New evidence MASKS protect the wearer too
 

Good news for those of us who wear masks to protect people around us just in case we may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic carriers of the new coronavirus. Here is the article........

Wearing a mask cuts own risk of novel coronavirus by 65 percent, experts say | Fox News

Thank you for your post, coffeebean.

That 65% protection for the wearer of a mask is sure a lot better than 0.

And your source cited should be more palatable to those who probably dismissed my post on the topic, with its link to NPR. Now, with your post, we have across-the-board articles with good information.

I am north right now where my county is one of 7 other counties that have just gone mandatory. Ohio had been doing pretty well, until recently — then went backwards.

One of my favorite little locally owned restaurants just closed because although they observed every safety precaution, including, of course, masks, one of the employees tested positive — because outside of work, she was with a friend who was asymptomatic at the time. No masks.

Now, the owner of this small business, who was doing everything possible to keep her employees and customers safe, has decided to close down completely for an extended time — no carry-outs either.

As of a couple of days ago, Florida had 56 hospitals with maxed out ICUs and 35 more hospitals with only 10% of ICU beds still available. Florida has 303 hospitals and is going the wrong direction.

What I cannot comprehend is how anti-maskers seem to be incapable of connecting-the-dots.........

. . .I guess some are easily manipulated, especially when emotions are tapped.

. . .Some hear only what they want to hear and lack the curiosity to look at the big picture.

. . . Then there are those who must get some kind of bizarro thrill out of fancying themselves master puppeteers, as they take every safety precaution themselves while encouraging others to not wear masks.

. . . And, of course, there is sociopathy. (Years ago, I read a book titled “The Sociopath Next Door.” The statistic cited said that 1 out of every 25 people is a sociopath — 4% of the population, wired to be sociopaths. I am beginning to wonder if that statistic is woefully low.)

coffeebean, I have been seriously thinking of giving up on TOTV because the tone has changed so much. But this morning when I saw your post, I had to jump in and try to help you. Here we are — lighting our little candles. :)

Boomer

Nooo, Ms Boomer please, don’t leave. I look forwards to everyone of your posts for inspiration.

Velvet,

Thanks for the kind words.

I have been around here for years and every now and then, I think about cutting this place loose, but then I see something like coffeebean’s post here and just have to post my opinion.

Something kind of funny — after I wrote the earlier post, I tried to log out. Something went haywire. I kept trying and trying, but my green light remained on.

I had to laugh because I had just alluded to that song, “One Little Candle” and then I could not douse my green light, no matter how many times I tried to log out. I love a good coincidence. :)

And now, I will try again.

Luminous Boomer

Hope that means you’ll stay. Very happy!

I made a major error this week. Walked out of the house without my mask and no spare in the car. I was really desperate to get what I came for and chanced shopping in Publix without my mask. OMG you would have thought I had a bomb strapped to my body ..... people were really avoiding me, especially the women, I finally I resorted to holding a tissue over my mouth and nose but I could not get out of there fast enough. However, there was still the contingent of men alone who were going maskless ..............

I believe Mich McConnell came out recently and said something to the effect "wear the damned mask".

It always seemed ridiculous to me that medical professionals would wear masks to protect themselves from disease, but somehow through this COVID issues masks aren't protecting us. I get that the virus is super small, but most masks have to help in some ways to protect both the wearer and people around.

Great post. Even though not mandatory in FL, I believe everyone should be wearing a mask. We need to be doing everything we can
to stop virus spreading. Masks are easy to wear and stop us from touching our faces. "An ounce of prevention...."

Very interesting article. I have to wonder if it'll convince any of the more vocal nay-sayers though, either here on ToTV or elsewhere. One of the quotes, "He (Dean Blumberg) added that N95 masks do an even better job at protecting people from the virus, but they are in short supply and are needed for healthcare professionals", seemed (to me) to be a probable reason that Dr. Fauci & others did not recommend wearing masks for everyone, originally. Once the mask shortage improved, he did change his advice - which some promptly called flip-flopping. :rolleyes:

Boomer, I agree with all you said above! And I've never read the book!! ;)

I also hope you stick around. There seem to be relatively few whose posts are more intelligent & informative instead of inflammatory. Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Hi roscoguy,

I know what you mean about Dr. Fauci being pounced on by those who do not want to admit that this vile virus is way ahead of us. Our understanding of it must evolve or we are going to end up killing a lot more people — along with killing the economy.

From the beginning, I could not comprehend how wearing a mask would not help me to protect myself, along with others.

Yet, the anti-maskers insist upon dredging up obsolete information and small, narrow studies often from other countries, as they grasp at straws to “prove” they are right.

I do not know why so many refuse to do such a small thing that could go a long way to rescue our country — as this thing grows arms and legs that reach into every aspect of society.

In my post above, I listed some of my observations of what could possibly be motivating anti-maskers to be so hellbent on harming others — and themselves. Observations only — that old psych minor of mine does not qualify me to open a practice.

A virus needs a host to survive and Covid sure has found itself a welcoming committee. Covid is a whole lot smarter than we are. We, as a nation, need to hurry up and join forces against it by doing everything we can to stop playing host to Covid. But the anti-maskers don’t want to join us because they would feel like they would be admitting they were wrong — when actually they would be proving that they are capable of evolving.

Boomer

We are in unprecedented times. I keep plugging away here on TOTV and hope you will continue to do so too.

Those who are denying the reach of this virus are spitting in the face of science — and spitting on the economy.

Why can’t the anti-maskers see the big picture and just put on the damned mask.

Like the song from Hamilton says, “History Has Its Eyes On You.”

I was encouraged and discouraged today.
Encouraged:
I had to go to Kohl's to return an item. Masks in the store 100%.
Very note worthy.

Discouraged:
After dinner we took a short ride to and around Lake Sumter Landing. Fairly active with walkers and participants in stores and out door bars/tables and even a group of about 12 or so line dancing. We saw ONE PERSON with a mask.

At some point the large percent of non maskers just has to change if we are to defeat this virus.

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