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Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

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Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really the consensus where you are? In my experience, it’s at best and mild aversion, but usually tempered with a pragmatic indifference to being infected. Virtually no one here (UK) takes visible actions anymore. Only a few seem to care. Get closer to healthcare settings, and things change a little, but not a lot. A few more people take preventative measures, but not many, and interestingly not healthcare st…

The UK has a covid inquiry going on right now and I believe the former PM expressed their regret for how much they downplayed it alongside explaining their rationale of using the limited tools they had at their disposal. Very uncharacteristic for what their actions were during it. You also have countries like Germany who are starting to realize the actual burden of infecting the general population and necessity to fo…

True enough. But that was the consensus back in March 2020.

The consensus now is quite different.

Maybe you were referring to March 2020, in which case I agree that it did humanity very little good, at least in regard of its application to children.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK has a covid inquiry going on right now and I believe the former PM expressed their regret for how much they downplayed it alongside explaining their rationale of using the limited tools they had at their disposal. Very uncharacteristic for what their actions were during it. You also have countries like Germany who are starting to realize the actual burden of infecting the general population and necessity to fo…

True enough. But that was the consensus back in March 2020. The consensus now is quite different. Maybe you were referring to March 2020, in which case I agree that it did humanity very little good, at least in regard of its application to children.

No, I am saying that the consensus has largely not changed(i.e. "Don't get infected") although we are ~4 years wiser and have ~400k research publications knowing how this single pathogen affects humanity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/coronavirus/

I'm not arguing for or against preventative measures. I am arguing that our health officials could do a better job discussing what we know about it now to help individuals make choices.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#34
No one I know who wore a mask properly and kept a distance from others were infected with covid. If you don't wear them properly they don't work, it's as simple as that and it doesn't matter what your age is.

One of the real issues for children is we didn't have a supply of masks designed for them. We only had access to cheap cloth and paper masks designed to fit adults.

Another is the cheap cloth and paper masks that were available the 1st year were not designed to prevent covid infections, they were only for reducing the distance covid would spread in the air when breathing and coughing.

Where I live, most of the very conservative folks who live here (78% of the population) flat out refused to wear a mask and made a point to boldly walk into stores cocked and primed to take anyone on who told them they must. I wore them and was snarled at everywhere I went. Fair to say their children were taught to refuse to wear them too, and that while required to wear them in school, almost none of the schools staff enforced that here.

So, yeah, if you analyze the effectiveness of masks reducing covid infections in children here you'd conclude they did not work, but you had to be here to know why.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#35

Reading this meta-analysis, I wonder how well it would stand up to the independent bias review they used to exclude studies from their findings. It certainly reads like it has an axe to grind (see Introduction and below). Although there are certainly populations of children and adults that suffer disproportionately from masking (whether due to respiratory, auditory, or psychological issues, or just from being so youn…

“The kids didn’t care” because they are used to following backwards rules from grown ups.

Tbh, I also didn't find it a big deal. The only thing I registered as a personal problem during the pandemic was two of my grandparents dying.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#36
post #34

No one I know who wore a mask properly and kept a distance from others were infected with covid. If you don't wear them properly they don't work, it's as simple as that and it doesn't matter what your age is. One of the real issues for children is we didn't have a supply of masks designed for them. We only had access to cheap cloth and paper masks designed to fit adults. Another is the cheap cloth and paper masks tha…

> No one I know who wore a mask properly and kept a distance from others were infected with covid.

This is curious as masks don’t protect from contracting covid. They protect from transmitting covid to others.

So it’s quite possible that your observation is accurate. But very unlikely it has anything to do with their mask usage. But there may be other behaviors responsible. Or just fortune.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The kids didn’t care” because they are used to following backwards rules from grown ups.

Tbh, I also didn't find it a big deal. The only thing I registered as a personal problem during the pandemic was two of my grandparents dying.

Yeah this is why masking was such a confounding issue.

It truly is not a big deal to wear a mask, as long as you are choosing it for yourself. If somebody is forcing you, it feels extremely invasive.

The mandate folks should have spent their time cultivating and presenting an actually convincing argument.

For example I always masked indoors but thought the idea that my 3 year old needs to mask at an outdoor playground to be preposterous.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True enough. But that was the consensus back in March 2020. The consensus now is quite different. Maybe you were referring to March 2020, in which case I agree that it did humanity very little good, at least in regard of its application to children.

No, I am saying that the consensus has largely not changed(i.e. "Don't get infected") although we are ~4 years wiser and have ~400k research publications knowing how this single pathogen affects humanity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/coronavirus/ I'm not arguing for or against preventative measures. I am arguing that our health officials could do a better job discussing what we know about it now to help indi…

Hmm. That’s interesting, and it seems to come down to how consensus is defined.

You highlight the quantity of publications. You’re right. The narrative is already set. The volume is so large.

But what is happening in practice, even in healthcare (at least in the UK), is that little of the theatre is performed anymore. Doctors are mostly unmasked, no one does distancing, and the mandates were unwound long ago. Not sure about testing, but the odd hacking cough here and there draws no petrified stare. So I guess that’s where I disagree: the consensus in practice is running far ahead of the average tone in published science.

I wonder how much that will percolate down. Perhaps we’ll just learn to live with a published scientific position that is grossly at odds with day to day behaviour — how odd! It will give the behavioural scientists something new to work on.

But your basic thesis (that “don’t get infected” is unhelpful advice) is right. It’s simply not actionable.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#39
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biden admin? Traveling during the Trump admin was the same. I also found it annoying, having traveled with a toddler and a young kid. But traumatic? Come on. Notably, I caught COVID for the first and only time when I had a flight just a few weeks after they dropped the mask mandate for flights.

Yes, the Biden admin created the airline mask mandate via executive order. It was shut down by a court, at which point the Biden admin promptly tried to fight for its reinstatement and thankfully lost. [1] [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61145045

All airlines were already requiring masks for all passengers and employees by that point. The mandate just gave them cover and removed the competitive pressure to stop requiring masks.

Re: Child mask mandates for Covid-19: a systematic review

#40
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, reasonable healthcare providers (who weren't vying for Likes, Shares, TV spots, Op-Eds, and/or book deals) knew back in 2020 that The Real Evidence wouldn't come out until years after it was over. Children and the general public may not care, but there's still plenty of analysis that will prove useful to medical and policy decision-makers in the future.

> years after it was over. And here I am with a family of 5 who are all home sick with covid right now. :)

> all home sick

i.e., not dead i.e., not hospitalized

Different class of problem ;)

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