[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by NotGolfer

Yet "they" are letting prisoners out of jails due to COVID. IF the masks work so well, then why not keep them there with a mask mandate?? Another thought....China and other Asian countries wear masks all the time....if they worked so good then why all the deaths and cases of COVID there? Curious thoughts........

There was never 100% compliance for mask wearing in China. The only way to truly mitigate the virus and slow it down is if many more people complied with masking and all the rest of the guidelines the CDC has given us. Without a high percentage of compliance, the virus will win.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by mwhite104

If I owned a 3000 acre farm in wherever...I would need to wear a mask outside because.............. No national mandate!

That is very silly to say. Of course, if there were mandates, there would be stipulations that go along with the mandate. The most important stipulation should be that masking is mandated WHEN SOCIAL DISTANCING IS NOT GUARANTEED. This can be indoors or outdoors. If and when social distancing is easily maintained, I see no reason to mandate mask wearing OUTDOORS.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I'd mandate masks indoors, and in public outdoor gathering places.

In other words - if you're at an outdoor religious service or concert, or sitting on a park bench where there's room for someone else to sit, or any other type of situation where social distancing is not practical - then you have to wear a mask.

For instance - line dancing in the squares. The fact that they're not line dancing to live music anymore, doesn't mean they're suddenly immune to the virus.

School bleachers, while outdoors, still can't reasonably be restricted by six-foot barriers front, back, and to either side of everyone sitting there. As soon as someone wants to get up to visit the bathroom or buy a hotdog, the protocol is breached. So - masks.

Masks in school, at recess. Yes it's hot outside. So have plenty of cold water and salt tablets available for the kids, and a shady spot for anyone who appears to be getting overheated.

Masks in line for outdoor seating at restaurants. In fact - outdoor seating should require that you're either eating, waiting to be served, or waiting for someone to present the bill so you can pay and leave. No one should be loitering for an hour after dinner there. That way you can social distance the tables and still make bank.

Outdoor bars need to enforce social distancing, or be closed by the health department.

Absolutely correct about 98% of those statemants. I am not sure about the salt tablets - I may be wrong, but I believe that the AIR Force in Lackland AFB gave up doing that a while ago for it being ineffective. Like I said, it possible that I am wrong?

[RockyMountainMan]

Originally Posted by Dana1963

Masks and Social Distancing are working in the initial hot spots. It’s people ignorance to stop wearing masks. If they don’t work then why have surgeons dentists medical tech nurses have been wearing them for years. NASA wears them on vehicle assemblies. If a person chooses not to wear one I for one am not going to challenge them. Prove that mask wearing doesn’t work.

Hold on Dana. Be careful who you call ignorant. You are comparing apples to oranges when you talk about surgeons and dentists who where masks and the general public wearing them to prevent covid. Masks are proven NOT to protect anyone from viruses. A virus is 1000 times smaller than the smallest bacteria and the holes in masks do not stop viruses from entering or exiting your mouth and nose. Surgeons wear masks in surgery to protect the patient from getting bacteria (specifically bacterial spores) from entering the open surgical site, same with dentists, etc. Don't think that just because some bureaucrat on T.V. tells you that a mask prevents either you from getting a virus or you giving someone else a virus, doesn't make it true! Unless you have some knowledge of infection control be careful about making a judgement as to who is ignorant.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by CanTho

It is impossible to enforce without a trained Security person on duty. Many employees have been assaulted across the USA for trying to enforce the mask rule.

Leadership at all levels have poisoned the well water with deadly polarization. Trust the medical scientists.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Stores need to hire security people as part of their disinfection costs. They may have to slightly increase prices to reflect the added expenditures on our safety.

Don’t know which way to vote in the poll because my choice isn’t up there. Covid used to be a local problem and local mandates could have been different depending on the spreading. But these days Covid has infected every State and even rural areas so there are fewer and fewer “safe” regions. I would support a national mandate for all individuals who are able to wear masks, and take them off in an emergency, to wear when inside or when there is a possibility at any time of not being able to social distance. I would also recommend eye protection and very regular hand washing. And I would have N95 masks available (and fitted) for all vulnerable people so that we can go back to our lives mostly as before.

EVERYONE should be able to buy M95 masks. Can we all say DPA?

[georgea]

TY, Rocky Mountain Man, for adding some common sense to the mask discussion. I have emphysema and am over 70 therefore one who could suffer greatly by contracting this virus, maybe. There has been so much misinformation put out about the virus that I no longer believe anybody. Fauci and Birx have contradicted themselves so often I no longer listen.,
Because of my health problems, I cannot wear a mask. I have been from Florida to Pennsylvania to Texas in past month staying with family and in many hotels along the way. I have been exposed to someone diagnosed with a positive test for the virus. I have eaten meals in restaurants and been close-up with many groups of people and here I am with no virus symptoms. I was even tested after my exposure to person positive for virus and my test was negative. The young person who tested positive was asymptomatic and is now away to college. I am not going to let this virus control my life and I believe if we all would have just lived our lives as usual from the beginning, the virus would now be behind us as an issue.

[NoMoSno]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

EVERYONE should be able to buy M95 masks. Can we all say DPA?

Just go to Ace Hardware and buy them.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Not impossible, or even difficult. You just have an employee at the entrance telling people that they need to put on a mask or they can't come in to the store. The store has a right to restrict access to anyone they choose. If they refuse, you call the police and have them removed for trespassing. Why is our country becoming a bunch of wimps?

We are becoming whimps because bullets can penetrate our bodies. In the 1950s (pre whimpdom) arguments would end in a fistfight. Today there are a lot of guns in circulation. England solved that problem. We will NEVER. There are too many crazies with guns today. A store would need a metal detector at each entrance and a certificate of sanity to keep employees safe. Strangely, the US "cowboy mentality" has indirectly made us all whimps?

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by merrymini

I would like to meet the person forcing me to wear a mask out of doors. Stores have the right to mandate masks because it is a closed environment. Fresh air is better than being indoors where the virus is concerned and the mask thing is far from being a proven effective measure. Stop thinking the government is responsible for EVERYTHING. Stop trying to pass laws that are UNENFORCEABLE!

Real countries enforce it. New Zealand and Europe are not communist.

[George Page]

Originally Posted by DeanFL

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One simple question for the responders "MANDATE MASKS by the Fed gvt".

How would YOU ENFORCE THAT NATIONWIDE?

IMO simple question with a very difficult acheivable answer.

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Peer Pressure

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by meridian5850

Maybe when the gov't follows/enforces their own mandates? They prohibit large gatherings such as church, sporting events, funerals, etc. and allow protests, rioting, and a massive funeral for John Lewis, etc.

This country was founded on individual rights and freedoms and a lot of people, me included, don't like the slow erosion of them. Pretty soon, we'll be under a mask mandate during flu season. Then, we'll be under a permanent mask mandate when shopping in stores and so on.

How about older people who've lived a full life sacrifice themselves and set an example for future generations that our freedoms and liberties are precious and worth dying for just like those who founded this nation and subsequent generations that sacrificed for freedom along the way?

Are you suggesting genocide for everyone over 65? Will you feel the same when you are 65? I believe that I will continue to wear a mask indoors and keep my distance outside. It has NOT ruined my life so far.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by DeanFL

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Maryland - Hotline to enforce their Mask Mandate. "appropriate enforcement authority will be mobilized, if necessary". The release reads that any individual found violating Gov. Hogan’s order “could be charged with a violation of that order, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both.”

__________________

Maryland opens statewide hotline to report potential coronavirus distancing violations
By PHIL DAVIS
BALTIMORE SUN |
AUG 13, 2020 AT 3:40 PM

Maryland has opened a statewide hotline to report potential violations of executive orders meant to stem the spread of COVID-19, contrasting Gov. Larry Hogan’s previous statements urging local jurisdictions to take more control over enforcing the orders.

In a release, the state said the toll-free “COVID Prevention Line” is a joint effort between Maryland’s Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and State Police to respond to concerns residents may have about people not exercising proper social distancing or otherwise not taking necessary precautions in light of the pandemic.

The state wrote in its release the hotline is “to facilitate a statewide communication process for citizens to report concerns about potential situations where precautions are being ignored that will prompt follow-up by local health officials and, if necessary, law enforcement officials.”

The hotline — which can be reached by calling 1-833-979-2266 or by sending an email to prevent.covid@maryland.gov — is open 24 hours a day and callers can remain anonymous, the release reads.

While the state has created a centralized communications hub to help field complaints, Hogan had previously placed the onus on local and county leaders to enforce public health orders.

Last month, as Hogan required people over the age of 5 years old to wear masks inside public buildings, the governor said that he would not commit state resources, such as state law enforcement officers, to help local governments in their enforcement.

“I hope people would just do their jobs,” Hogan said at the time.

In the release, the state wrote that information provided to the hotline “will be forwarded to local health department officials in the jurisdiction of the location or situation described in the call” and that the appropriate enforcement authority will be mobilized, if necessary.

The release did not address executive orders authored by municipal leaders that are more restrictive than Hogan’s, such as the one that went into effect in Baltimore City, which restricted indoor dining to 25% capacity last week.

In an email, Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley wrote that once the calls are sent to local health officials, they will then act in accordance with that jurisdiction’s standing executive orders and decide appropriate action from there.

The release reads that any individual found violating Gov. Hogan’s order “could be charged with a violation of that order, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both.”

Maryland opens statewide hotline to report potential coronavirus distancing violations - Baltimore Sun
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Good for Maryland.

[cathiehines]

I guess I'm questioning how wearing a mask continually while out may be actually hurting your health. I notice after having it on for about 15 minutes that I have a great deal of difficulty breathing. I feel I'm overexerting my lungs in an effort to breathe. Also, since starting to wear the mask more I am waking up with dry mouth to the extent that I am literally choking. Is anyone else having these problems?

[DeanFL]

Originally Posted by George Page

Peer Pressure

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really? Tell me how THAT will work nationwide.
Confront a non-mask wearer in the store, and....
Confront a few people talking outside 3' away from each other.
Confront someone wearing a mask that is not covering their nose.
Confront someone pumping gas into their car and they are 4' away from you - maskless.

I could go on, but...really?
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