Tuesday 6 October 2020

COVID ~ Facemasks

The latest Facemask data

I'm getting the theory behind this but the people putting the rules in place obviously do not have a Scooby about drinking in pubs.

Let's just focus on one thing and there are a load of issues with this ...but masks ...so now from Thursday you have to put on a mask to walk into a pub/club/restaurant once seated you can take it off. Get up to go outside for a fag, put it back on, take it off, fag, put it back on, return to seat, take it off again. Go to the toilet, put on mask, back to seat, take it back off again.


Now you stand anywhere, like outside a shop and watch how people deal with masks. Most are taking them off, holding the whole mask in their hand, stuffing them in their pocket. If you have CV it's now on your hands and most people aren't walking around with alcohol gel cleaners and using them every time they take a mask off, neither are they disposing of them correctly or rather they are not disposing them we are reusing them.
No real surprise to me that the infection rate is going up
Seems to me looking at the timeline of events related to a lot of things but
People going abroad (against gov advice)
Introduction of masks (not being used correctly)
And schools opening all coincide with the big spike upwards that is happening now.
This isn't going away
We have to learn to live with it
Don't expect a magic vaccine
Spanish flu had three waves over 2 years (and where was the 1st case of Spanish flu?)
A decent testing and track and trace would help massively.


Blojo has some cheek saying people need to use common sense when he's displayed absolutely none himself.

By the way, I have no problem with masks being used or using them myself, if used correctly but as they said at the start if used incorrectly they have the potential to be bigger spreaders than not wearing them.



As I said I have no problem with masks being used if used correctly but as they said at the start if used incorrectly they have the potential to be bigger spreaders than not wearing them and 99% of people are not using them correctly.

I'm a fan of whatever works and can be shown to be working.
But thinking about it your assumption isn't actually correct as improper handling of mask when taking off and putting on can increase the risk of spreading the virus to others from your hands.
My problem with it is, as they said right at the start and still say, once you are wearing the mask you shouldn't touch it. If you do then the chances of transferring the virus (if you have it) onto other surfaces raises exponentially.
People are already handling masks incorrectly and the new rules will increase this handling of used masks at least by 10x
Bearing in mind they still maintain there is only a small benefit from masks but every little help. The small benefit could easily be negated by incorrect handling and not disposing after every use, which nobody is.
We are about 2 weeks away from the daily infection levels of March so it will be interesting where it goes from here. So far if you look at the Graph masks have certainly not stopped the increase and one can only hypothesize what the infections would have been without masks.
One thing you can say for certain is from around May 10th to July the 8th (2 months) the daily infection rate was coming down and we were walking around shops without masks on.


The Government Guidelines on using face masks

When wearing a face covering you should:
  1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser before putting a face covering on.
  2. Avoid wearing on your neck or forehead.
  3. Avoid touching the part of the face-covering in contact with your mouth and nose, as it could be contaminated with the virus.
  4. Change the face-covering if it becomes damp or if you’ve touched it.
  5. Avoid taking it off and putting it back on a lot in quick succession (for example, when leaving and entering shops on a high street).
When removing a face-covering:
  1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser before removing.
  2. Only handle the straps, ties or clips.
  3. Do not give it to someone else to use.
  4. If single-use, dispose of it carefully in a residual waste bin and do not recycle.
  5. If reusable, wash it in line with the manufacturer’s instructions at the highest temperature appropriate for the fabric.
  6. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser once removed.

Stand outside a supermarket and give £100 to anyone that follows all of the above rules.... I guarantee you'll still have £100 by the end of the day.



LINKS

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8

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