Community Chat

[Sheila P-Burg]

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@pitdakota wrote:

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@germanshepherdlove wrote:

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@Sheila P-Burg wrote:

@Deree  .....  No the crime and pity is that the virus was not taken as a concern earlier. What is "incomprehensible"  is the " role" models that do not follow the recommendations.

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You're right because initially we were told by the medical professionals not by ANY politician to not wear a mask.  Remember ?  There was a shortage.  smh

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@germanshepherdlove  Absolutely!  And at the time with the information the medical profession had....that is the information they should have given. Especially with the critical shortage of masks that we had for health care workers and first responders needed them far worse than someone that was supposed to be staying home.

Then places actually started to research that the respiratory droplets actually were emitted just from talking and laughing.  No one really expected that.  We always knew that they were emitted if you coughed or sneezed, but this was really surprising information that the particles were actually emitted at a pretty good clip with just talking.

I will also add that at that time that statement was made, we also had no idea of how much asymptomatic transmission was a factor for this virus.

With other influenza like illnesses, people get sick and are likely to stay home.  Therefore if they are coughing or sneezing they are not out and about as readily.  

It was big news when they started testing all women coming into the labor room as to how many of them tested positive and had no clue they had the virus. So we started to learn quite a bit about asymptomatic transmission with this virus.

Whole nother ball of wax when you find out that the virus can be emitted with just talking and that asymptomatic transmission is a very serious problem.   This virus is really quite unique in its ability to do that.  Especially with people being the more infectious days before they start to have symptoms.  

Nor did we know the vast arrary of clinical presentation at that time.  We now know some present with stomach issues.  No one thought at the time those symptoms would correlate with covid-19.

Isn't research a wonderful thing?  Who knew.  You didn't know.  I didn't know and I have been in nursing more than 40 years.  

I remember posting on here in the days right after that research came out.  I posted the video showing particle emission with talking without a mask and particle emission with a mask.

Yes, research is a wonderful thing.  We used not to give people in the coronary care unit ice water or cold drinks either because cardiologists thought cold fluids would place a stress on the heart.  Then someone did a study and found out it had no effect.  Multiple studies took place validating the results and cold drinking fluids were then allowed all over the country.  

So using that as a  reason to blame is just using an excuse that  overlooks what we knew when and how we learned about this virus & how new research added to our body of knowledge of what we needed to do in order to deal with this virus. 

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That was one of the problems. The other was the fact that as the virus was "ravaging" China and we had our first case reported in Washington State on January 20 we were being told it was under control and that the flu killed more. The mask, etc. were not recommended until April.

[Deree]

@Marp   Yes I have heard Dr. Fauci and at least one other medical expert recently admit they told the public at the beginning that masks weren't necessary for the general public *because* they were needed for the front line workers.  And I give them a pass for doing that!  Can you imagine what would have surely happened had they told the public at the very beginning that you need to wear a mask?  The healthcare and other front line workers would not have had the equipment to take care of all of us!  They were the priority at that time.. And rightly so.  We can all be sure after this experience, this country will have enough PPE for everyone should this happen again.

[Porcelain]

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@Marp wrote:

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@Laura14 wrote:

Totally agree @germanshepherdlove 

I think it mattered that when it all first started, the media and several well known physicians went on a campaign against mask wearing. 

Three months later I've yet to hear one of them say oops, we're sorry.  Put it on.  We were wrong like that is some kind of crime to admit to.  

When you do an about face and don't even acknowledge the other side of your mouth, the sliver of credibility the media may still have about certain things is beyond gone and people just stop listening; including me for a time.

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Jun 12, 2020

Dr. Fauci joined TheStreet to talk about why masks are important when you leave the house and to better explain why there was back and forth in the beginning.

"Masks are not 100% protective. However, they certainly are better than not wearing a mask. Both to prevent you, if you happen to be a person who may feel well, but has an asymptomatic infection that you don't even know about, to prevent you from infecting someone else," said Fauci. "But also, it can protect you a certain degree, not a hundred percent, in protecting you from getting infected from someone who, either is breathing, or coughing, or sneezing, or singing or whatever it is in which the droplets or the aerosols go out. So masks work."

IAL ADVISOR CENTER

Home
VIDEO

Why Weren't We Wearing Masks From the Beginning? Dr. Fauci Explains

Katherine Ross
Jun 12, 2020
3:07

Do you wear a mask when you go outside?

In the North, such as New York, it's required. However, down in the South, it seems to be a choice.

Back when the coronavirus pandemic cases started picking up in early Spring, many Americans and experts asked: Should we be wearing masks?

In response, some public health officials, such as the U.S. Surgeon, said that masks weren't necessary for the general public.

And then the public was told that, actually, masks are good to wear to help prevent the spread and also allow you to go out without anxiety of anyone coming within six feet of you.

Dr. Fauci joined TheStreet to talk about why masks are important when you leave the house and to better explain why there was back and forth in the beginning.

"Masks are not 100% protective. However, they certainly are better than not wearing a mask. Both to prevent you, if you happen to be a person who may feel well, but has an asymptomatic infection that you don't even know about, to prevent you from infecting someone else," said Fauci. "But also, it can protect you a certain degree, not a hundred percent, in protecting you from getting infected from someone who, either is breathing, or coughing, or sneezing, or singing or whatever it is in which the droplets or the aerosols go out. So masks work."

So, why weren't we told to wear masks in the beginning?

"Well, the reason for that is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected."

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Exactly. There was a shortage at first. Now there isn't.

If fire helmets were in short supply, it would be important for only firefighters to have access to them at first until more became available. It wouldn't mean that later on when there were plenty helmets to go around, we should still at all costs avoid wearing a fireman's hat as part of a Halloween costume forevermore. That would be silly. And any current, "oh I'm so confused if masks are good" statements sound just as silly to me now. They sound like excuses.

[suzyQ3]

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@Deree wrote:

@Marp   Yes I have heard Dr. Fauci and at least one other medical expert recently admit they told the public at the beginning that masks weren't necessary for the general public *because* they were needed for the front line workers.  And I give them a pass for doing that!  Can you imagine what would have surely happened had they told the public at the very beginning that you need to wear a mask?  The healthcare and other front line workers would not have had the equipment to take care of all of us!  They were the priority at that time.. And rightly so.  We can all be sure after this experience, this country will have enough PPE for everyone should this happen again.

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@Deree, that depends.

[pitdakota]

@Deree, yes I think many thought this wouldn't impact them.  I remember even when the cruise ships were a mess there were posters here saying they were still going to go on their cruise scheduled for the next month.

Totally overlooking the information about just how this virus was going to spread when people are concentrated in one area.  Even on a ship.

The same thing is happening with young people now.  They have unfortunately come under the impression that they won't get covid-19 or if they do it won't be a big deal.  So they are the ones really getting "out there" now.  And not realizing that the virus is "out there" as well and it will infect them as well.  Granted, they may not get as sick, but some do get critically ill and then everyone is so surprised. 

The verdict is still out on the recovery.  We now know there are many 30 year somethings in rehabs out there that had strokes from covid.  And some have not been able to return to work.  

Doesn't really do stellar things for us economically if we have all kinds of young people on long term disability because they can't work.  It is just too soon for us to know the recovery phase for all people, but even those that are younger.  And it is just a game of chance for younger people if they do contract the virus as to whether they will have a serious infection or not.

Just too much we don't know right now for them to be taking such risk.  

[stuyvesant]

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@Sheila P-Burg wrote:

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@pitdakota wrote:

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@germanshepherdlove wrote:

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@Sheila P-Burg wrote:

@Deree  .....  No the crime and pity is that the virus was not taken as a concern earlier. What is "incomprehensible"  is the " role" models that do not follow the recommendations.

---

You're right because initially we were told by the medical professionals not by ANY politician to not wear a mask.  Remember ?  There was a shortage.  smh

---

____________________________________________________

@germanshepherdlove  Absolutely!  And at the time with the information the medical profession had....that is the information they should have given. Especially with the critical shortage of masks that we had for health care workers and first responders needed them far worse than someone that was supposed to be staying home.

Then places actually started to research that the respiratory droplets actually were emitted just from talking and laughing.  No one really expected that.  We always knew that they were emitted if you coughed or sneezed, but this was really surprising information that the particles were actually emitted at a pretty good clip with just talking.

I will also add that at that time that statement was made, we also had no idea of how much asymptomatic transmission was a factor for this virus.

With other influenza like illnesses, people get sick and are likely to stay home.  Therefore if they are coughing or sneezing they are not out and about as readily.  

It was big news when they started testing all women coming into the labor room as to how many of them tested positive and had no clue they had the virus. So we started to learn quite a bit about asymptomatic transmission with this virus.

Whole nother ball of wax when you find out that the virus can be emitted with just talking and that asymptomatic transmission is a very serious problem.   This virus is really quite unique in its ability to do that.  Especially with people being the more infectious days before they start to have symptoms.  

Nor did we know the vast arrary of clinical presentation at that time.  We now know some present with stomach issues.  No one thought at the time those symptoms would correlate with covid-19.

Isn't research a wonderful thing?  Who knew.  You didn't know.  I didn't know and I have been in nursing more than 40 years.  

I remember posting on here in the days right after that research came out.  I posted the video showing particle emission with talking without a mask and particle emission with a mask.

Yes, research is a wonderful thing.  We used not to give people in the coronary care unit ice water or cold drinks either because cardiologists thought cold fluids would place a stress on the heart.  Then someone did a study and found out it had no effect.  Multiple studies took place validating the results and cold drinking fluids were then allowed all over the country.  

So using that as a  reason to blame is just using an excuse that  overlooks what we knew when and how we learned about this virus & how new research added to our body of knowledge of what we needed to do in order to deal with this virus. 

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That was one of the problems. The other was the fact that as the virus was "ravaging" China and we had our first case reported in Washington State on January 20 we were being told it was under control and that the flu killed more. The mask, etc. were not recommended until April.

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This is so true.  Even though they knew the virus was new, they coudn't think outside the flu framework.  They simply lacked the vocabulary and were completely blind to how other countries were dealing with it.

[bikerbabe]

We still don’t have enough PPE. Reusing N95, sometimes for days, even weeks for some nurses. We got an intrafacility email about an eminent gown shortage. Already a shortage of IV bags - most antibiotics are pushes anymore which is a lot more uncomfortable for the patient (it burns) and not great for the veins. Warnings of antibiotic shortages also.

[Deree]

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@pitdakota wrote:

@Deree, yes I think many thought this wouldn't impact them.  I remember even when the cruise ships were a mess there were posters here saying they were still going to go on their cruise scheduled for the next month.

Totally overlooking the information about just how this virus was going to spread when people are concentrated in one area.  Even on a ship.

The same thing is happening with young people now.  They have unfortunately come under the impression that they won't get covid-19 or if they do it won't be a big deal.  So they are the ones really getting "out there" now.  And not realizing that the virus is "out there" as well and it will infect them as well.  Granted, they may not get as sick, but some do get critically ill and then everyone is so surprised. 

The verdict is still out on the recovery.  We now know there are many 30 year somethings in rehabs out there that had strokes from covid.  And some have not been able to return to work.  

Doesn't really do stellar things for us economically if we have all kinds of young people on long term disability because they can't work.  It is just too soon for us to know the recovery phase for all people, but even those that are younger.  And it is just a game of chance for younger people if they do contract the virus as to whether they will have a serious infection or not.

Just too much we don't know right now for them to be taking such risk.  

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@pitdakota   About a month ago I emailed my governor and mayor asking them to consider putting PSA's on the air with young people warning other young people.  There has not been enough public emphasis on how covid-19 has been affecting young people and there has already been a significant amount of time in which to do that.  So the crisis continues...

[pitdakota]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

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@Deree wrote:

@Marp   Yes I have heard Dr. Fauci and at least one other medical expert recently admit they told the public at the beginning that masks weren't necessary for the general public *because* they were needed for the front line workers.  And I give them a pass for doing that!  Can you imagine what would have surely happened had they told the public at the very beginning that you need to wear a mask?  The healthcare and other front line workers would not have had the equipment to take care of all of us!  They were the priority at that time.. And rightly so.  We can all be sure after this experience, this country will have enough PPE for everyone should this happen again.

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@Deree, that depends.

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I won't hold my breath.  We still have many areas in which hospitals are experiencing shortages of PPE.  Now increase the demand when school starts for those going back to in person classes that will require masks and that will increase the demand from what it is now.  I know there are some teachers that are wanting N95 masks because they are high risk.

And here we are, right back to almost where we were in March with not  enough labs to run the tests that are being done and enough reagents for tests so that we are now experiencing a signficant backlog on getting people tested and having to wait a week for results.  It is deja vu.

[Deree]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

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@Deree wrote:

@Marp   Yes I have heard Dr. Fauci and at least one other medical expert recently admit they told the public at the beginning that masks weren't necessary for the general public *because* they were needed for the front line workers.  And I give them a pass for doing that!  Can you imagine what would have surely happened had they told the public at the very beginning that you need to wear a mask?  The healthcare and other front line workers would not have had the equipment to take care of all of us!  They were the priority at that time.. And rightly so.  We can all be sure after this experience, this country will have enough PPE for everyone should this happen again.

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@Deree, that depends.

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@suzyQ3  I hear ya.  At least my governor has assured us that manufacturing for PPE in my state will be ramped up for the future.  Hopefully the rest of the country will recognize the critical importance of producing our own instead of relying on other countries.