The case against masks at school • Hacker News Board

Re: The case against masks at school

#131

Post by edgyquant » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:18 PM UTC

spookthesunset wrote: post #111

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixation on the spread of one highly infectious respiratory virus. Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or a…

Well put. I’m a 29 year old male who moved to a new city right before covid and my life has basically been put on hold for two years now with my only access to meeting potential partners being Tinder (or bars, I suppose.) All the activities I try to join (other than my BJJ classes) are remote. Chess club is remote (might as well just play chess.com) my bipolar support group is remote, etc.

Re: The case against masks at school

#132

Post by nradov » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:23 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #90

lambdaba wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's assuming we're containing it at all. This all seems very hubristic to me, but I just wanted to point out the assumption. It's not because we do things that burden us to a degree that the virus' spread is also burdened to the same degree. I feel that this is an unconscious assumption that's made in this discussion.

We’re not, people are pretending that we are or still have the opportunity. Most of the US is at or past the omicron peak, it stopped growing because it’s running out of people to infect. The more cautious people will make up a long fat tail, but it really seems doubtful that anything can be done. We’ve had 72 million detected cases in the US, if you assume a certain number didn’t test and a big number never knew the…

The CDC estimated that we're only detecting about a quarter of actual cases.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burd...

In Santa Clara County CA wastewater monitoring data indicates that we're past the peak Omicron wave.

https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-wastewater

Re: The case against masks at school

#133

Post by TameAntelope » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:25 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #121

There is no valid scientific or medical basis to mandate masks at school. It's pure scientism and politics. For anyone who believes that mask mandates should continue please take the time to educate yourself by listening to this panel discussion by a group of leading physicians. UCSF professor and infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi explains the current science very clearly. https://peterattiamd.com/covid-par…

What? Do masks reduce infection rates? If yes, mandates work. If no, mandates don’t. Spoiler: they do. [0]

This is pants-on-head stupid, and has nothing at all to do with politics. Mandates increase adoption rates of measures that are proven to help, and trying to manipulate the situation to say otherwise is the problem, not the mandate.

Anyone opposing masking in schools at this point is literally choosing to risk killing children for stupid political points, and should be profoundly ashamed of their behavior.

[0] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/i...

Re: The case against masks at school

#134

Post by copperx » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:26 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #113

tsycho wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From their website (About/Disclaimer): _The Unmask is not designed or intended to prevent, mitigate, treat, diagnose or cure any disease or health condition, including COVID-19/Coronavirus. Unmasks are intended for general public use only. They are non-sterile and are not intended for use in any clinical or surgical setting or where exposure to bodily or hazardous fluids may be expected, where the risk of exposure th…

Read between the lines. They are marketing for people who don't want to wear a mask but have to. These "masks" are designed to do the bare minimum to get you onto an airplane. It's not supposed to protect you.

Surgical masks do the same. They're easy to breathe in, they offer little protection, and you can board an airplane with them. I don't see the point.

Re: The case against masks at school

#135

Post by chrsig » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:26 PM UTC

rhino369 wrote: post #117

dragonwriter wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the government brought in TSA checkpoints, The government brought in the TSA to take over checkpoints and relieve the air transport industry for liability for failures of and abuses at the checkpoints as part of the post-9/11 air transport industry bailout; the checkpoints had existed for a long time.

Yep, pre-911 you still had to go through a metal detector and get your stuff x-rayed. Taking off your shoes and no fluids are the only new restrictions really.

don't forget a high likelyhood of being irradiated

Re: The case against masks at school

#136

Post by draw_down » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:27 PM UTC

talideon wrote: post #82

speeder wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to check the site after your comment, and found this, and the letters weren't even small: Disclaimer The Unmask is not designed or intended to prevent, mitigate, treat, diagnose or cure any disease or health condition, including COVID-19/Coronavirus. Unmasks are intended for general public use only. They are non-sterile and are not intended for use in any clinical or surgical setting or where exposure to bodil…

In other words, they exist to put others at potential risk.

No post body was provided.

Re: The case against masks at school

#137

Post by stewbrew » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:29 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #15

My kids attend a university in Canada and live in residence on campus. They have had incredibly strict rules around masking and gatherings. It's clear that they are only considering one variable - number of infections - and it seems like they aren't considering any other factors. For example, in the dorm there is a common area with a piano. Because of COVID, playing that piano is banned. Even if there was a reasonabl…

When people play music, they sing. Singing in a crowded room isn't really a good idea when there is an infectious visus around.

Re: The case against masks at school

#138

Post by hydrok9 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:29 PM UTC

spookthesunset wrote: post #111

throwaway22032 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the fundamental issue with coronavirus mitigation measures. There are circumstances in which "drop everything" makes sense - if coronavirus were ten times more fatal, we'd do it naturally. But in general, looking at life from a perspective of "what is the minimum possible quality of life we can have" is depressing and fundamentally incompatible with the human spirit. I tend to think that people who operate in…

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixation on the spread of one highly infectious respiratory virus. Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or a…

How about if you have anxiety issues and the reduced inflow of air from masks gives you panic attacks? This has been my life for this pandemic. I take medication but it does not stop them 100% from happening, and I have to use anti-anxiety techniques most times I put one on to stop from being overwhelmed by anticipation. Does anyone care about people like me? It sure feels like they don't. And I have seen my physical and mental condition degrade largely due to this (I was never personally panicked by the virus itself). There are others like me and it is deeply upsetting that we have to suffer like this.

Re: The case against masks at school

#139

Post by scionthefly » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:30 PM UTC

jpthurman wrote: post #77

christkv wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have small children you know what joke masks are in school. Little kids are not responsible adults. They touch their face, take their masks on and off, exchange them with their friends and even eat them. Pretending that masks on young kids contribute anything to slowing the spread is complete wishful thinking.

I second this. The article mentions how dubious it is that kids can wear their masks properly. I’ll site my own son who routinely pulls his down below his mouth and nose. I can imagine the stress on teachers who have to keep up appearances that masks are being enforced while also watching the kids in their class do anything but keep them on in an effective manner.

About 50% wear masks correctly when it's mandated. Correcting them works for 30s to 5 min.

Re: The case against masks at school

#140

Post by moritonal » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 6:30 PM UTC

uxp100 wrote: post #31

criddell wrote: post #15

My kids attend a university in Canada and live in residence on campus. They have had incredibly strict rules around masking and gatherings. It's clear that they are only considering one variable - number of infections - and it seems like they aren't considering any other factors. For example, in the dorm there is a common area with a piano. Because of COVID, playing that piano is banned. Even if there was a reasonabl…

Reminds me of (now takeout only) restaurants which have their bathrooms closed "for covid," or public drinking fountains which are still closed "for covid." Not really much to due with covid at this point I suspect. So it may not really be about measuring infections at all, but that played piano makes noise and requires tuning, and so administration would rather just not, and now there is an excuse.

Many places have used Covid as an excuse to regress and implement desired polices. Take for example the Tate Modern, a museum in London. Under the argument of COVID you must have a ticket to enter (previously free). You can get a ticket by scanning a QR at the door, you simply have to give an name and email.

You can see how they got to that place, so they can control the density of visitors which is important because of COVID, but it's also something they've wanted for years.