Info Value of Masks and other factors to lower Covid-19 Risk while Traveling

[Centrals]

Unfortunately that is the reality of communist rule. Add onto that one of the highest population densities in the world and it is just waiting for something bad to happen. Better ventilation would be great, better airborne pollution control would be best.

In-door ventilation is not that difficult but airborne pollutant coming from north of our border is something we do not have any control.

China’s Fight Against Climate Change and Environmental Degradation

China’s carbon emissions threaten global efforts to fight climate change. Its broader environmental degradation endangers economic growth, public health, and government legitimacy. Are Beijing’s poli…

www.cfr.org

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Do masks diminish vehicle borne transmission diseases?

• Zoonoses.
• Rabies.
• Some Vectorborne Disease.
• Salmonellosis from Pets.
• Ebola.
• SARS.
• Influenza.
• Prion Diseases.

 

[Centrals]

Do masks diminish vehicle borne transmission diseases?

• Zoonoses.
• Rabies.
• Some Vectorborne Disease.
• Salmonellosis from Pets.
• Ebola.
• SARS.
• Influenza.
• Prion Diseases.

Directly or indirectly?
Highly improbable that vehicle will belt out virus through its exhaust.
Exhaust particulate(nasty) is a lot bigger than virus.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why should the majority be made to do anything in the off chance that they may be in close proximity to someone who is immuno-compromised?

We all would like the world to be a matter of black and white, yes or no, 1 or 0, but there is a spectrum between healthy and "immuno-compromised" and there are all kinds of environments. I see people at the bus stop who look like they have health issues and are laboring just to get themselves to the supermarket and back home. If younger and slightly more healthy, they may be commuting to a job. There are a whole lot of semi-unhealthy people who are susceptible to serious damage from Covid, and these same people can't afford to stay home. Until ventilation on public transport and in stores is improved, masking in these places "on the off chance" it may help susceptible people makes sense to me. Nobody is asking us to wear masks when walking outdoors or in large, well-ventilated places anymore. It's not a matter of masking or not masking but rather looking at where we are and who we are likely to come into close contact with.

In your post you mentioned you would be willing to wear a mask if you knew you were visiting an immuno-compromised person. So, why not extend that, based on your own judgment on the spot? In some situations, you can be pretty sure there are no such persons around, pretty sure the ventilation is adequate, etc., but in other situations you might know it's likely you will come into close contact with people with health issues. These days, I keep a mask in my pocket and use it when my judgment tells me it might help.

 

[Boarderguy]

We all would like the world to be a matter of black and white, yes or no, 1 or 0, but there is a spectrum between healthy and "immuno-compromised" and there are all kinds of environments. I see people at the bus stop who look like they have health issues and are laboring just to get themselves to the supermarket and back home. If younger and slightly more healthy, they may be commuting to a job. There are a whole lot of semi-unhealthy people who are susceptible to serious damage from Covid, and these same people can't afford to stay home. Until ventilation on public transport and in stores is improved, masking in these places "on the off chance" it may help susceptible people makes sense to me. Nobody is asking us to wear masks when walking outdoors or in large, well-ventilated places anymore. It's not a matter of masking or not masking but rather looking at where we are and who we are likely to come into close contact with.

In your post you mentioned you would be willing to wear a mask if you knew you were visiting an immuno-compromised person. So, why not extend that, based on your own judgment on the spot? In some situations, you can be pretty sure there are no such persons around, pretty sure the ventilation is adequate, etc., but in other situations you might know it's likely you will come into close contact with people with health issues. These days, I keep a mask in my pocket and use it when my judgment tells me it might help.

To wear them on my own choice for visiting very specific people (visiting someone directly both before and during this pandemic) is different than wearing them to pick up some apples or where I work at a test bench for 9-10 hours a day. Both are inside, both have compromised individuals. My dad who is nearly 70 has almost every contributing factor to dying if he were to contact covid. He got the shots based on his age and those underlying conditions. He never once asked anyone around him to mask up because he, like me, have fought for our individual freedoms. He had been working with me all day outsidein very close proximity when i started ahowing symptoms (fever and sore). Hecame back to next few days to gelp me finish framing and shingle my shed roof (14x16). It is a personal choice to what extent of risk you're willing to take. If someone has health issues then it is up to them to take precautions, not for society to make a blanky for them.

 

[Lorenzoid]

He never once asked anyone around him to mask up because he, like me, have fought for our individual freedoms.

I would bet some of those people I mentioned at the bus stop would be too proud to ask others to mask up as well. I don't want to be told what to do, and we should not have to be told, by government authorities or anyone else. Rather, we should use our own heads to do what makes sense under the circumstances.

It is a personal choice to what extent of risk you're willing to take. If someone has health issues then it is up to them to take precautions, not for society to make a blanky for them.

Any of us can choose to take MORE risk, as your dad did. Some of us can choose to take a LITTLE less risk by wearing a mask. But there are those among us who may be very susceptible to Covid and yet do not have the means to lower their risk less than that. Wearing a mask on public transport and at Walmart, etc., is about all they are able to do to help protect themselves. Those who decline to try to help those people by wearing a mask to add another layer of protection to the system are, in effect, setting the threshold risk borne by those others. In other words, the threshold of risk is no longer established by the free choice of those others but rather the choice of those who decline to try to help them.

I could argue that in the city where I live public transport is itself a bit of a "blanky" provided by "society"--yes, a socialist benefit--as it is mostly utilized by people who can't afford a car and would not survive if they didn't have that means of getting to their job, the supermarket, their doctor, etc. The government should not have to ask me to wear a mask. It's unfortunate that they have had do. Nevertheless, even if they do, a requirement to wear a mask is near the bottom of my list of beefs with what I (a taxpayer) am asked to do as a member of "society." The mask is a mere inconvenience and doesn't cost me anything out of pocket.

 

[Centrals]

Considerate is the key word.

 

[Centrals]

To wear them on my own choice for visiting very specific people (visiting someone directly both before and during this pandemic) is different than wearing them to pick up some apples or where I work at a test bench for 9-10 hours a day. Both are inside, both have compromised individuals. My dad who is nearly 70 has almost every contributing factor to dying if he were to contact covid. He got the shots based on his age and those underlying conditions. He never once asked anyone around him to mask up because he, like me, have fought for our individual freedoms. He had been working with me all day outsidein very close proximity when i started ahowing symptoms (fever and sore). Hecame back to next few days to gelp me finish framing and shingle my shed roof (14x16). It is a personal choice to what extent of risk you're willing to take. If someone has health issues then it is up to them to take precautions, not for society to make a blanky for them.

Most parents will help out their offspring regardless of situation.
Personal risk is different if the risk has gone beyond personal level.

 

[tursiops]

It is still amazing to me that a short science paper looking at risk factors and their mitigation -- and which puts masks way down the list, but not off the list -- has become a huge argument about individual freedom vs responsibility. It is as if "mask" is a red flag word that must be quashed or else it is the end of the world.

 

[Centrals]

The argument started over 2 yrs ago!