covid

[Hpacres440p]

CDC report on mask mandates.
Kansas 105 counties, 24 adhered to the mask mandate, 81 opted out.
6% decrease in Covid cases in the 24 counties during the same time period
while the cases in the other 81 counties were increasing.

I did not see the actual numbers released, which leads me to wonder if there might be a bit of propaganda puffing going on or if there were other factors involved.
But it appears mask mandates do provide some benefit.

In our county this summer in central Texas,mask mandate went into effect in July and infection rate daily decreased by half. We're surging now, for many reasons-schools, complacency, gatherings for Halloween, increased testing available...
I chuckle when anyone says "fatality rate is less than 1%". Fatalities are a big deal (we're at WWII levels now), but the bigger issue is the filling of hospitals with people who can't breathe, for extended periods of time. There is also the long-term recovery no one mentions. Death is more "newsworthy ". That takes care away from someone who needs urgent surgery (cancer, sub-acute appendicitis, back injuries), or delays ER evaluation for stroke and heart attack patients.
you can build the biggest hospital in the world, if the staff keeps getting sick, or just not enough in an area, people still won't be taken care of. Overwhelmed health care system is just as big of an issue. Just lost a couple who both caught it from (we think) a paid caregiver in their home. They died three days apart, alone, in the same hospital-he was in ICU and died, when she was admitted to a lesser-care unit.
Keep your "freedom" of not wearing a mask-but stay away from the rest of us-for your sake and ours. Maybe that's our new political division-maskers and open-faces...

 

[Katpau]

What I don't get is why people seem so irate about wearing a mask. It just doesn't seem to be a big deal to me. Most restaurants and stores I go into have a sign that says "No shirt, no shoes no service". I have never heard anyone complain about that, so why the big deal about covering our mouth and nose?

If there are any doubts they are effective at controlling the spread of certain contagious diseases you need to check out countries like South Korea. They were hit hard by an earlier SARs epidemic and wearing a mask is fairly routine for many when they go out in crowds, and it has been for years. The population of that country is 51.64 million or about 1/6th the population of the US (328.2 million). They have lost only 503 lives to this pandemic compared to the US where as of this morning our loses are shown as 254,560. Oregon, where I live, was very proactive in trying to fight this, but of course like everywhere else, masks were hard to get and their use was discouraged at first. By the time they were available and encouraged, wearing one had somehow become a political statement and at least in my county, many refuse to do so. Oregon's population is 4.2 million or approximately 8% of that of South Korea and yet our deaths are now at 808 and unfortunately are now beginning to climb at a more rapid pace. Our large rural county with a population of just over 100,000, now has more people diagnosed every day then we had total from March through May.

If you don't care about your own risks, I completely understand. Perhaps you don't care about the sick or the elderly either and "survival of the fittest" is your excuse. That is also your prerogative, although it is pretty cold in my opinion. But, do you even think about the health care workers who risk their lives treating an ever increasing deluge of patients. Many are stressed and exhausted and it must be very hard for them to watch self righteous people refuse to wear a mask in the name of freedom. I knew this had the potential of being bad back in February when our former Chinese exchange student contacted me and warned us, so it seems odd we did so little to prepare in this country. She insisted then, we must wear masks and was shocked when I told her in March that our government was discouraging their use because of shortages and because they claimed they weren't all that effective for protection. She insisted on mailing us masks. Her country is back to normal now and she is working, traveling and enjoying life, while we are in lock down. She does wear a mask when in crowds, something she has done for years, but life is pretty much back to normal.

 

[Dave]

What I don't get is why people seem so irate about wearing a mask. It just doesn't seem to be a big deal to me. Most restaurants and stores I go into have a sign that says "No shirt, no shoes no service". I have never heard anyone complain about that, so why the big deal about covering our mouth and nose?

If there are any doubts they are effective at controlling the spread of certain contagious diseases you need to check out countries like South Korea. They were hit hard by an earlier SARs epidemic and wearing a mask is fairly routine for many when they go out in crowds, and it has been for years. The population of that country is 51.64 million or about 1/6th the population of the US (328.2 million). They have lost only 503 lives to this pandemic compared to the US where as of this morning our loses are shown as 254,560. Oregon, where I live, was very proactive in trying to fight this, but of course like everywhere else, masks were hard to get and their use was discouraged at first. By the time they were available and encouraged, wearing one had somehow become a political statement and at least in my county, many refuse to do so. Oregon's population is 4.2 million or approximately 8% of that of South Korea and yet our deaths are now at 808 and unfortunately are now beginning to climb at a more rapid pace. Our large rural county with a population of just over 100,000, now has more people diagnosed every day then we had total from March through May.

If you don't care about your own risks, I completely understand. Perhaps you don't care about the sick or the elderly either and "survival of the fittest" is your excuse. That is also your prerogative, although it is pretty cold in my opinion. But, do you even think about the health care workers who risk their lives treating an ever increasing deluge of patients. Many are stressed and exhausted and it must be very hard for them to watch self righteous people refuse to wear a mask in the name of freedom. I knew this had the potential of being bad back in February when our former Chinese exchange student contacted me and warned us, so it seems odd we did so little to prepare in this country. She insisted then, we must wear masks and was shocked when I told her in March that our government was discouraging their use because of shortages and because they claimed they weren't all that effective for protection. She insisted on mailing us masks. Her country is back to normal now and she is working, traveling and enjoying life, while we are in lock down. She does wear a mask when in crowds, something she has done for years, but life is pretty much back to normal.

Just as in Oregon the rest of the country has huge differences. The county I live in is geographically larger than the one Katpau lives in with only about 16% of the population of her county. The number of positive tests has increased but so has the amount tested. We have had 3 deaths contributed to Covid19. Two were a 84 year old woman and a 92 year old man. Both in a nursing home with underlying health issues. I know more about the third as he was a neighbor of some friends. He was a 83 year old man who died in October. He had been fighting bronchial pneumonia most all the summer. But of the other 220 or so positives tested people none have been hospitalized. The location of the positive tests are reported by zip code. About 87% of the positives come from the one town of any size in the county. That town has about 58% of the total county population. The one thing that shows me is that social distancing is the one thing that really works. Harney county in the south east part of Oregon is huge geographically. It has less than half the population we have here in Baker county. They have had only 50 cases. Less than a quarter the cases we have had. Wheeler county has had only 1 case. The only town in Wheeler county barely qualifies as a town. It appears to me that people living in the more populated areas just have a hard staying away from other people. Some of that is because of how close they are to each other. Some is just their desire to interact with other people. All that said I do wear a mask when I go in a store. Put it on as I go in and pull it off as soon as I am out.

 

[Silver]

Dave, are you in one of the counties that's pushing to secede and join up with Idaho? Or is that all just a bunch of media sensationalism?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Dave, are you in one of the counties that's pushing to secede and join up with Idaho? Or is that all just a bunch of media sensationalism?

I expect he is and it's a good idea.

 

[Dave]

Dave, are you in one of the counties that's pushing to secede and join up with Idaho? Or is that all just a bunch of media sensationalism?

All of eastern Oregon and eastern Washington would like to separate themselves from the western parts of those states. There isn't a lot of push to join Idaho that I know about. More like just make the east side its own state. Maybe join the east sides of both states and the two west sides. In both states there is the same issue. A large urban population (Seattle and Portland) that vote in politicians and laws that seriously differ from the views of the more rural eastern part of the state.

 

[Banjo]

Most restaurants and stores I go into have a sign that says "No shirt, no shoes no service". I have never heard anyone complain about that, so why the big deal about covering our mouth and nose?

I don't breath thru my shirt or my shoes, however, our skin does breathe to some degree. I'm sure every one
has wore rubber boots when its hot....your feet can't breath, so to speak....same way as i don't go around wearing plastic shirts...you get the picture. Wearing a mask in dusty situations is good and necessary but, just going around breathing your own Co2 in itself can't be healthy.
Also, we have the "experts" who go along with the narrative that seem to make it up as we go...asymptomatic people don't spread it, but now they decide that they do...so is every one out there walking around without a mask asymptomatic? No, but thats what they would like for you to believe.
You can't get the truth from the MSM, they will spin it, splice it and dice it 8 ways from Sunday.

 

[Brute 23]

School finally went to no cloth masks. Has to be medical grade. Say cloth masks and gators and stuff of that nature dont work. I dont think any one saw that coming... NOT!

 

[sstterry]

School finally went to no cloth masks. Has to be medical grade. Say cloth masks and gators and stuff of that nature dont work. I dont think any one saw that coming... NOT!

I saw months ago that gators are like no mask at all. As far as cloth, I think it depends on layers and fabric. But anything is better than nothing.

 

[Banjo]

One thing about it....there probably isn't a retail business in the U.S. or the world for that matter that doesn't have masks for sale at their check out line and not just the plain jane ugly medical masks but some very stylish masks that anybody would be proud to seen in.

 

[Dave]

I think nearly every business here has a box of masks by the front door. Just take one for free if you need one.

 

[Son of Butch]

4 blood types A-B-AB-O
O 44% of the population
A 33%
B 19%
AB 4%

Recent study found for unknown reason Covid hits people with blood type A the hardest and people with blood type O report the mildest symptoms.

An in depth 2-3 year study of blood proteins hopes to determine why.
Lucky me.... I'm A+

 

[AntebellumAcres]

In our county this summer in central Texas,mask mandate went into effect in July and infection rate daily decreased by half. We're surging now, for many reasons-schools, complacency, gatherings for Halloween, increased testing available...
I chuckle when anyone says "fatality rate is less than 1%". Fatalities are a big deal (we're at WWII levels now), but the bigger issue is the filling of hospitals with people who can't breathe, for extended periods of time. There is also the long-term recovery no one mentions. Death is more "newsworthy ". That takes care away from someone who needs urgent surgery (cancer, sub-acute appendicitis, back injuries), or delays ER evaluation for stroke and heart attack patients.
you can build the biggest hospital in the world, if the staff keeps getting sick, or just not enough in an area, people still won't be taken care of. Overwhelmed health care system is just as big of an issue. Just lost a couple who both caught it from (we think) a paid caregiver in their home. They died three days apart, alone, in the same hospital-he was in ICU and died, when she was admitted to a lesser-care unit.
Keep your "freedom" of not wearing a mask-but stay away from the rest of us-for your sake and ours. Maybe that's our new political division-maskers and open-faces...

Enjoy your life or fear, pal.

 

[sstterry]

4 blood types A-B-AB-O
O 44% of the population
A 33%
B 19%
AB 4%

Recent study found for unknown reason Covid hits people with blood type A the hardest and people with blood type O report the mildest symptoms.

An in depth 2-3 year study of blood proteins hopes to determine why.
Lucky me.... I'm A+

I saw an article about this, but I thought it was AB would be hit hard and that B it hit hardest. I look and see, I may be totally wrong.

Edit: You are right. I had the A & B backward.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Enjoy your life or fear, pal.

Not fear. I have to wear it 8 hours a day at work. No problem. People who fear "breathing their own CO2" are really going over the deep end. I go to restaurants, high school football games, church, "out"-BECAUSE these places are open BECAUSE we are wearing masks. It's a trade off. A little inconvenience for more freedom than if everything was shut down. I have no problem with it. My "freedom" isn't affected in any way. Inconvenience is not the same as oppression. But you go ahead with your non-mask wearing "I'm not scared" attitude-when your town has to close everything because numbers spike, ask what a few minutes a day of wearing a mask in public places REALLY would have cost you. My husband and I haven't missed a day of work yet....

 

[Banjo]

Something puzzling.....One of the stockyards in a neighboring county has a nice restaurant in it. A few months a go when our governor ordered his first mask mandate, i walked in there, i was the only one in there besides the 2 or 3 in the kitchen. The old woman running the restaurant let me know in no uncertain term that i cannot be in there without a mask and that " the health dept will shut us down and fine us $2000 if we let you in here without a mask". i just got a bottled water and left instead of getting food like i was planning on . i guess they weren't getting enough business.....so about 2 weeks ago I was at the same stockyards selling a couple cull cows. From the lobby area you can see into the restaurant....glass doors and all and seen all kinds of farmers in there waiting to place their order.....not wearing masks so i go in also. They were having a Thanksgiving dinner special, which was quite good btw.
Not a word was said at all about wearing a mask...just the women in the kitchen wore masks. i've been scratching my head ever since wondering ...what happened? C-19 is supposed to be worse now than ever....I guess making a living superceded the virus.

 

[Banjo]

I have friend who is a nurse....she texted me a few weeks ago and said she was in quarantine, she had tested positive for covid. i jokingly told her she must have not have been wearing her mask enough or correctly or something and she said she did....she said we did everything exactly like we were told to do and still got it.
Masks may keep you from spitting on somebody, but they are not going to protect you if you have a weakened immune system.
i have another friend who is a RN who works with covid patients 3 to 4 days a week...untouched by the virus and don't wear a mask out in public, She will tell me how drained she is after wearing a mask for 12 hours straight.
She takes Vitamin D , C, zinc and magnesium daily and lives a pretty healthy lifestyle.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

My nephew (lives in city) is an avid mask wearer - carries a bottle of hand sanitizer and USES it constantly. Just tested positive. Not sick, says he feels like he has a mild cold. But, did he get it because he is TOO clean????
Even before this Covid crap - everyone is TOO clean/sanitized. Kids have no immunities.

 

[farmerjan]

I don't wear a mask 90% of the time. Physical therapy requires it and I can't wait to take it off as soon as I walk out the door. I will wear it into Walmart because they are getting really antsy about it with the latest govt bs mandate. Half the people don't have it over their nose as I don't so that I can breathe. Don't wear it in the local convenience store. I cannot hear what people say half the time when they have the mask on. More and more testing positive and the crackdown again on going places, numbers of people allowed in gatherings.... telling us that we cannot get together for family Thanksgiving.
I agree that we have compromised our immune systems by being TOO CLEAN as @Jeanne - Simme Valley suggested. Kids have far more allergies than they used to and it is in part that they are not exposed to small amounts of germs from a very young age. 2 studies I read last year said that one of the reasons that childhood asthma was so bad was the LACK of pets in the houses and their exposure to pets and fur and their dander in small doses at a young age.
Not one farm I have been on to test has anyone wearing a mask. There was no one at the stockyards wearing one yesterday when I hauled a load of calves for a neighbor and I have seen 3 people in the last month wearing a mask at our local stockyard. Friend had it, said she felt like crap for a few days, like a bad flu and is pretty much over it now. Her son had it in Alaska... out of work for the mandatory 2 weeks, and other than a little weakness , is back to snuff.
There is a Dr Roger Hodkinson in Edmunton Canada that did a you tube video recently.... Federal Expression Media.... where he lambastes the council for the ridiculous shutdowns....Another dr with good credentials, saying that this is totally absurd to shut down and lock down and wearing a mask is just silly and useless....

 

[Son of Butch]

I guess making a living superceded the virus.

OR is it making a living supercedes living? lol