NH Mask Mandate in Effect

[CaptCaper]

Unless you are wearing a N95 mask or equivalent you are just kidding yourself. I think that most tests have shown that it is petty effective. Cloth masks, not so much. And when your mask fogs up your glasses, you know that air and airborne particles are escaping your mask. With regards to the mandates, these "rules" should be coming from the legislatures of the states in question. No more governor edicts. There has been plenty of time to do this. Let these politicians from local districts go on record with rules like you can't go to church but you can to a liquor store, as an extreme example. I think it will foster more sane rules. Stupid rules cause citizens to act defiantly (some might say selfishly) and causes nothing but discord.

Good thing about hiking which is my most used outdoor activity other then snowmobile's is you can distance more then 6' most of the time. At least were I hike which is less popular trails.

I was in Chutters candy store in Littleton yesterday and it was packed. But you can't go to church or other things? Like you said "Stupid rules". Whole downton was jamming actually. I could imagine Walmart which we wouldn't even think of going to.

 

[DayTrip]

If I learned anything this year with the whole "COVID thing" it's that science, facts and data have no weight in our society anymore. It's all about "what side" you are on and discrediting "the other side". Whether that is with facts, lies or omissions is irrelevant so long as you "win".

 

[Mike P.]

The "experts" told us in March that 2.2 million Americans would be dead by August 2020, and that there would be virtually no more deaths come October 2020.

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The "experts" also told us in March not to wear a mask. Let us not forget Dr. Fauci on 60 Minutes on March 8, 2020: "There's no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you're in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet, but it's not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And often, there are unintended consequences, people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face."

Please stop cherry picking snippets of early theories as information and trying to make a cause for it. Initially people were told they didn't need masks because there was a great fear Ebay survival nuts would buy all the PPE leaving hospitals with none or having to pay a ransom to get it. (States and private people had to go out and buy it overseas, that's sad and certainly not a real leadership position.)

if you managed not to have to wipe your behind from 3/1 to 5/1 you can say you saw no evidence of panic buying, the rest of us did, do you think masks were going to escape that. If you stayed home during that time, you didn't need a mask. The 2.2M figure was based on if we did absolutely squat, nada zip, zilch, in reaction to the virus. How many seniors, prisoners' and church choirs would have died if things had gone on at the status quo? Likely every states nursing homes would have gone through what the NYC metro area and the home out in WA if we did nothing.

(early on people thought the earth was flat too, anyone here still believing that also?)

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Op-ed in the NY Times Thursday raised some relevant arguments:

It is all too easy for some to take an idea — in this case, for example, personal freedom — and turn it into an ideology, creating a prism through which they judge everything.

...most governments acted responsibly, imposing strict measures to contain the outbreak. Yet some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions — as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom! Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals.​

 

[skiguy]

Please stop cherry picking snippets of early theories as information and trying to make a cause for it.

Hey..... didn't you know even a blind pig finds an acorn in a pile of mud once and awhile. I wouldn't worry to much in putting to much value on anything in this thread. Last time I checked this was a hiking board. Let's get back to discussing something along those lines.

 

[egilbe]

Still no science. Still waiting on the science, you know, the hard data, with a control group, double blind studies, anything at all. Bueller? Bueller?

No, just "experts" parroting other "experts" who are told by a government agency what to say or do. Have you seen what virologists wear to prevent infections? Its a hell of a lot more than a cloth mask. I still maintain that wearing a mask is so that sheep can be easily controlled by the wolves. A fearful society is easily controlled and manipulated.

The spike in Covid cases mirror school reopenings, which is typical. Anyone with school age children has experienced that phenomena where in the fall, the entire household gets sick because something little Jonny brought home from school. Its happening now with national media attention on Covid. Its no different than any other year. You know what I see in schools? Mask wearing compliance and still a rise in cases.

People are fatigued with this virus. Its not dying out, its not going away like the experts said would happen if everyone stayed home. From my experience, everyone did stay home all Spring. Nobody was traveling, most people didn't leave their houses. The roads were empty of cars. My commute to work was wonderful. No covid cases until my employer mandated masks at work. People quit washing their hands as often, hand sanitizer use dropped preciptiously. Our facilities manager told me that we are only using 10% of the hand sanitizer we used in April and May. I don't need to wash my hands, I'm wearing a mask.

Mask wearing mandates didn't work during the Spanish Flu epidemic, either. Its a placebo and a dangerous one, at that.

 

[CaptCaper]

If I learned anything this year with the whole "COVID thing" it's that science, facts and data have no weight in our society anymore. It's all about "what side" you are on and discrediting "the other side". Whether that is with facts, lies or omissions is irrelevant so long as you "win".

What I learned but really already knew was one size shoe doesn't fit all.

 

[JoshandBaron]

There's a pretty good and obvious reason why there have been no double blind mask studies...

 

[rocket21]

Initially people were told they didn't need masks because there was a great fear Ebay survival nuts would buy all the PPE leaving hospitals with none or having to pay a ransom to get it. (States and private people had to go out and buy it overseas, that's sad and certainly not a real leadership position.)

In other words, they were lying to us then, but we can trust what they say now?

 

[JoshandBaron]

In other words, they were lying to us then, but we can trust what they say now?

Or they are operating on best known data and practices and more is known now. But, also, they weren't wrong. Masks provide little protection to incoming virus and there was a run on PPE.

 

[OldEric]

Still no science. Still waiting on the science, you know, the hard data, with a control group, double blind studies, anything at all. Beullar? Beullar?
.

I usually give more credibility to those who can correctly spell their “hip” references

 

[skiguy]

I usually give more credibility to those who can correctly spell their “hip” references

Give the guy a break. It was supposed to be a “Day Off” already.

 

[B the Hiker]

Sadly, this forum has been host to a number of anti-science postings of late. Sadly, there is a correlation between those who deny the truth and the inability to spell.

 

[egilbe]

I haven't seen any science to discredit.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Happy to wear these, but somehow a mask is too much.

 

[richard]

Sadly, this forum has been host to a number of anti-science postings of late. Sadly, there is a correlation between those who deny the truth and the inability to spell.

I take pride in my spelling

 

[Peakbagr]

Agreeing with the comment that this is supposed to be a hiking board.
If you want to throw barbs, do it somewhere else, please.

 

[Mike P.]

In other words, they were lying to us then, but we can trust what they say now?

No, they did not know how this spreads much more aggressively than they thought. (They only had flu data to base their initial calculations.)

By all means, those who don't believe in science should attend huge Christmas parties, New Year's Eve bachelor parties and weddings. NYE should be a big event in new places this year as Time's Square unlikely to be going on this year. Here is a list of other locations.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/new-years-eve-celebrations/index.html

I would expect Florida, GA, ID, AL events to be well attended with few of those pesky masks getting in the way of gratuitous consumption of beverages. People should feel free to play Russian Roulette with a virus in huge crowds. My family, including my elderly parents are unlikely to come into contact with any of your friends or family members. People enjoying big parties is a great way to help reduce crowded trails next year.

 

[maineguy]

No, they did not know how this spreads much more aggressively than they thought. (They only had flu data to base their initial calculations.)

By all means, those who don't believe in science should attend huge Christmas parties, New Year's Eve bachelor parties and weddings. NYE should be a big event in new places this year as Time's Square unlikely to be going on this year. Here is a list of other locations.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/new-years-eve-celebrations/index.html

I would expect Florida, GA, ID, AL events to be well attended with few of those pesky masks getting in the way of gratuitous consumption of beverages. People should feel free to play Russian Roulette with a virus in huge crowds. My family, including my elderly parents are unlikely to come into contact with any of your friends or family members. People enjoying big parties is a great way to help reduce crowded trails next year.

Initially health officials downplayed the importance of masks in order to prevent hoarding and shortages that would prevent health care workers from being able to obtain them. This is an excerpt from the NYT back in March:

When news of a mysterious viral pneumonia linked to a market in Wuhan, China, reached the outside world in early January, one of my first reactions was to order a modest supply of masks. Just a few weeks later, there wasn’t a mask to be bought in stores, or online for a reasonable price — just widespread price gouging. Many health experts, no doubt motivated by the sensible and urgent aim of preserving the remaining masks for health care workers, started telling people that they didn’t need masks or that they wouldn’t know how to wear them.

link to complete article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronavirus-face-masks.html

And, please stop with the "people who don't want to follow science". Many question the science (and the motive) with a healthy dose of skepticism. That used to be valued in the scientific community. To paraphrase Michael Chrichton: "you never hear anybody say that the scientific consensus is that F=ma or that E=IR or that gravitational force is inversely proportional to the distance". That's because the science is really settled, not still being formulated.

And to keep this post related to hiking, I don't wear a mask while hiking because I never get within 6 feet of another hiker

 

[ChrisB]

Did my usual workout of several laps up and down the Mount Agamenticus road in York Maine this afternoon (1.3 m round trip and 350 vert per lap).

Lots of folks out and about, most wearing masks, others not. The unmasked we respectful and deferential to the masked, and everyone tried to maintain respectful distance while saying hello and enjoying the beautiful day.. No spitting, yelling or ugliness. It was nice to see.

Maine, the way life should be!!