Viruses and flu can be controlled a bit this way.
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If you have a link to a scientific peer reviewed double blind study that lends credence to your assertion, please share it. Thanks.
That is since covid. Google with time restriction pre 2019 and the world of study on the futility of community masking is your oyster! While there, do a little search for the physical and mental health problems with masking. You will be shocked I think. Maybe you would (for our edification) include a link to a scientific peer reviewed double blind study that lends credence to masking being a social and health benefit. I am willing to read it.
Masks we have been forced to wear are meant to keep spittle out of the patient's bodies during operations. What they are used for now is a crutch for the mentally ill. Wake up M Varr.
I managed -- somehow -- to commute on stuffed subway cars during the winter, up close and personal with sneezers, coughers, nose blowers -- and when I tell you I cannot remember the last cold or flu I've had, I mean it. I can also tell you that virtually every co-worker in my small department lined up for the "flu" shots -- and who was the one who was never sick with the flu?
I said 'dont jump on me' for my opinion. It is from observation for *medical settings*.
I didnt make the rules. They do.
However, I had a cold recently at work. There was no way I could control sneezing or blowing my nose. I felt terrible because I knew that without a mask (I wasnt wearing one) one of my coworkers would catch it. Two did.
When we were wearing masks back in 2020, again I had a cold. No one caught it. Just observation. Perhaps that is why *medical settings* in Florida, a FREE RED STATE still require it? We are all entitled to our opinions with respect, or we become no better or less hateful than that *demoncrat* politically motivated judge.
Angela, this is only my observation but during my professional life I was required to be “fit-tested” for an N-95 mask yearly because I was told that “masks cannot stop viruses, not even minimally”. This was drilled into my head. Imagine my surprise when all this was suddenly and forcefully reversed! No supporting studies, no data, just mr. fauci asserting the necessity. And 25 years of OSHA studies scrubbed from their .gov website. It was then when the lightbulb got switched on for me personally. It wasn’t about infection. At all. The only concern I have for your viewpoint is that it encourages the continuing influence of fear among people. Fear of human contact, free interaction. Fear that unintentionally and perhaps unconsciously becomes magnified so that the presence or absence of a mask determines one’s social behavior. It has had such a negative impact on our children, and our society in general that it really ought to be avoided. It is part of the healing that we must do.
Credenda - glad you noticed all the hypocrisy too! Especially with OSHA, like seriously…double, nay, triple facepalm on that one. When I worked in nursing, every year we had to take an infection control and procedures test. Same test, year after year. Every year it would ask us what the top tier of universal precautions was and every year it was the same…hand washing! Nothing on that test about masking procedures because in my area, family practice, they never applied to us despite us being the ones who were seeing all the patients with strep, influenza, colds, etc. How many hundreds and hundreds of people have I swapped throats for strep and flu over 12 years and never was a mask worn. I worked through the entire H1N1 pandemic, immunocompromised to boot, and we never wore a mask. None of the doctors gave two craps either that I was immunocompromised, wasn’t even mentioned or a thought in their heads. The whole pandemic was just business as usual. In 12 years I got sick with Fifth’s Disease once, which my nephew gave me outside clinic, and strep and influenza each once which I could have gotten from a patient but, could very well have also gotten from one of my nephews or nieces too. At work, I washed my hands a hundred times a day, it’s just what we did, not masking. People now have it in their heads that we should mask forever for cold and flu seasons as if all this new information suddenly was brought to light because of COVID and now that we know better we can do the correct thing. Yeah no, we had all the information but then these government agencies needed something to appear to the public like they were “doing something” and the masking was such an easy thing to have propagandized. They literally got an entire country to fear the unmasked face. I still know people who won’t stop masking outside. They literally live, in October 2022, where like 99% of people are not masking anymore yet they still believe their mask is having a meaningful difference to “protect others”. That’s the problem with the healthcare facilities. I’m spending 100% of my time without a mask on my face. I go to grocery stores, my sisters home, the local fair, restaurants, I don’t even wear one during my Remicade infusions because I managed to get exemption for that one place, yet somehow the 30 minutes I wear one to my neurology follow up is supposed to save me somehow? Please.
Yes yes yes a thousand times yes to your posts Credenda and Julia C!!! The actual science and data never justified any of this and yet people have been convinced that it might help so we should still do it. No and no. But it is an uphill battle to undo the damage from the constant propaganda over the past two years 😕
Yes undoing this is going to take a while for sure. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to my dentist the other day that they finally got rid of the masks. I pulled into the parking lot and my spidey senses immediately perked up…”the mask sign is gone off the door.” But when I asked the hygienist what finally made them flip the switch, she said, “well I think it was cause at this point we figured that everyone is just taking their masks off when they get into the rooms for their treatments and spending all that time not wearing them so…” Um….that is how your office has been operating the WHOLE pandemic! 🤦🏻♀️ Clearly she had no clue why they actually decided to change their policy but decided that since that they had, NOW logic could suddenly enter the picture? Ok then.
Never wore a mask to the dentist this whole time - for the same reason. Admittedly, they had a "temp check/questions" screening before anyone went into the office, but seriously - we're in there the whole time with our mouth wide open. What is a mask supposed to do? Sadly, I think that was pushed on them from the state in order to be open. I didn't even notice they had a "mask required sign" until sometime in 2021 - and then it was gone and practice is back to normal.
It’s been a bit of a challenge for me as I have over 10 specialists in three states so, there’s so many policies and providers to deal with. I just haven’t been able to escape it or get them to engage in any meaningful discussion about masking. I mentioned somewhere on here that I did get an exemption for my Remicade infusion treatments but, I had to actually involve the acting hospital president and find one of my doctors to write a note which was a pain, the actual infusion center office manager did NOT want me going maskless. I still do have to pull the mask up every time the nurse enters the room, it was the only accommodation they would do. I’m at the point though where since CDC updated it’s recommendations, I of course don’t care a fig what they say but it’s what the hospitals go by obviously, that every facility/office that doesn’t start changing their policy and looks to be a forever masking place is going to start getting requests/letters from me filing for a permanent exemption. It’s just a daunting task to think of doing all that mental work when I’m already brain fogged and dealing with enough as it is. Speaking of dentists though, my sister went to a dentist for the first time in a while and not only was there no masks, she said he was engaging in conversation about the COVID propaganda and how bad it’s been and my sister said “he also wanted to be sure I would never vote for Biden.” 🤣 I bet that dentist has lost a patient or two, but I also bet he hasn’t given two craps about it either!
Yeah the waiting room and hallway masking was basically their attempt to show they were trying to be “part of the solution” because when you venture into your actual visit, you’re just going to spend all that time unmasked around a bunch of other unmasked patients so, seriously what good did they honestly think 5-10 minutes masked in the waiting room would do? In my dental office they don’t even have doors on the exam rooms. They are just separate little spaces separated by walls with open air flow into the hallway that can just then also travel into the next rooms. You are sitting I would guess about 10 feet away from your neighbor. They also never cared if you took your mask off immediately when you got in the room or for visits that didn’t even consist of any dental work. I had an entire jaw issue consult with dentist and the minute I started talking she told me I could take it off. So they literally only were utilizing them for the your hallway trip and the interaction within the waiting room to alleviate other patients anxiety so they wouldn’t have to see unmasked faces. That’s why healthcare still won’t get rid of them. Science or case counts or hospital numbers etc. has nothing to do with it, they know that people have been conditioned to be scared of unmasked faces in healthcare settings.
Julia C- Amen to everything you said! I find it crazy that something that would have been seen as abnormal prior to 2020, is now widely accepted everywhere, and still FORCED on us by some "heath care" professionals and offices. If some folks out there still feel reassured by the masks, OK fine, let them wear it, but leave the rest of us alone.
Seriously, if my doctors want to be ridiculous and wear them for the rest of the their lives and I have to never see their faces again, I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t care and I’m like, so be it. But you can’t force me to do this forever and I will not. I was injured by a mask, since I have POTS they exacerbated a whole bunch of symptoms and I ended up having a hypoperfusion stressor, passed out, and had a brain injury. I had two months of immediate slurred speech and now two years later, I’m still dealing with vocal cord dysfunction that I need speech therapy for that I can’t get, because they won’t let me go without a mask! I also have something called MCAS which causes you to react to smells and chemicals and the polypropylene plastic in the masks make me sick. My doctors don’t care and I have to don the very intervention that injured me in order to seek follow up care for the consequences of that exact injury! It’s been a friggin nightmare. I refuse to have all virtual care because it’s limited and most of my offices stopped offering it anyway. After the CDC changed its “recommendations” again for the healthcare settings and my primary care facility still was requiring them, I’m in New England which is always in the “red zone” so we will never be told we can stop wearing masks here…I told my primary that I’m NOT doing this forever and that everyone is going to have to start to giving me some more concessions. I only have an exemption for my Remicade infusions right now. Of course she was just silent. I seriously believe that because up here we are a very vaccinated/boostered area, it’s just keeping us in that red transmission zone rating perpetually. But for the other rating system they use for hospitalization/deaths, we’ve been low/green for ages. It’s time to be done with it, definitely with forcing patients to wear one if they don’t want to.
Julia- that is awful! I'm so sorry for what you have gone through. I, too have autoimmune diseases and know a lot about the conditions that you have. They have no right to do that to you and cause you further injury. I keep praying that the world wakes up, before it's too late.
Ugh this makes me so absolutely infuriated on your behalf!!! This is completely unacceptable and unconscionable!! I hate hearing people say “it’s no big deal” because for many people it IS a big deal!! I always feel lightheaded wearing a mask and my nose runs and my throat gets scratchy. Once I was at a medical office in the fall of 2020 and felt woozy and like I couldn’t breathe wearing a cloth mask. When they took my blood pressure, it was sky high. I NEVER have issues with that. This was the first time in my life my blood pressure was crazy high. I asked if I could take the mask off and they said yes (it was a functional medicine office so I think they only complied as much as they felt they had to). A few minutes later after I had been breathing freely, my blood pressure was down quite a bit. All those experiences plus the numerous studies and articles I have read about masks, have led me to think that they were not as was claimed, a no risk intervention. Clearly your experience shows the same.
When people say “Oh just stop complaining, it’s no big deal, I wear a mask all day and it doesn’t bother me.” My response is: “We’re not all the same. People react differently. This is akin to telling someone with a peanut allergy, ‘It’s no big deal, why are you bring such a baby, I don’t have any problems eating peanuts!’”
Having that thing on your face changes your normal breathing patterns. You’re taking deeper more shallow breaths to try and accommodate for having something covering your face and it can cause all sorts of issues, especially for more vulnerable people. I’m sitting here with Crohn’s, a connective tissue disorder, POTS, and mast cell disorder, my autonomic nervous system which controls my breathing is faulty and I’m having healthy people scoff at me cause “they can wear one just fine”. Yeah well, they can have all my disorders for a day and then we’ll talk. Your symptoms and what happened to me is proof that we can’t all be looked at as this collective who need to fall in line and do the same thing. I always bring up the example of acid reflux meds or allergy meds…why do you think there are so many brands on the market? Cause one singular kind is not going to work for 100% of the people who take it and some percentage of those people will either be allergic to or have issues with that med and need something else. Everyone, including doctors, started just looking at all their patients during COVID as a collective that needed to do the exact same two things, wear a mask and get the vaccine, regardless of their personal health situation or the consequences. It was kinda unprecedented. Then of course when you have consequences they are ignored or you are gaslight. They are all either too indoctrinated with the “safe and effective “ rhetoric for both vaccines and masking to do any logical thinking about it, or they know but are too chicken to say anything because they have been threatened by their hospital administrators and medical boards. I knew from day 1 masks were not what they claimed and since then have had more than ample access to data and real world experience showing they have not stopped seasonality or spread of this. All the doctors have had ample opportunity by this point to open their eyes, even if they fell for the propaganda at the start. That’s why I would have no pity for them anymore if they masked forever. I feel like at this point no one has an excuse anymore.
But they should do it knowing the risks and benefits (Iots of risks for really no benefit) if they are going to decide to mask. The problem is they have been led to believe masks can be beneficial, when that is clearly false. I agree that people should be able to choose but they also need to be informed regarding their choices, which has not been the case so far for the most part. At that point, if their lucky rabbit’s foot of a face covering makes them feel better, I guess that’s their problem 🤷♀️
See I just think that at this point, almost 3 years in, everyone has had plenty of opportunity to open their eyes and seek out what the actual truth is. Even if you bought into the propaganda and lie, everyone has a friend, family member, coworker, newsfeed, or someone in their life that has probably by this point tried to meaningfully share the truth and data with them. They either won’t read it or maybe read it but refuse to accept it as truth because of where it comes from or the political affiliation of who shared it. People are being informed in a lot of ways and willfully ignoring it. My sister has a neighbor/friend who bought into the masking extremely hard because she is immunosuppressed. She believes those things are saving her life to the point she still masks outdoors here in an area where no one masks anymore, and basically has whipped her husband and teenaged sons into masking submission as well, the whole “they have to mask to protect her” jargon. I see it in her comment threads, people have tried their best to share data, articles, medical publications, the truth about the fungal and bacterial growth and how masks are actually even more dangerous and detrimental to immunocompromised individuals, etc. etc. She just won’t hear it. She believes she must wear it and that is that. Same with vaccine, she’s up to her 5th. People are sincerely worried for her immune system but she keeps telling them the shot is great for her immune system. So at this point, obviously I would feel sorry if something bad happened for her but, you get to the point where you just have to wash your hands of people who refuse to remove the wool from their eyes. It’s obviously tricky when those people are making the policy for offices you need to frequent.
The government agency weren’t seeking to appear to be “doing something”. Masking was 1) establish authority where none existed before and 2) to gauge compliance
My post was completely misconstrued by most. I have been to the hospital many more times than I would like lately 2020 - 2022 due to mom with cancer, husband who had brain surgery, etc.
I am in the beautiful free state of Florida.
All the *medical settings* still require it.
Right or wrong, what can I do? Make a scene? I politely comply.
You can tell them that you find their participation in a lie deeply disturbing. Their participation in this lie also casts some serious doubt on their medical proficiency, professionalism, and integrity.
I recently had an episode (over the bars on my mountain bike) where I had to go find an emergency room or urgent to check out the extent of the damage. I was out of town at the time in another state. I found both a hospital emergency room and urgent care. At both, I told them that I would not wear a mask. Both venues told me they would not see me. At the urgent care, I videotaped the Dr telling me he would not look at my injury unless I put a mask on. A Dr that came out from behind a partition putting on a mask as he approached me. So, nobody was wearing them anyway until I asked to be seen.
I thought about it for awhile and returned to the hospital emergency room. I told the receptionist that I needed to be seen to ascertain my injuries and, under duress, would wear the mask. But, I asked her for a pen and paper, and the name of the attending physician or nurses assistant. I wrote on the paper that I was being forced against my will to put on a mask to receive emergency medical evaluation and the the attending physician was the one enforcing this measure. I asked her to have him sign it. She passed it into another cubicle and, after a moment, the AP stuck his head out and declared “I’m not signing this!” “Why’, I asked, “is any part of it not true?” He let out a disgusted sigh and told me to wait out in waiting room and he’d check me out in a minute.
Turns out nothing life threatening and I got out of there without donning a mask.
I sympathize with you because I was in a similar situation last winter and complied because they had the power to stop me from seeing my dying mom and I couldn’t do anything about it 😞 So I get that, I really do.
The part that concerns me about your post is more that you seemed to be saying, unless I misunderstood, that because these medical settings were requiring the masks, maybe that meant they had some effect even if it might be limited. That is nonsense and not supported by any science over the past decades. Masks can actually increase transmission and cause other undesirable effects so even if there were any benefits on one side, they would be negated by the adverse effects. But there are no benefits especially against an aerosolized respiratory virus.
I was wondering out loud. Thank you for your thoughtful post.
So sorry about your mother.
My mother is in hospice at my house right now.
In October 2020 my husband had surgery and I wasnt even allowed in the hospital. I nearly went out of my mind because a loved one is a patients best advocate for things not to go wrong.
Thank you. And I am so sorry you have been going through all that. My dad was the same, he DESPISED wearing a mask but would not leave my mom’s side unless there was someone else from the family to advocate for her there. It is really unconscionable in my opinion how hospitals and doctors have used their power to intimidate and coerce family members and patients.
I hear what you’re saying, and that you’re trying to be considerate of your coworkers, but what about all our lives, before all this Covid19 crap, when we all got colds, all the time, and of course sometimes passed them along to each other? You never wore a mask back then. Think about why you now believe you should wear a mask whenever you have a cold. In other words, consider the possibility that the propaganda is still working on you.
I said that I dont mind complying when I am in a **hospital setting*You misconstrued my post..
I DID not say that I wore one when I had a cold recently.
I simply made an anecdotal observation. THAT is all. I have had a husband in hospital with brain surgery, an 87 year old mom with cancer, so I have been to many medical settings lately, unfortunately. AND I am in Florida.
Not all hospitals require masks these days. Our local hospitals require masks but most folks simply don't/won't wear them anymore. When I see someone wearing mask I can't help but think they're still living in the scamdemic... One of my physician's told staff she would continue wearing her N-95 mask but gave no reason when asked.
For years our local hospital has required hospital employees to wear a mask if they don't take the flu vax. Funny thing is, we saw far more employees with the flu and vaxed than we did in the non-vaxed employees.
I will never put another one on my face. I watched my grandson wear a mask to school until March of this year. He has allergies and hated having to wear it more than anything. He knew as a 5th grader, that masks didn't stop the spread of anything but smiles...
"I said 'don't hate on me' for my opinion." Where did M VARR in any way indicate even the slightest indication of anything ever remotely suggesting hate? He very politely asked you a reasonable question as you were making a claim about science and health.
You stated an opinion and received a request to share any scientific evidence you had to back it up, and you immediately suggest that question is "hateful", sounding a lot like all the propaganda reinforcing censorship, to me.
I also don't hate you for sure--I don't even know you--but I do find that comment with its implied and completely unjustified accusation--manipulative and dishonest, and thus very annoying.
Check out the website "The Healthy American" - Peggy Hall gives some very doable advice for being exempted from wearing a mask in medical settings. A great deal of success, but not 100% since some medical settings refuse to follow the law. It's at least worth trying and letting them know that we don't go along with their criminal behavior.
Definitely the wrong place to be hoping not to get jumped on for saying mildly positive things about masks!
C&C is populated by hard core mask haters. I'd include myself in that category, but I too find myself reluctantly wearing masks in some healthcare settings. You have the choice of masking up or making a big scene and probably being asked to leave, which doesn't help much when you're trying to get some business done or visiting someone. I generally just put my stupid mask on below my nose and these days that is adequate to project minimal compliance.
More importantly, if you can, avoid the msm medical community and doctors. I refused a dental check up because they still insist on the mask. I said no thanks. They were surprised.
I can relate…my Dentist was completely overboard on the mask/sanitizing thing…so I had to change Dentists! Harder to change Dr because I otherwise really like my Dr. She says we only have to wear masks in waiting room, take off in exam room….unfortunately they can get fined by the State (CA)
Yes I do that too. Even though even the CDC doesn’t recommend them anymore, seems like Medical facilities continue this uncalled for practice. I have a mask made out of netting (you can’t tell it’s virtually breath thru). And I wear that one below my nose.
Yes, before I, thank the Lord, found a PC physician and common sense dentist who had no mask mandate, I always wore the ‘fake mask.’They are easy to obtain. Why would you wear one that restricts your breathing?
Paula- I have one of those types of masks for "emergency use only" like certain medical offices. It was the best thing I ever bought in 2020- conventional masks give me panic attacks and gag me.
I wanted to get one of those fake masks, but never got around to it!
As I work in healthcare and intermittently have to don a mask, I have special N95's I've modified that fit very loosely and have holes punched in strategic locations. Probably not as breathable as netting, but they are tolerable for short periods.
I get that as there are several genuinely bad-faith types that regularly post comments here that deliberately (IMO) misconstrue what others say. M Varr is not one of them, he specifically and respectfully asked for scientific evidence to back your assertion.
You stated that you don't mind being required to wear a mask in some settings because they make other people feel better (go reread your comment, that's the gist of it). Like it or not, that's a controversial statement as most of us here do not like being forced to do pointless and dehumanizing things against our will, particularly with zero scientific evidence supporting it.
All opinions are welcome here and people are respectful provided people are posting in good faith. But you don't get to drop a turd with the a get out of jail free demand that people "don't jump on me". That's not how it works.
Between 2020 and 2022 I have been in hospitals more than I would like. I live in Florida. Land of the free. The medical settings still require it. In those settings I dont mind. I try to rationalize it to feel better. I try to find some logic in all situations, though throughout this so called pandemic, there has been practically no logic, I agree with you all!
If you do, that is fine.
Why all the emotionalism from some others? I like conversations with thoughtful and polite discourse. Sometimes that entails shades of gray.
That is why I said 'dont jump on me'. I know many can only think in black and white.
I did get some rather nice thought provoking responses though.
I also thank you for your post, though I could have done without your last comment. 😉😉
It seems to me you would have to remove the mask to “blow your nose”…what makes more sense is to stay home and/or WASH YOUR HANDS after blowing your nose to prevent spreading. As far as sneezing, you could sneeze into a Kleenex or handkerchief which would do much to prevent spreading. I do this consistently for allergies.
Oh Paula I have to share a kind of funny and gross story. I was using a mask when it was 'required' (in a freakin grocery store) and started to feel the need to sneeze. What was my immediate response? Take off the dang mask!!! In a milli-second I laugh-sneezed and kept my mask on. HOW GROSS IS THAT!?! I thought OMG this is why we wear these, and it's disgusting and NOW WHAT DO I DO?! Luckily in those few moments I wore a mask, I kept extras in my purse. And I always have tissue. And hand sanitizer then.
Your response is unnecessarily rude. I am not four years old. I know all that and practice it. Unfortunately however, as for staying home, unless you lie and say you have covid, the boss says you must still come in.
I have a feeling it may be less about the mask, and more about not wiping with fingers or hand parts that spread it? Just wondering aloud. Are you still using hand sanitizer? I have a friend who works on the floor at a Costco and said that with the masking he didn't get sick like usual either. I forgot to ask him about hand sanitizing. But I think it's much more about HANDS than masks. I'm curious if anyone will be able to back this up.
I have a hand sanitizer right next to me at work. Use it all the time, but you are right that hands play a crucial rule in not transmitting viruses.
I remember when my children were young, I was getting sick all the time. One day at the pediatrician office, my child was sick and so was I. He told me about being meticulous about hand washing and how it would help, especially after a supermarket run! (all those hands of children and adults touching the same cart ).
He was right! After heeding his advice, I rarely got sick again.
I agree about the hand washing. I learned abut that from my mother and have always been careful about it when out in public. And I almost never got sick. Lately I've noticed that all the hand sanitizers and wipes for shopping carts etc. have disappeared in most places. Hopefully people picked up better hand washing habits throughout all this, though.
I think the CDC still has masks in place for medical facilities, and the state of emergency has not been lifted. Nobody is going to go after the FL facilities that don't comply.
Quest Diagnostics still requires it near me, in Florida. Maybe they have to comply with Medicare? Some of my doctors offices have "masks optional" signs now, where before it was mandatory, but unfortunately other doctors still require them.
Angela, you didn’t “had a cold lately”, you caught a cold………through some form of transmission. Aerosol-borne likely, or did you “catch” it from someone else who was or wasn’t wearing a mask? In the end, do you believe masks actually “stop” transmission or are they used more for virtue-signaling? No judgement here, just an ask for your thoughts. Thanks for putting it out there.
Sounds good in principle. Alas the real world is more complex. How about the case of the jailed juror? Did you know that (at least in Florida) if one is summoned for jury duty and fails to appear, one can be hauled off to jail (although, I think that is rare?) In many jobs one only has limited (or no) sick days, and faces firing for failure to appear. Now, it's true that for most such demands a person doesn't risk jail, but there are an endless number of legitimate reasons a sick person might need to leave his home. And finally, there is the dismaying fact that humans are stubborn. Even if they know they are contagious or somehow otherwise pose a risk, a lot of people are bullheaded and will still go out in public.
Sadly, most people demanding a peer reviewed, double blind studies are the same ones falling for the plandemic scare tactics and rolling up their sleeves. Don’t be one of them.
1. Annals of Internal Medicine: "Therefore, evidence for mask use versus nonuse and comparing masks types in health care settings remained insufficient" https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1292
2. Annals of Internal Medicine: "The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates" https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
5. "However, overall there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480558/
6. "No evidence was identified that examined a potential role for surgical face masks in protecting staff from infectious material encountered in the operating room." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK195765/
7. Southern Medical Journal: "There was no reduction in per-population daily mortality, hospital bed, ICU bed, or ventilator occupancy of COVID-19-positive patients attributable to the implementation of a mask-wearing mandate." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8395971/
10. "the difficulties associated with the mask’s use are significantly pronounced in children aged between 3 and 5 years old." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34591895/
If you click on the timestamp next to her name, it opens the comment in a new window. Right click anywhere on screen, select 'Print'. In the dropdown, select 'save as PDF' & you can save it as a pdf yourself.
Viruses and flu can be controlled a bit this way.
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If you have a link to a scientific peer reviewed double blind study that lends credence to your assertion, please share it. Thanks.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
That is since covid. Google with time restriction pre 2019 and the world of study on the futility of community masking is your oyster! While there, do a little search for the physical and mental health problems with masking. You will be shocked I think. Maybe you would (for our edification) include a link to a scientific peer reviewed double blind study that lends credence to masking being a social and health benefit. I am willing to read it.
Masks we have been forced to wear are meant to keep spittle out of the patient's bodies during operations. What they are used for now is a crutch for the mentally ill. Wake up M Varr.
I managed -- somehow -- to commute on stuffed subway cars during the winter, up close and personal with sneezers, coughers, nose blowers -- and when I tell you I cannot remember the last cold or flu I've had, I mean it. I can also tell you that virtually every co-worker in my small department lined up for the "flu" shots -- and who was the one who was never sick with the flu?
Can someone please explain this to me??
Masks. Yeah. Right.
Same
😊 New York City and Boston subways. For years.
I dont.
I said 'dont jump on me' for my opinion. It is from observation for *medical settings*.
I didnt make the rules. They do.
However, I had a cold recently at work. There was no way I could control sneezing or blowing my nose. I felt terrible because I knew that without a mask (I wasnt wearing one) one of my coworkers would catch it. Two did.
When we were wearing masks back in 2020, again I had a cold. No one caught it. Just observation. Perhaps that is why *medical settings* in Florida, a FREE RED STATE still require it? We are all entitled to our opinions with respect, or we become no better or less hateful than that *demoncrat* politically motivated judge.
Angela, this is only my observation but during my professional life I was required to be “fit-tested” for an N-95 mask yearly because I was told that “masks cannot stop viruses, not even minimally”. This was drilled into my head. Imagine my surprise when all this was suddenly and forcefully reversed! No supporting studies, no data, just mr. fauci asserting the necessity. And 25 years of OSHA studies scrubbed from their .gov website. It was then when the lightbulb got switched on for me personally. It wasn’t about infection. At all. The only concern I have for your viewpoint is that it encourages the continuing influence of fear among people. Fear of human contact, free interaction. Fear that unintentionally and perhaps unconsciously becomes magnified so that the presence or absence of a mask determines one’s social behavior. It has had such a negative impact on our children, and our society in general that it really ought to be avoided. It is part of the healing that we must do.
Credenda - glad you noticed all the hypocrisy too! Especially with OSHA, like seriously…double, nay, triple facepalm on that one. When I worked in nursing, every year we had to take an infection control and procedures test. Same test, year after year. Every year it would ask us what the top tier of universal precautions was and every year it was the same…hand washing! Nothing on that test about masking procedures because in my area, family practice, they never applied to us despite us being the ones who were seeing all the patients with strep, influenza, colds, etc. How many hundreds and hundreds of people have I swapped throats for strep and flu over 12 years and never was a mask worn. I worked through the entire H1N1 pandemic, immunocompromised to boot, and we never wore a mask. None of the doctors gave two craps either that I was immunocompromised, wasn’t even mentioned or a thought in their heads. The whole pandemic was just business as usual. In 12 years I got sick with Fifth’s Disease once, which my nephew gave me outside clinic, and strep and influenza each once which I could have gotten from a patient but, could very well have also gotten from one of my nephews or nieces too. At work, I washed my hands a hundred times a day, it’s just what we did, not masking. People now have it in their heads that we should mask forever for cold and flu seasons as if all this new information suddenly was brought to light because of COVID and now that we know better we can do the correct thing. Yeah no, we had all the information but then these government agencies needed something to appear to the public like they were “doing something” and the masking was such an easy thing to have propagandized. They literally got an entire country to fear the unmasked face. I still know people who won’t stop masking outside. They literally live, in October 2022, where like 99% of people are not masking anymore yet they still believe their mask is having a meaningful difference to “protect others”. That’s the problem with the healthcare facilities. I’m spending 100% of my time without a mask on my face. I go to grocery stores, my sisters home, the local fair, restaurants, I don’t even wear one during my Remicade infusions because I managed to get exemption for that one place, yet somehow the 30 minutes I wear one to my neurology follow up is supposed to save me somehow? Please.
Funniest thing is seeing photos of celebrities in NYC wearing masks outdoors!
Chuckle for the day:
Sign on a workman's truck I saw here in Florida:
If you are wearing a 😷 mask alone in your car, you dont need a Biden bumper sticker. I already know that you voted for him!
Yes yes yes a thousand times yes to your posts Credenda and Julia C!!! The actual science and data never justified any of this and yet people have been convinced that it might help so we should still do it. No and no. But it is an uphill battle to undo the damage from the constant propaganda over the past two years 😕
Yes undoing this is going to take a while for sure. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to my dentist the other day that they finally got rid of the masks. I pulled into the parking lot and my spidey senses immediately perked up…”the mask sign is gone off the door.” But when I asked the hygienist what finally made them flip the switch, she said, “well I think it was cause at this point we figured that everyone is just taking their masks off when they get into the rooms for their treatments and spending all that time not wearing them so…” Um….that is how your office has been operating the WHOLE pandemic! 🤦🏻♀️ Clearly she had no clue why they actually decided to change their policy but decided that since that they had, NOW logic could suddenly enter the picture? Ok then.
Clearly logic has been missing since this "pandemic" started!
Never wore a mask to the dentist this whole time - for the same reason. Admittedly, they had a "temp check/questions" screening before anyone went into the office, but seriously - we're in there the whole time with our mouth wide open. What is a mask supposed to do? Sadly, I think that was pushed on them from the state in order to be open. I didn't even notice they had a "mask required sign" until sometime in 2021 - and then it was gone and practice is back to normal.
So silly. Our dentist office is the same; mask in the waiting room, mask off in exam room...of course
I searched for quite awhile until I found a dentist who wasn’t mask-stupid.
Took effort but never have worn one for 18 months.
It’s been a bit of a challenge for me as I have over 10 specialists in three states so, there’s so many policies and providers to deal with. I just haven’t been able to escape it or get them to engage in any meaningful discussion about masking. I mentioned somewhere on here that I did get an exemption for my Remicade infusion treatments but, I had to actually involve the acting hospital president and find one of my doctors to write a note which was a pain, the actual infusion center office manager did NOT want me going maskless. I still do have to pull the mask up every time the nurse enters the room, it was the only accommodation they would do. I’m at the point though where since CDC updated it’s recommendations, I of course don’t care a fig what they say but it’s what the hospitals go by obviously, that every facility/office that doesn’t start changing their policy and looks to be a forever masking place is going to start getting requests/letters from me filing for a permanent exemption. It’s just a daunting task to think of doing all that mental work when I’m already brain fogged and dealing with enough as it is. Speaking of dentists though, my sister went to a dentist for the first time in a while and not only was there no masks, she said he was engaging in conversation about the COVID propaganda and how bad it’s been and my sister said “he also wanted to be sure I would never vote for Biden.” 🤣 I bet that dentist has lost a patient or two, but I also bet he hasn’t given two craps about it either!
Sending a hug.
Yeah the waiting room and hallway masking was basically their attempt to show they were trying to be “part of the solution” because when you venture into your actual visit, you’re just going to spend all that time unmasked around a bunch of other unmasked patients so, seriously what good did they honestly think 5-10 minutes masked in the waiting room would do? In my dental office they don’t even have doors on the exam rooms. They are just separate little spaces separated by walls with open air flow into the hallway that can just then also travel into the next rooms. You are sitting I would guess about 10 feet away from your neighbor. They also never cared if you took your mask off immediately when you got in the room or for visits that didn’t even consist of any dental work. I had an entire jaw issue consult with dentist and the minute I started talking she told me I could take it off. So they literally only were utilizing them for the your hallway trip and the interaction within the waiting room to alleviate other patients anxiety so they wouldn’t have to see unmasked faces. That’s why healthcare still won’t get rid of them. Science or case counts or hospital numbers etc. has nothing to do with it, they know that people have been conditioned to be scared of unmasked faces in healthcare settings.
Julia C- Amen to everything you said! I find it crazy that something that would have been seen as abnormal prior to 2020, is now widely accepted everywhere, and still FORCED on us by some "heath care" professionals and offices. If some folks out there still feel reassured by the masks, OK fine, let them wear it, but leave the rest of us alone.
Seriously, if my doctors want to be ridiculous and wear them for the rest of the their lives and I have to never see their faces again, I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t care and I’m like, so be it. But you can’t force me to do this forever and I will not. I was injured by a mask, since I have POTS they exacerbated a whole bunch of symptoms and I ended up having a hypoperfusion stressor, passed out, and had a brain injury. I had two months of immediate slurred speech and now two years later, I’m still dealing with vocal cord dysfunction that I need speech therapy for that I can’t get, because they won’t let me go without a mask! I also have something called MCAS which causes you to react to smells and chemicals and the polypropylene plastic in the masks make me sick. My doctors don’t care and I have to don the very intervention that injured me in order to seek follow up care for the consequences of that exact injury! It’s been a friggin nightmare. I refuse to have all virtual care because it’s limited and most of my offices stopped offering it anyway. After the CDC changed its “recommendations” again for the healthcare settings and my primary care facility still was requiring them, I’m in New England which is always in the “red zone” so we will never be told we can stop wearing masks here…I told my primary that I’m NOT doing this forever and that everyone is going to have to start to giving me some more concessions. I only have an exemption for my Remicade infusions right now. Of course she was just silent. I seriously believe that because up here we are a very vaccinated/boostered area, it’s just keeping us in that red transmission zone rating perpetually. But for the other rating system they use for hospitalization/deaths, we’ve been low/green for ages. It’s time to be done with it, definitely with forcing patients to wear one if they don’t want to.
Julia- that is awful! I'm so sorry for what you have gone through. I, too have autoimmune diseases and know a lot about the conditions that you have. They have no right to do that to you and cause you further injury. I keep praying that the world wakes up, before it's too late.
I personally would like to see consequences for them, retribution for the harm they’ve caused!!
Ugh this makes me so absolutely infuriated on your behalf!!! This is completely unacceptable and unconscionable!! I hate hearing people say “it’s no big deal” because for many people it IS a big deal!! I always feel lightheaded wearing a mask and my nose runs and my throat gets scratchy. Once I was at a medical office in the fall of 2020 and felt woozy and like I couldn’t breathe wearing a cloth mask. When they took my blood pressure, it was sky high. I NEVER have issues with that. This was the first time in my life my blood pressure was crazy high. I asked if I could take the mask off and they said yes (it was a functional medicine office so I think they only complied as much as they felt they had to). A few minutes later after I had been breathing freely, my blood pressure was down quite a bit. All those experiences plus the numerous studies and articles I have read about masks, have led me to think that they were not as was claimed, a no risk intervention. Clearly your experience shows the same.
When people say “Oh just stop complaining, it’s no big deal, I wear a mask all day and it doesn’t bother me.” My response is: “We’re not all the same. People react differently. This is akin to telling someone with a peanut allergy, ‘It’s no big deal, why are you bring such a baby, I don’t have any problems eating peanuts!’”
Having that thing on your face changes your normal breathing patterns. You’re taking deeper more shallow breaths to try and accommodate for having something covering your face and it can cause all sorts of issues, especially for more vulnerable people. I’m sitting here with Crohn’s, a connective tissue disorder, POTS, and mast cell disorder, my autonomic nervous system which controls my breathing is faulty and I’m having healthy people scoff at me cause “they can wear one just fine”. Yeah well, they can have all my disorders for a day and then we’ll talk. Your symptoms and what happened to me is proof that we can’t all be looked at as this collective who need to fall in line and do the same thing. I always bring up the example of acid reflux meds or allergy meds…why do you think there are so many brands on the market? Cause one singular kind is not going to work for 100% of the people who take it and some percentage of those people will either be allergic to or have issues with that med and need something else. Everyone, including doctors, started just looking at all their patients during COVID as a collective that needed to do the exact same two things, wear a mask and get the vaccine, regardless of their personal health situation or the consequences. It was kinda unprecedented. Then of course when you have consequences they are ignored or you are gaslight. They are all either too indoctrinated with the “safe and effective “ rhetoric for both vaccines and masking to do any logical thinking about it, or they know but are too chicken to say anything because they have been threatened by their hospital administrators and medical boards. I knew from day 1 masks were not what they claimed and since then have had more than ample access to data and real world experience showing they have not stopped seasonality or spread of this. All the doctors have had ample opportunity by this point to open their eyes, even if they fell for the propaganda at the start. That’s why I would have no pity for them anymore if they masked forever. I feel like at this point no one has an excuse anymore.
Spot on, very well said!!!
But they should do it knowing the risks and benefits (Iots of risks for really no benefit) if they are going to decide to mask. The problem is they have been led to believe masks can be beneficial, when that is clearly false. I agree that people should be able to choose but they also need to be informed regarding their choices, which has not been the case so far for the most part. At that point, if their lucky rabbit’s foot of a face covering makes them feel better, I guess that’s their problem 🤷♀️
See I just think that at this point, almost 3 years in, everyone has had plenty of opportunity to open their eyes and seek out what the actual truth is. Even if you bought into the propaganda and lie, everyone has a friend, family member, coworker, newsfeed, or someone in their life that has probably by this point tried to meaningfully share the truth and data with them. They either won’t read it or maybe read it but refuse to accept it as truth because of where it comes from or the political affiliation of who shared it. People are being informed in a lot of ways and willfully ignoring it. My sister has a neighbor/friend who bought into the masking extremely hard because she is immunosuppressed. She believes those things are saving her life to the point she still masks outdoors here in an area where no one masks anymore, and basically has whipped her husband and teenaged sons into masking submission as well, the whole “they have to mask to protect her” jargon. I see it in her comment threads, people have tried their best to share data, articles, medical publications, the truth about the fungal and bacterial growth and how masks are actually even more dangerous and detrimental to immunocompromised individuals, etc. etc. She just won’t hear it. She believes she must wear it and that is that. Same with vaccine, she’s up to her 5th. People are sincerely worried for her immune system but she keeps telling them the shot is great for her immune system. So at this point, obviously I would feel sorry if something bad happened for her but, you get to the point where you just have to wash your hands of people who refuse to remove the wool from their eyes. It’s obviously tricky when those people are making the policy for offices you need to frequent.
Yes. You’re right. There are none so blind as those who will not see. It’s pretty much a faith based cult at this point.
The government agency weren’t seeking to appear to be “doing something”. Masking was 1) establish authority where none existed before and 2) to gauge compliance
I hear you and I believe you.
My post was completely misconstrued by most. I have been to the hospital many more times than I would like lately 2020 - 2022 due to mom with cancer, husband who had brain surgery, etc.
I am in the beautiful free state of Florida.
All the *medical settings* still require it.
Right or wrong, what can I do? Make a scene? I politely comply.
You can tell them that you find their participation in a lie deeply disturbing. Their participation in this lie also casts some serious doubt on their medical proficiency, professionalism, and integrity.
Yes, even though you have to comply, you can still call them out on it. My dad did this constantly while my mom was in the hospital last winter.
I love this response!
I recently had an episode (over the bars on my mountain bike) where I had to go find an emergency room or urgent to check out the extent of the damage. I was out of town at the time in another state. I found both a hospital emergency room and urgent care. At both, I told them that I would not wear a mask. Both venues told me they would not see me. At the urgent care, I videotaped the Dr telling me he would not look at my injury unless I put a mask on. A Dr that came out from behind a partition putting on a mask as he approached me. So, nobody was wearing them anyway until I asked to be seen.
I thought about it for awhile and returned to the hospital emergency room. I told the receptionist that I needed to be seen to ascertain my injuries and, under duress, would wear the mask. But, I asked her for a pen and paper, and the name of the attending physician or nurses assistant. I wrote on the paper that I was being forced against my will to put on a mask to receive emergency medical evaluation and the the attending physician was the one enforcing this measure. I asked her to have him sign it. She passed it into another cubicle and, after a moment, the AP stuck his head out and declared “I’m not signing this!” “Why’, I asked, “is any part of it not true?” He let out a disgusted sigh and told me to wait out in waiting room and he’d check me out in a minute.
Turns out nothing life threatening and I got out of there without donning a mask.
Ya gotta stand up against this at every turn.
Oh that is awesome, good for you!!!
I love this!
I sympathize with you because I was in a similar situation last winter and complied because they had the power to stop me from seeing my dying mom and I couldn’t do anything about it 😞 So I get that, I really do.
The part that concerns me about your post is more that you seemed to be saying, unless I misunderstood, that because these medical settings were requiring the masks, maybe that meant they had some effect even if it might be limited. That is nonsense and not supported by any science over the past decades. Masks can actually increase transmission and cause other undesirable effects so even if there were any benefits on one side, they would be negated by the adverse effects. But there are no benefits especially against an aerosolized respiratory virus.
I was wondering out loud. Thank you for your thoughtful post.
So sorry about your mother.
My mother is in hospice at my house right now.
In October 2020 my husband had surgery and I wasnt even allowed in the hospital. I nearly went out of my mind because a loved one is a patients best advocate for things not to go wrong.
By the grace of God, he got through it.
Thank you. And I am so sorry you have been going through all that. My dad was the same, he DESPISED wearing a mask but would not leave my mom’s side unless there was someone else from the family to advocate for her there. It is really unconscionable in my opinion how hospitals and doctors have used their power to intimidate and coerce family members and patients.
Sending you prayers for strength and fortitude 🙏
🙌. Well said, RunningLogic.
Thank you 😊
I hear what you’re saying, and that you’re trying to be considerate of your coworkers, but what about all our lives, before all this Covid19 crap, when we all got colds, all the time, and of course sometimes passed them along to each other? You never wore a mask back then. Think about why you now believe you should wear a mask whenever you have a cold. In other words, consider the possibility that the propaganda is still working on you.
I said that I dont mind complying when I am in a **hospital setting*You misconstrued my post..
I DID not say that I wore one when I had a cold recently.
I simply made an anecdotal observation. THAT is all. I have had a husband in hospital with brain surgery, an 87 year old mom with cancer, so I have been to many medical settings lately, unfortunately. AND I am in Florida.
That is all?! No, that was not all you said. I was addressing your work situation that you described, not your medical setting comments.
I DID NOT SAY that I wore one with a cold recently. I did wear one when it was required of everyone in 2020 with a cold.
I made an anecdotal observation, right or wrong. Not science. A possible link to why hospitals require it however.
Not all hospitals require masks these days. Our local hospitals require masks but most folks simply don't/won't wear them anymore. When I see someone wearing mask I can't help but think they're still living in the scamdemic... One of my physician's told staff she would continue wearing her N-95 mask but gave no reason when asked.
For years our local hospital has required hospital employees to wear a mask if they don't take the flu vax. Funny thing is, we saw far more employees with the flu and vaxed than we did in the non-vaxed employees.
I will never put another one on my face. I watched my grandson wear a mask to school until March of this year. He has allergies and hated having to wear it more than anything. He knew as a 5th grader, that masks didn't stop the spread of anything but smiles...
As long as it is left to the individual to decide, I think it’s fine. The problem becomes when masks are mandated or expected for all to wear.
Absolutely! I agree.
That is the point at which I would have stayed home (uncontrolled sneezing, nose-blowing.) Very helpful in not transmitting.
That's the old school way of dealing with infectious colds.
I totally agree! Out of work for 4 days was not given to me as an option by my boss, unfortunately. I also qualified that to my coworkers!
"I said 'don't hate on me' for my opinion." Where did M VARR in any way indicate even the slightest indication of anything ever remotely suggesting hate? He very politely asked you a reasonable question as you were making a claim about science and health.
You stated an opinion and received a request to share any scientific evidence you had to back it up, and you immediately suggest that question is "hateful", sounding a lot like all the propaganda reinforcing censorship, to me.
I also don't hate you for sure--I don't even know you--but I do find that comment with its implied and completely unjustified accusation--manipulative and dishonest, and thus very annoying.
I meant , dont jump on me. Thank you for your post.
Asking a reasonable question isn't jumping on you. Stop playing the victim in order to avoid backing up your claims.
The democrats do that a great deal on conservativeposts on FB. . It is dismissive of anothers pov or observation in my opinion.
Again, "my opinion".
Have a nice day.
100% agree with your right to say what you want. Appreciate the mostly polite response.
Just realize that the time where we go along with requests based on fear alone to be nice have passed.
I'm not living in fear, of covid or any other fake scary monster or your anxiety caused by my scientifically provable safe actions.
The problem is not mine. Not accepting responsibility for your problems anymore.
I am not scared of covid! I dont wear a mask! I am not vaccinated or boosted! I have worked with the public through it all. By the grace of God go I.
People have started misconstruing my post due to their emotionalism.
I initially said that when medical settings require it, *then* I dont mind. THAT is all!
Check out the website "The Healthy American" - Peggy Hall gives some very doable advice for being exempted from wearing a mask in medical settings. A great deal of success, but not 100% since some medical settings refuse to follow the law. It's at least worth trying and letting them know that we don't go along with their criminal behavior.
Wow! 🤦♀️
Definitely the wrong place to be hoping not to get jumped on for saying mildly positive things about masks!
C&C is populated by hard core mask haters. I'd include myself in that category, but I too find myself reluctantly wearing masks in some healthcare settings. You have the choice of masking up or making a big scene and probably being asked to leave, which doesn't help much when you're trying to get some business done or visiting someone. I generally just put my stupid mask on below my nose and these days that is adequate to project minimal compliance.
More importantly, if you can, avoid the msm medical community and doctors. I refused a dental check up because they still insist on the mask. I said no thanks. They were surprised.
I can relate…my Dentist was completely overboard on the mask/sanitizing thing…so I had to change Dentists! Harder to change Dr because I otherwise really like my Dr. She says we only have to wear masks in waiting room, take off in exam room….unfortunately they can get fined by the State (CA)
Yes I do that too. Even though even the CDC doesn’t recommend them anymore, seems like Medical facilities continue this uncalled for practice. I have a mask made out of netting (you can’t tell it’s virtually breath thru). And I wear that one below my nose.
Yes, before I, thank the Lord, found a PC physician and common sense dentist who had no mask mandate, I always wore the ‘fake mask.’They are easy to obtain. Why would you wear one that restricts your breathing?
Paula- I have one of those types of masks for "emergency use only" like certain medical offices. It was the best thing I ever bought in 2020- conventional masks give me panic attacks and gag me.
Me too!!!
I wanted to get one of those fake masks, but never got around to it!
As I work in healthcare and intermittently have to don a mask, I have special N95's I've modified that fit very loosely and have holes punched in strategic locations. Probably not as breathable as netting, but they are tolerable for short periods.
I'd argue that if your presence is voluntary, then you should abide by the rules of the host. Anything else, frankly, marks you as an asshole.
Thank you. 😊
I read the previous comment and I read it as respectful. I understand your sense if being “jumped on” but I am a bit baffled.
Apparently adding "don't jump on me" to a comment means that no one else is allowed to challenge it.
No. It means read carefully, and dont misconstrue my comment's intention out of base emotionalism.
I get that as there are several genuinely bad-faith types that regularly post comments here that deliberately (IMO) misconstrue what others say. M Varr is not one of them, he specifically and respectfully asked for scientific evidence to back your assertion.
You stated that you don't mind being required to wear a mask in some settings because they make other people feel better (go reread your comment, that's the gist of it). Like it or not, that's a controversial statement as most of us here do not like being forced to do pointless and dehumanizing things against our will, particularly with zero scientific evidence supporting it.
All opinions are welcome here and people are respectful provided people are posting in good faith. But you don't get to drop a turd with the a get out of jail free demand that people "don't jump on me". That's not how it works.
Between 2020 and 2022 I have been in hospitals more than I would like. I live in Florida. Land of the free. The medical settings still require it. In those settings I dont mind. I try to rationalize it to feel better. I try to find some logic in all situations, though throughout this so called pandemic, there has been practically no logic, I agree with you all!
If you do, that is fine.
Why all the emotionalism from some others? I like conversations with thoughtful and polite discourse. Sometimes that entails shades of gray.
That is why I said 'dont jump on me'. I know many can only think in black and white.
I did get some rather nice thought provoking responses though.
I also thank you for your post, though I could have done without your last comment. 😉😉
It seems to me you would have to remove the mask to “blow your nose”…what makes more sense is to stay home and/or WASH YOUR HANDS after blowing your nose to prevent spreading. As far as sneezing, you could sneeze into a Kleenex or handkerchief which would do much to prevent spreading. I do this consistently for allergies.
Oh Paula I have to share a kind of funny and gross story. I was using a mask when it was 'required' (in a freakin grocery store) and started to feel the need to sneeze. What was my immediate response? Take off the dang mask!!! In a milli-second I laugh-sneezed and kept my mask on. HOW GROSS IS THAT!?! I thought OMG this is why we wear these, and it's disgusting and NOW WHAT DO I DO?! Luckily in those few moments I wore a mask, I kept extras in my purse. And I always have tissue. And hand sanitizer then.
That is the response for most people …to take off the mask to sneeze 🤧
Your response is unnecessarily rude. I am not four years old. I know all that and practice it. Unfortunately however, as for staying home, unless you lie and say you have covid, the boss says you must still come in.
Gosh I hope you don't think I sounded rude above. I didn't think Paula did. Just sayin.... Hang in there, we're trying to look at this with you.
❤️
I get it. But most people do not wash their hands after blowing their noses. Did you test for Covid? When I had it it was virtually a cold!
I did take an at home test.. Negative. 🤷
A lot of medical settings in Florida don’t require it & there’s nary a mask to be seen in them.
Not my experience in South Florida at all.
"South Florida" explains that.
Lol.
Ooo, I'm jealous. Must be so nice!
😊😊
I have a feeling it may be less about the mask, and more about not wiping with fingers or hand parts that spread it? Just wondering aloud. Are you still using hand sanitizer? I have a friend who works on the floor at a Costco and said that with the masking he didn't get sick like usual either. I forgot to ask him about hand sanitizing. But I think it's much more about HANDS than masks. I'm curious if anyone will be able to back this up.
I have a hand sanitizer right next to me at work. Use it all the time, but you are right that hands play a crucial rule in not transmitting viruses.
I remember when my children were young, I was getting sick all the time. One day at the pediatrician office, my child was sick and so was I. He told me about being meticulous about hand washing and how it would help, especially after a supermarket run! (all those hands of children and adults touching the same cart ).
He was right! After heeding his advice, I rarely got sick again.
I agree about the hand washing. I learned abut that from my mother and have always been careful about it when out in public. And I almost never got sick. Lately I've noticed that all the hand sanitizers and wipes for shopping carts etc. have disappeared in most places. Hopefully people picked up better hand washing habits throughout all this, though.
I’ll hand wash but I’ll never use those chemical-laden hand sanitizers!
I think the CDC still has masks in place for medical facilities, and the state of emergency has not been lifted. Nobody is going to go after the FL facilities that don't comply.
The CDC does not any longer, but some states (blue) do.
facilities that have to comply with Medicare rules still mask up; CDC does not control CMS
I don’t know about the CMS requirements but I was replying to your comment in which you said CDC required it.
Quest Diagnostics still requires it near me, in Florida. Maybe they have to comply with Medicare? Some of my doctors offices have "masks optional" signs now, where before it was mandatory, but unfortunately other doctors still require them.
yes, I looked it up, CDC dropped it but CMS still requires it....doofuses
Angela, you didn’t “had a cold lately”, you caught a cold………through some form of transmission. Aerosol-borne likely, or did you “catch” it from someone else who was or wasn’t wearing a mask? In the end, do you believe masks actually “stop” transmission or are they used more for virtue-signaling? No judgement here, just an ask for your thoughts. Thanks for putting it out there.
It’s pretty simple, if you have a cold or other transmissible illness, STAY HOME.
Sounds good in principle. Alas the real world is more complex. How about the case of the jailed juror? Did you know that (at least in Florida) if one is summoned for jury duty and fails to appear, one can be hauled off to jail (although, I think that is rare?) In many jobs one only has limited (or no) sick days, and faces firing for failure to appear. Now, it's true that for most such demands a person doesn't risk jail, but there are an endless number of legitimate reasons a sick person might need to leave his home. And finally, there is the dismaying fact that humans are stubborn. Even if they know they are contagious or somehow otherwise pose a risk, a lot of people are bullheaded and will still go out in public.
Sadly, most people demanding a peer reviewed, double blind studies are the same ones falling for the plandemic scare tactics and rolling up their sleeves. Don’t be one of them.
1. Annals of Internal Medicine: "Therefore, evidence for mask use versus nonuse and comparing masks types in health care settings remained insufficient" https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1292
2. Annals of Internal Medicine: "The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50% in a community with modest infection rates" https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817
3. `Cochrane Library: "There is moderate certainty evidence that wearing a mask probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of laboratory‐confirmed influenza compared to not wearing a mask" https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5/full
4. "In intention-to-treat analysis, facemask use was neither effective against laboratory-confirmed vRTIs, nor against CRI, not even in per-protocol analysis." https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3349234
5. "However, overall there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480558/
6. "No evidence was identified that examined a potential role for surgical face masks in protecting staff from infectious material encountered in the operating room." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK195765/
7. Southern Medical Journal: "There was no reduction in per-population daily mortality, hospital bed, ICU bed, or ventilator occupancy of COVID-19-positive patients attributable to the implementation of a mask-wearing mandate." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8395971/
8. Covid advisor ""What we're worried about is people getting exposed and getting infected while thinking they were actually doing something to protect themselves," https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/11/confronting-notion-face-masks-reduce-covid-dose
9. "Making pre-school children wear masks is bad public health" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535221001221#
10. "the difficulties associated with the mask’s use are significantly pronounced in children aged between 3 and 5 years old." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34591895/
11. "Use of face masks is not recommended in schools in Norway." https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.26.1.2002011
12. "The main insight of the present research is that face masks’ use influences emotion inference from faces for all ages and especially for toddlers." https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669432/full
OK with you, Gaye, if I take your fantastic comment and turn it into a PDF for distribution/use?
If you click on the timestamp next to her name, it opens the comment in a new window. Right click anywhere on screen, select 'Print'. In the dropdown, select 'save as PDF' & you can save it as a pdf yourself.
Who knew? :) I copied and pasted it earlier into Word and then saved as a PDF, but this is great information. Thank you very much!
Yw, I just learned about it fairly recently & it comes in very handy on web pages.
Sure but I got it from Justin Hart. He’d be glad for it to be distributed but may want to attribute it to him. He has a new book that should be really great. https://twitter.com/justin_hart/status/1581474706942660609?s=20&t=oIao7MrwQKCUQCk_QP1hyg
Excellent. Glad I asked. I do not tweet, so unable to access, but I can certainly make the attribution on the document.
I don’t either but you can look at a few posts. 😎
Your eyes are a mucus membrane. Just sayin’. 🤷♀️
Angela's sentence was not an "assertion," it was a question. Note question mark at end of sentence.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5/full