Mask mandate on Federal property, including WMNF

[Mike P.]

Rocket,

I'll do some of your homework for you, Even a luddite like me was able to find this: https://tineye.com/search/ff0cc101872c57d472eac06775d044c71b554c1a?sort=score&order=desc&page=1

The image has been used in Forbes and the Economist going back at least from July 12th. Oddly, here is the article that image is attached too in a German news site showing that more cases are not just due to more testing. Odd, I heard that same comment here in America. https://www.blick.ch/politik/gruend...ht-nur-wegen-der-vielen-tests-id15983405.html

The same picture was used in a Forbes article to try and persuade their readers that European countries were risking injury to children. I've read the article because I'm not a fan or having to get news from one side or the other, I wish I could just get the news. Here is what I took as the crux of the Forbes' piece. What Gov't Health Ministers were saying:

"The move has been hailed by health authorities as a decisive step in controlling the virus. "With the increase in cases and the opening of schools we need to do more and get results faster," said Health Minister Roberto Speranza on Tuesday."

The Forbes piece was aimed more at this: "Despite the potential reduction in school disruptions, some pediatricians are unhappy at the decision to use swab tests on schoolchildren." They quoted one in Italy that shared their POV.

I can only assume that governments checked with more than one doctor. Either way, neither solution is perfect but going back to what we did in 2018 and pretending nothing changed is not the answer either.

BTW, July would coincide with my first two test, early July was the very invasive swabs. By the end of July, they had changed to a less invasive swabbing. We had them done before we took my M-I-L out of her retirement home for summer vacation and then were retested the following week when we returned from NJ.

 

[rocket21]

Date of the picture and test? Granted, early first gen test felt very invasive, I had one. Since then, they have changed and are not nearly invasive. Please on back to Breitbart for additional instructions. How many test have you had? So yes, I'd look at regularly giving them current testing.

There are some of us hoi polloi up in the sticks who are stuck with those nasal probes still. The beautiful people may have less invasive testing, but there are also some significant concerns about accuracy.

And again, if masks stop the spread, and schools are fully masked, then why does testing even matter?

 

[Mike P.]

There are some of us hoi polloi up in the sticks who are stuck with those nasal probes still. The beautiful people may have less invasive testing, but there are also some significant concerns about accuracy.

And again, if masks stop the spread, and schools are fully masked, then why does testing even matter?

No real study said mask were 100% effective. What recent date did you have your test with the old swabs or are you just bringing in classism, Please provide an approximate date of your test? (I hope you tested negative, meaning you don't have Covid-19)

If mask are only roughly 85% effective, are you okay with 1% or 2% of 15% (100-85) of the school staff losing their lives?

Again, Social distancing works best, school spacing, especially hallways were not designed for distancing with the capacity they currently (pre-covid) are being used for. (Masks help, would you prefer 85% of $1M or none?)

(Could systems use abandoned store space to hold classes? other open spaces? Would school systems pay for heat or AC depending on location? transportation would be an issue also which would cost add'l money but maybe)

 

[richard]

I haven’t heard very much in the last few months on the tv news about the daily infections or deaths like we were before ! Does anyone know why ?

 

[maineguy]

I haven’t heard very much in the last few months on the tv news about the daily infections or deaths like we were before ! Does anyone know why ?

Yes, very curious. I understand that a certain cable channel no longer displays that chyron at the bottom of the screen that gave a running total of Covid deaths. Apparently it only appears at certain times instead of all the time. Yes, very curious indeed.

 

[Mike P.]

Yes, very curious. I understand that a certain cable channel no longer displays that chyron at the bottom of the screen that gave a running total of Covid deaths. Apparently it only appears at certain times instead of all the time. Yes, very curious indeed.

Ask your local news station, ours has the CT rates every day on their 4:00 newscast and often our Gov. will have live updates and Q& A in this time period.

That network you were thinking about still has a quick link on their webpage & currently as I type this the last story on their channel was a conversation with the WV Gov. on the very good job that WV is going with vaccinations. I won't attempt to tell you they are fair and balanced, if you want that, you probably are better off watching the BBC. (I mean hey, on occasion a Dem ends up on Fox too)

Before I hit send, they put that box up during the WV Story, it's not up 24 x 7 like before, but I thought few actually watched TV anymore. Personally I prefer the John Hopkins site if I am looking countrywide. They also have county ability I didn't look at that though. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/tracker/overview



Here's a Happier image though for hikers.


BTW, I spend most of my TV time watching CNBC because I'd prefer trying to make money vs a diet of all news.

 

[hikerbrian]

FWIW, my kids have both been in a hybrid school model since September. Count me as a person who was certain school would be closed by Thanksgiving at the latest due to a surge in cases. This never materialized. I was wrong.

Over the past month, the school has implemented pooled testing. Kids swab themselves in front of the school nurse, who makes sure they're doing it right. Both of my kids have said it's not at all uncomfortable. They combine swabs of 5-10 kids and run a single test to determine if anyone in that pool is positive. If yes, they test each of the kids in that pool individually. In the three elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school, amounting (I believe) to about 1200 kids total, there has only been a single instance so far where a pool came back positive. I don't have exact numbers, but I'm told about 50% of students are participating in pooled testing. So there is not a complete picture, but these data suggest (with some uncertainty) that the virus is not running rampant through the schools in my town.

Further, while there have been multiple cases among students, staff, and teachers since September, contact tracing has produced no evidence that there has been in-school transmission. Not a single case. Again, with some uncertainty, this result suggests to me that schools are not hotbeds of COVID transmission.

In our town, only about 1/3 of students are in a building at any given time. 2/3 are participating in hybrid, but they're split between Mon/Tues and Thurs/Fri cohorts. The kids are extremely compliant with mask wearing, and their desks are at least 6' apart. Gym and recess are not that much fun as physical distancing is enforced. It is the best case scenario for preventing transmission, given what we currently believe about transmission. I'm sure not all schools are able to observe these best practices.

 

[DayTrip]

N95 masks are said to provide protection to the wearer when handled properly (e.g. by a trained medical professional) and frequently disinfected/replaced. N95 masks do not stop the spread of COVID-19 to others.

So if everyone wore an N95 mask and was protected what would the spread matter? No one would get infected because they'd all be wearers. Am I missing your point? I'm still working on my first coffee...

 

[DayTrip]

I haven’t heard very much in the last few months on the tv news about the daily infections or deaths like we were before ! Does anyone know why ?

I'm not sure what channels you're watching but I see this mentioned every day on CNBC (I don't watch actual news stations) along with daily check ins from the same people I've been hearing from since the beginning.

 

[JoshandBaron]

N95 masks are said to provide protection to the wearer when handled properly (e.g. by a trained medical professional) and frequently disinfected/replaced. N95 masks do not stop the spread of COVID-19 to others.

No. One. Ever. Said. Masks. STOP. The. Spread. They effectively inhibit it.

https://msphere.asm.org/content/5/5/e00637-20

"We found that cotton masks, surgical masks, and N95 masks all have a protective effect with respect to the transmission of infective droplets/aerosols of SARS-CoV-2 and that the protective efficiency was higher when masks were worn by a virus spreader."

 

[bikehikeskifish]

This thread has long ago stopped being remotely related to backcountry pursuits. Suffice it to say that any future threads on masks will likely be given nearly zero lattitude to continue.

Tim