6 ms·

I'm very, very pro-mask; I'm optimistic that getting people to wear them could drop R0 << 1 and bring an end to this. That said, it seems unethical to me to man

I'm very, very pro-mask; I'm optimistic that getting people to wear them could drop R0 << 1 and bring an end to this. That said, it seems unethical to me to mandate (read: enforce with fine/imprisonment) it for the purpose of ... what sounds like virtue signaling?

gremlinsinc 6y ago
Better idea, use positive reinforcement. Walmart, et al raise prices 15%. Mask wearers get 15% off. Everyone else pays full-price.
- baggy_trough 6y ago
  Sorry, illegal due to the ADA since some people can't wear masks.
  - arkitaip 6y ago
    Like who?
  - gremlinsinc 6y ago
    False. If a store makes accomodations, then you cannot use the ADA defense. Currently >95% of stores (maybe higher) have curbside pickup, so this excuse is dead in the water.
latchkey 6y ago
Wouldn't have to mandate it, if people would just do it...
mensetmanusman 6y ago
They have to mandate N95 masks indoors if it is indeed aerosol-based superspreader events.
nradov 6y ago
That is magical thinking. SARS-CoV-2 is now endemic in the worldwide human population. Wearing masks in public for a few months won't change that reality.
thu2111 6y ago
The scales fall from tetrometal's eyes .... yes, a huge amount of the discussion around masks is pure virtue signalling. That's why there's this huge focus on masks stopping the spread by pre-symptomatic people, which is a highly dubious and never-before tried idea, for which basically no reliable evidence exists (masks pre-COVID being intended to stop you getting sick, not other people), and which is an absolutely pure form of virtue signalling. It's literally a highly visible sign that someone is suffering discomfort for someone else's health, except, that only works if you believe it's actually true. Look at the Nordics. In Sweden there's no mask requirement because the epidemic is disappearing. In Norway they pointed out that given the tiny number of infected people, even if you assume masks work perfectly, 200,000 people would need to wear a mask constantly to stop one new infection. And this is a virus with an IFR of about 0.1% so you end up needing millions of people to wear masks constantly to stop just a single death, almost certainly of a person very close to the end of their life anyway. The numbers just don't work, at all, once the epidemic has faded away. And as Sweden and other places shows it can fade away without any mask requirements.
- latchkey 6y ago
  Masks are less important, if people socially distance and practice good hygiene. If you don't give the virus a chance to spread, it cannot spread. The problem is that in the US and elsewhere, people cannot seem to follow the social distancing and hygiene, so you need to find a way to physically distance people with masks and other protections. To say that masks do not work, is untrue. There is a reason why doctors and others wear masks in their own professions. By the way, when you say it is disappearing, that doesn't mean let the guard down. Look at what is happening in Vietnam. 100 days clean and they let their guard down and look at what is happening now.
- dysfunction 6y ago
  Sweden has far and away the highest death rate of the Nordics, over 11 times that of Norway. I really don't think the data supports your point. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality
  - 6y ago

gremlinsinc 6y ago

Better idea, use positive reinforcement. Walmart, et al raise prices 15%. Mask wearers get 15% off. Everyone else pays full-price.

baggy_trough 6y ago
Sorry, illegal due to the ADA since some people can't wear masks.
- arkitaip 6y ago
  Like who?
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  False. If a store makes accomodations, then you cannot use the ADA defense. Currently >95% of stores (maybe higher) have curbside pickup, so this excuse is dead in the water.

latchkey 6y ago

Wouldn't have to mandate it, if people would just do it...

mensetmanusman 6y ago

They have to mandate N95 masks indoors if it is indeed aerosol-based superspreader events.

nradov 6y ago

That is magical thinking. SARS-CoV-2 is now endemic in the worldwide human population. Wearing masks in public for a few months won't change that reality.

thu2111 6y ago

The scales fall from tetrometal's eyes .... yes, a huge amount of the discussion around masks is pure virtue signalling. That's why there's this huge focus on masks stopping the spread by pre-symptomatic people, which is a highly dubious and never-before tried idea, for which basically no reliable evidence exists (masks pre-COVID being intended to stop you getting sick, not other people), and which is an absolutely pure form of virtue signalling. It's literally a highly visible sign that someone is suffering discomfort for someone else's health, except, that only works if you believe it's actually true. Look at the Nordics. In Sweden there's no mask requirement because the epidemic is disappearing. In Norway they pointed out that given the tiny number of infected people, even if you assume masks work perfectly, 200,000 people would need to wear a mask constantly to stop one new infection. And this is a virus with an IFR of about 0.1% so you end up needing millions of people to wear masks constantly to stop just a single death, almost certainly of a person very close to the end of their life anyway. The numbers just don't work, at all, once the epidemic has faded away. And as Sweden and other places shows it can fade away without any mask requirements.

latchkey 6y ago
Masks are less important, if people socially distance and practice good hygiene. If you don't give the virus a chance to spread, it cannot spread. The problem is that in the US and elsewhere, people cannot seem to follow the social distancing and hygiene, so you need to find a way to physically distance people with masks and other protections. To say that masks do not work, is untrue. There is a reason why doctors and others wear masks in their own professions. By the way, when you say it is disappearing, that doesn't mean let the guard down. Look at what is happening in Vietnam. 100 days clean and they let their guard down and look at what is happening now.
dysfunction 6y ago
Sweden has far and away the highest death rate of the Nordics, over 11 times that of Norway. I really don't think the data supports your point. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality
- 6y ago