Masks

The Sandbox Covid19
481

I flew to Dallas today to see a concert.

Proportion of masked people on my flights was consistent with past trips, maybe more than 10%, definitely less than 25%. (Interestingly, First Class masking approached 50%)

I’m now standing in the venue (standing/general admission ticket). No masks in sight, other than the one in my pocket. With the concert sold-out and a capacity of 4000… here’s hoping my fifth dose of Pfizer has taken effect.

Edit: just saw one, on an older venue staff person

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482

Seems like the anti-mask crowd did sort of have a point. More ER admissions for common viruses for kids now in Canada due to weaker immunity from masking and distancing for 2 years

"Without distancing and mask mandates, children are getting exposed to more germs. And because of the public health measures, those germs are ones that kids’ immune systems have had little recent exposure to, such as rhinovirus, enterovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

It means viruses that typically give kids a common cold are instead driving an autumn surge of ER visits and hospitalizations. "

483

Yeah, I think everyone predicted that would happen. It’s unfortunate though.

484

I’m a little worried about that for myself. It’s be great not catching colds, but does that put me at risk for a more serious problem when i actually do get exposed?

485

I wonder. One of my friends is a pediatrician and she always preaches that it’s not a big deal for kids to catch colds… preschool kids miss fewer days of school than kids with a SAH parent because they start kindergarten with stronger immune systems. That’s what she says.

Yet… she keeps her own kid in a bubble. I almost mean that literally. Not quite, but close.

486

Are you guys saying I’m supposed to catch a cold every now and then or else bad things will happen?

487

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Of course most folks tend to gloss over the first part of that saying.

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488

Let’s go back to not washing hands.

489

At least allow yourself to be exposed to a few germs.

490

Remember when Christopher Columbus came to America and all the Natives got sick and died?

It’s kinda like that.

491

Seems like I was hearing this a year ago, even summer 2021. Lots of sick kids here last year. RSV was already spiking then.

And where I live, you can’t really blame it on mask use. :woozy_face:

ETA: just realized that article is from Canada, where people did actually seem to take mask mandates seriously.

492

Although, the reasons the Europeans didn’t die was because:

  1. the adults were those who survived. A lot of their kids died.
  2. the adults were the descendants of people who survived, and were less genetically susceptible in some cases.

and only partially because there are some diseases that are less serious if you catch them as a child.

I’ve stopped carrying around hand sanitizer, but I still wash my hands when I get home. I’m also still wearing a mask most of the time when I go someplace indoors that’s not my house.

493

I think was supposed to say:

That which does not kill you, mutates again and again until it does.

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494

Actually the most successful virus get you just sick enough to spread it to everyone you know without killing you so you can be a host again for it’s kids.

495

Which is why movies with a virus that is both extremely deadly and fast spreading don’t make much sense. Dead people don’t transmit.

My advice to a virus who wanted to be both deadly and spread quickly would be to keep the death rate down and only cause mild or no symptoms for half the people you infect.

496

From what I’ve observed in mens’ rooms, that has occurred.

(While inconvenient, I didn’t mind the queues at the restroom sinks that formed for a short while at the start of the pandemic.)

497

Or: That which does not kill you only postpones the inevitable.

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498

There is a nasty non-Covid bug (fever, congestion, fatigue, etc) going around my locale right now. One of my kids got it a few weeks ago. Sidelined him for 3-4 days. A couple of his good friends have it now. He’s back at school now, but says each of his classes are missing 5 or so kids. I also know of a handful of adults that have got it as well (all Covid negative).

499

Out of curiosity, for folks who were at the SOA shindig recently – how many people were masked?

I’m going to the CAS annual meeting next week. My practice these days is to mask unless I’d be the only person masked…

500

went to a conference last June

Very few masked. I wore one when sitting in the conference halls, but less when moving around.
One person I knew wore one, because he had a new grandchild and wanted extra protection

I am more vaccinated, as are my grandchildren, so I am less cautious