Think the data is telling the story. However, my biggest problem with the data is the inconsistent up and down cases each day. One day it's down to 400 cases The next day it's up to 1,200 cases. Then back down again. Then back up again. That doesn't make logical sense. While it does make a nice trendline in the end that I believe. The up down nature of the data on a daily basis is questionable.
The up and down is due to the nature of the work week. The up down cycles are consistently 7 days (there was one cycle that was 8 days, but that was over Memorial Day weekend). Most of the times the numbers drop over the weekend and peak on Tuesday. Looking at the 7-day averages would be ideal to remove this effect.
I remember seeing those articles in Mid-late March, "You don't need to wear a mask, healthcare workers do" - and posting about it in this very thread about how it made 0 sense. I even remember saying/thinking, "Why don't they just say, healthcare workers need the masks more so try and be considerate of them" - from what I recall, it was more of a, "regular folks don't need them" - no good explanation associated. It was so illogical, even at the time.
I remember him discussing this before. He said a long time ago that masks are a barrier when everyone wears them but there were shortages and the concern was the medical providers needing masks. Yes and this only further shows how the lack of preparation by the federal government made the death toll and cases far worse. If the government had been prepared with adequate masking, the public could have been wearing them in March and April. Instead the same government decided to turn wearing a face mask into a political issue.
You all know why the did not say that......... look at how the public responded with toilet paper shortages..... can you imagine masks? No one would have donated them.
Even if that was the goal, telling people early on that "you don't need to wear masks" wasn't a good idea and made no sense. I'm trying to find my original post about it from the time but this thread is thicc.
I don't doubt you made a post about it. I did as well. I do remember Fauci saying some time ago that the masks are needed for medical workers and their effectiveness relies on everyone else wearing them.
Yea, I'm looking for my own edification. I remember reading the article and thinking it made no sense and then we talked about it here for a few posts. Something along the lines of, "healthcare workers should wear masks but not the rest of you" and I was like, "What? If masks help stop the spread we should all be wearing them, not just HC workers... that's what they do in Asia" And now we are here a couple months later looking back on how silly that was.
also take into account hc workers wear masks in an acute setting with a much higher level of proper disposal/self care. The average person here doesn't do that with their masks who are using the same one over and over and over daily, especially with the regular cloth face coverings. Those things get filthy real quick
Keep in mind the goal of policy is to get effective results. Telling everyone to wear a mask a few months ago likely results in the opposite of what they wanted: 1. Hoarding of masks, meaning lack of PPE for those who need it. 2. Lack of understanding of what masks so - protecting others, not yourself (this is still an issue) 3. People using masks to replace staying at home, which would have increased the spread (no longer an issue because people aren't staying at home) This is an example of where a half-measure is potentially more effective than the policy you really want to implement. I think the same can be said for many stay-at-home orders. If people ignore them, it's worse than doing small things that aren't helpful, but cause people to listen to the other stuff.
Not a physician, and I know everyone has different genetics, but if something doesn't work the majority of the time I can't give it much credibility. 33% is nothing to sneeze at, but still, we need something more reliable. Think the flu shot is around 80% preventing death.
Naaaah. Not yet. They put me on hold for 2 months for FREE. I was going to ask some people that I do know have been going how it has been, but haven't gotten around to it. I imagine lots of college kids. Which is.... bad. Are you thinking about going back?
The reporting from one day to the next is not consistent. That's why using a 7 day rolling average is needed.
Bro, this is AMERICA. Nobody does **** on Friday. Nobody does **** on the weekends. That's why... We're all a bunch of lazy mofos posting on the BBS or Reddit all day. Yet we're all somehow convinced we need 40hr work weeks.
That CDC link is good. Maybe imperfect, but I haven't seen if checking O2 levels could be a reliable indicator.
It is also due to the fact that there is a weekly variation in reporting. Some hospital systems, clinics, and labs may be dropping all their weekly numbers on a single day. I'll second one of the earlier remarks. You have to look at 7 day rolling averages to account for reporting and data latency, as well as the deviations due to actual weekends/work weeks.
