoing debate over masks.  It defies basic logic.  We are given two choices, masks or death.  It seems to be an easy choice. If we keep going the way we are going, the original projection of 2.4 million American deaths from the virus is still operative and in play.

[patbz]

"Mask it or Casket"!

[Porcelain]

I don't respect anyone's "right" to not wear a mask. And I don't have to.

They aren't respecting my right to not die of a preventable disease. So they lost all "right" to my good regard.

When I see them, I can't know if they're sick or not. They can't know if they're sick or not. So they need to wear a mask or stay home. Simple. If they don't, I will not just chill and kumbaya with them about it. They are a threat to me and I will treat them as such. Not sorry.

[germanshepherdlove]

It is common sense to wear a mask when others around you have a contagious illness. But one cannot deny that despite masks already being a way of life in some countries, people were getting sick anyway.  So yes there was more to learn about it but still never a good idea to be so cavalier or dismissive with the lives of millons of people by telling them not to wear one. You would think that the medical community would have said we need to err on the side of caution and have you wear a mask.  I was disappointed that that was not the case at all.  

[germanshepherdlove]

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@Porcelain wrote:

I don't respect anyone's "right" to not wear a mask. And I don't have to.

They aren't respecting my right to not die of a preventable disease. So they lost all "right" to my good regard.

When I see them, I can't know if they're sick or not. They can't know if they're sick or not. So they need to wear a mask or stay home. Simple. If they don't, I will not just chill and kumbaya with them about it. They are a threat to me and I will treat them as such. Not sorry.

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@Porcelain and when some people say it's not acceptable to get angry over others not wearing a mask - just move away from them.  Well, I am not the type to confront anyone not wearing a mask and I do just move away from them but sometimes that is not possible.  Also, there are the people who deliberately cough on someone who have publicly scolded them.  After seeing that, no I have no interest in talking to anyone who is not wearing a mask although I do at times feel anger that they are not.  Strange that someone would come on the boards and tell us we are not allowed to feel that emotion. 

[NYC Susan]

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@Memebell wrote:

Which recommendations?   The one that told us to NOT wear masks because it wasn't necessary or the one now that says, oh yeah, on second thought wear a mask.    And then when confronted with the flip flop they said they only said that so people wouldn't buy them all up to preserve for medical workers. If that was the case back then, why not be honest about and not tell us FIRMLY that masks will NOT help you from getting the virus.    They didn't need to lie back then if they truly felt it was necessary.     Credibility is important.   And while we learn new things we didn't know every day, I don't think this was one we didn't know.   All we saw on TV were people in China wearing face masks everywhere.  

I personally wear one when I go to any place where there are more than one or two people.    But I also respect the right of those who don't choose to wear one.   I just don't get close to them.     We need to respect others choices.   That doesn't mean we can't disagree but we have the choice and ability to distance ourselves from them if we are concerned.   

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Unfortunately, no - We don't always have the choice and ability to distance ourselves.  If only life was that simple!  There are plenty of situations where people may end up close to each other unless everyone is mindful and respectful. I don't get close to people either, but that doesn't stop people from getting close to me.   If someone chooses not to wear a mask and not to socially distance, they put everyone else in danger.  Simple respect for each other - wearing a mask and socially distancing - could put an end to all of this sooner rather than later.

I wear a mask every time I leave my home, I never go anywhere even remotely crowded, and I stay as far away from other people as possible.  It angers me when others - who think this is all fake - put my health and the health of others in jeopardy by disregarding all of that and doing what they want.  I can be as careful as possible - carefully choosing where I go, avoiding crowded places.  But distancing myself from other people will certainly never be entirely up to me as long as there are people who don't take this seriously.