Coronavirus:

[chuck]

Crash Test Dummies take on it:

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he coulda smashed through
Any bank in the United States
He had the strength but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Planet crumbled, but Superman he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep goin'

Sometimes when Supe was stoppin' crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit
And turn his back on man
Join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city
Kept on changin' clothes
In dirty old phone booths 'til his work was through
Had nothin' to do but go on home

Superman never made any money
Savin' the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair
The world will never see another man like him

[robert.]

[gregj410]

How stupid. As if nothings coming out of the end of that thing

These masks are a joke. I’ve seen so many people where mask wearing is mandatory have them under their chins, below their noses or hanging off their ears. You have to have it on when you come in the store but none of the employees are following the mask wearing guidelines whatever they are. It’s bullshit.

People pulling shirts over their mouths/noses, bandanas, scarfs. I’m pretty sure when your getting a surgical procedure done the surgeon doesn’t pull up his shirt over his nose before he goes in. But somehow it’s effective in Lowe’s. Bullshit I say.......smoke and mirrors. This is a trial run for something bigger. It’s scary how quickly the American people got in line.

[robert.]

American people. It's the whole world. That photo is from the Czech republic.

[rogruth]

Admittedly I don't get around much any more but all of the businesses in this area that "require" masks do have employees wearing masks.
Not all customers wear masks but the employees do. I have never seen a Walmart employee with out a mask in the store.
This old dude does NOT like the masks but I would rather not die from this sneaky virus. So I wear one and appreciate those that do.

[bob turner]

I use a bandana - seems pretty effective to me. Fits my nose better than those light blue things that hook over the ears with metal along the top.
Seems to me that social distancing, masks, and hand washing are just smart precautions, not a precursor to some Marxist takeover.
“They” say there is a spike. My sources are not indicating any significant increase. We can hope that it did not mutate, and that we can resume maskless life - but my sources do not seem to be reliable. They say CDC and Johns Hopkins, but on the internet anybody can say anything.

[chuck]

Found some blue and white masks made here that seem to fit well, got a 50 pack. I was also able to finally replace my real respirator. The old one no longer has canisters/filters available and the straps were starting to snag on things. This was a painters mask with VOC cartridges as well as cloth covers for the heavy particulates. New unit is a 3M. You can use particulate pancake covers as well as more elaborate bayonet cartridges. Since I don't use VOC paints anymore I can probably do without the cartridges. It's much easier to put on and more comfortable/lighter. Only had to wait eight months! Unless things get real ugly I'll stick with the paper masks for everyday stuff. The respirator is much more secure and it works both ways, no leakage in either direction. Worked great on the leaf shredding (other main use besides painting). I am a little leery to wear it to the market, a little to Darth Vaderish. If you thought talking through a paper mask was difficult, a real respirator takes it to another level.

Hough, whoo, hough, woo, I wood ike alf pond of wish cheees, hough, whoo, hough, whoo

You want what?

It was nice to come in from the two hour leaf shred session and blow my nose and not have a wad of brown gunk in the keenex. The face seal on the new mask also eliminates my glasses from fogging up and they actually still sit on my nose.

[gregj410]

I use a bandana - seems pretty effective to me.

But you really have no idea whether it’s effective or not.

not a precursor to some Marxist takeover.

Can you explain to me what a precursor to a Marxist take over does look like?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I use a bandana - seems pretty effective to me.

But you really have no idea whether it’s effective or not.

Actually the relative effectiveness of the various masks has all been studied recently (Cornell? one of the FL schools?); beats nothing but not as effective as an actual mask, and nowhere near as effective as an N95 rated mask.

[v8vega]

My sister in law has bought into the hype 100% and sent me a mask with small replaceable filters and you have to struggle with Velcro every itme you take a drink or bite so I have never worn it. She may have paid $10 for it.

[chuck]

"Effectiveness" of masks is directly related to the viral load you are being exposed to. This is why social distancing AND thorough hand washing AND not congregating in groups are ALL relevant/important.

If you are a first responder coming in direct and sustained contact with people that are symptomatic you need the real stuff (PPE), all of it, respirator, face shield, gloves, the whole moon suit. You also need to be trained on how to get into it and out of it safely.

If you follow the protocols religiously you can move around and do most things you would normally do. You will be protecting yourself and everyone around you. If you don't follow the rules you risk infecting your self and everybody around you.

The disease doesn't care whether you believe it's a hoax or not. It doesn't care what you think your personal rights are. It doesn't care whether you are comfortable or not. It doesn't care wether you are a republican or democrat or a communist or a capitalist or an anarchist or whether you believe in God or anything else. You are just fodder to it to propagate itself. It will infect you if it gets a chance and it may leave you with long term health issues or dead if it succeeds.

Four simple rules.

Wear the d*** mask,

keep your distance,

wash your hands,

and do not congregate in groups larger than 10

Do these simple things and you will

KEEP AS MANY PEOPLE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE.

[gregj410]

Sieg Heil Comrade..... the operative word being may.

may leave you with long term health issues or dead if it succeeds.

I know 10 people that have had it. The worst had a severe fever for several days to the others being tested positive and having no symptoms at all.

[chuck]

I know 10 people that have had it. The worst had a severe fever for several days to the others being tested positive and having no symptoms at all.

And the 216,000 that died in the US (so far) as well as the 1 Million that died world wide are just playing possum? The emergency rooms are filling up again because people failed to follow protocols. We are closing in on 8 million infections in the US since March and 40 million world wide.

I worked 11 years in a department that did research/instruction using biological hazardous materials. We had protocols for handling the material safely. Minimal was proper use of gloves with escalating precautions (face shields, suits, respirators, air locks, ...) depending on what we were dealing with. Waste was autoclaved (it was the most popular cycle on the machine) or double bagged and placed in tagged boxes for pick up/incineration. This wasn't done for fun. It was serious business.

[rogruth]

Chuck,
Your second above post was top rate. As Ed used to say "everything you need to know is contained right there" and it does seem to work'
I am amazed at what a hold athletics has on so many of the general public that sporting events go on as if everything was the same as a year ago.
Yes, I know that live audiences are smaller and controlled somewhat but team practices at every level increase the problem.

[gregj410]

And the 216,000 that died in the US (so far) as well as the 1 Million that died world wide are just playing possum? The emergency rooms are filling up again because people failed to follow protocols. We are closing in on 8 million infections in the US since March and 40 million world wide

Cuomo killed 50k plus. They know much more about it than they did. It was estimated by Fauci and crew that 2 million people in the US would die from it. Ironically enough they continue to talk about new cases but not nearly as much about the deaths as they once did....likely because the deaths have slowed substantially. They continue to instill fear in the American people by talking about the increase in cases.