The COVID Cult

My personal observations agree with this video.

 

Points out the only places lockdowns didn't work,  ignoring that less people are dying cause of youth or masks cut the amount of virus transmitted which means less severe cases.

One sided bias fact picking. 

I know everyone has made up their mind on this so I'll try not to reply back on this.   

 

I didn’t watch the whole video.

A 58 yo guy at work died in about 2 weeks from it.  He was working from home but had to come in because a drone pilot was needed.  He may have had underlying conditions.

My 68 cousin died in a short time too.  I don’t know if she had underlying conditions.

My wife is not a picture of health.

Yes, masks delays the spread.  I think that is the point - to delay the spread till a vaccine is eventually available. 

Wearing a mask till then isn’t too difficult.  It may protect my unhealthy wife, my 80 and 90 yo in laws.  I wear a mask because of them. 

I’m a decent driver.  I would still wear a seatbelt as precaution even if there were no fines.

Most of us on this forum have a prepper mentality.   Better to have it and not need it.  I think that way about wearing masks.

I like going to places to get stuff and they won’t let me in w/out wearing a mask.

With all the stuff I have to deal with, wearing a mask is minor

Besides, I generally take anything from a salesman with a grain of salt.  He has to sell to eat (I assume the book was not free). 

Everyone is different.  That is only my take for my situation

Sweden is no longer in the news.  Why?  Because they are doing fine.......and they never locked down.

"Protect the vulnerable and let people live the one life they have".

I think wearing a mask and hand sanitizing and distancing helps a lot.
Enough such that business could stay open.
I know close to a dozen people that had it, including a couple of my kids.
One person died. He was an older doctor at a high risk clinic.
the rest of them are fine.

Awareness and reasonable precautions are the key to reopening the businesses.
We have lost enough businesses already.

And we surely don't need to spend millions on new trucks for HPD and overtime so cops can write useless citations and clog the court system with all those frivolous tickets..

My personal observations agree with this video.

Mine as well. It’s why I posted the video. Too many people are ignoring the facts and the truth and this guy brought it all home. JMHO

Read this y'all

https://2ahawaii.com/index.php?topic=38776.0

Sweden is no longer in the news.  Why?  Because they are doing fine.......and they never locked down.

"Protect the vulnerable and let people live the one life they have".

No; Sweden is not doing fine.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-sweden-cases/update-1-swedish-covid-19-cases-surge-as-testing-struggles-to-keep-up-idUSL8N2HW5H4

I hypothesize that people touch their faces more with mask usage, increasing chances of infection. There is no other guidelines to properly wear a mask or hygiene guidelines. All our local leaders tell us is to wear a mask and every times we see a "spike" our local leaders blame us and when there is a decrease they cite themselves.

A systematic review of the Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)(the only evidence that counts according to Dr. Fauci) re "face masks" and virus transmission:

Emerging Infectious Diseases

EID Journal   Volume 26   Number 5-May 2020   Main Article

Face Masks

In our systematic review, we identified 10 RCTs that reported estimates of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the community from literature published during 1946–July 27, 2018. In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.51–1.20; I2 = 30%, p = 0.25) (Figure 2). One study evaluated the use of masks among pilgrims from Australia during the Hajj pilgrimage and reported no major difference in the risk for laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection in the control or mask group (33). Two studies in university settings assessed the effectiveness of face masks for primary protection by monitoring the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among student hall residents for 5 months (9,10). The overall reduction in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in the face mask group was not significant in either studies (9,10). Study designs in the 7 household studies were slightly different: 1 study provided face masks and P2 respirators for household contacts only (34), another study evaluated face mask use as a source control for infected persons only (35), and the remaining studies provided masks for the infected persons as well as their close contacts (11–13,15,17). None of the household studies reported a significant reduction in secondary laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the face mask group (11–13,15,17,34,35). Most studies were underpowered because of limited sample size, and some studies also reported suboptimal adherence in the face mask group.

Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

A systematic review of the Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)(the only evidence that counts according to Dr. Fauci) re "face masks" and virus transmission:

Emerging Infectious Diseases

EID Journal   Volume 26   Number 5-May 2020   Main Article

Face Masks

In our systematic review, we identified 10 RCTs that reported estimates of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the community from literature published during 1946–July 27, 2018. In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.51–1.20; I2 = 30%, p = 0.25) (Figure 2). One study evaluated the use of masks among pilgrims from Australia during the Hajj pilgrimage and reported no major difference in the risk for laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection in the control or mask group (33). Two studies in university settings assessed the effectiveness of face masks for primary protection by monitoring the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among student hall residents for 5 months (9,10). The overall reduction in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in the face mask group was not significant in either studies (9,10). Study designs in the 7 household studies were slightly different: 1 study provided face masks and P2 respirators for household contacts only (34), another study evaluated face mask use as a source control for infected persons only (35), and the remaining studies provided masks for the infected persons as well as their close contacts (11–13,15,17). None of the household studies reported a significant reduction in secondary laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the face mask group (11–13,15,17,34,35). Most studies were underpowered because of limited sample size, and some studies also reported suboptimal adherence in the face mask group.

Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

but WE listen to the science!

this is not science

but WE listen to the science!

this is not science

no it is confirmation bias.   

no it is confirmation bias. 

I remember when doctors said we had a "gun" epidemic

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6333536/

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(19)30176-7/fulltext

Maybe we are being over cautious.  Better safe than sorry?

The problem with mask mandates is that they are over reaching and impractical. Enforcing people on the beach (open air, great air circulation, full sunlight) with no close contact to wear masks is authoritative. That's the underlying incentive for people pushing for mandates - to force the general public to do something. We mandated wearing masks for months but we still see cases ebb and flow with calls for a second, third wave, as if we are looking at a lunar calendar. The blame has always been on the public not government. The local govt's response is to threaten with more restrictions and more mandates. The govt is capitalizing on this fear with more controls. Do you think they want to give this up? Having almost complete control over the economy? No legislative input at all. No public input. Just a few people making decisions and with no transparency. They repeat over and over - listen to the science the medical pros. Guess what?  The top epidemiologist at the DoH was fired (harsh term in Hawaii). Dr. Parks is gone. And the champion of mask mandates, a medical Dr, Lt Gov Green caught COVID. Do I blame him for catching it? Of course not, but it erodes his credibility on mask policies. Life happens. There are risks we need to accept in order for is to live. Baby gazelles are still eaten. Sad but true. Life happens.

It's a slippery slope with these mask mandate. A professional organization already declared a "gun" epidemic. Guess what mandates can be called with that declaration?
It's almost certain that new, unconstitutional laws will be drafter to address the Covid pandemic in the 2021 legislature. Your rights don't stand a chance in a time of fear.

Meanwhile in other news, ISIS beheaded over 50 men and children in Mozambique.
The aperture we look through is very narrow.

Please pardon us while we take back this study and re-massage the numbers to once again come to our foregone and foreordained conclusion... don't worry, this time it will definitely show that "masks work"... trust us.

Authors Retract Study Showing Efficacy of Mask Mandates—as Biden Pushes Nationwide Requirement

A study showing that more than a thousand counties in the US saw COVID-19 hospitalizations decrease after passing mask mandates has been withdrawn.

The study [https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.21.20208728v2], published on October 23 on the medical site medRxiv, had alleged that hospitalizations for COVID-19 decreased in 1,083 US counties after lawmakers passed mask mandates.

The article was updated on November 4.

“The authors have withdrawn this manuscript because there are increased rates of SARS- CoV-2 cases in the areas that we originally analyzed in this study,” the updated abstract reads. “New analyses in the context of the third surge in the United States are therefore needed and will be undertaken directly in conjunction with the creators of the publicly-available databases on cases, hospitalizations, testing rates.”

Full article: https://fee.org/articles/authors-retract-study-showing-efficacy-of-mask-mandates-as-biden-pushes-nationwide-requirement/

Meanwhile the USA has 100,000+ infections a day, 7 days in a row.

Meanwhile the USA has 100,000+ infections a day, 7 days in a row.

So what?

And that's just from "tested". The estimates are that between 5 and 30 times that "tested" total is the real number of "infections". Most of those "infections" are asymptomatic and may be non-infectious as the RT-PCR tests detect (above 35 cycles) dead fragments of various viruses, not just dead fragments of SARS-CoV-2.

So what?

So what?

And that's just from "tested". The estimates are that between 5 and 30 times that "tested" total is the real number of "infections". Most of those "infections" are asymptomatic and may be non-infectious as the tests detect (above 35 cycles) dead fragments of various viruses, not just dead fragments of SARS-CoV-2.

So what?

Clearly the United States under Trump and his current policies or lack of is not doing well.  Those include the aversion to masks.