Live data from Hacker News

The case against masks at school

theatlantic.com

141–150 of 1001 posts

Re: The case against masks at school

#141
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…

Monica Gandhi has been incorrectly predicting the end of the pandemic for quite some time. Long thread with video examples here: https://twitter.com/KindAndUnblind/status/147038993167988326...

For example: June 29, 2021: "I actually do not wear masks unless the business asks me to, bc I feel really protected by my vaccine, and I also feel that I can't spread it to others...these vaccines are effective against variants, they make it so that you can't transmit..."

Re: The case against masks at school

#142

Whether this article means to it makes the case for requiring vaccination instead, which, yeah we should do that.

If vaccination was the answer, why is my triple vaccinated self still required to wear a mask at a grocery store? Worse, why do I need to show proof of vaccine to enter a restaurant yet still be required to wear a mask anyway?

It's easier to enforce mask compliance than vaccine compliance because masks are visible and vaccination status is not.

Masking in restaurants for the twenty feet from entrance to table is a bit silly, though.

Re: The case against masks at school

#143
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…

All of this, down to the disclaimer, also applies to the ubiquitous normal cloth masks, so it's hardly a strike against them.

It’s absolutely a strike against them, considering all of that does not apply to normal cloth masks intentionally.

The makers of this mask deliberately choose to make a product that does not improve collective safety, and that malicious attitude deserves to be jailed, not rewarded.

Re: The case against masks at school

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

perhaps an unmask would be helpful: https://www.getunmask.com/

Just bought one. Hoping it lives up to its marketing and I can enjoy a flight on an airplane without discomfort. I'm triple-vaccinated and absolutely sick of wearing a mask. I agreed with it for the first 18+ months of this but by now I'm just no longer in favor. I no longer believe covid will eventually "go away" and am certainly not in favor of wearing masks for years to come in the hopes that it does. Those that r…

The amount of time you spent trying to keep others safe is washed down the drain when you give up for no reason other than you’re tired.

Re: The case against masks at school

#145
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not that I like the millimeter wave scanners, but like the metal detectors I think they use low-energy non-ionizing radiation, so its not really a change in the kind or significance of radiation exposure.

Re: The case against masks at school

#146
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You get more radiation in the plane than from TSA.

Re: The case against masks at school

#147
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'd imagine that's also for contact tracing.

Re: The case against masks at school

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. The market really does solve for every possible niche.

Their mention of air travel also makes me think of how the government brought in TSA checkpoints, but a company called Clear allows people to mostly bypass it for a fee. It would be nice if we didn't have these restrictions plus people finding ways to profit off of getting around them. Just get rid of both.

Clear doesn't get you past the checkpoints, it just gets you to the front of the line. Gross on a "class warfare" level, but you go through the same security everyone else does.

Now, TSA PreCheck allows you to bypass some of the stuff, like shoe removal and taking laptops out of your bag, but it's coupled with a background check.

Re: The case against masks at school

#149
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 k…

The chance of a child dying from coronavirus is infinitesimal, the response should be proportional.

Re: The case against masks at school

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'd imagine that's also for contact tracing.

No one is actually doing meaningful contact tracing anymore. It was a compete failure and waste of resources.
Post reply on HN