My biggest problem is not that they ain't sure about things, but telling us this is the way it is and changing it, tell, me you are unsure and I'll respect you, tell me this is the way it is and change and I don't. Like the mask thing, no they don't work then don't go out with out it.
I got out today, wife and granddaughter ran some errands and wore their masks. Riley and I rode and sat in the car.
One I don't understand is I can ride the bus to somewhere if I want, then have to stand 10 feet apart in line to go in. Saw the handy van for elderly people still running today, we quit riding it before our pass expired because it did not seem like a good idea to us.
I can't buy bulk food which seems smart but I can buy Brussels Sprouts anyone has pawed over, I ask why that's ok and they tell me just wash them. With what, hand sanitizer? No now why is just water ok on my Brussels Spouts but not ok with my hands? And before this, hand sanitizer was not acceptable in food service, but now it is a miracle worker.
To much shit ain't adding up, I'm not going to wear a tin foil hat like some, I'm putting it down as we hired some damn dumb people to protect us from this stuff, how can any ordinary person understand what is going on with all the different stories, damn I hate to think of all the shit they are feeding our governors and such right up to the top.
My Dear Del
I can answer a couple of your puzzlements.
If you can stand a wall o' text.
Q1: Like the mask thing, no they don't work then don't go out with out it.
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former job, I was in on disaster planning and PR to the public. One Grizzled Senior guy told me:
" People aren't the problem. People can be smart. Paniced MOBS are the problem"
I see the exact same thing going on here.
Panic caused the initial stock market problems.
Panic buying is making things messy.
paniced idiots are killing themselves with OMG STOOPID fake cures.
IF you knew where to go, good data was avaialable, but confusing to the general public.
It was not until Dr. Fauci was brought out to report facts, and stayed out of "he said she said" blame games,
that we were getting good intel from DC.
SO... what works?
1) masks work - mainly because we can't identify carriers yet.
2) testing works - but until we can test everyone and quarantine carriers, isolation works at slowing the spread,
thus the "limited time isolation plans"
3) distancing works just by diffusion. The proof is how fast it spread on crowded cruise ships and the aircraft carrier.
distancing + masks work better
One cough in a shoulder to shoulder football crowd can infect 10-30 unmasked people
One cough with folks spread 10 feet apart, not so much. With masks, probably no spread.
4) soap and water washing works
5) sanitizing works
regarding masks: why the change in statement? there are 2 reasons
1) Many Officials were Trying to stop panic and reserve scarce resources for first responders ( didn't work)
2) There is a Lack of valid clinical trials PROVING effectiveness of various masks in various situations, so
hardcore scientist still say "there is no hard proof"
#2 sounds stupid as hell, but some hard core science based MD's still hold onto that. Never mind that there are hundreds of
"really pretty good" studies, and manufacturors tests showing that 3M mask type blahblah N95 with an exhaust valve
can filter more than 95% of dust, bacteria, viruses, and particles down to "too damn tiny" .... That does not equate in the
hardcore rigorous scientific Medical MInd to a triple-whammy, double-blind, peer reviewed study across all four seasons
using 5 different kinds of test subjects with a test population greater than 1000 in each group and various population densities
and various social scenarios.
No I am not kidding.
Never mind that empiracle evidence demonstrates 80-99 % effectiveness if proper masks are used properly all the time
("vetted" empiracle evidence is valid enigineering methodollogy, btw).
Also never mind that most of APAC ( Japan, Australia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania) and India use
a variety of masks and the mask users have a lower incidence of covid than non mask users.
So, simple reality is, Masks Work. You STILL need eye protection.
The first proven functional mask was in the late 1890's and was about 1 inch thick layers of tight woven sterile gauze.
for the general public, any mask is better than none.
The tighter the fit, the better the mask
Those molded dust masks you used in the shop or dusty fields or when spraying pesticides?
Those are N95 and work perfectly. They don't wear out, they only get dirty. And you can wash them gently by hand.
a bandanna kinda works.
if you tuck it into your shirt and layer filter material in between, it works MUCH better.
AND You STILL need eye protection.
A cloth mask is as good as an N85-N95 mask if you put a filter material in between the layers.and if it fits.
Best filter material is the "N95 rated" melt blown fabric ((not woven)
you can tear apart a pollen rated hepa-type furnace filter and cut it up into inserts, they work great. Same stuff.
several layers ( 3 or 4 or 5) of "unknown melt blown fabric" works ok.
But unknown "melt blown fabric" is the current scam and price gouging thing.
If you have or make a cloth mask, make it with a pocket to hold the filter. The filter will be good
for easily 30 days, or until it gets smelly or nasty. Our mouths aren't exactly clean.
Both the mask and the filter can be hand washed, separately , Soap and warm water, be gentle .
Soap and Warm Water kills all influenzas and all covids icluding covid-19
Thus Wash Your Hands
Veggy Wash will kill it - wash your produce with Veggy Wash under warm water.
(basically Veggy wash is a "safe to eat soapy stuff" and vinegar and stuff)
70% isopropyl kills all influenzas and all covdid icluding covid-19. put it in a sprayer bottle and mist the surface.
If you want you can spray 70% alcohol on your produce, but that won't get the dirt off lol.
Common Store Hyrogen Perioxide works.
Diluted Bleach works. but it's nasty on people.
You can disinfect your mask by misting it lightly inside and outside with 70% alcohol or Peroxide.I do it at the end of my outside day trip"
DO NOT use 90% isopropyl alcohol - the 30% water content is necessary to "lice the cells"
DO NOT use wood alcohol, denatured alcohol, or industrial alcohol. those and their fumes can be poisonous and kill your liver.
Lysol Spray doesn't work as well as soap and water and rinsing.
Liquid Lysol concentrate works, because ,well, it is a "soap"!
We know the above because Mrs Marvel is a Dr.
microbiologist, cancer researcher, biohazard trained to lev 4, taught pharmacology, worked under a famous (now dead) epidemiologist.
And I happen to be well educated in hazmat and hazmat equipment. (still have my old NBC gear, and dosimeters )
pm me if you have any q's
hope this helps
prof marvel