Anybody want a Corona?

[E.H. Ruddock]

again, some really classy comments in here. You guys are really thinking about RMers who have had this affect their lives directly. Although I would expect nothing less from the ones making the comments. Stay classy RM.

[The Argonaut]

You have to be able to laugh, Rudd. And that butt stuff is pretty funny

[Bi_3]

You have to be able to laugh, Rudd. And that butt stuff is pretty funny

Not if you are a diplomat, but hey... cheap iPhones right?

[BurtReynolds]

That's not literal assfucking, Burt, and you of all people should know that

Not yet.

[verb_to_trust]

Wear the mask, get the vax, take it up the ass!

I saw an article the other day about getting the vax shot in your ass cheek, and if that was okay. It was completely sincere.

[96583UP]

China flexing on our weak leaders.

but when are they gonna stop the pee pee in the coke?

[Rob]

Exposure is exposure when it comes to this virus. Isn't it obvious by now? Or do you really honestly believe politicians when they try to blame the public?

Viral load matters, duh

Cool link all the peer reviewed studies stating explicitly that masks protect you.

The masks are basically bullshit for the way we use them and the types we're using. (I am not on verb's side on this at all, but they are not the panacea some make them out to be and they are being used incorrectly probably 98% of the time, let's be honest).
I was responding to "exposure is exposure" which is just not true at all. Level of exposure affects how likely you are to contract the virus and how sick you'll get

Does wearing a mask prevent most or some (ANY?) of the viral particles from being spread/launched into the air? If so then I don't understand how you reconcile your "viral load matters" post with the bolded text.

Wearing a mask when you walk into the restaurant and then taking it off when you sit at your table is not wearing a mask correctly. Wearing a mask that slips under your nose while you walk around the store is incorrect. Wearing a mask that bulges out on the sides is not correct. Wearing a mask in the elevator at work but not in your cubicle for eight hours is incorrect. Wearing the same cotton mask all day which you've touched 1000 times and is soaking wet from your breath is incorrect. Wearing a mask in an Uber when the guy has been driving around maskless for hours is pointless. Hanging out indoors with your friends for three hours, even masked up, is far from ideal. Cotton masks have a limit, and I see people push beyond those limits anytime I go anywhere or do anything. To the point where they are basically useless.
Using a fresh, clean, mask to get through a brief interaction with another masked person makes a huge difference. But that's not what we use masks for. They would help a lot if we used good masks but didn't ask too much of them. They can only do so much.

I don’t agree with every one of those, but I take your point. Still, none of those arguments are about whether or not masks work. Seems more like an argument that we can’t make it work. If that’s what you meant in the first place, I guess I misread. Maybe it comes down to where you live? People are pretty compliant around here. I believe every state at some point passed a mask mandate, even though many resisted. They did it when things spiked, and if memory serves, things got better. Lots of people can be doing it wrong, but many aren’t. And half-assed is probably better than nothing. I mean, does this logic seem wrong to you guys? I don’t understand why this is still a thing (genuinely). Didn’t you all grow up hearing people tell you to cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze?

[B]

Exposure is exposure when it comes to this virus.

No, you're very specifically and demonstrably incorrect.

[The Argonaut]

I think you and I agree, Rob. Masks make a difference

[Bi_3]

Exposure is exposure when it comes to this virus. Isn't it obvious by now? Or do you really honestly believe politicians when they try to blame the public?

Viral load matters, duh

Cool link all the peer reviewed studies stating explicitly that masks protect you.

The masks are basically bullshit for the way we use them and the types we're using. (I am not on verb's side on this at all, but they are not the panacea some make them out to be and they are being used incorrectly probably 98% of the time, let's be honest).
I was responding to "exposure is exposure" which is just not true at all. Level of exposure affects how likely you are to contract the virus and how sick you'll get

Does wearing a mask prevent most or some (ANY?) of the viral particles from being spread/launched into the air? If so then I don't understand how you reconcile your "viral load matters" post with the bolded text.

Wearing a mask when you walk into the restaurant and then taking it off when you sit at your table is not wearing a mask correctly. Wearing a mask that slips under your nose while you walk around the store is incorrect. Wearing a mask that bulges out on the sides is not correct. Wearing a mask in the elevator at work but not in your cubicle for eight hours is incorrect. Wearing the same cotton mask all day which you've touched 1000 times and is soaking wet from your breath is incorrect. Wearing a mask in an Uber when the guy has been driving around maskless for hours is pointless. Hanging out indoors with your friends for three hours, even masked up, is far from ideal. Cotton masks have a limit, and I see people push beyond those limits anytime I go anywhere or do anything. To the point where they are basically useless.
Using a fresh, clean, mask to get through a brief interaction with another masked person makes a huge difference. But that's not what we use masks for. They would help a lot if we used good masks but didn't ask too much of them. They can only do so much.

I don’t agree with every one of those, but I take your point. Still, none of those arguments are about whether or not masks work. Seems more like an argument that we can’t make it work. If that’s what you meant in the first place, I guess I misread. Maybe it comes down to where you live? People are pretty compliant around here. I believe every state at some point passed a mask mandate, even though many resisted. They did it when things spiked, and if memory serves, things got better. Lots of people can be doing it wrong, but many aren’t. And half-assed is probably better than nothing. I mean, does this logic seem wrong to you guys? I don’t understand why this is still a thing (genuinely). Didn’t you all grow up hearing people tell you to cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze?

Yeah, I’m with Rob here. Those seem like suboptimal situations, but every droplet kept from the air helps.

[The Argonaut]

Masks make a difference. But if you go to sleep at night cuddling your mask, thanking it for keeping you and everyone around you safe all day, you're probably wrong. Because you live in the real world

[verb_to_trust]

Masks make a difference. But if you go to sleep at night cuddling your mask, thanking it for keeping you and everyone around you safe all day, you're probably wrong. Because you live in the real world

People who have that sense of security wearing their mask probably put themselves and others more at risk.

[The Argonaut]

Those seem like suboptimal situations, but every droplet kept from the air helps.

The thing about cotton, non-medical masks is that they are already so inefficient that if you aren't using it optimally, you almost might as well not be wearing it at all. The solution is not verb's "masks don't work you're wearing a diaper on your face" schtick. The answer is to emphasize to people that they should be avoiding the real risk factor: time spent indoors. And bumping production of medical-grade masks way the heck up

[The Argonaut]

Masks make a difference. But if you go to sleep at night cuddling your mask, thanking it for keeping you and everyone around you safe all day, you're probably wrong. Because you live in the real world

People who have that sense of security wearing their mask probably put themselves and others more at risk.

There is something to this. Especially when you look at it from the "every droplet removed from the air helps" point of view.
Every little bit does help. But if the every little bit you are doing is wearing a mask when you have to, that's the everiest littlest bit you could possibly do. Confronting your employer and pushing to have fewer people in the office on staggered shifts would be far more effective than patting yourself on the back for digging your mask out of your pocket for your walk from the cubicle to the bathroom. Convincing your friends to meet up in the park for a frisbee toss is better than accepting an invitation to dine indoors and telling yourself you are safe because you kept your mask on when you told the hostess that there will be four people at your table. If having the mask makes people think they are safe, they're likelier to engage in risky behavior that wearing a mask (in the way most people do) does not mitigate.

[JuanHamm]

Masks make a difference. But if you go to sleep at night cuddling your mask, thanking it for keeping you and everyone around you safe all day, you're probably wrong. Because you live in the real world

People who have that sense of security wearing their mask probably put themselves and others more at risk.

There is something to this. Especially when you look at it from the "every droplet removed from the air helps" point of view.
Every little bit does help. But if the every little bit you are doing is wearing a mask when you have to, that's the everiest littlest bit you could possibly do. Confronting your employer and pushing to have fewer people in the office on staggered shifts would be far more effective than patting yourself on the back for digging your mask out of your pocket for your walk from the cubicle to the bathroom. Convincing your friends to meet up in the park for a frisbee toss is better than accepting an invitation to dine indoors and telling yourself you are safe because you kept your mask on when you told the hostess that there will be four people at your table. If having the mask makes people think they are safe, they're likelier to engage in risky behavior that wearing a mask (in the way most people do) does not mitigate.

I spent all year having this fight with my parents. They thought wearing a mask made them invincible.

[Anders]

For a long time we didn't wear masks in Scandinavia. Sweden had no social distancing at all, nothing closed down, and they had a large amount of deaths. In Denmark and Norway numbers were very low. Some months ago, the advice from WHO changed, and we had to wear masks. Numbers didn't change at all, and amount of people infected and dying have been about the same. I of course follow the national advice, and have had a mask on wherever I'm out for months now. 620 Norwegians have died from covid-19.

Usually over 900 die from the flu each year, and no one has had the flu this year. So the number there is 0 now.

Because of the UK and South African varieties arriving, lots of shops and gyms are closed. But number of infected are about the same as usual.

[96583UP]

pretty shocked at some of the comments here

and that no one has acknowledged the benefits of triple-masking yet

disposable + fabric + Iron Man

[B]

Exposure is exposure when it comes to this virus. Isn't it obvious by now? Or do you really honestly believe politicians when they try to blame the public?

Viral load matters, duh

Cool link all the peer reviewed studies stating explicitly that masks protect you.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... ne.0243597
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19057-5
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7323671/
https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3862
https://www.cmaj.ca/content/171/11/1349.short
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7310638/
https://ncrc.jhsph.edu/research/sars-co ... 6-studies/

[Anders]

500.000 thousand have died in the US alone. That’s a crazy amount, especially with everyone wearing masks.

[spike]

500.000 thousand have died in the US alone. That’s a crazy amount, especially with everyone wearing masks.

ummmm