Corona

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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Corona

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

I agree with you on that, but I ultimately do what makes others comfortable. I might be able to point some of you to something to make the masks more enjoyable, or even addictive. https://happymag.tv/pussy-scented-face-masks/
I will die laughing the day mask mandates/advice are lifted and someone who misses the news goes to the store wearing one, and is met with people who are afraid they are there to rob the place. :rofl:
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Gregovic
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Re: Corona

Post by Gregovic »

The first news on the results of the UK vaccination program are very encouraging though: https://apnews.com/article/world-news-p ... 92e891ead7
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Corona

Post by OrgasmAlley »

It's clear here in the US, at least, that there's an intentional decision by media and government acting in collusion to hype the fear in an attempt to increase compliance and control. They're done quite a lot of lying along the way (i.e. Florida is doing horribly but New York was wonderful, masks protect the wearer, mass lockdowns are beneficial). This fear has then been used to pass massive spending... most recently the current insane $1.9T COVID relief bill, of which <$900B has anything at all to do with COVID even using a very generous definition. It has certainly been an exercise in controlling a population and wielding power.

The truly brilliant thing is the way they've managed to smear anyone who disagrees with their harshest measures as "not following the science", when the actual science provides no support for any of their draconian measures except social distancing and caution of sharing poorly ventilated enclosed spaces for extended periods. An obvious proof that belief is more important than fact.
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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Corona

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

This is one benefit to discussing this here. I find that articles you bring me are not always on track with the mainstream radio, which I don't fully trust. I don't have the time to go find good articles to read, so thank you for giving that side a proper voice. You're like one of those AP students that reads more than what teacher make you study.
Bondage is like a foreign film without subtitles. Only through sharing and practice can we hope to understand.
A Jedi uses bondage for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!....I, I mean S-M-A-R-T!
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JIMDINI
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Re: Corona

Post by JIMDINI »

It is safe to say you have to treat anything on social media with caution, your safest sources of information are the medical professionals that you have always relied on.
You have to realise that at the outset of the pandemic every one was stumbling around in the dark, and remember politicians are people to and all react differently to crisis.
The first government to identify the outbreak was China who seemed to get it under control with a draconian lockdown with punitive enforcement! Democracies lack the capability of this level of control hence the wide range of different responses around the world.

Comparing Florida with New York State is like comparing the New York City with Los Angeles or London with Edinburgh, totally different infrastructures and life styles.

Masking is not actually to stop people catching COVID, it is to lessen the risk of you spreading it if you are infected, but are asymptomatic, and are not aware you have it.

When there is a proven pandemic the 'anti- vacciners' on social media are actually putting other peoples lives at risk as well as there own!
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Corona

Post by OrgasmAlley »

JIMDINI wrote:Masking is not actually to stop people catching COVID, it is to lessen the risk of you spreading it if you are infected, but are asymptomatic, and are not aware you have it.
This is certainly one view, yet the CDC is _currently_ running radio ads encouraging masking that claim masks protect BOTH the wearer and other people. As I've said previously, we have three relevant study findings, which you can look up in the above:

1 - Masks do not provide any statistically significant protection for the wearer.
2 - There is little or no spread by asymptomatic cases of COVID.
3 - At a country level, level and speed of population adoption of mask wearing had no impact on the spread of COVID. Level and speed of adoption of social distancing had statistically significant impact.

On the flip side, these are all the studies that support mask wearing as an effective protection against COVID from either side of the material:

.

You're certainly right about New York vs. Florida... Florida has the second highest proportion of seniors at 20.4%, which New York come in 26th at 16.4%. In other words, Florida has about 25% more people in the most vulnerable population for COVID. Of course, De Santis did not force nursing homes to house infected people...

We can compare New York (mostly lockdowns) to California (most significant lockdowns in the US) to Texas (relatively low on the lockdown scale, but an extremely similar state) or Florida (very low on lockdowns) or South Dakota (no lockdown). These states don't have to be identical, in for example "infrastructure and lifestyle" to make these comparisons. We can use deaths per 100k for "impact of COVID" and unemployment rate for "impact of COVID response". If lockdowns are effective against the disease, that should be clear. If lockdowns are _worth_ it in light of their economic cost, that should be as well.

A simplified analysis, of course.. this ignores increases in suicide and drug death rates by state, along with any of a number of other costs. I'll leave digging out the numbers to someone else.

Deaths per 100K: https://www.statista.com/statistics/110 ... -by-state/
Unemployment: https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
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Re: Corona

Post by ruru67 »

OrgasmAlley wrote:
JIMDINI wrote:Masking is not actually to stop people catching COVID, it is to lessen the risk of you spreading it if you are infected, but are asymptomatic, and are not aware you have it.
This is certainly one view, yet the CDC is _currently_ running radio ads encouraging masking that claim masks protect BOTH the wearer and other people. As I've said previously, we have three relevant study findings, which you can look up in the above:

1 - Masks do not provide any statistically significant protection for the wearer.
2 - There is little or no spread by asymptomatic cases of COVID.
3 - At a country level, level and speed of population adoption of mask wearing had no impact on the spread of COVID. Level and speed of adoption of social distancing had statistically significant impact.
Getting a little tired of your cherry-picked study results, especially when you go to the studies and find that they don't say what you seem to think they do.

But basically, masks do offer some protection. They do reduce - not eliminate - exposure when you are in contact with an infected person. That can mean the difference between getting the disease and not doing so if the contact is minimal, or getting a heavy does of the infection vs a lighter one. The latter is actually important, because the severity of the disease is heavily affected by the amount of viral material initially ingested; a heaver initial dose "kick-starts" the infection faster, whereas a lighter dose proceeds to full disease slower and give the immune system a better crack at sealing with it, and consequently less severe effects. (You're still infectious, of course.)

It's not a substitute for proper PPE, and certainly not a substitute for staying home and not getting exposed in the first place, but it is better than nothing, especially if you observe practices like making sure you wash or dispose of your mask after use (or at least likely exposure) and always wash your hands after handling your mask.

But yes, keeping your damn infection to yourself is the primary way masks benefit the overall picture, and it only works if people do it.

Contrary to what you said above, countries like Taiwan, S. Korea, Japan et c that had widespread mask wearing even before COVID certainly have had vastly better outcomes than other countries. The truly terrible numbers are mainly in Europe and the Americas. A lot of it comes down to culture - the more of an "everyone for themselves" attitude a society has, the worse their COVID response has been.
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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Corona

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

I say fun scented masks. You won't even want to give up your dirty little secret after masking is no longer necessary. Fun scented masks. Come in all flavours. Order yours today.
I hope this thread can continue to keep us all aware of the pandemic and its impact from all points of view, as well as give us a place to speak up on our personal obstacles and share versatile solutions to the burdens it places. This thread should be something for us all to read as history, even if it is not a constant page turner. We have kept it going a year, and will keep it going as long as this virus threatens our way of life. There certainly seem to be geographical and maybe even cultural differences in our opinions, but that makes it exciting for me to read. That, and to know how my like minded folk think, feel, and deal with the hardship.
:hi: I salute you all for your kind postings, bravery, patience, and after a year, I would have to add, tolerance, for every inconvenience and problem caused in the name of Corona Virus or Covid-19. I pray for the day we no longer need to update this thread with bad news. Until that day, please, keep up your contributions, and never let us become unaware or ignorant of this worldwide crisis.
For hearing my voice, I thank you all.
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OrgasmAlley
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Re: Corona

Post by OrgasmAlley »

ruru67 wrote:Getting a little tired of your cherry-picked study results, especially when you go to the studies and find that they don't say what you seem to think they do.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm certainly happy to review other studies you provide, or examine studies I've referenced in light of points you make about them that disagree with my summaries thereof. I don't see any other response to a generality about cherry-picking in the absence of specifics.

Edit to add: Observing that a place (like Taiwan) has both quick and strong adoption of mask wearing and relatively low infections and deaths from COVID doesn't actually say anything about the efficacy of mask wearing against COVID. I haven't looked but would bet that Taiwan also had quick and strong adoption of social distancing... so if social distancing is effective and mask wearing is not, such a country could easily have low incidence unrelated to masks. In broader terms, there are many factors that need to be controlled to assess masks retrospectively... or one can make a broader cross-country comparison to capture differences in masking and assess their impact.

I do fully agree that culture is a major influence. Some cultures are much more like to do a host of things like social distancing, masking, and self-quarantine upon suspected exposure or symptoms... and if at least one of those things are reasonably effective we would expect such cultures to fare better than others against the disease.
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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Corona

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

Total Cases 114,302,776 , Global Deaths 2,534,921
We have a new vaccine approve for emergency authorization by Johnson and Johnson that has some unique benefits, including a 1 dose regiment. This is to say nothing for the fact that there are now more doses available overall. Still needed are people to distribute them.
Bondage is like a foreign film without subtitles. Only through sharing and practice can we hope to understand.
A Jedi uses bondage for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!....I, I mean S-M-A-R-T!
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bounddosster
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Re: Corona

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I wasn't going to read these posts anymore as my family has lost one member and another two are currently in hospital but there is no escaping it. So here is my take on it in the UK. With the current lockdown, mask-wearing rules, and the start of vaccinations, we have seen a massive decline in deaths, from what I see on the news today to what it was a few weeks ago it appears the death rate has dropped by 1000 approx per day. Lots of things were done too late and some still are but you do get a tiny little sense that actually we might be able to control this virus if we all pull together and make the effort to do what is asked of us by the real experts most of it is actually just plain common sense. We should forget the politics, forget the crap on social media, and just do our bit, It might save a life, and if I can save one life by doing my bit then it was worth doing.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
OrgasmAlley
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Re: Corona

Post by OrgasmAlley »

My observation from the data in the US is that the steep decline of new COVID cases here has been accompanied by a change only in the vaccination of parts of the population... specifically the elderly, those with serious comorbidities, and front line workers. I cannot find a change in lockdowns (except loosening thereof), propensity to mask, or propensity to socially distance over this period of time, either for some states or the country as a whole.

I certainly think we should listen to experts. Those with political appointments, those without, and those who complete research.
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Re: Corona

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OrgasmAlley wrote:My observation from the data in the US is that the steep decline of new COVID cases here has been accompanied by a change only in the vaccination of parts of the population... specifically the elderly, those with serious comorbidities, and front line workers. I cannot find a change in lockdowns (except loosening thereof), propensity to mask, or propensity to socially distance over this period of time, either for some states or the country as a whole.

I certainly think we should listen to experts. Those with political appointments, those without, and those who complete research.
I don't know why the US is so different from the UK, Maybe it is down to people's personal attitudes and I don't mean that is any negative.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
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Shannon SteelSlave
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Re: Corona

Post by Shannon SteelSlave »

I am sorry for your loss,Dosster
Bondage is like a foreign film without subtitles. Only through sharing and practice can we hope to understand.
A Jedi uses bondage for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!....I, I mean S-M-A-R-T!
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bounddosster
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Re: Corona

Post by bounddosster »

Thanks, Shannon.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
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