New Covid wave has begun and masks should be worn again, scientists warn
Spread of new variant could cause extreme pressure on NHS and cause more damaging long-term health problems, Sage expert says
I still wear a mask when going out to stores because I'm immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant. It's ultimately up to me to protect myself from others but what bothers me most lately are people who either laugh or think I'm stupid for still wearing a mask. Some even go as far as to call me out and shame me for it. Can people just mind their own business? I'm not trying to get them to wear a mask so why are they so fixated on me taking mine off?
I still wear a mask because I stand in soldiartiy with folks like you.
Not only do I want to prevent the spread of the disease that could kill immune compromised folks like yourself, but it also helps normalize mask wearing.
Genuinely, I think it's probably because they feel a little guilty when they see you wearing one, and that's uncomfortable for people, so they respond by taking it out on you.
Same. I never stopped wearing a mask because I'm immunocompromised from my lung transplant. People call me names all the time. Even here on Lemmy.
Protect yourself first, never apologize.
People that call you names are also telling you they don't have your back and do not care if they give you covid or if you die from it.
To distract themselves from their own problems.
It's real bad. Fun fact: I am very big, and I've worn straight up gas masks at some points during the pandemic, and no one has ever said anything to me. Plague rats are real brave as long as they're pretty confidant there won't be consequences. It's gross.
Yes, I wouldn't describe my as very big but I'm not small and the number of people who look like they're going to say something and then reconsider it when they take a second look at me… cowards. These are people used to bullying those they can bully without consequence.
This is why I started exclusively wearing kn95s because it became clear after a time that people simply don't give a shit about anyone except themselves, they don't care if you or I get covid and die.
So I stopped pretending like I'm doing my part since we all know surgicals and cloth masks are only truly effective if everyone else is wearing them. They know too but choose to fuck us anyway. So fuck them too and protect yourself first. Wear your p100 respirator with the exhaust vents that filter nothing for extra vindictive points
P100 is the best. Ain't no fart going around that filter.
Honestly, I am not immunocompromised and I still wear a mask because I haven’t gotten sick since the pandemic started, and it even helps my sinus’ when I’m cleaning the house. I’ve never been one to worry about what someone thinks of me, so I’m sorry if this comes off as tone deaf, but fuck ‘em. Why should you care about what they think about you? When was the last time you thought about that person who was doing something you thought was strange in the local mart? I will assume not until I just made you think about them. Live your life as safely as you want. For every moron out there trying to make fun of you (they can try, but ultimately they themselves just look foolish and stupid) there are more like me and the others who wear masks alongside you. Stay safe and have a good rest of your day!
it even helps my sinus’ when I’m cleaning the house.
One of the best parts about having a bunch of cloth masks from early in the pandemic is they're great for cleaning. I wear one when I clean my cats' litterboxes every day.
I wear N95s outside the house, but cloth masks have still proven useful.
For every moron out there trying to make fun of you (they can try, but ultimately they themselves just look foolish and stupid) there are more like me and the others who wear masks alongside you.
That does not match my experiences. Assuming you're happy saying so, where in the world are you that this is true? Are they accepting new residents?
This is the same issue the LGBT community suffers from, as well as people of color, people with accents, etc. People always find ways to make themselves feel superior to others by pointing out something different. You choosing to wear a mask just makes those kinds of people laugh because they either 1. Feel better than you for not wearing masks or 2. They are uneducated/ignorant and follow others' opinions without question.
I suppose the only way to turn it back around on them would be to try scaring them by saying you have something contagious like strep throat, or worse, so they'll shut up and leave you alone. Otherwise my only other advice would be to just do your best to not engage with these types of people.
I suppose the only way to turn it back around on them would be to try scaring them by saying you have something contagious like strep throat, or worse, so they’ll shut up and leave you alone.
I do find that I suddenly feel like I need to clear my throat when this happens.
Probably the same kind of people complaining about their religion being “under attack”, yet they’re the only ones actively pushing their religion on everyone else and trying to criminalize anything that goes against what they think it stands for.
I work in the med/surg floor of a busy hospital, even though management has taken down mask requirements for patients and staff, I still keep mine on when I go into patients room. I'm not immunocomprised, I just don't trust other people to tell me or the admitting staff the truth of their problems.
I was refused service at my bank the other day for not taking off my mask when they asked. They never had a problem with me being masked up before, even when I opened the account. I went and used mobile deposit instead, but it was a really disturbing precedent. I wrote in asking about their policy and instead of a straight answer I was dodged by management.
I don't want to sue them or anything, I just want them to come to their senses and not prohibit me from making a deposit to my account because I don't want to get sick.
The thing that bothers me more is when they seem actively annoyed to see someone in a mask. Like somehow me wearing a mask in a shared public space in order to prevent someone from dieing horribly is unfair to this rando but this rando doesn't think that them hacking and coughing everywhere in a shared public space without a mask on is unfair to anybody.
I really hoped that the mask stigma would change, but it's sad to see it go this way. I might just start wearing a mask again to do my part to normalize it.
If people are sick, they should feel like it's the right thing to do to wear a mask. It needs to be a normal thing and people that make fun of it are pieces of shit .
Im sorry you have to deal with that. They are just assholes.
I honestly think it's because you're physically reminding them that Covid still exists and it makes them deeply uncomfortable. My wife and I wear one for similar reasons and she's been accosted a few times where as I haven't. It's disgusting behaviour.
Someone called me a libtard under his breath, but loudly enough to make sure I heard...in a CANCER center, where many of us were having our immune systems weakened by chemo.
You can't fix stupid so I don't even try. I've been in remission for almost two years, I'm healthy and he's out there sucking in viruses. We both have ticking clocks, but mine is ticking much more slowly than his is.
Get a ventilator. Make them afraid
No one should shame anyone for wearing a mask. However no one should shame anyone for not wearing a mask.
I don't begrudge anyone for wearing a mask in solidarity or to do what they think they can to save lives, but I'm on the side of feeling like I'm taking a personal bag to the store, or recycling plastic bottles like it's actually doing something. I personally don't like wearing a mask, and I feel like in most cases it's just theater to do so.
I want to share my experience as a disabled person, because I think it's very easy to simply not notice our non-existance:
I don't exist anymore. I'm a hermit. It's been years since I've done anything in public. I go to the rheumatologist, I go to a lab to get blood tests, and once a year I get an x-ray to make sure I don't have TB. I don't do anything else. There's about a two week period where being outside isn't some unbearably high or low temperature that exacerbates my condition.
Please care about covid. Just, please. Do it for people like me if that helps you, but mostly do it for yourself. This virus can make you like me and it's miserable (I was sick before Covid, but Covid is known to trigger autoimmune conditions which are the primary cause of my suffering).
100% with you. Haven't taken my mask off in public in years, and making regular attempts to goad my friends in to putting theirs back on.
I'm so sorry for you, man. I had to take care of my parents when covid started (they're all fine now) and couldn't stand the mouth breathers thinking only they and themselves mattered.
Hi there - I am also immunocompromised and have 2 exciting autoimmune diseases. I work in an office every day (actually a lab, but regardless).
Your behaviour is not normal, and you should seek therapy so you can enjoy your life!
But fuck it, let's all just return to the office anyways. Amirite? SMH
Just in time with school starting back up too for kids. A lot have already gone back, hence where I think the spike patterns originate.
Not sure about other countries, but at least in Europe we had quite a few comments, including by health officials, that the school closures should not have been done and upheld to the extent that they were.
And I agree, the impact on learning and children's mental health was not justified by the real or potential dangers of the pandemic imho
Edit: One comment from the German Health Minister here, describing prolonged school closures as a mistake
Lol for real, can't wait til I find a new WFH job. The brain drain that my "return to the office" job has on the way is going to be monumental. EVERYONE that doesn't have a direct report in my department is looking for a new job.
Get over it. COVID is a lot more minor than anyone made out to be. Have you not had it yet? You will if you haven’t. And then you will get over it like a cold. COVID is over for good.
Don't be so dense. Maybe for you it was fine but my dad has never been the same since, and he had covid 18 months ago.
I'm young(ish), fit and healthy and I was ill for 6 weeks. I don't know how you could be unaware of its effects after all this time.
Except for the million that died.
Nonsense, it is a novel virus, effects can vary widely. I got it for the first time last Christmas and my heart still hasn't recovered, dizzy spells after climbing stairs or bending over.
Covid put my healthy 26 yo friend in hospital when he caught it last year, and I have friends who took several years of suffering before they recovered from long covid. It's definitely not as harmless as you're implying.
Our track record dealing with covid shows us that our approach was largely unsuccessful. Masking must be enforced, not suggested. This is the only effective solution.
I tend to agree, but realistically who is going to enforce it? You've got to take into consideration the impact the constant stream of conflict has on low level employees who end up responsible for this enforcement. For those who want to protect themselves, N95 masks are highly effective when used properly.
Right, it's not going to be accepted by the public or broadly enforced by anyone. The only thing we can do is wear effective masks to protect ourselves. That's basically been the reality of it the whole time.
who is going to enforce it?
In an ideal world, the community. In our current world, the government must require businesses to require customers to wear masks and social distance, and threaten them with suspending their business if they do not comply.
the impact the constant stream of conflict has on low level employees who end up responsible for this enforcement
It will not be constant. Places where this was enforced strictly did not have that trouble. It is the wishy-washy enforcement that empowered people to do this. It will be a short lived protest that dies out quickly, and the suffering will be far easier than that of covid deaths.
For those who want to protect themselves, N95 masks are highly effective when used properly
From my understanding, it is not enough. A person sharing a public space with you and not wearing a mask poses a threat, and this threat is massive if they are carrying the virus (even if non-symptomatic).
People must not have the freedom to cause the death or others by spreading respiratory viruses due to childish irresponsibility because their favorite youtuber said so.
People were such dimwits about it though. Even if you had a security guard at the entrance to every shop challenging people to wear properly fitted n95s, I'm certain heaps of people would remove it after they walked past just on principle.
The American culture is uniquely garbage because of the unique history of having a frontier for self serving pieces of shit to murder a patch of land empty for themselves and assert their right to tell everyone to fuck off. When the frontier was exhausted the homestead became the small business. When the small businesses were absorbed, "you can't tell me what to do" became having a big truck and eating hamburgers with the motivation of spite.
You people are such weird babies. It's a piece of cloth.
Yeah it was a shitshow, all because of how politicized it became. No one in 2018 would have thought that asking people to wear a face mask would become such an embarrassing ordeal.
But trust me, it's easy to catch a mask less person in a store. It shouldn't take more than a couple incidents before they learn their lesson and make an example for others.
We also need lockdowns where people are supported in staying home long enough to eliminate the virus, regular and updated testing, updated vaccines, free high quality accessible healthcare, and changes to make workplaces safe - like letting people work from home; changing in-person work to be socially distanced, and unlimited paid time off so people can get medical care when they need it.
The number of big babies who huffed and puffed at being asked to not stand on other people's feet. Unreal. As if keeping 6ft distance from complete strangers in the supermarket is a major request. Like, why do you need my body heat we don't even know each other.
And I want free food delivery, too!
Wow...
And we can concentrate those who refuse in special camps!
This but unironically
Remember 1984 where they all had to wear masks?
We can tell them to make a real argument or expect no acknowledgement
You people need to be stopped, you are insane autoritarians. The crisis is over, we are but fin to wear mask forever. You had your time in the lime light, now it's back to normal. Continue to abuse this position and you will not get the population to mobilise again to alleviate the situation.
Once again we see the abled throwing tantrums over the idea of having to suffer a mild discomfort so as to protect the lives of the disabled, especially the immunocompromised.
I have an aunt whose immune system has to be medicated into nonexistence at all times so it doesn't wreck her body, and she is still fucked up from covid, months after "getting over" it and with multiple vaccine shots beforehand. How many people have you killed or left permanently ill, and never realised, in your selfish ignorance?
If there were any divine justice in this world, idiots like you would be smote with horrible autoimmune diseases or total organ failure, forced to go on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your lives, and live with the same fear you force on others, the fear that any "harmless" disease could be the death of you.
Protecting other people from death and disability is authoritarian.
we are but fin to wear mask forever
Guy there are better vaccines and anti-virals out there. Literally NO ONE is asking you to "mask forever".
Masking must be enforced
How authoritative. Personal responsibility is the answer. Not forcing others to your level. If your threat level is that high, ok that is your choice. However everyones threat level to this thing should take into account that not everyone in your community will be on the same page as you.
Unless you want another trucker convoy emerging, I suggest not forcing any mandates. Enforce any mandate on yourself, but only yourself.
No one must have the freedom to cause the death of other people by spreading lethal respiratory viruses, only because they failed to comply with every one of the million warnings about covid-19 and masks. Just because your favorite youtuber told you masks are bad does not give you the right to murder people. This behavior must be stopped at all costs, and I do not care what you think of it.
You are very, very wrong.
Read this review. https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses
People like you shouldn’t live in the west. Fuck forcing people to wear a face rag when the science is far from clear on its effectiveness.
People like you shouldn’t exist in a functioning society that values human life, and you should feel lucky that the west is so backwards, violent and bloodthirsty that people like you are allowed to have a voice
For all non-plague rats, here’s cochrane’s follow up to this widely misinterpreted study
Curb your pseudo science. Use a real source.
it’s interesting to see how common it is for people in NYC to still wear them sometimes, especially when on the subway (the air is shitty, so it makes sense).
I doubt it will be much of a problem here, except for those who always refused. yeah, it sucks, but it’s a lot better than getting sick— or dying.
I wear one on the subway and it also helps a lot with smells. That "car that smells like shit" is often not noticeable at all.
especially when on the subway (the air is shitty, so it makes sense).
Man, having had easy access to some sort of mask for a long time now, I keep finding little situations where historically I'd be like "man, I wish I didn't have to breath this shit, it can't be good for me" where I just don't breath those things anymore...
I'm trying to think of good examples but the only one that comes to mind is that in the rare instance I need to use bug spray I'm always glad I have a mask I can wear in case it floats my way.
Zero chance anyone does this
I still see an occasional grocery worker but the foretold future where I was the last one has come
Was at a large grocery store yesterday and saw masks on (a small number of) both staff and customers.
Dn f wit muh rites /s
This is the only real graph that matters.
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=nation&areaName=England
As long as it stays below 200 a day, nobody is really going to panic over it. It's background noise now. Unless a vaccine resistant strain takes off and we hit 1000+ a day again, it's going to be business as usual.
scientists warn
Fucking nothing will be done, then.
Other than a new wave of death threats and science denial I'm sure.
Love being immunocompromised knowing I am just meat for the capitalist grinder
In this thread, right now, so many times over:
"Fuck you. Treats matter more than your life. Grow a spine and die for the treats."
I got a bunch of KN95 masks and P100 filters half off at a value store recently, its so cool being the only person not getting covid every 6 months ::: spoiler spoiler
:::HexBear Super Soldier Program 💪 Long Covid is scarry
This post made me realize how completely ignorant to covid I’ve become lately… I had to check the date to see if it was current or years old.
There was a moment in my life where I was optimistic about masks. I pictured a cyberpunk future we didn't get sick as much and had a cool new fashion accessory we could have fun with. It is wild how capitlaism couldn't even resist the power of covid
Covid has taught me that we will not do enough, then complain that we did too much. I am not optimistic about things if this new strain is as bad as the first ones.
If a zombie virus ever legitimately happened, too many people would purposely get bitten to "prove them wrong".
I want to be optimistic and all, but too many people bought too much toilet paper for a goddamn respiratory virus that it isn't even funny.
Same here. I was hopeful that covid would get people to at least be more conscious about not going places when sick, wearing masks when they are not feeling well, etc. But where I am at, people go to work, church, recreational activities, etc. with the flu and covid, even with positive test results knowing that they are contagious. I don't understand it and it hasn't gotten better.
As far as cyberpunk... I still want a full face respirator with a clear face shield (so people can see your lips when you talk), an integrated HUD (for navigation, air quality monitoring, and browsing lemmy), and some LEDs for night time illumination (and aesthetics)
Seriously? I found masks uncomfortable and annoying, I would hate the idea of it being the new norm for the rest of our lives.
I live in a climate which gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I was often getting hot under the mask or fogging up my glasses so bad I couldn't see where I was going.
I would honestly rather just get the latest vaccine and risk getting a little sick by not wearing a mask than going through that whole mask thing again
The material conditions dictate that it's the norm for the rest of our lives, unfortunately.
We're ignoring a grinding sound in our car right now.
I agree with you, at the same time it would be great if our air output would be viewed as "unclean" with masks being the worst fix for that if no better ventilation systems are available. We need to stop recirculating somebody elses waste air in indoor environments to make airborn diseases less common.
You envisioned some truly dystopian shit when it comes to a “cool new fashion accessory.” What’s cool about covering a face? That’s fucking morbid.
if i posted an article from a blog that said you where a fucking idiot would you start telling everyone else it as gospel or what
just genuinally trying to work out your thought process
Unless the strain is killing a sizable amount of people getting it it'll be hard to get people to wear masks en masse again.
Even if it kills (which it likely will), our track record shows that didn't care enough about that, and in a decreasing manner. So it'll only be worse.
The issue is that it happens out of sight out of mind so it's just an abstract statistic that it's easy to ignore or pretend away. If Covid-19 killed you by making your head spontaneously fall off we'd have eliminated it or reduced it to a few tiny isolated pockets simply by the change in the public's attitude to it. But because it kills you "quietly" out of sight in a hospital bed or at home, people were able to just convince themselves everything is basically normal.
get people to wear masks en masse again
The time when people wore masks en masse must be something that I'm too American and lung-scarred to remember
I’m too American and lung-scarred to remember
Due to a history of smoking and multiple bouts of pneumonia I was already fairly sure that my "dying of old age" (which noone truly does) would consist of drowning on fluids from my own damaged lungs one day. Then the drowning on fluids from your own damaged lungs plague came and people decided they'd rather other people die by drowning on fluids from their own damaged lungs than follow simple enhanced hygiene practices for a bit.
Mostly I try to just block that out but it's come back into sharp focus today...
Wait, you all weren't wearing masks still?
Give a shit about your fellow humans and yourself.
Wearing masks before it was cool
From a fellow trans person: I know you mean well, but shame/ridicule is the least effective agent of change. This kind of attitude I hear not just from you but other leftist queer friends just straight up leaves a bad taste in people's mouths and does nothing to convince folks of your cause, no matter how good your intentions are. To quote a Tshirt I once saw: Kindness is more punk rock than a middle finger.
Collective care and justice should be rooted in compassion, not denigration and superiority complexes.
superiority complexes.
TIL needing to mask for health reasons is a superiority complex.
I'm not going to address any of the rest of your comment except to say, stop tone policing a shitpost. The point was to vent about a genuine frustration, not to convince anyone. And just don't tone police in general.
To quote a Tshirt I once saw: Kindness is more punk rock than a middle finger.
Wow. Everything you said before this swayed me but this is such an awesome statement that I had to say thanks for expanding my vernacular.
Sir/Ma'am, This Is A Wendy's.
I love you.
I haven't left the house. Does that count?
I keep wearing N95s. Haven't gotten COVID yet and not feeling like playing the Long COVID roulette. I don't work 9-5 in an office so I don't even have to wear a mask for very long periods of time. Buses, stores require it, but there's plenty to do outside anyway. Patios are fine. Need to take a leak? Put the mask on. No one from my circle has caught it yet. Honestly this protocol isn't that bad.
It's like once "their guy" gave them the ok, everyone started licking doorknobs again. Why couldn't we keep this "social distancing" thing going? I liked my personal space.
Yes friend, I'm with you
Name checks out
I've been doing this and still somehow managed to catch it about a year ago. One of the few people at that event that was wearing a mask and somehow I'm the one that gets it...
Don't know if I'm ever going to stop wearing a mask.
It happens. Since the beginning of the pandemic I've caught something exactly once, a couple of months ago. I did a PCR test however while symptomatic and it came out negative. So did my wife when she got it a couple of days later. My point is that something got through the defense protocol and could easily have been SARS-CoV-2. I only know it wasn't because I tested for it.
Everyone in my immediate circles either masks up like I do or hasn't seen me in a few years lol. I didn't quarantine and mask all this time to get COVID now goddammit I refuse. Funny thing is my life hasn't been any worse without those people now that I think about it... Huh.
We got it several times due to having a toddler and other people being selfish and not keeping their kids home when they got sick.
Just remember to try not to touch anything after handling your mask until you've had a chance to wash or sanitise your hands again. It's designed to gather up any Covid you'd breath in or out so ironically is one of the worst things you can touch in terms of risk of spreading infection. (Personally, since I work at home, I tend to just leave my mask on fulltime when I'm out, unless I actively need to take it off for food or water or something, just so I don't have to mess around with the administration of keeping my hands clean while taking it on and off and making sure it's properly seated after I put it back on. Wearing a mask for hours on end isn't my favourite thing but I don't find it too unpleasant, so I can see why people who really hate it would want to deal with faffing around putting it on and off.)
BuT wHaT aBoUt the ecoNoMy??!!
I mean, we didn't handle any of this well the first time. That goes for most places on the planet. I'm sure we won't handle it well if it really does go south again.
Haven't left my house without wearing a mask ever since the ride started. Also never caught the virus. At the rate we're going, I'm going to wear them for the rest of my life. I don't mind.
I want one built into my nostrils and throat.
I tested this with bread as the 'mask' it works except if you use rye bread.
Fascinating
Please post visual aids to assist with disseminating your findings.
For what it's worth, it's entirely possible (and probably likely) that you simply had an asymptomatic case.
Probable, but just reaffirms the logic behind wearing a mask even now.
So glad it's not just me. People in the real world act like I'm crazy and it's exhausting.
I saw a study a while back that claimed that good filtration and ventilation systems in indoor public places were more effective than masking. If that's the case, what I'd like to see is subsidies for businesses and public buildings to get.new systems installed, as well as new minimum air quality standards for public spaces with inspections for enforcement.
Schools, get the schools some serious ventilation upgrades. Petri dishes full of cootie factories…
Yep, got it again this week and presently in isolation. On the upside, we know how to treat it way better than when I had it last time.
I got it in late July and STILL have it. Both testing positive and with symptoms. Isolating this long has been hell. And I have no idea when it's going to end.
Talk to your doctor, there is rarely any point in isolating after two weeks even if you still test positive.
Hey, let's again make sure we don't listen to the scientists that come armed with facts and data. 7 million dead the last time? Probably a made-up statistic just to spread fear and panic...right?
sigh
It's a conspiracy by the Big Pipette cartel to sell more tips to labs.
That's pretty damn funny.
Do yOu EveN kNOw aNYoNe tHaT dIEd oF cOViD?
Pretty sure the latest variants of covid are much less deadly than the beginning of the pandemic.
I googled about it and this is not only news site talking about it last month, and there is little pump in cases - idc anymore about it anyway
Time to buy some shares, I guess.
Welp, time for me to buy a new mask cause I accidentally tossed my old one out when I replaced my old purse. :|
I thought that you were an anti-masking dude being a misogynist, then I checked your profile
Disposable KF94's are the way to go. I re-use them as safely as I can, because I'm not rich, but then discard them when they become compromised
Ignore the other person who responded to you. They are misinterpreting the report they linked to (I've made about a thousand comments to debunk it at this stage...) Try to take the opportunity to either find a rated disposable mask that you find comfortable/like wearing or a good quality reusable. Wear just whatever mask you can get your hands on over not wearing a mask at all.
Cloth masks don’t do shit anyway. Neither do N95s apparently. You are out of date on the literature.
There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect. The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.
You are out of date on the literature
Counterpoint: Wearing and maintaining a clean mask takes nearly zero effort and provides peace of mind for a lot of people.
So just make sure you have N95s handy. There's no reason to panic, but just be prepared if a new strain takes off over the flu season.
I don't understand why the comments are so contentious.
Where does one get actually trustworthy N95s?
Home Depot carries NIOSH-certified N95s. Looks like they're in stock online.
My wife and I wear them when we are in an uber or other enclosed space. Due to the new wave, we are being a bit more careful than usual.
I hate scepticism over vaccines, but when it has just been announced that vaccines can be sold to the public for around £100 each, and then this comes along. They say ignore how many are being admitted to hospital as other consequences are more dangerous.
I have followed the hospital rates as a metric for over a year now. I don't see any other metric as valid. The death rate is reduced as the most vulnerable have been seen off. The reporting rate is non-existent because people are not interested anymore. People are under pressure to attend work with covid now, so why would they bother with the testing kits. Patients in hospital is the most sensible data point to me.
Why are we not being told of which areas are showing the most cases? Covid cases are drastically reduced now. Which hospitals are taking in large amounts of cases?
It would be stupid to take unnecessary risks, but this has a bad smell of fear mongering to sell vaccines around it for me.
Please no...
From the charts in the article, it looks like levels of infection are up to where they were in May/June 2023. Were you wearing a mask then? It really begs the question: What is the threshold level of infection in which the wearing of masks is critically important?
Ah shit, here we go again.
And this time the government isn't going to hand out vaccines with no strings attached. Now you have to agree to some website's grossly one-sided terms of service in order to get vaccinated. No, I do not agree to binding arbitration over something being put in my body; I'm not completely stupid.
MoSt CuRsEd GeNeRaTiOn Ever
surveillance
They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.
What so they mean by "surveillance" here
Monitoring the transmission of the new variant.
Surveillance is an incredibly important tool in monitoring virus incidence and disease spread. Here is a summary of an article published in the National Library of Medicine that explains it in detail:
“Surveillance is a fundamental tool for public health, producing information to guide actions. Modern surveillance tends to follow health measures such as the incidence of a disease or syndrome or even the occurrence of health-related behaviors. There are many reasons for conducting surveillance, and the data collected and the approach taken to analyzing those data are both influenced by the overall goal of a surveillance system. Surveillance systems aims mainly at detection also provide information that may be useful for other purposes. The goal of detecting an outbreak of a newly emerging virus, places specific demands on the type of data collected and the types of analysis performed. All approaches to surveillance share some common principles. While some of the underlying methods used in public health surveillance have evolved considerably in recent years, the general approach to surveillance has remained relatively constant. At a fundamental level, surveillance aims to (1) identify individual cases, (2) detect population patterns in identified cases, and then (3) convey information to decision-makers about population health patterns.”
Link for those that want a further read: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114643/
Cloth masks were always supposed to be a stopgap measure until vaccines or increased N95 production was available.
People will not mask up again, and quite frankly, shouldn't have to, especially if they're not going to use ones that are actually effective.
The pharma companies jacked up the price of the vaccines knowing future waves were coming and yearly boosters would be necessary.
My point is: whether you think people should mask up again or not, it's just not going to happen, but the actual paths forward, either mandatory vaccinations or at least cheap and readily accessed shots for the willing won't happen either without government intervention.
But let's be bluntly honest, people's behaviour has nothing to do with the efficacy of masks. They won't wear a mask, regardless of efficacy, because they simply do not want to. And they do not care if they spread disease.
This is obvious by all the folks with their nose sticking out
There are many, many people who gladly masked up until the vaccines were out and then stopped when they got their shots, like all reasonable medical professionals suggested, and now won't go back because they've kept up their boosters and it's unreasonable to insist on it.
But, you're right, the other kind, who aren't vaxxed and never masked, won't do their part out of spite, and the only solution for them is mandatory vaccinations or complete social pariahhood, and only one of those is realistically possible.
That's weird. My girlfriend got another booster yesterday in Canada for free.
I came here because I was tired of seeing this garbage on reddit all the time. How long are you going to let yourself be scared?
lol what a stupid fucking take.
The government could announce a volcano evacuation and you stupid fucks would be like “how long are you babies gonna be scared?” as you walk into the burning hot lava.
Fucking ridiculous.
So who do you think is behind this? Big mask?
I know actual boomers that really do think there's a vague and undefined conspiracy that wanted to deny them access to the ever-flowing chocolate fountain at the Golden Corral.
That thing was a horrifying disease vector well before covid.
How long are you going to let yourself be scared?
Would you kindly walk into an intensive care unit at a hospital and repeat your flaming hot take to the nursing staff and maybe some intubated people there?
Very telling that you refer to being intelligent and knowledgeable about global crises as “being scared.”
How long are you gonna keep your head in the sand?
That's right, I'm not scared of the Woke Lung Virus
At least typhoid Mary didn't know she was carrying typhoid
millions dead, millions more permanently disabled, and you can't even comprehend the notion that it was all preventable. advocating for further deaths+disabilities and justifying it as fear is beyond stupid - it's bloodthirsty membership in a death cult.
I'm not sure. Perhaps until we devise an effective preventative vaccine or, at least, a working strategy to prevent long Covid?
What do you suggest instead?
How dramatic. I don't think people are generally still scared of this. It's been part of our lives for a few years now.
Normal people see this and go "Hmm, I'll keep some N95s around in case there's a notable uptick in people gettin' sick this flu season." Meanwhile, some people, such as yourself, seem to have a negative knee-jerk reaction to anything in the news related to COVID, and then proceed to get shit upon by the community when you removed about it; their knee-jerk reaction is to immediately assume you're a right-winger and call you out on it (they've done it to a couple other people in here). While I don't think that's a fair assumption off the cuff, I can see how they'd jump to that.
How absolutely moronic. Hey, malaria has been around since Ancient times. How long are you going to let yourself be scared of that? Go to the nearest swamp and see if you can attract some mosquitoes, bro.
Nooooo !
Masking is not an effective solution. Anyone that propagates this shit is just doing it for clicks at this point.
Have you read the highly respected Cochrane Review? https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses
Read the review. It’s the most comprehensive post pandemic study from a highly respected journal. They clearly state the following:
There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect. The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.
If we can’t settle the issue after a 2 year pandemic, I highly doubt it will ever be settled by science.
Masking is political theater and is ultimately a matter of expressing your tribe at this point. Alternatively, we could think of people who wear masks today as leaning more heavily towards social humanism and hive mentality (society over the individual), where non masks proponents lean towards liberal humanism (in the sense of freedom of the individual, that is, personal liberty).
Given that the science is inconclusive about masks, and even suggests that they are not effective, it’s about time that news outlets drop the topic. If you want to wear a mask, then do it. But don’t force anyone else to or suggest that governments should regulate it.
COVID is over. New shit will come. Masks won’t be the solution.
Edit: downvotes without any proper rebuttal. Classic tribalism at all cost despite the truth.
Wait hold on I've seen this one before
be me be in rocky marriage wife cheats on me I move to apartment for 6 months trial seperate hate life pandemic goddamnwtf.jpg
I don't have evidence she actually cheated on me this time, other than the nudes she sent the same dude she fucked. I learned my lesson this time. I'm not letting her have the house.
masks do NOT work. Not unless you are wearing at least an N-95 or better mask. More fear-mongering in an election year, surprise surprise. Do not forget to get your lovely vaccines.
This article is about the UK ... God this shows how much you were ready to just jump at conspiracy theories.
Not to mention that it's absolutely clear to everyone involved that the results of the next UK election is largely already decided and that stuff like this isn't going to move the needle either way.
Stfu liberal. Uh oh, only n95s work, guess we can’t tell anyone to do anything. Not to mention that’s completely untrue, pretty much any mask is better than nothing.
You're looking at PPE one-dimensionally. The most effective use of PPE is combined with other types of PPE, as well as additional precautions and safe habits. Masks ALONE aren't saving shit. A vaccine ALONE isn't making you infallible.
This is basic OSHA shit that everyone should at least realize where it applies to work. It carries over into your everyday. I've got a HAZWOPER certification I have to keep up every year, so it's something ingrained at this point.
