Sort of, but I remember thinking, “how could it work one direction (transmission) but not the other direction (reception)?” I feel like I was definitely duped. I don’t think I’m dumber than average. It was just easier to not have to wear one, certainly, and with the imprimatur of the government/health authorities… My sisters came around to mask wearing one by one, but each first said, “no, they don’t help” until figuring it out more.
Re long-term care facilities, there’s also this factor: “What we find as elder abuse attorneys is that the kids, the adult children, are really the eyes and ears of the patient, because really a lot of these folks are nonverbal, they can’t communicate any issues that they’re having with the care. Because of Covid, because of the pandemic, the kids aren’t allowed to enter the facility, so what we’re seeing is a lot of these elder abuse and neglect-related injuries are flying under the radar simply because the kids cannot get into the facility.” From this article: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/elder-abuse-going-unreported-because-of-coronavirus-pandemic/2248989/
There’s a silly and slightly gross meme making the rounds that explains it well: If someone urinates on your leg, your leg will get wet. If you’re wearing trousers and someone urinates on your leg, your leg gets wet, but your trousers will block some of it. But the person who’s urinating is wearing trousers, very little of the urine is likely to get to your leg at all.
The parallel isn’t perfect, but since we’re talking about the movement of liquid (though droplets in air rather than a stream) it’s actually somewhat fitting.
We should all use some common sense instead of just listening to the government. This virus is like a cold which could be transmitted through droplets and most likely airborne, so why wouldn’t mask protect you? The only reason our government said mask was not helpful was because there was a shortage of it. There are states that are opening up without a lot of guidelines and people believe therefore it’s safe to go out without masks, social distancing, etc. Use some common sense and look at your state/region’s data to see if you are on the other side of wave. I am not very trustful of many government guidelines (they often have their own agenda). I feel more comfortable at my own research, common sense, and do what I need to do to protect myself.
A lot more covid related supplies are becoming a lot more available now because many people believe the pandemic is over. This is the time to stock up before they are all gone. With all the flare ups around the country, demand will certainly go up again soon.
@oldfort - I agree. I regret not using more common sense about masks sooner.
@oldfort I agree. I am the ultimate prepared person. Have been restocking the original supplies 
I have olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, rice ( 4 types 25 lbs each), TP ( which I never had an issue with), paper towels, and hand sanitizer. Lots in stock right now. My kids were so thankful and laughed a lot about my preparedness. We had masks, gloves, alcohol, peroxide and many other things and never had to leave home.
Now that surgical masks are more widely available, does anyone know if they offer the wearer more protection from the coronavirus than cloth masks do? Just trying to figure out how to best protect others and protect myself if possible.
I thought the mask wouldn’t protect you because the virus particles are so small that they will simply go through the fabric of the mask. There is a meme floating around of a guy wearing a mask saying he is protected from Covid. Next to the guy with a mask is a person putting up a chainlink fence to protect him from mosquitoes.
The virus is very teeny, but you don’t cough up bare viruses. They can be in droplets, which the mask can stop.
I think surgical masks are easier to wear than fabric, and when you pinch the metal piece at the nose they’re unlikely to slip down unintentionally. As far as filtration, I’m not sure whether fabric or 3-ply paper is better.
I don’t go anywhere without a mask. Even when I’m outdoors and more than social distance, I have my mask with me, usually hanging around my wrist.
I’ve accumulated quite the wardrobe of masks! Lots of different colors.
Tulsa lawyers file lawsuit to stop Trump rally on Saturday
From CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Ryan Nobles
A group of Tulsa based attorneys have filed a lawsuit to prevent the Trump campaign from holding a planned rally on Saturday unless the organizers agree to take steps to adhere to recommended guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition to the lawsuit, the attorneys are requesting a hearing to ask for an emergency temporary injunction to prevent the rally from happening this weekend while the lawsuit moves forward.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a series of community groups and two specific individuals who the attorneys describe as particularly vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19. In their complaint they describe the indoor event as a “super spreader” that could end up impacting even people who choose not to attend. They point to the CDC recommended guidelines in their complaint as evidence that the proposed event could cause a great danger to the public.
“We’re not asking to stop the rally. So you need to understand that first, if Joe Biden, if the thunder, if Garth Brooks was wanting to have a 19,000 person event and this center on Sunday, without abiding by the government mandated CDC guidelines, with respect to mass events, we’d be making the same allegations and filing the same lawsuit," said Paul DeMuro, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. “All we’re asking. It’s very simple. If the President wants to hold a rally here, he needs to abide by the social distancing guidelines on his own CDC.”
The Trump campaign plans to hold the event in the 20,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa and administration officials say they plan to pack the space without taking any mandatory social distancing precautions.
Lara Trump, senior Trump campaign adviser and daughter-in-law to Trump, said in an interview with Fox on Monday that the campaign will not “enforce that everybody wear a mask” at the rally. “We are offering people masks,” Lara Trump said. “If they choose to wear them, we are happy with that. If they choose not to wear them, we are not going to go around and enforce that everybody wear a mask.”
The suits were not filed against the President or his campaign, instead they were filed against SMG, the company that manages the BOK Center where the event is scheduled to take place.
The lead attorney on the case is Clark Brewster, who has represented Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who claimed to have had an affair with Trump and entered into an arrangement with Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to keep her story quiet.
The Trump campaign declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Tulsa mayor says he did not know “the invitation had been extended” for Trump’s campaign rally
From CNN’s Raja Razek
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a Facebook post he did not know the “invitation had been extended” for Saturday’s campaign rally.
“Was the nation’s first large campaign rally after the arrival of COVID-19 my idea? No. I didn’t even know the invitation had been extended until BOK Center management contacted the City regarding Police support for the event,” Bynum wrote in his post. “Do I share anxiety about having a full house at the BOK Center? Of course. As someone who is cautious by nature, I don’t like to be the first to try anything. I would have loved some other city to have proven the safety of such an event already.”
Bynum said he will not attempt to block the state government or President Trump by invoking the local civil emergency authority in the city’s ordinance.
“That authority was used earlier this year under extraordinary circumstances to prevent the catastrophic collapse of our local health care system. Today, that system’s capacity is strong,” he wrote.
“We are navigating a balance between freedom and safety that is new for every city around the world,” Bynum added.
The Trump campaign has agreed to follow Oklahoma’s guidelines for reopening, and they will utilize safety precautions at the event, according to the mayor.
“Every attendee will have to pass a temperature check before they can enter the facility. Every attendee will be provided with a mask. Every attendee will have access to hand sanitizer stations. We are not going to suddenly abandon the state’s plan, to be either more lenient or more severe,” Bynum wrote.
But those coughs contain the droplets that the user’s mask can stop, right? Can the mask stop the airborne particles from coming through the user’s mask? (I thought the answer was No: you wear a mask to protect others, not yourself.
Top infectious disease expert hasn’t spoken to President in two weeks: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said while speaking to NPR’s 1A program on Tuesday that the last time he spoke to President Trump was two weeks ago. “Not last week, but the week before. I spoke with him when we made the presentation to explain to him our vaccine development efforts,” Fauci said.
Vice President falsely claims coronavirus cases in Oklahoma are on the decline: Vice President Mike Pence claimed that Oklahoma — where Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally Saturday — has seen a decline in the number of coronavirus cases. Oklahoma’s number of newly reported positive cases has been increasing since late May, not steeply declining. A record 225 new cases were reported in Oklahoma on Saturday. On Sunday that number declined to 158 new cases and went back up to 186 on Monday according to Oklahoma’s State Department of Health.
Source: CNN
Whenever everyone on the original CV thread (the one that got locked) started talking about making masks is when we finally figured out how important they were.
I wasn’t going anywhere at all, except to pickup groceries curbside before that and I haven’t gone inside anywhere since. I hardly ever have to even put my masks on now, but I always have one on me just in case - even when out walking in my neighborhood. I last wore one when I picked up my bread order last Thursday. It was left on a table on their patio.
Harvard expert: “We may be done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done with us”
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said Tuesday that "we may be done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done with us.”
“It makes sense why so many Americans are feeling like we’re done, and they’re feeling a certain sense of apathy,” he said during a STAT Conversation.
Jha said it boils down to three things.
“First is that they were told that if we shut down and really kind of bend the curve, that we will we will be passed the worst and everything will work out,” he said.
Secondly, early data and models “seemed to imply that all of a sudden the virus would go away in June, July and August.” But that’s not likely.
And third, Jha said Americans are over it because of “communication from our President, who has clearly has moved on.”
“The reality is that the virus is with us. The reality is that the first wave only hit a small number of places — now it’s coming to every other place. It’s coming to a county or a city or a state near you,” Jha said.
US government is exploring 14 Covid-19 vaccine candidates and plans to narrow list to 7
From CNN Health’s Wes Bruer
The US government is exploring 14 Covid-19 vaccine candidates out of more than 100 currently in development worldwide, with plans to narrow the list to about seven before further testing, senior Trump administration officials said during a telephone briefing on Tuesday.
Large-scale, randomized trials would then be conducted with the most promising candidates from those seven.
How they will decide on the seven is an ongoing discussion but the criteria will be those that are safest, most effective and technologies that lend themselves to faster manufacturing to scale.
More on the vaccine candidates: Some of the 14 vaccine candidate options are already in clinical trials with US government support.
The senior administration officials did not specify which 14 candidates are being considered, but some vaccine candidates have been previously identified receiving government support.
In March, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced $456 million in funds for Johnson & Johnson’s candidate vaccine, with phase one clinical trials set to begin this summer.
The following month, HHS made around $483 million available to Moderna in support of its candidate vaccine, which began phase one trials on March 16 and received a fast-track designation from US Food and Drug Administration, which makes it eligible for “accelerated approval” and “priority review” and ensures frequent communication with the FDA throughout the approval process.
And in May, HHS announced more than a billion dollars in support of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, being developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, along with a pledge to eventually make 300 million doses available to the United States with the first ones being delivered as early as October.
The senior administration officials cautioned that it is not 100% certain a viable vaccine will come from the 14 candidates, and there is a chance that if one is developed it could be better suited to certain demographics.
But the government is taking as many steps as possible to ensure a safe and effective vaccine by January, officials said.
If and when a vaccine is developed, officials said they do not expect to vaccinate all Americans initially and certain groups will be prioritized.
Philadelphia hasn’t seen a spike in Covid-19 cases due to protests, health department says
From CNN’s Alec Snyder
Philadelphia has not seen a spike in coronavirus cases since protests began in the city, the Department of Public Health said in a statement today.
The health department reported there was an increase in the number of people getting tested recently.
Here’s a statement from a health department spokesperson:
“The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has not seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases due to recent protests thus far. We have, however, seen an increase in the number of people getting tested, which the Health Department encourages for everyone who may have been exposed to COVID, including at a protest, to get tested. (Health Commissioner) Dr. (Thomas) Farley reported that fewer than 6% of the tests completed recently came back as positive, which is the lowest we’ve seen.”
Fauci calls on Americans to be responsible during the pandemic: “We are all in this together"
From CNN Health’s Amanda Watts
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is calling on Americans to be responsible, as lockdown measures are lifted across the United States.
Speaking to NPR’s 1A program on Tuesday, Fauci said some people think, “'Oh, what the heck? I just want to go in a crowded place and go in a bar and go into a restaurant and not adhere to the recommendations — no big deal.’ Well, you know, in the big picture of things, it is a big deal because you’re contributing to a risk of a very serious disease.”
“And Covid-19 is a serious disease,” he added.
Fauci said there is often a feeling, especially in the younger generation, that coronavirus isn’t a serious disease.
“That really is unfortunate because, first of all, there are serious consequences. … You’re part of a process that could then spread it to people who are vulnerable.”
Fauci urged Americans need to think about “your responsibility to society in general.”
“Because we are all in this together,” he said. “This is a global pandemic.”
Fauci warned the US has to continue to protect ourselves, because the concept of herd immunity isn’t going to help us yet.
“We are not anywhere close, by any means, to herd immunity,” he said.
“The bottom line is, you’ve got to protect yourself. You cannot depend on quote this herd immunity – which is the reason why I and others keep emphasizing: Avoid crowds, wear masks, wash your hands, do the things that would protect you from getting exposed to the virus," Fauci said.
There’s no appropriate response to click on for this.