*** OFFICIAL *** COVID-19 CoronaVirus Thread. Fresh epidemic fears as child pneumonia cases surge in Europe after China outbreak. NOW in USA (11 Viewers)

[seahawk 17]

I would be interested in a study of those who wear masks and also wear/require condom usage during intercourse.

 

[Scoresman]

I would be interested in a study of those who wear masks and also wear/require condom usage during intercourse.

I wear a condom while driving.

 

[jamny]

Here in Boise, its probably 1% mask usage. Rarely see them. Not required at any doctors or dentists anymore but as I said, it was at the hospital this morning. At the supermarket I might see one or two wearing one.

But I will never question someone wearing one. I have no idea what is going on in their lives.

 

[LawFitz]

But I will never question someone wearing one. I have no idea what is going on in their lives.

This right here.

Except when I see someone wearing one in her car by herself. Then I know exactly what is going on in her life. And I have a sad for her.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Flew from Orange County to Knoxville (through Chicago) today. I'd guess less than 5% mask usage at the three airports & two planes.

Strangely enough I think I saw more mask usage at Disneyland on Monday.

Pretty low flying back from Canada, maybe 5-10% masking. Big difference to/from Japan, where it was 100% (enforced policy) on planes, and ~50% elsewhere (higher for Asians, lower for Caucasians, most of whom seemed to be visiting from Australia).

 

[Terminalxylem]

Are we settling into a pattern of less spread and severity?

I actually think we're in a pattern of much more spread (akin to ordinary cold-causing viruses) but far less severity from a top-of-the-mountain perspective.

At the individual level, it can - of course - be very different. The percentages given are spitballs, but: I'd say that right now, something like 95% of the U.S. can contract COVID "safely". "Safely" meaning nearly all that 95% will skate through and that at very worst (maybe 1 in 500-5,000 cases, age-dependent) they'll be sick as eff for a spell, but they'll make it out the other side and not have lingering symptoms for more than a few weeks. That 95% includes more old people than one might think -- I'd bet at this point at least 75% of even 80+ year-olds skate through their COVID cases.

I believe that right now ... there are A LOT of people walking around with "silent" -- but "safe" -- COVID ("safe" in that without having severe 'expressive' symptoms that get a lot of viral load into the air, they're not going to be major spreaders to non-intimates in public). Almost all other respiratory viruses are the same way -- at virtually all times there are loads of no-symptom influenza carriers out in public. Rhinovirus carriers, enteroviruses, legacy coronaviruses, etc. Been that way for millennia and it's hard to imagine that COVID is not heading in the same direction.

But again ... at the individual level, it can be very different. Just like there are many terrible flu stories about the very worst of 1-in-500,000 outcomes ... there will be terrible COVID stories for generations to come. And yes, the data still shows that, right now, the worst outcomes of COVID present more frequently than those of influenza (spitballing maybe 10-20 times as often?). But COVID is nevertheless gradually dropping back to "the pack" with the other respiratory illnesses. COVID is not going to remain (and probably isn't now) this society-wrecking public-health sledgehammer that keeps taking swings at humanity over and over and over.

You’re mostly on-base here. But I think contemporary covid is probably 3-5X deadlier than the flu, so we can expect 100-150K deaths annually, compared to ~35K for influenza. Since it’s so much more contagious, the morbidity is probably a bit higher, accounting for hospitalizations, long covid, etc., plus reduced productivity among people with milder illness.

Prior to the pandemic, those numbers would be catastrophic for influenza. But we’ve reset our tolerance for death and debility in covid’s wake.

 

[fatness]

Meanwhile

Idaho lawmakers introduce legislation to criminalize those who administer COVID vaccines

 

[Terminalxylem]

Wait some of you guys are still wearing masks? This is insanity. Ive been to the doctor 3 times in the last week and nobody is wearing masks anymore, patients, doctors, nurses, receptionist...

I think its time to get past your fears man. This is some PTSD youre suffering from.

I wear a mask almost all the time at work, and on flights. Would also consider wearing one in any crowded, poorly ventilated space. It’s not that big a deal, and certainly not motivated by fear, or PTSD.

 

[Terminalxylem]

... when I see a person wearing a mask today (whether it be outdoors, in a crowd, in a car by themselves) I think of them as a buffoon. I think more people think like me IRL than think like you and a lot of people dont want to admit it on these boards.

I don't think it's particularly common to think that people wearing masks are buffoons.

You specified "outdoors, in a crowd, in a car by themselves**". Does that mean that in other situations besides those, you might more understand where a masker might be coming from?


** There's that 'in a car by themselves' thing again.

I understand wearing one in a hospital or doctors office. WTF wants to get sick?

What are your thoughts on the lack of masking in healthcare settings pre-covid? Was that a failure of public health/infection control?

 

[LawFitz]

Meanwhile

Idaho lawmakers introduce legislation to criminalize those who administer COVID vaccines

Whoa, who knew Idaho was so progressive. Good for them

 

[LawFitz]

I posted the points of this article in *2021* listing some of the EIGHTEEN reasons to wait on taking the Covid vax, and was routinely ridiculed, dismissed and attacked in response...

18 Reasons I Won't Be Getting a Covid Vaccine

A few friends have asked my thoughts on the covid jab(s) so I thought it was time to write an article on the topic.All my friends had not heard most of the details I shared, so I figured you might appreciate hearing some of what I told them.Knowing how contentious this issue is, part of me would...

www.deconstructingconventional.com

Let's review the 18 reasons...

#1: VACCINE MAKERS ARE IMMUNE FROM LIABILITY
#2: THE CHECKERED PAST OF THE VACCINE COMPANIES
#3: THE UGLY HISTORY OF ATTEMPTS TO MAKE CORONAVIRUS VACCINES
#4: THE "DATA GAPS" SUBMITTED TO THE FDA BY THE VACCINE MAKERS
#5: NO ACCESS TO THE RAW DATA FROM THE TRIALS
#6: NO LONG-TERM SAFETY TESTING
#7: NO INFORMED CONSENT
#8: UNDER-REPORTING OF ADVERSE REACTIONS AND DEATH
#9: THE VACCINES DO NOT STOP TRANSMISSION OR INFECTION
#10: PEOPLE ARE CATCHING COVID AFTER BEING FULLY VACCINATED
#11: THE OVERALL DEATH RATE FROM COVID
#12: THE BLOATED COVID DEATH NUMBERS
#13: FAUCI AND SIX OTHERS AT NIAID OWN PATENTS IN THE MODERNA VACCINE
#14: FAUCI IS ON THE HOT SEAT FOR ILLEGAL GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH
#15: THE VIRUS CONTINUES TO MUTATE
#16: CENSORSHIP...AND THE COMPLETE ABSENCE OF SCIENTIFIC DEBATE
#17: A WORLD-RENOWN VACCINOLOGIST IS SOUNDING THE ALARM...
#18: I ALREADY HAD COVID

That is is a who's who and what's what of
conspiracy theories that have become conspiracy FACTS.

#TimeAndSpace

 

[LawFitz]

I realize I am destroying the Covidian narratives. Medical and otherwise. For that I am not sorry. At all.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting.

See, just when I start to think "Jeez guys, so somebody wants to wear a mask in their own car -- how does that affect you?" then somebody comes along to remind me who the actual busybodies are on this issue.

 

[jobarules]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

 

[jobarules]

"Why do you care if people wear masks?"

A few hours later...

"Masks should be required"

Why do you care if people don't wear masks?

 

[the moops]

Dozens every day? Come on man.

I work in a children's museum. Nearly every floor staff wears a mask. Two people on my team wear a mask. One of our VP's has all sorts of ailments - she wears one. So maybe 12-15 at my work alone. Then in my day to day travels (to grocery store, hardware store, on the bus/train, etc) I for sure see at least a dozen more. You are in NYC, if you went and walked outside or in a large office building you for sure would see dozens too.

Well, there go. I'll bet you have a disproportionate number of NPR-tote-bag owners in your workplace as well.

I'm sure I do. There are plenty of places like mine though, both here in the twin cities and in every other major city in the US. So I question whether it is as uncommon as joba says it is

 

[the moops]

But I will never question someone wearing one. I have no idea what is going on in their lives.

This is the correct line if thinking. If anything, we have learned that many of us have underlying health issues that are not obvious at first glance

 

[jobarules]

Dozens every day? Come on man.

I work in a children's museum. Nearly every floor staff wears a mask. Two people on my team wear a mask. One of our VP's has all sorts of ailments - she wears one. So maybe 12-15 at my work alone. Then in my day to day travels (to grocery store, hardware store, on the bus/train, etc) I for sure see at least a dozen more. You are in NYC, if you went and walked outside or in a large office building you for sure would see dozens too.

Well, there go. I'll bet you have a disproportionate number of NPR-tote-bag owners in your workplace as well.

I'm sure I do. There are plenty of places like mine though, both here in the twin cities and in every other major city in the US. So I question whether it is as uncommon as joba says it is

Sorry if I didn't believe you. I honestly havent seen dozens of people wearing masks if I add up the total Ive seen over the last month.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

I obviously wasn't wearing masks pre-Covid, but living in NYC and commuting on public transit helped me develop the lifelong habit of washing my hands every time I arrived at home or my office

 

[Doug B]

But I think contemporary covid is probably 3-5X deadlier than the flu, so we can expect 100-150K deaths annually, compared to ~35K for influenza.

I keep hoping these numbers can drift downward in the near term (<5 yrs) despite nothing in the current data indicating that they will.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

I obviously wasn't wearing masks pre-Covid, but living in NYC and commuting on public transit helped me develop the lifelong habit of washing my hands every time I arrived at home or my office

The first thing my wife says when I get home is "wash you hands" LOL But nothing could have saved me that fateful evening in Feb 2020.

 

[jobarules]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

A "joke". Sure buddy

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

You’re mostly on-base here. But I think contemporary covid is probably 3-5X deadlier than the flu, so we can expect 100-150K deaths annually, compared to ~35K for influenza. Since it’s so much more contagious, the morbidity is probably a bit higher, accounting for hospitalizations, long covid, etc., plus reduced productivity among people with milder illness.

Prior to the pandemic, those numbers would be catastrophic for influenza. But we’ve reset our tolerance for death and debility in covid’s wake.

Not to mention that one of the ways Covid has changed my perspective is thinking maybe we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders and assume 35K deaths per year from influenza is simply the Way Things Are. I'm not saying we need lockdowns or masks or what have you, just that it should be our goal to find ways to bring that number down. Improving ventilation in public spaces seems like a no brainer investment.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

A "joke". Sure buddy

On one level, we should all be glad that we've finally reached the point where people are instantly forced to walk this sort of thing back when they get called on it.

On the other hand, these are the people who were going to court to force school-children to wear masks against the wishes of local elected officials. Now they're very sad to know that people might be making fun of them in the privacy of their own thoughts. A tiny serving of karma never hurt anybody.

 

[Doug B]

You’re mostly on-base here. But I think contemporary covid is probably 3-5X deadlier than the flu, so we can expect 100-150K deaths annually, compared to ~35K for influenza. Since it’s so much more contagious, the morbidity is probably a bit higher, accounting for hospitalizations, long covid, etc., plus reduced productivity among people with milder illness.

Prior to the pandemic, those numbers would be catastrophic for influenza. But we’ve reset our tolerance for death and debility in covid’s wake.

Not to mention that one of the ways Covid has changed my perspective is thinking maybe we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders and assume 35K deaths per year from influenza is simply the Way Things Are. I'm not saying we need lockdowns or masks or what have you, just that it should be our goal to find ways to bring that number down. Improving ventilation in public spaces seems like a no brainer investment.

Right on.

Building codes change for all kinds of reasons all the time. "Sick buildings" have been a thing since way before COVID. Just like American society went ape-schmidt on asbestos and environmental lead ... it's time for a similar initiative for indoor stale air in public facilities. And in a lot of workplaces, too.

 

[AAABatteries]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

I obviously wasn't wearing masks pre-Covid, but living in NYC and commuting on public transit helped me develop the lifelong habit of washing my hands every time I arrived at home or my office

I've stopped wearing a mask unless it is required but I have continued to be pretty religious with my hand washing.

 

[top dog]

I would be interested in a study of those who wear masks and also wear/require condom usage during intercourse.

I wear a condom while driving.

But are you "alone in the car"?

 

[urbanhack]

I just got back from the grocery store and counted about 20 people masked including two of the three checkers. Fairly typical here. Hardly 1%.

That said, I do think mask usage is regional. I'm in Portland, and I'm pretty sure as soon as you take one step outside of the city in any direction, mask usage plummets.

This is exactly right.

 

[sho nuff]

Masks should be required on public transportation because trains are disgusting. Pre-covid I will never forget just hearing the whole car coughing and then literally feeling the guy behind me sneezing on the back of my head/neck. Two days later I had some illness that knocked me out for a week.

Required

You guys are so blinded that you can't even recognize a joke anymore. But it does remain that public transportation is disgusting and was well before covid.

A "joke". Sure buddy

Seemed pretty clear he was joking and talking about how nasty public transportation can be...not sure why the need to act as if he is now being dishonest.

 

[Atomic Punk]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

 

[The Commish]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

Because people like me spent the better part of two years begging people to please mind their own business, and we were accused of murdering everyone's grandmother. The hypochondriacs who now want to play the "I was just joking" card can get bent. A little social opprobrium is absolutely a-okay here.

 

[Schmeabs]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

Laughing is a great thing for your health.

 

[jobarules]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

So if I looked through all your posts in this thread (Im not doing that by the way) I wont find any posts from you that said "WEAR YOUR MASKS PEOPLE" during that time frame?

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

Because people like me spent the better part of two years begging people to please mind their own business, and we were accused of murdering everyone's grandmother. The hypochondriacs who now want to play the "I was just joking" card can get bent. A little social opprobrium is absolutely a-okay here.

I fully support your right to make fun of the hypochondriacs, as long as you support mine to make fun of the "face diaper" crowd.

I do think masks got caught up in the broader debate about our responsibility to others. But I also think the vast majority of people, including just about everyone participating in this thread, are capable of recognizing the nuance of the situation. More specifically, in the days before vaccines and Omicron, public masking* was a useful -- if highly imperfect -- tool for protecting public health. Over time, that value diminished significantly, and it's now almost exclusively an individual choice.

* To clarify one point, when I say "public masking" I'm deliberately not going into specifics about government mask mandates, Costco's store policy, etc. I have zero interest in relitigating that debate. I'm just saying, in the summer of 2020, people wearing masks while indoors with others was one of the better options we had for preventing the spread of Covid.

 

[jobarules]

Went out (ny) to get bagel and coffee. Places are empty. People keeping distance. Nobody smiling. This is a nightmare I wish we can wake up from.

Man. Am I out of the ordinary to say that I'd not risk an excursion for a bagel and coffee? Especially in NYC.

Went out (ny) to get bagel and coffee. Places are empty. People keeping distance. Nobody smiling. This is a nightmare I wish we can wake up from.

I know this is your life and all - but can you just buy a dozen bagels next time you go and make coffee at home so as to not have to go out every morning?

Went out (ny) to get bagel and coffee. Places are empty. People keeping distance. Nobody smiling. This is a nightmare I wish we can wake up from.

why? stay home.

Wash your hands, keep your distance. How is this any different than people going to liquor stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, or costco?

You don't see the difference between picking up a bagel and coffee and stocking up at Costco or getting medicine from a pharmacy?

Not sure what's so difficult. Whether I make breakfast at home i eventually I have to go food shopping. Food is essential. Wtf is anyone to tell me whether I get a bagel from a store or carton of eggs from a grocery store is any different. I'll tell you i know which one is riskier. It's the store im spending an hour in with a bunch of other people. The bagel store is not risky at all and helps keep a small business in business.

Could you have maybe bought a dozen bagels and really helped out a small business? Maybe reduce the risk to yourself and others?

Yes I normally get bagel and coffee every Saturday and sunday. One of the simple joys I can still do right now according to my governor. Not gonna feel guilty about doing what is allowed of me.

i respect that. the govenor allowing you to do it bit, is taking the responsibility off your shoulders. that is why you're getting the flack. optional reasons for going out, should be eliminated. because you want to do your part to limit the spread,

i'd like to have a few beers and play poker tonight, with 7 people, but i'm going to pass. the CDC says it should be fine. but i'm cool not going.

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

 

[the moops]

Sorry if I didn't believe you. I honestly havent seen dozens of people wearing masks if I add up the total Ive seen over the last month.

All good. I find it shocking that you haven't seen dozens of people wearing masks though. Different worlds and all I suppose

 

[Scoresman]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

Because people like me spent the better part of two years begging people to please mind their own business, and we were accused of murdering everyone's grandmother. The hypochondriacs who now want to play the "I was just joking" card can get bent. A little social opprobrium is absolutely a-okay here.

Before the vax, paxlovid, and other treatments that we now have, masking made a lot of sense for everyone to do to partially curb spread. Now with those treatments in place, it's a personal choice and mandatory masking doesn't make sense for a few reasons. Not hard to understand the difference from two years ago to now.

I was certainly not joking early on in the pandemic when I was in favor of everyone masking.

 

[Doug B]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

 

[jobarules]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

I dont disagree. However there was a lot of "judgmental" people in the beginning and alot of them ended up being wrong and those same people now saying people shouldnt be so judgy. Its BS and hypocritical.

 

[Doug B]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

I dont disagree. However there was a lot of "judgmental" people in the beginning and alot of them ended up being wrong and those same people now saying people shouldnt be so judgy. Its BS and hypocritical.

I don't think the 2020 judgment against people rejecting COVID-fighting public NPIs are comparable to 2023 judgment against people making personal decisions to mask for personal reasons. Sometimes judgment is right, proper, and good. Sometimes it's not. The surrounding circumstances matter.

 

[ericttspikes]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

I dont disagree. However there was a lot of "judgmental" people in the beginning and alot of them ended up being wrong and those same people now saying people shouldnt be so judgy. Its BS and hypocritical.

What were people wrong about? It was a lot easier to collectively wear masks. You know, all pull together, Kumbaya type thing. Then people pissed and moaned and the pendulum has swung in the other direction.

Despite any internal thoughts I have today that it's the right thing to do "to protect others" I just don't need the hassle to be the only guy wearing one and having to deal with the "what's up with the mask, Covid's over" people. F it. My wife has Covid right now and I have to go to a volleyball tournament and feel the pressure not to mask despite my close contact and me not feeling great. Oh well. Testing negative so far though.

 

[Scoresman]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

I dont disagree. However there was a lot of "judgmental" people in the beginning and alot of them ended up being wrong and those same people now saying people shouldnt be so judgy. Its BS and hypocritical.

So because some people on an internet message board disagreed with you on early measures to curb virus spread and called you out on it, its ok for you to make the judgment that everyone you see in a mask today is a buffoon without knowing anyone's situation? Is the laugh emoji still banned?

 

[jobarules]

LMFAO where was the "nuance" here. People dont like the heat when it is pointed at them (and yes tamales was me).

Succinctly: I think it would have been wrong for society to ignore COVID from jump. Not sure what you're thinking should have done in retrospect, but doing nothing and letting the chips fall was not an option.

I dont disagree. However there was a lot of "judgmental" people in the beginning and alot of them ended up being wrong and those same people now saying people shouldnt be so judgy. Its BS and hypocritical.

What were people wrong about? It was a lot easier to collectively wear masks. You know, all pull together, Kumbaya type thing. Then people pissed and moaned and the pendulum has swung in the other direction.

Despite any internal thoughts I have today that it's the right thing to do "to protect others" I just don't need the hassle to be the only guy wearing one and having to deal with the "what's up with the mask, Covid's over" people. F it. My wife has Covid right now and I have to go to a volleyball tournament and feel the pressure not to mask despite my close contact and me not feeling great. Oh well. Testing negative so far though.

Dude

Seriously?

The mask isnt the issue here. If you dont feel great and your wife has covid put 2+2 together. I dont care what those stupid tests say. You have covid. Stay home

 

[AAABatteries]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

What makes you think the people who are arguing about masks will ever move on? They've had 2+ years to move on - the innate desire to be right or be proven correct isn't going away anytime soon.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

Because people like me spent the better part of two years begging people to please mind their own business, and we were accused of murdering everyone's grandmother. The hypochondriacs who now want to play the "I was just joking" card can get bent. A little social opprobrium is absolutely a-okay here.

Before the vax, paxlovid, and other treatments that we now have, masking made a lot of sense for everyone to do to partially curb spread. Now with those treatments in place, it's a personal choice and mandatory masking doesn't make sense for a few reasons. Not hard to understand the difference from two years ago to now.

I was certainly not joking early on in the pandemic when I was in favor of everyone masking.

People in this thread were noisily, angrily in favor of mask mandates long after vaccines were widely available. That was where the membership of this thread collectively lost the plot.

 

[Scoresman]

Hopefully we can move past the 2,893 mask conversation. You want to wear one, wear one … you don’t, then don’t!

Seriously, anyone who gets worked up, laughs or is sad for someone, based on this subject, needs to rethink what is important in life.

As good a as it was in 2020-21. I'll never understand why people are so triggered by masks.

Because people like me spent the better part of two years begging people to please mind their own business, and we were accused of murdering everyone's grandmother. The hypochondriacs who now want to play the "I was just joking" card can get bent. A little social opprobrium is absolutely a-okay here.

Before the vax, paxlovid, and other treatments that we now have, masking made a lot of sense for everyone to do to partially curb spread. Now with those treatments in place, it's a personal choice and mandatory masking doesn't make sense for a few reasons. Not hard to understand the difference from two years ago to now.

I was certainly not joking early on in the pandemic when I was in favor of everyone masking.

People in this thread were noisily, angrily in favor of mask mandates long after vaccines were widely available. That was where the membership of this thread collectively lost the plot.

The vax isn't the only variable if you're trying to determine when it was ok to ease up the mandates. You've got all the treatments that came out later, the fact that the virus became less lethal over time, etc. I've always said the mask mandates ended up being pointless, because by the time Omicron and maybe even Delta before that came along, regular cloth masks were shown to be almost useless because of how much more contagious those variants were and mandating N95 or KN95s is logistically not practical.

Once studies determined that N or KN 95s protected the wearers as opposed to mostly just protecting others, I wasn't in favor of mandates anymore. At that point, just let people determine the risk for themselves, and let Darwinism take over if need be.

 

[LawFitz]

Oh look, another conspiracy theory turned into FACT...

Landmark Study Vindicates Everyone Who Touted Natural Immunity to COVID-19

For years, the powers that be, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House, and the press, dismissed the idea of taking natural immunity into account when debating vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

They were wrong, so much so that even the mainstream media are having to admit it.

Past Covid infection as protective as vaccination against severe illness and death, study finds

The immunity generated from an infection was found to be “at least as high, if not higher” than that provided by two doses of an mRNA vaccine.

www.nbcnews.com

The elites were wrong, and they destroyed countless lives in the process. Worse, they wanted to keep how wrong they were a secret. This kind of study could have been done two years ago to bring clarity to the situation. In fact, Israel did a similar study way back in 2021 that gave nearly the same results. It was ignored while the [Federal Govt] and its press allies continued to push the need for vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

How many people lost their jobs over that decision? How many people missed time with family members they’ll never get back because those family members died alone? How many people were booted out of the military for failing to get a vaccine they didn’t need? The number of horrible outcomes brought on by [Fed Govt], Fauci, and others refusing to acknowledge natural immunity is too long to list. The harm was immeasurable.