The only people that I pay attention to are Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Birx. They're the most credible, although I was disappointed with Dr. Birx last week when she said there was no reason for New York to be concerned about the possible of hospital beds and ventilators. I thought that she lost credibility.
While masks may block some droplets, Fauci said, they do not provide the level of protection people think they do. Wearing a mask may also have unintended consequences: People who wear masks tend to touch their face more often to adjust them, which can spread germs from their hands.
A question, for cramer, BG9 or any of us, is: As the CDC, the WHO, and other health agencies continue to make recommendations during the pandemic, how are you going to take them? Are you going to presume these professionals are committed to getting things right, while granting the likelihood they won’t always be? Dismiss them as liars swayed by political interests? Somewhere in between?
regarding recommendations, it's kind of a matter of common sense. The recommendation to not wear masks never made any sense to me, so I ignored it. It was pretty obvious that any kind of covering in front of your nose and mouth would be better than no covering at all.
The only thing about it that kind of made sense was the supply issue, i.e. saving masks for professionals. But even that didn't really make sense. Hospitals use so many masks that their number dwarfs anything sold on the consumer market. The total stock at your local Home Depot or CVS probably wouldn't supply anything more than a fraction of a hospital's needs for one day. Consumers not buying masks would have almost no effect on alleviating supplies for hospitals.
The whole mask issue is kind of an odd curiosity. Some day maybe we'll find out the basis for those recommendations. Someone is going to get in trouble, I think.
"Benefit of wearing a mask, aside from the obvious.
You can smell your own breath inside the mask so you know if you have bad breath (not that you are getting close to anyone). But if you can smell your breath, you haven't lost your sense of smell."
(Not behind the paywall - The Atlantic is making their COVID-19 coverage free).
I will say that when I have to go into a building these days I do wear a mask, but I don't put great stock in its direct protection. Partly it's because it's an old mask I happened to have on hand, but more just as incidental protection -- I don't expect it to do much should I walk into a cloud of aerosols someone just sneezed or coughed out, but I hope it offers some protection against stray airborne particles -- in the same way I put up my sweatshirt hood in the rain to reduce how wet I get but don't expect it to be waterproof.
More directly, I think it helps send an signal to those around me to keep their distance (I'm not sick -- as far as I know -- but if people give me a wider berth, maybe if they're unknowingly sick then that's good too) and to take this situation seriously. I also try to be in and out as fast as possible and reduce the number of times I have to go in. And of course I disinfect my hands as soon as I get back to the car.
A question, for cramer, BG9 or any of us, is: As the CDC, the WHO, and other health agencies continue to make recommendations during the pandemic, how are you going to take them? Are you going to presume these professionals are committed to getting things right, while granting the likelihood they won’t always be? Dismiss them as liars swayed by political interests? Somewhere in between?
regarding recommendations, it's kind of a matter of common sense. The recommendation to not wear masks never made any sense to me, so I ignored it. It was pretty obvious that any kind of covering in front of your nose and mouth would be better than no covering at all.
Exactly.
We knew, even the public, that you are contagious during incubation, our silent carriers. Medical professionals know that masks reduce the amount of crap breathed in or out. Tests have shown the average mask reduces by six fold. Some by only by 1.5 fold and other very good masks by up to 55 fold. Its all about viral load.
It is known that a mask reduces risk. Then was the public told there was no need? Considering most infections were airborne, not fomites. Often professionals don't control what agencies put out. Just look at the EPA under this administration. Its stacked with professionals but they now put out crap environmental recommendations.
We discussed it late Feb. We knew they said the wrong thing. They know they said the wrong thing. Its like astronomers telling us the sun revolves around the earth. Leon our cynical s. o. b. said, good more masks for us. Others, said, if we accelerate this we'll have herd immunity. We believe 75% immune (infected or vaccine immune) will give us herd immunity, the reducing of R◦ below 1. The problem with that is we're not flattening the curve, instead we're accelerating at great cost in lives and medical expense. But it would have been over relatively quick.
We think the real answer is they thought it would be gotten under control by focusing on isolation and treating the infected. Which requires that medical workers get dependable access to protective equipment, priority access. What happened is we accelerated the curve because they did not realize that many were already infected and passing it on.
Anyone who meets with Trump or Pence must now be given the rapid COVID-19 test. Abbott Laboratory's test gives results in 15 minutes. All of the oil company executives that met with Trump this afternoon were tested before the meeting.
Anyone who meets with Trump or Pence must now be given the rapid COVID-19 test. Abbott Laboratory's test gives results in 15 minutes. All of the oil company executives that met with Trump this afternoon were tested before the meeting.
So all a regular person has to do is become an oil company executive and we, too, can get tested?
A question, for cramer, BG9 or any of us, is: As the CDC, the WHO, and other health agencies continue to make recommendations during the pandemic, how are you going to take them? Are you going to presume these professionals are committed to getting things right, while granting the likelihood they won’t always be? Dismiss them as liars swayed by political interests? Somewhere in between?
It appears that WHO leadership may have been influenced by financial ties to China and crafted messages to China's liking. Observing this, it's only natural to consider the WHO a compromised source and take their statements with a grain of salt. The CDC is clearly struggling to keep the President happy, and their statements are to be viewed with skepticism when they seem to clash with information from other fairly reliable sources.
The ramifications of the widespread lying by "trusted experts" about masks were well covered in the NYT opinion piece "Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired:"
The BBC produced several stupid pieces claiming that the new Coronavirus was not very infectious or lethal and would likely prove no more troublesome than a mild seasonal flu, despite clear indications that this was not the case. They just released another stupid video claiming that the primary symptoms of Covid-19 are high fever and coughing, glossing over the many reports of low fevers, asymptomatic infections, or Covid-19 patients presenting with cardiac, neurological and gastrointestinal problems and no fever or cough.
Perhaps it was naive of me to think the BBC was a relatively trustworthy source before, but certainly the trust I had in them has been very significantly damaged by the lies and disinformation they are now spreading. They do seem like liars swayed by political interests.
The New York Times still seems largely reliable on these stories.
"The United States will need to produce hundreds of millions of coronavirus tests in order to give parents and students the confidence they need to return to school in the fall, Sen. Lamar Alexander said in an interview on Friday."
So, the sewer backed up and I had to have plumbers out to snake it. They wore mask, I wore a mask (vogmask) and we kept apart. Any suggestions on what I should do to clean up now that they are out of the house?
With this virus showing up in places where there has been a free flow of people back and forth (Korea, Italy), why do we think we have "only" a small number of cases in the United States? It doesn't seem that diagnostic testing is widely available here. Are doctors sending out samples from symptomatic patients to the CDC?
I don't think we only have a few cases 'around' here anymore. Over 500 people died in NY yesterday, the current epicenter of the virus, I heard on WNYC...
I don't think we only have a few cases 'around' here anymore. Over 500 people died in NY yesterday, the current epicenter of the virus, I heard on WNYC...
The post you are responding to is more than a month old. At that time, there were only a few (known) cases in the US.
So, the sewer backed up and I had to have plumbers out to snake it. They wore mask, I wore a mask (vogmask) and we kept apart. Any suggestions on what I should do to clean up now that they are out of the house?
My first reaction would be to cover my whole self up and clean up the mess. Now they're talking about 'sheltering in place'?! But honestly, I think you should protect yourself and clean everything up. What's the alternative?
It appears that WHO leadership may have been influenced by financial ties to China and crafted messages to China's liking. Observing this, it's only natural to consider the WHO a compromised source and take their statements with a grain of salt. The CDC is clearly struggling to keep the President happy, and their statements are to be viewed with skepticism when they seem to clash with information from other fairly reliable sources.
The ramifications of the widespread lying by "trusted experts" about masks were well covered in the NYT opinion piece "Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired:"
The BBC produced several stupid pieces claiming that the new Coronavirus was not very infectious or lethal and would likely prove no more troublesome than a mild seasonal flu, despite clear indications that this was not the case. They just released another stupid video claiming that the primary symptoms of Covid-19 are high fever and coughing, glossing over the many reports of low fevers, asymptomatic infections, or Covid-19 patients presenting with cardiac, neurological and gastrointestinal problems and no fever or cough.
Perhaps it was naive of me to think the BBC was a relatively trustworthy source before, but certainly the trust I had in them has been very significantly damaged by the lies and disinformation they are now spreading. They do seem like liars swayed by political interests.
The New York Times still seems largely reliable on these stories.
Disinformation seems to be seeping in everywhere. Still, since I listen to WNYC Public Radio, I tend to believe them, and the BBC Public Radio 'extension' that they pay for. I'll definitely pay more attention after reading what you've posted.
@Klinker, I also had to call the plumber out (as you might remember - he finally turned up, after 10 days). We cleaned up the same as we would with any infectious disease: clean properly with disposable wipes after wiping down first with TP (we needed to, you mightn’t). Disinfect. Clean again with hot soapy water and Chux (disposable cleaning wipes) and disinfect. Wash the floor with hot soapy water then when it’s dry, wipe over with disinfectant. Same with handles, toilet tissue holders, wiping down toilet, the seat & lid, and plunger-buttons etc (wash/disinfect). Wash & disinfect the window and windowsill, and window frame. Wipe the fly screen with a damp (disinfectant) disposable cloth.
Oh! Wipe wall tiles the same way too! Soapy water then disinfectant. remember: one cloth, one direction, one site. It’s a bore but it’s the best way to sanitise.
@Klinker, I also had to call the plumber out (as you might remember - he finally turned up, after 10 days). We cleaned up the same as we would with any infectious disease: clean properly with disposable wipes after wiping down first with TP (we needed to, you mightn’t). Disinfect. Clean again with hot soapy water and Chux (disposable cleaning wipes) and disinfect. Wash the floor with hot soapy water then when it’s dry, wipe over with disinfectant. Same with handles, toilet tissue holders, wiping down toilet, the seat & lid, and plunger-buttons etc (wash/disinfect). Wash & disinfect the window and windowsill, and window frame. Wipe the fly screen with a damp (disinfectant) disposable cloth.
Oh! Wipe wall tiles the same way too! Soapy water then disinfectant. remember: one cloth, one direction, one site. It’s a bore but it’s the best way to sanitise.
Thanks Joanne. I was afraid that was the answer. Sounds exhausting. I know some people are finding themselves with a lot of time on their hands but, as a stay at home parent, my experience is quite the opposite.
Fauci a month ago:
Incompetence? Lies? The best information at the time?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/preventing-coronavirus-facemask-60-minutes-2020-03-08/