5 ms·

My general opinion of it is that lock downs at the beginning were essential for slowing the spread of the disease and allow the hospitals to prepare for it, but

My general opinion of it is that lock downs at the beginning were essential for slowing the spread of the disease and allow the hospitals to prepare for it, but there was a point where the virus was endemic anyway that all the masking and isolation protocols were doing more harm than good.

garciasn 3y ago
I will agree that isolation for long periods could have had some negative impacts, but masking never did and never will.
- codyb 3y ago
  The way things are going here in N America soon we’ll be wearing masks outdoors for the smoke and indoors for the pandemics!
- potbelly83 3y ago
  Exactly, case in point is the abundance of mask wearing in Asian countries. They seem to go about their lives just fine.
  - jliptzin 3y ago
    They were doing it even before covid, although not to the same extent. I don't know why people have such a problem if someone wants to protect themselves from airborne illness.
    - peteradio 3y ago
      If someone harassed you or a loved one for wearing a mask, that person is an asshole. If someone harassed you or a loved one for not wearing a mask, that person is also an asshole (caveat outside hospitals or care homes for vulnerable people).
- zackpete 3y ago
  Not even for children in the developmental stage of recognizing facial expressions? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9628515/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9628515/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9637007/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9637007/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669432/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.6694...
  - echlebek 3y ago
    So what are you arguing here, that there's a generation of children that can't recognize facial expressions? Seems unlikely to me.
    - jjfoooo4 3y ago
      That there’s a generation of children who were speech delayed and under socialized during critical development years. A pretty uncontroversial view among those who had kids or worked with kids during that time.
freedude 3y ago
Because of Covid science has proven masking is a waste of effort and resources. If you disagree you should really research the latest studies. Here is a great starting point from 2021. https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/ https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask... They are a failure. Globally. https://www.amazon.com/Unmasked-Global-Failure-COVID-Mandates/dp/1637583761 https://www.amazon.com/Unmasked-Global-Failure-COVID-Mandate... One of the largest peer-reviewed European studies says... "These findings indicate that countries with high levels of mask compliance did not perform better than those with low mask usage." https://www.cureus.com/articles/93826-correlation-between-mask-compliance-and-covid-19-outcomes-in-europe#!/ https://www.cureus.com/articles/93826-correlation-between-ma... Why? Because they are ineffective and were only introduced as a way to busy or "pacify" the masses.
- timcederman 3y ago
  Are you suggesting N95 masks provide no protection against airborne viruses?
  - jtc331 3y ago
    I believe that is what pre-COVID masking in hospital settings has shown, yes. Possibly COVID is different from the flu. But the difficulty for proving masking helps is: 1. If it only takes ~20 virions to get infected, then masking has to have a basically perfect filtering rate and be worn perfectly 100% of the time, neither of which is obvious. 2. With an endemic virus even if masks slow down spread they aren't going to reduce your likelihood of being infected overall.
    - timcederman 3y ago
      https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm > Consistent use of a face mask or respirator in indoor public settings was associated with lower odds of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result (adjusted odds ratio = 0.44). Use of respirators with higher filtration capacity was associated with the most protection, compared with no mask use. I'll take a reduced risk, even if it's not perfect. Would you prefer to get covid one time, or five times? It's like arguing "why bother wearing a seatbelt, when it doesn't prevent injuries in accidents?" Also, are you suggesting masking does not help with preventing influenza infection?

garciasn 3y ago

I will agree that isolation for long periods could have had some negative impacts, but masking never did and never will.

codyb 3y ago
The way things are going here in N America soon we’ll be wearing masks outdoors for the smoke and indoors for the pandemics!
potbelly83 3y ago
Exactly, case in point is the abundance of mask wearing in Asian countries. They seem to go about their lives just fine.
- jliptzin 3y ago
  They were doing it even before covid, although not to the same extent. I don't know why people have such a problem if someone wants to protect themselves from airborne illness.
  - peteradio 3y ago
    If someone harassed you or a loved one for wearing a mask, that person is an asshole. If someone harassed you or a loved one for not wearing a mask, that person is also an asshole (caveat outside hospitals or care homes for vulnerable people).
zackpete 3y ago
Not even for children in the developmental stage of recognizing facial expressions? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9628515/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9628515/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9637007/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9637007/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669432/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.6694...
- echlebek 3y ago
  So what are you arguing here, that there's a generation of children that can't recognize facial expressions? Seems unlikely to me.
  - jjfoooo4 3y ago
    That there’s a generation of children who were speech delayed and under socialized during critical development years. A pretty uncontroversial view among those who had kids or worked with kids during that time.

freedude 3y ago

Because of Covid science has proven masking is a waste of effort and resources. If you disagree you should really research the latest studies. Here is a great starting point from 2021. https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/ https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask... They are a failure. Globally. https://www.amazon.com/Unmasked-Global-Failure-COVID-Mandates/dp/1637583761 https://www.amazon.com/Unmasked-Global-Failure-COVID-Mandate... One of the largest peer-reviewed European studies says... "These findings indicate that countries with high levels of mask compliance did not perform better than those with low mask usage." https://www.cureus.com/articles/93826-correlation-between-mask-compliance-and-covid-19-outcomes-in-europe#!/ https://www.cureus.com/articles/93826-correlation-between-ma... Why? Because they are ineffective and were only introduced as a way to busy or "pacify" the masses.

timcederman 3y ago
Are you suggesting N95 masks provide no protection against airborne viruses?
- jtc331 3y ago
  I believe that is what pre-COVID masking in hospital settings has shown, yes. Possibly COVID is different from the flu. But the difficulty for proving masking helps is: 1. If it only takes ~20 virions to get infected, then masking has to have a basically perfect filtering rate and be worn perfectly 100% of the time, neither of which is obvious. 2. With an endemic virus even if masks slow down spread they aren't going to reduce your likelihood of being infected overall.
  - timcederman 3y ago
    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm > Consistent use of a face mask or respirator in indoor public settings was associated with lower odds of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result (adjusted odds ratio = 0.44). Use of respirators with higher filtration capacity was associated with the most protection, compared with no mask use. I'll take a reduced risk, even if it's not perfect. Would you prefer to get covid one time, or five times? It's like arguing "why bother wearing a seatbelt, when it doesn't prevent injuries in accidents?" Also, are you suggesting masking does not help with preventing influenza infection?