NH Mask Mandate in Effect

[rocket21]

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.

The "science" says they don't need to wear masks while consuming those beverages as long as they are seated and have purchased food.

 

[maineguy]

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!!

Ever hike the trails in the Kittery and York water districts? One of the entrances is just down the road from the base of Agamenticus Road.

 

[DayTrip]

The "science" says they don't need to wear masks while consuming those beverages as long as they are seated and have purchased food.

I think even the biggest simpleton roaming the earth can comprehend that many of these rules are based in the reality that the appropriate decisions to make based on the science involved with COVID would result in decisions that would lead to the complete and total destruction of the global economy. Science is science. It doesn't know or care that shutting a restaurant will cost waiters and waitresses jobs. It just knows that people avoiding contact with each other prevents spread of an infectious disease. That is simply a fact, based in science. That leaves politicians in the untenable position of deciding what science we want to choose to ignore, when we ignore it and for how long we ignore it so that we can somehow balance death and illness with economic survival. The science of the situation and consequences of action or inaction are at polar opposites with COVID. Actions that are beneficial to one side of this equation harm the other side and vice versa.

Your constant reference to all of the rules and decisions being put into place as "science" is thoroughly disingenuous and insulting to the people on this forum. If you want to criticize the arbitrary nature, stupidity, politicization of and overall nonsense of many of the types of rules being implemented than by all means have at it. That is a topic well worth the debate. But please stop characterizing that as "science" because it is not.

 

[hikerbrian]

I think people look at the information directly in front of them and make decisions accordingly. This is why it's sometimes difficult to convince people of some phenomenon or another (global climate change, challenge of NH mountains in winter, whatever) if they haven't personally experienced that phenomenon. That's human nature.

With that in mind, and having heard a few people here say they didn't know anyone yet who had gotten this, I'm sharing my second-hand experience with COVID so far. I have not had it (to my knowledge), but I know at least a couple dozen people who have, and of those I know about a dozen very well - people I speak with at least monthly. Here is a rough picture:
I know 2 people in their 70's, husband and wife, both formerly quite healthy. They've been laid up for about a month now. First it was the standard symptoms (loss of taste and smell, then fever and major body aches), then nausea, extreme fatigue. The husband seems to be slowly recovering, while the wife now has no appetite and has developed a serious wheeze and cough and is now taking 4 prescription meds to try to control these symptoms. It is expected this will persist for a long time.
I know 3 people in their 50's. Two said it was as sick as they've ever been, but appear to have fully recovered. In spite of the fact that they're likely immune at this point, they continue to mask and social distance because they don't want to take any chances at all with being re-infected. One person has been asymptomatic (I wonder if this was a false-positive - no one else in his household ever tested positive).
I know 2 people in their forties, husband and wife, among the fittest people I've ever known (husband was competitive IronMan, sub-16 5k in college, still bangs out sub-18s seemingly at will, wife has run several ultras). Wife lost taste and smell, felt terrible, recovered seemingly completely after about 3 weeks. Husband is about 4 weeks in now, still no taste or smell, extreme fatigue, and continued mental fog, which is impacting his ability to work.
I know 3 people in their 30's. Loss of taste and smell, two of them (women) have experienced serious cardiac issues - one has clotting blood and has been to hospital several times for possible pulmonary embolism. The other continues to have alarmingly high blood pressure. These are not overweight women. I'm actually quite concerned about these two as we speak.

My brother-in-law works at Boston Children's Hospital in IT. They're currently modeling the expected surge in post-COVID morbidity to try and prepare as best they can. These morbidities include cardiac and neurological complications.

Those are just the people I know well. People from MA and NH. I'm sharing only to provide some perspective for people who are lucky enough to have not yet closely experienced this illness. I personally don't want to get this, especially now that a vaccine is very likely on the relatively near horizon (subject to interpretation of the word 'near'). The odds of me dying (at age 44) are very low, but the odds of significant mid- and long-term impacts are higher than I'd like. Something to consider if you value cardiac-intensive activities, like hiking.

 

[ChrisB]

Ever hike the trails in the Kittery and York water districts? One of the entrances is just down the road from the base of Agamenticus Road.

I have not. I use the Mount A road as an alternative to my pre-Covid gym workouts on an elliptical machine, which I really miss.

Three or four laps up Mount A give a good cardio workout and calorie burn I can't get on the flats. I walk the shoulder not the pavement cause it's more difficult and simulates hiking better And at the top I often spy Mt. Washington on the northern horizon. Fun!

Stay well.

 

[ChrisB]

Just read that RI has shut down for two weeks with all its Covid-reserved beds full.

It continues...

Be safe all you Little Rhodys!

 

[rocket21]

Just read that RI has shut down for two weeks with all its Covid-reserved beds full.

Rhode Island has had a mask mandate since May 8. Why isn't it working?

 

[skiguy]

Rhode Island has had a mask mandate since May 8. Why isn't it working?

You tell us. You seem to have a plethora of scientific data to support your skepticism. Rather than throwing bones out for the hyenas show us some meat. Otherwise I’ll echo what has been said already about disingenuous rhetoric.

 

[egilbe]

One of the engineers at work exposed me and my co-workers. Two weeks off unpaid staying at home, Yay! 2nd covid test came back negative. I have allergies so I cough anyway. Interesting. Seems I don;t cough when I'm hiking. I think I'm allergic to my cats.

My cousin died of/with Covid. She was 44, death 106 in Maine. She was living in a group home since she was mentally disabled. She didn't do much, couldn't take care of herself and probably should have died at birth, but whatever. She had 44 years of life that she wouldn't have had in an earlier age.

Thats it for my Covid experience. Most people who have it, don't know it. Most people who die are in their 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and living in nursing homes. Its a curious infection. It probably won't be as dangerous in succeeding generations as herd immunity develops.

Its not as deadly as the MSM makes out. Its the new yellow-journalism for the new century.

 

[Salty]

The "science" says they don't need to wear masks while consuming those beverages as long as they are seated and have purchased food.

There's science, and then there's politicians. The two are far from equal.

Hiking related: I think about that a lot when I'm hiking.

 

[rocket21]

You tell us. You seem to have a plethora of scientific data to support your skepticism. Rather than throwing bones out for the hyenas show us some meat.

We're not protecting the vulnerable by creating a false sense of security that they're somehow safe in a public setting if everyone is wearing a piece of cloth on their face.

1. Historic Data. Historically, face masks have not been proven to stop viral transmission (according to a CDC study of over 70 years of data that found "no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks.").

2. Current Data. COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket regardless of mask mandates, restrictions, and shut downs, as evidenced by the massive spikes across New England and other regions dealing with reduced sunlight and colder temperatures.

 

[Salty]

Does anyone have a link to the science?
all I hear is "trust the science". I have yet to see any data that is science. If you think I trust anything government agencies say, I have a bridge in a desert to sell you.

It behooves you to be skeptical. Form your own opinions. Do you think studies funded by the very people who would benefit from the studies are to be trusted, believed? Tell me you are not that naive.

Show me the science. Let me make choices for myself.
"Live free or die" state, indeed. More like "follow me, sheep!"

1) I personally don't believe government scientists are corrupt. Scientists love science for one thing. Science.
2) Scientists are a broad spectrum of people. Far left, far right, moderates, etc. etc. I would laugh at the idea that every government study is under the "control" of a certain wing of the party, or that departments in certain agencies are a cabal of single nefarious thoughts.
3) Proper science is peer reviewed. On top of that, it's waiting to be pounced upon as BS by other scientists (including those outside of government funding) if there's a hint of improper methods or conclusions. In other words, a healthy dose of skepticism, not sheepism. No one blindly accepts any given paper.
4) You talk about people being naive, I retort with people being blindly cynical.
5) Live Free or Die, being a Libertarian, is a motto I hold dear as an ideal. Live Free or Die does not mean you get to do anything you please. It does not mean (I'm using the collective) you should live recklessly and put mine and other lives' in danger. It means to be able to live your live as you see fit, without infringing on others' rights.

So if you just choose to ignore any study associated with government funding, it is not on us to figure out which studies got zero government funding. You are free to Google, actually read some of the many studies out there, and see what commentary has been made by other scientists. rocket21 posted a study showing buffs to be near useless. It shows masks to be effective. Just one study. There's more. I'll say it again. Why do people cover their mouth when sneezing or coughing, despite particulate escaping. It's really a simple and obvious answer.

With that, I'm just leaving this subject alone (to the pleasure of some ). Open minds are sadly becoming extinct.

 

[Barkingcat]

...but the odds of significant mid- and long-term impacts are higher than I'd like. Something to consider if you value cardiac-intensive activities, like hiking.

Yup -- and there's the rub. Avoiding dying, after catching COVID, is a worthy goal. But I don't even want to contemplate what life might be like with said post-survival impacts. It's not a risk I want take.

 

[ChrisB]

There's nothing new under the sun....


Backlash against face masks during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918

 

[egilbe]

Interesting that states that allowed public gatherings with little interference from government mandates seem to have a lower transmission rate now, than states that are mandating behavior "for your own good"

https://rt.live/

 

[Tom_Murphy]

Interesting that states that allowed public gatherings with little interference from government mandates seem to have a lower transmission rate now, than states that are mandating behavior "for your own good"

https://rt.live/

IMO you would need to have a measure of the Public's actual compliance in order to attempt to judge the effectiveness of government mandates and/or recommendations.

Also, correlation and causation are often confused because the human mind likes to find patterns even when they do not exist. We often fabricate these patterns when two variables appear to be so closely associated that one is dependent on the other. That would imply a cause and effect relationship where the dependent event is the result of an independent event.

 

[Will]

I see the button to report the specific **** messages, but I'm not seeing a button to report the entire thread?

 

[peakbagger]

Interesting that states that allowed public gatherings with little interference from government mandates seem to have a lower transmission rate now, than states that are mandating behavior "for your own good"

https://rt.live/

I dont think the Russian Times is known as a paragon of accuracy

 

[Will]

That would be "rt.com"

It hasn't gotten quite that bad, yet.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

The moderators, after careful discussion, have decided that this is not really on-topic for the forum any longer. Further, it has caused polarizing and disparaging comments from people with differing opinions and so it is closed.

Tim