Wonder why?Went to a convenience store and a Walmart today without a mask on. Quite a few others doing the same tells me that people are finally coming to terms with the new normal and know the rona is not going away anytime soon no matter what we do.
Although contact tracing and, by extension, infectious disease epidemiology are imperfect science, that doesn’t invalidate their use. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to definitively characterize covid spread when droplet, aerosol and contact transmission are all possible. More importantly, public health recommendations focusing mostly on droplet, and to a lesser degree fomite spread appear to be effective enough to curtail aerosol transmission in most everyday situations.I mocked them because they said "scientific evidence confirms" which is a phrase that has no business being on any public health declarations right now.
The bold is exactly why i mocked them.
Furthermore if you follow the conversation the whole point I was making is that contact tracing isnt really the same when you are tracing people you have forced into quarantine and you have the facilities you have put them in rigged with cameras and you dismiss transimission beyond 1.5 metres because you claim thats what the science says.
That is literally as simple as "hey these two people have the virus and we sequenced it so we know A got it from B so watch the video footage of these two and see when they were within 1.5 metres of each other. If you cant find that, find out what they each touched that matches, thanks."
Fair enough. I think it’s much lower, maybe somewhere along the lines of 10-20%. Why? Ro is much closer to other infections spread primarily by droplets, and hospitals treating covid patients didn’t experience major outbreaks despite airborne isolation infrastructure and PPE being limited. And as I pointed out to para above, droplet and contact precautions seem to be working really well in countries with compliant populations.I know you asked para, but I'll take an honest stab at it: something like 2 cases in 3.
I might have a lot to learn about it ... but it just doesn't seem that even a disease-naive population will spread quite that many "heavy droplets" quite that often to account for the way COVID-19 was apparently spreading in the U.S. hotspots late February through mid March (and also Wuhan in January, for that matter). In short -- accounting for a high percentage of aerosol spread seems to explain the observed transmission rates/patterns much more accurately than a model based too strictly on heavy droplets and fomites.
Furthermore -- it seems to me that if heavy droplets were a dominant vector, the difference between indoor and outdoor spread would be much less pronounced. I can understand ambient outdoor air movement readily dispersing exhaled aerosols and preventing "trapped air" concentrations of exhaled virus-laden aerosols. Similarly for the effects of sunlight. I can less understand how heavy droplets are affected as much by the same outdoor air conditions (since heavy droplets rely so much on proximity).
I cant imagine being so defensive about a foreign country's public health department that I would literally tie myself in knots and trip over my own words while stroking them.In any event, I think it’s obnoxious to discount NZ public health officials for their guidance, summarily dismissing their statements based on legitimate, albeit imperfect, scientific evidence.
I can’t imagine being so arrogant as to second guess people who spend their lives dedicated to infection control, based on whatever knowledge you’ve gleaned from the internet.I cant imagine being so defensive about a foreign country's public health department that I would literally tie myself in knots and trip over my own words while stroking them.
They literally said that scientific evidence confirms it is spread by droplets.
They didn't say mainly, mostly, majority, or any other term that at least leaves open other possibilities. They of course don't cite any of this scientific evidence that confirms it. And of course neither do you. You even acknowledged nobody knows for sure.
You are literally agreeing with me that they cant confirm it. I have no idea why you would continue to be whiny about this. That is what is obnoxious.
Didn't start skyrocketing until the mask mandate took effect.Location: Madison, WI
Considering the hot spot Wisconsin is right now tells me that people are incapable of making the right and smart decision
Explain the science behind your theory.Didn't start skyrocketing until the mask mandate took effect.
Weird how that works.
Regarding the red: If your talking about "how should New Zealand's policy be altered?" -- I don't think they shouldn't change a thing. It's been a successful strategy so far, especially as regards early contact tracing when case numbers were small and readily cordoned off. Besides, it appears that NZ's ongoing mitigation measures taken against large/heavy droplet transmission have the side benefit of also mitigating against aerosol spread.Fair enough. I think it’s much lower, maybe somewhere along the lines of 10-20%. Why? Ro is much closer to other infections spread primarily by droplets, and hospitals treating covid patients didn’t experience major outbreaks despite airborne isolation infrastructure and PPE being limited. And as I pointed out to para above, droplet and contact precautions seem to be working really well in countries with compliant populations.
It’s tricky though, especially when superspreaders are considered. An argument can be made that aerosols are the primary mode of transmission in many (most?) superspreading events, and it’s believed these account for a big chunk of new cases. So maybe you’re right. How do you think policy should be altered to account for 2/3 vs. 1/5 aerosol transmission?
In any event, I think it’s obnoxious to discount NZ public health officials for their guidance, summarily dismissing their statements based on legitimate, albeit imperfect, scientific evidence.
Reading for the house:Didn't start skyrocketing until the mask mandate took effect.Location: Madison, WI
Considering the hot spot Wisconsin is right now tells me that people are incapable of making the right and smart decision
Weird how that works.
As a WI resident that article is spot on. And I usually lean Republican but their behavior throughout this is despicable.Reading for the house:
https://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-is-battling-americas-worst-coronavirus-outbreak-and-the-states-broken-politics-is-partially-to-blame-143650745.html
I will not debate the contents of that article in this forum. The information speaks for itself.
This has seemed to have been repeated several times...and several people have shown it false several times...Id say, probably best to stop repeating false information and bragging about not wearing a mask in public in areas with large outbreaks.Didn't start skyrocketing until the mask mandate took effect.
Weird how that works.
We can't agree on how to wipe our collective asses, pretty sure something a little more complicated like COVID or the flu is way, way, way out of our wheelhouse.It makes me wonder if we could wipe out flu
Neat how that works, except, apparently in WI where it has the opposite effect. Maybe they are all wearing their masks backwards?
People say this here and on other forums, but no one ever backs it up with anything. Is this rock-solid true? No unusual interpretation of facts necessary? I've Googled for it in the recent past, and also perused recent Google News articles, and came up empty.Neat how that works, except, apparently in WI where (mask mandates) has the opposite effect. Maybe they are all wearing their masks backwards?
I have pointed out before that for 4-5 straight weeks after mask mandate cases went down. And it wasnt subtle. Just look at 7 day average for cases on any site that has WI data.People say this here and on other forums, but no one ever backs it up with anything. Is this rock-solid true? No unusual interpretation of facts necessary? I've Googled for it in the recent past, and also perused recent Google News articles, and came up empty.
From my post it was rock solidPeople say this here and on other forums, but no one ever backs it up with anything. Is this rock-solid true? No unusual interpretation of facts necessary? I've Googled for it in the recent past, and also perused recent Google News articles, and came up empty.
Why not? What are the reasons that people in Wisconsin DGAF while the people in MN and MI and IL do?after reading tons and digging like crazy and just paying attention, that something is simply that people here dont give AF.
My son has an apartment in lower Manhattan. He was already working remotely there when he was moved by his international asset management company from NY to Milwaukee to help with a transition there just as the xxxx really hit the fan in NYC. To work IN the office.Why not? What are the reasons that people in Wisconsin DGAF while the people in MN and MI and IL do?
The WI 7 day average appears to have peaked on 7/26 at 930, 5 days before the mask mandate started on 8/1. On 8/1 the 7 day average was down to 876. If the mask mandate worked you would expect it to take 5-7 days before you could see the impact in testing. After all, the test results lag the infection date by several days. On 8/6, 5 days after the mandate, the average was down to 810. It is likely (ok, speculation on my part) it took even longer for the mask mandate to reach its peak effectiveness with whatever the highest rate of compliance ended up being in WI. It is very clear there was a trend in place before the mandate could have had an impact.I have pointed out before that for 4-5 straight weeks after mask mandate cases went down. And it wasnt subtle. Just look at 7 day average for cases on any site that has WI data.
Cases have now skyrocketed and I dont think it makes logical sense to blame the mask mandate for that..
Something else has changed.
Eta: and honestly after reading tons and digging like crazy and just paying attention, that something is simply that people here dont give AF.
You people can’t be serious with this mask making cases go up nonsense, right?
All good, and I should have made a note of that in my own post.From my post it was rock solidPeople say this here and on other forums, but no one ever backs it up with anything. Is this rock-solid true? No unusual interpretation of facts necessary? I've Googled for it in the recent past, and also perused recent Google News articles, and came up empty.![]()
While the #'s can be spun to support such a claim as LTSharks posted above, it doesn't make a difference when the mask mandate went into effect. While compliance is decent here in Milwaukee and the suburbs the #'s are spiraling out of control in the central and northern part of the state. I was just up at my cabin for archery hunting and I can attest that there is 0-10% compliance at best.You people can’t be serious with this mask making cases go up nonsense, right?
Not to mention Wisconsin wasn’t reporting their % of positive cases accurately until about a week agoimho several factors are in play here in Wisconsin. As mentioned the bar scene and socializing hasn't stopped or even slowed down. I'd be willing to bet the spike in recent cases isn't tied to the timing of the mask mandate but it is tied to when the state relaxed the mandates on the capacity of bars, etc. Drive past any rural bar and the parking lots are full. The Restaurant and Bar Association is also one of the most powerful lobbyists in Madison. If not THE most powerful. They aren't closing the bars down anytime soon or even reducing capacity to necessary levels.
Many of the cases are also related to the opening of college campuses, not only at UW but also the smaller satellite schools. WI college students party. HARD. Every year out of the top 10 party schools in the nation, WI usually has about 4 schools listed. And WI takes pride in that. There was a large outbreak at these schools when they first opened and now those kids took it home with them.
Thirdly, Wisconsin is extremely divided politically. Extremely! The state government is pretty much non-operating because of this. Because of this if the democratic governor tells you something the Republicans aren't going to do it. And vice versa. They'd rather cut off their nose to spite their face.
How so?Not to mention Wisconsin wasn’t reporting their % of positive cases accurately until about a week ago
There is a difference between lockdowns and limiting capacity. Wisconsinites don't believe in even limiting capacityLock downs do more harm than they help. Hmmmm I believe this was what many of us were saying a couple months ago
https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2020/09/bad-math-driving-wisconsins-exploding-positive-test-rate/How so?
This systematic error means DHS is tossing hundreds of thousands of negative test results when calculating the positive test rate. The real rate could be half of what DHS claims.
The article is from Sept 23. 2-1/2 weeks ago. And according to your posts they changed and started reporting it the right way. So if now they are reporting it the right way the numbers (%) should be going down. But the numbers of cases (%) have exploded, despite them reporting it the right way. And if I'm understanding it correctly, makes it way worse than it was. Before the % was around 10%, despite them not including all the test results (smaller denominator). Now that they are including all the test results (larger denominator) the per centage should be going down. But the opposite is happening. We've been consistently above 20% despite the larger denominatorhttps://www.maciverinstitute.com/2020/09/bad-math-driving-wisconsins-exploding-positive-test-rate/
Want proof of media bias? “Politifact” gave this a negative review or a pants on fire or something like that but THE NEXT DAY DHS announced this was right and they would start reporting numbers in this way
Im not exactly sure when the correct reporting is going into effect to be honest. Just that they said the article was correct and they should be reporting this wayThe article is from Sept 23. 2-1/2 weeks ago. And according to your posts they changed and started reporting it the right way. So if now they are reporting it the right way the numbers (%) should be going down. But the numbers of cases (%) have exploded, despite them reporting it the right way. And if I'm understanding it correctly, makes it way worse than it was. Before the % was around 10%, despite them not including all the test results (smaller denominator). Now that they are including all the test results (larger denominator) the per centage should be going down. But the opposite is happening. We've been consistently above 20% despite the larger denominator
I'm resisting saying what I really want to say as that would get me a timeout.It’s funny, a buddy messaged me and said, “hey sounds bad up there how are you guys doing” I laughed and said just fine don’t believe everything you read.
The majority of the increase is on college campuses, which the risk of death in those individuals is extremely low. They were having covid parties to see how many people would get infected. They realize how silly this whole thing is for them. Plus then they get a 2 week vacation. I don’t pay any attention to that number or give it any value
Appleton is not a college campus...Brown Co not just huge college town either.It’s funny, a buddy messaged me and said, “hey sounds bad up there how are you guys doing” I laughed and said just fine don’t believe everything you read.
The majority of the increase is on college campuses, which the risk of death in those individuals is extremely low. They were having covid parties to see how many people would get infected. They realize how silly this whole thing is for them. Plus then they get a 2 week vacation. I don’t pay any attention to that number or give it any value
Good thing those college kids don't ever leave their dorms right? They would never think of going to parties, going shopping, going to work or going to pick up food would they? Never interact with anybody besides their age group? Sheesh.It’s funny, a buddy messaged me and said, “hey sounds bad up there how are you guys doing” I laughed and said just fine don’t believe everything you read.
The majority of the increase is on college campuses, which the risk of death in those individuals is extremely low. They were having covid parties to see how many people would get infected. They realize how silly this whole thing is for them. Plus then they get a 2 week vacation. I don’t pay any attention to that number or give it any value
Two and a half weeks prior to the state mandate dane and milwaukee had mask mandates.The WI 7 day average appears to have peaked on 7/26 at 930, 5 days before the mask mandate started on 8/1. On 8/1 the 7 day average was down to 876. If the mask mandate worked you would expect it to take 5-7 days before you could see the impact in testing. After all, the test results lag the infection date by several days. On 8/6, 5 days after the mandate, the average was down to 810. It is likely (ok, speculation on my part) it took even longer for the mask mandate to reach its peak effectiveness with whatever the highest rate of compliance ended up being in WI. It is very clear there was a trend in place before the mandate could have had an impact.
The 7 day average was pretty stable from 8/24 (665) until 9/3 (674) and then it started soaring, up to 767 on 9/4. It would be pretty easy to speculate on the timing of how that rise correlates to increasing mask use, but that is just what it would be - speculation. Kind of like speculating the masks must work and the only reason they don't is because people don't care.
Yep. The City of Milwaukee's case rate peaked for that wave at 205 cases/day on July 13th, 3 days before the mask mandate.parasaurolophus said:Two and a half weeks prior to the state mandate dane and milwaukee had mask mandates.
And it continued downward all the way to 45 on September 7th.Yep. The City of Milwaukee's case rate peaked for that wave at 205 cases/day on July 13th, 3 days before the mask mandate.
I've highlighted the word that calls into question your entire argument.And it continued downward all the way to 45 on September 7th.
You want to argue that the decreases then had nothing to do with the masks, that's one thing. But the decreases and continued downtrends for weeks and weeks after the mask mandates were in place eliminate any rational argument that the increases are due to masks.
And I bet that you cant find a single point of data that shows mask compliance was increasing statewide steadily which is why the numbers eventually balooned.
I'm just saying the data does not show the decreases were because of masks. Maybe they helped, maybe they didn't, but the data shows there were other likely more important factors at play because of the timing of the decreases and even increases. I'm also not claiming masks increased cases even though I pointed out earlier that based on that one set of data I showed you could speculate that. I was not trying to imply the data showed that for certain, sorry if I it came across that I was. And I suspect you are correct, there would be no mask compliance increase that corresponded to cases taking off again.And it continued downward all the way to 45 on September 7th.
You want to argue that the decreases then had nothing to do with the masks, that's one thing. But the decreases and continued downtrends for weeks and weeks after the mask mandates were in place eliminate any rational argument that the increases are due to masks.
And I bet that you cant find a single point of data that shows mask compliance was increasing statewide steadily which is why the numbers eventually balooned.
Not necessarily. For every virus that normally confers immunity after first infection, there are a small number of people who don't get immune. Sometimes it takes more than one infection. Sometimes, it never happens.First US citizen to be confirmed COVID positive twice. I saw in a different article earlier today that he is an essential worker who gets tested frequently. Was sick and positive in April, then got sick again 6 weeks after recovering and was positive again. That is probably not good news for our vaccine and/or herd immunity plans.
https://time.com/5899294/reinfection-coronavirus/
Maybe, maybe not. There’s a small percentage of people with every virus that end up being able to catch it again. So one person getting it again isn’t necessarily unexpected or concerning on its own.First US citizen to be confirmed COVID positive twice. I saw in a different article earlier todayt that he is an essential worker who gets tested frequently. Was sick and positive in April, then got sick again 6 weeks after recovering and was postive again. That is probably not good news for our vaccine and/or herd immunity plans.
https://time.com/5899294/reinfection-coronavirus/