Masking Conundrum

I live in Missouri, and our governor is more open than many in the country which is fine by me. He has largely left restrictions up to local county and metro officials as they feel the need.

So while I live under masking restrictions and have been locked down, a few blocks away, the county has been a bit more open on their restrictions. It has been entertaining in a way watching the several counties and mayors battle over what they're going to do, but it had kept the very worst authoritarian impulses largely in check here.

Now, we have this interesting conundrum for you mask lovers.

The governor changed mask guidance for the schools. It used to be that if a symptomatic individual exposed others, all would be expected to quarantine for 14 days, but now, the governor's office has decided that is no longer mandatory if all parties were wearing masks.

Our mayor disagrees.

“Masks continue to be one of the best ways to slow the spread of this virus, and I hope the governor’s acknowledgment of their benefit will encourage more to wear them. Still, masks are not a substitute for proper quarantine measures in schools or elsewhere—particularly as we’ve seen a concerning spike in cases over the past several months.

Now it may interest some of you to know that I actually side with the mayor on this. But that's because I've never believed that masks do much of anything for anyone except make us all feel better about things.

However, for those of you who believe that masks protect ... well, you ought to side with the governor. A fleeting contact with someone who is ill in which all parties are masked ought to mean that only the person who's ill needs to quarantine because surely those handy face shields of virtue have stopped the evil virus of doom! Right?

I've really been thinking about the mask issue.
Why are gloves not required?

Because if the virus can now last on surface for a long time, think about everything you touch when out and about. Money, door handles, countertops, carts, items on shelves that others may have touched.

Certainly a lot more to this, than just a mask. As there always was.

a reply to: chiefsmom

Honestly, husband is a microbiologist, and he's been doing almost all the sustained trips since the beginning.

His opinion is that the most important factor is to not touch your face. He despises the masks for this reason. He feels they both give people a false sense of security and induce facial touching to constantly readjust them.

He's been wearing gloves the whole time because they protect his hands and they remind him not to touch his face.

I'd like to know how they still justify masks as essential when there are so many spikes in people that were wearing masks. That alone should dispel the fantasy that masks work at any level of efficiency. Do they help? Probably. Have they been successful in stopping this virus? I think everyone except the truly ignorant have to admit that they have not.

Schools in our area are starting to go virtual until either the end of the month or the end of the calendar year.

I just don't know anymore.

a reply to: ketsuko

Ket- I put a mask on 35 yrs ago and lived in an ambulance..

Pee, poop, blood, guts, infections, AIDS, Hepatitis....all exposed to...

I'm still here

a reply to: HalWesten

They're rumbling about it here, but I've been watching our daily dashboard. There were about three or four days of high case number spike, but over the course of the last couple of days of updated info ... that number has seriously fallen off again. So unless those numbers spike radically again, it looks like we may be over this little hump.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I'll be you had proper training not touch your face with all that stuff too.


Most people don't, and they will never form that habit.

a reply to: ketsuko

Honestly? Not as much as others. In a rig, jumping our to Triage, transport etc....washing isn't poss.

Advent of hand sanitizer was a great thing. Touching your face is nearly impossible not to touch.

I've had all type of body fluids on me in 3 decades. Masks...kept. me safe.

P S Hepatitis contracted in 1993, University Hospital employee...since?

Nothing

EMT/Adv. Life Support

a reply to: ketsuko

The Parish I live in and the one I work in are pretty lax on mask mandates as well. I'm not sure about the schools, but I think they all still have to wear masks. Caddo Parish (Shreveport) has a mandatory mask requirement and their cases far outweigh both Parishes that are lax. I really don't think a mask or social distancing is the answer. This whole thing should have been treated like the flu, if you don't feel good then you stay home like it's been done for decades. Same with a stomach bug or anything else. If you have a large outbreak like we did with the flu a few years back then shut the nearest schools down for a week like they did.

The real shame in this is that the media politicized it, sports teams played along with it, and democrats took off with it, all in an effort to get rid of Trump and that's the main problem. TDS shut the country down.


***And before any of y'all respond and tell me that it infected the whole world, I already know it did, and the USA has a 99.97% survival rate, so save your flurkin breath.***


ETA:
Total cases in Bossier and Webster Parish: 6,405 - 172 deaths (total population - 120,000; 5.3% infection rate)
Total cases in Caddo Parish: 11,136 - 417 deaths (total population - 180,000; 6.2% infection rate)

So tell me what masks really do besides nothing. If anything, they make it worse.

a reply to: chiefsmom

I've really been thinking about the mask issue. Why are gloves not required?

It’s too awkward to take a selfie with your hands by your face all the time.

Masks are the perfect symbol for all true compassionate individuals. It’s about as good a symbol as the Jesus fish on the back of cars that let us know that person is kind and compassionate just like Jesus.

When I wear a mask no one can challenge my high level of compassion, even if I’m flipping off those who don’t wear masks.

Ohhh maybe if flip them off wearing a glove that would be more impactful and show how much more I care than them.

Shoot, I need to find some gloves.

Here in Indiana we've been forced to wear masks at work/shopping since March. Hasn't stopped our cases from continuing to climb. Not sure why people think another mask mandate will have any effect?

Double Post

a reply to: mysterioustranger

My point is that either the masks help or they don't.

The mayor is acting like they don't. The governor is saying they do. Which is it?

Most people who wear masks avidly do so out of fear, and they're going to side with the Mayor even though logic should dictate the governor is correct - wearing the masks on all sides ought to protect against a short contact with an ill person.

If you don't think the masks do as much as everyone says they do, then even if everyone wears them, the quarantine on all sides would still be prudent.

Logic dictates I have to side with the mayor even though I don't necessarily think the disease itself is all that dangerous for almost everyone involved.

a reply to: chiefsmom

Agreed. Even in the height of the fear when it first started, I never wore a mask or gloves or anything and after leaving the grocery store, having pushed the cart around, I touched my face, rubbed my hand down my mustache and beard, rubbed my eyes, etc. without sanitizing my hands, and never caught the coronavirus. I haven't had the flu or a flu shot since elementary school either so going back to what I said earlier, this should have been treated like the flu. If you feel bad, stay home just like you've always done.

In January 2019, a flu outbreak shut schools down in several states due to so many teachers and students having to stay home (remember those days?)

Flu Outbreak Shuts Schools Down Across the Nation

Jan. 2019
The flu is leaving a mark on America’s schools that rivals the effects of the disastrous flu season of 2017-2018. Schools in at least 12 states across the United States have closed because so many students are calling in sick — even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention don’t have official guidelines for school closures due to flu.

Mona Patel, a spokesperson for the CDC, tells Inverse that the public health institution only provides guidelines for school closings in severe circumstances, like worldwide outbreaks.

The US experienced a similar situation in the 2017-2018 flu season, schools in at least a dozen states closed down in an attempt to stem the spread of illness throughout their student bodies.

a reply to: ketsuko

Simple answer: they are a barrier. Period.

Next surgery for the kids or yourself...tell 'em to take off the masks during so they can cough, spit, breathe into the open wounds.

It explains masks: Hepatitis I caught? '93-- no mask, little gloves...all around biohazard waste, bodies etc.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
I've really been thinking about the mask issue.
Why are gloves not required?

Because if the virus can now last on surface for a long time, think about everything you touch when out and about. Money, door handles, countertops, carts, items on shelves that others may have touched.

Certainly a lot more to this, than just a mask. As there always was.

That’s why they tell us to wash our hands more often, and do not touch your mouth, nose or eyes.

Masks are meant to be there to protect people from those that have the virus, but only if the person who has the virus wears a mask.

I’m not convinced masks do much good, but I guess it won’t do any harm in wearing one, for short periods.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
I've really been thinking about the mask issue.
Why are gloves not required?

Because if the virus can now last on surface for a long time, think about everything you touch when out and about. Money, door handles, countertops, carts, items on shelves that others may have touched.

Certainly a lot more to this, than just a mask. As there always was.

This one is actually very simple.

The virus can't pass through your skin. It stays on your skin and only gets into your body if you put your hands near your eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

So washing your hands regularly and keeping them away form your face is sufficient.

You could wear cloves, but if you then put your gloved hand on your face you'd transmit the virus exactly as if you'd not been wearing gloves.

So, gloves offer no additional protection.

Study showing mask effectiveness restracted.

A study touting the effectiveness of face mask mandates in slowing the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus has been retracted by its authors. An update to the study notes that cases of the virus have continued to rise in areas the researchers analyzed.

This is one study, and of course, the tinfoil minded in me can see this as helping pave the way as logic to provide for extensive shutdowns, but the numbers have always been there for those who look. Cloth masks appear to have little effect on the virus.

a reply to: ketsuko

I love my freedom as much as the next person, and I dislike being told what to do just as much as well.

BUT I choose to wear a mask because I believe that it has a protective benefit to me.

This is my choice, to protect myself, and I'd do it even if it wasn't the lore.

Masks are ONLY for compliance identification. Those who are not mask wearing are non-compliant and easy to spot and "take care of"
I will not comply with any cult initiation rituals.
haveyenotread.com...
Aside from the fact that the masks make one appear to be terrified of everything, they are an insult to each person the mask faces.
I am not a walking petri dish of microbial baddies spreading disease like Johnny Appleseed.