Imprison anyone who refuses the vax!

[Zelen]

Masks don't work.
Lockdowns don't work.
The injections don't work (and are killing people).

It'd be nice for the people who were wrong, and who deliberately encouraged & cheered on years of worldwide psychological (and physical) torture to at least admit they were wrong and make efforts at restitution.

[dkabq]

Now do this one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html

I generally agree with the opinion piece, as far as the science goes. Mask use seems to have little or no effect at a population level. As the study says, there is still some chance that there is a minor mitigation at the individual level -- but if there is an effect it is a small one.

Many liberals have inflated belief in the effectiveness of masks, and they've been shown to be wrong.

I've tried to steadily convince people I know of this, and it is becoming more widely accepted.

Btw, that masks have little to no effect at the population level was known pre-covid. Hence, St. Fauci was telling truth in March 2020 when he said that. There was no new studies/science between then and April 2020 when he lied and said that masks (even one made from an old t-shirt) worked.

Just goes to show that most people, even ones you would consider to be "smart", couldn't logic themselves out of a wet paper bag.

I went to the dentist today, and they're still masked and asking patients to wear masks.
I humor them because he's a good dentist and I don't want to make a stink, but It reminds me that even medical professionals are mortal, and fall for narratives over science and reason.

I have the same situation with my dentist. She's good, so I can live with her being a midwit.

[Ratman_tf]

The fact the FUCKING BOX says they don't stop transmission wasn't enough, was it...

People don't think when they're scared.

[Kiero]

People don't think when they're scared.

What's more incredible is that people were (and in some cases still are) scared of the sniffles.

[Ratman_tf]

People don't think when they're scared.

What's more incredible is that people were (and in some cases still are) scared of the sniffles.

Hey, when the news first came out, I was concerned. China was reacting like it was The Stand by Steven King. Maybe they were full of shit, or maybe something really bad got out of hand and we were looking at some super-cold-ebola cross that was gonna spread around the world.
Of course, as the pandemic went on, people should have modulated their response to the actual facts. But they stayed scared and compliant.

[DocJones]

I went to the dentist today, and they're still masked and asking patients to wear masks.
I humor them because he's a good dentist and I don't want to make a stink, but It reminds me that even medical professionals are mortal, and fall for narratives over science and reason.

I don't mind the dentist being masked as many of them did it way before the pandemic for the same reasons surgeons do.
They don't want to cough or sneeze into your face while they're doing their thing.
But how in the hell does he get into your mouth when you're wearing the mask?  ;-)

[jhkim]

I don't mind the dentist being masked as many of them did it way before the pandemic for the same reasons surgeons do.
They don't want to cough or sneeze into your face while they're doing their thing.
But how in the hell does he get into your mouth when you're wearing the mask?  ;-)

For my dentist, they asked that I mask until I was in the chair for the work.

As you imply, masking was absolutely the norm in health care for decades prior to the pandemic in many situations, because of respiratory viruses like the cold and flu. It wasn't even just dentists and surgeons. So I disagree with dkabq:

Btw, that masks have little to no effect at the population level was known pre-covid.

There was some evidence of this in the previous 10 years, but it was not considered settled. There was vastly more attention and data collection on masks during the covid-19 pandemic than for decades before it. Prior to the pandemic, masking was a standard practice for dealing with respiratory infected patients and exposed health care workers. In Korea and Japan, it was a common practice in the civilian population as well.

[Ratman_tf]

I went to the dentist today, and they're still masked and asking patients to wear masks.
I humor them because he's a good dentist and I don't want to make a stink, but It reminds me that even medical professionals are mortal, and fall for narratives over science and reason.

I don't mind the dentist being masked as many of them did it way before the pandemic for the same reasons surgeons do.
They don't want to cough or sneeze into your face while they're doing their thing.
But how in the hell does he get into your mouth when you're wearing the mask?  ;-)

I got one of those "eating masks" of course!

I swear, when I saw those, I knew people had lost their goddamn minds over Covid.

[dkabq]

I don't mind the dentist being masked as many of them did it way before the pandemic for the same reasons surgeons do.
They don't want to cough or sneeze into your face while they're doing their thing.
But how in the hell does he get into your mouth when you're wearing the mask?  ;-)

For my dentist, they asked that I mask until I was in the chair for the work.

As you imply, masking was absolutely the norm in health care for decades prior to the pandemic in many situations, because of respiratory viruses like the cold and flu. It wasn't even just dentists and surgeons. So I disagree with dkabq:

Btw, that masks have little to no effect at the population level was known pre-covid.

There was some evidence of this in the previous 10 years, but it was not considered settled. There was vastly more attention and data collection on masks during the covid-19 pandemic than for decades before it. Prior to the pandemic, masking was a standard practice for dealing with respiratory infected patients and exposed health care workers. In Korea and Japan, it was a common practice in the civilian population as well.

It was the norm for the dentist to wear a mask, not for me to be required to wear a mask while sitting in the waiting room. And I never had to wear a mask at the doctor's office, urgent care, or hospital.

As for common practice in the civilian population in Korea and Japan, that does not mean that it works.
https://www.cochrane.org/news/featured-review-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses

Moreover, in my limited (1 month) time in Japan, I only saw the occasional old person wearing a mask.

[Ratman_tf]

I don't mind the dentist being masked as many of them did it way before the pandemic for the same reasons surgeons do.
They don't want to cough or sneeze into your face while they're doing their thing.
But how in the hell does he get into your mouth when you're wearing the mask?  ;-)

For my dentist, they asked that I mask until I was in the chair for the work.

As you imply, masking was absolutely the norm in health care for decades prior to the pandemic in many situations, because of respiratory viruses like the cold and flu. It wasn't even just dentists and surgeons. So I disagree with dkabq:

Btw, that masks have little to no effect at the population level was known pre-covid.

There was some evidence of this in the previous 10 years, but it was not considered settled. There was vastly more attention and data collection on masks during the covid-19 pandemic than for decades before it. Prior to the pandemic, masking was a standard practice for dealing with respiratory infected patients and exposed health care workers. In Korea and Japan, it was a common practice in the civilian population as well.

It was the norm for the dentist to wear a mask, not for me to be required to wear a mask while sitting in the waiting room. And I never had to wear a mask at the doctor's office, urgent care, or hospital.

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

[jhkim]

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

I agree that there is plenty of Covid hysteria. But prior to the pandemic, there was a common belief that masks helped reduce transmission of respiratory viruses. Medical professionals commonly used them with this intent.

So while I agree that there was and is hysteria over Covid, I don't agree that it was "nothing to do" with previous mask practices.

[dkabq]

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

I agree that there is plenty of Covid hysteria. But prior to the pandemic, there was a common belief that masks helped reduce transmission of respiratory viruses. Medical professionals commonly used them with this intent.

So while I agree that there was and is hysteria over Covid, I don't agree that it was "nothing to do" with previous mask practices.

Pre-covid CDC guidance was that general population masking was not recommended, based on the (limited, as you noted) studies to-date. And as the Cochrane study showed, there has been no change in that conclusion.
https://www.cochrane.org/news/featured-review-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses

[Ratman_tf]

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

I agree that there is plenty of Covid hysteria. But prior to the pandemic, there was a common belief that masks helped reduce transmission of respiratory viruses. Medical professionals commonly used them with this intent.

So while I agree that there was and is hysteria over Covid, I don't agree that it was "nothing to do" with previous mask practices.

Before Covid, I never wore a mask, and never saw anyone wear a mask in public. No public or private establishment requested or required mask wearing for customers or patrons.

I think you are confusing the idea that a doctor may wear a mask while on the job, with the general public, wearing masks all the time.

[dkabq]

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

I agree that there is plenty of Covid hysteria. But prior to the pandemic, there was a common belief that masks helped reduce transmission of respiratory viruses. Medical professionals commonly used them with this intent.

So while I agree that there was and is hysteria over Covid, I don't agree that it was "nothing to do" with previous mask practices.

Before Covid, I never wore a mask, and never saw anyone wear a mask in public. No public or private establishment requested or required mask wearing for customers or patrons.

I think you are confusing the idea that a doctor may wear a mask while on the job, with the general public, wearing masks all the time.

At the rehab hospital my wife works at, they only wore N95s pre-covid during flu season if you didn't get the flu vax. There are also specific situations where a patient's precautions would require wearing an N95.

[Eirikrautha]

Yes. It was (is) Covid hysteria. Nothing to do with previous mask practices.

I agree that there is plenty of Covid hysteria. But prior to the pandemic, there was a common belief that masks helped reduce transmission of respiratory viruses. Medical professionals commonly used them with this intent.

So while I agree that there was and is hysteria over Covid, I don't agree that it was "nothing to do" with previous mask practices.

Before Covid, I never wore a mask, and never saw anyone wear a mask in public. No public or private establishment requested or required mask wearing for customers or patrons.

I think you are confusing the idea that a doctor may wear a mask while on the job, with the general public, wearing masks all the time.

No, he's not "confusing" anything.  He's distorting to the point bordering on outright falsehood.  For example, a huge component of mask wearing in Asian countries (especially China) was in direct response to the terrible air quality in many of the major cities.  Surgical masks will stop large particulate matter, but never has any reputable organization asserted they would stop respiratory viruses.  It even says they won't on the box (and Asians can read).  So he's deliberately conflating doctors attempting to keep large droplets from entering wounds, the mouth, etc. and Asians in Beijing who can't breathe outside due to pollution with public mask mandates in the US.  Only the stupid or malicious could do that.  And jhkim isn't stupid...