The case against masks at school • Hacker News Board

Re: The case against masks at school

#21

Post by throwaway22032 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 4:58 PM UTC

The case against masks is quite trivial and generalizable across most industries.

Today, a teacher now has two realistic options:

a) self-isolate indefinitely, either teaching remotely or quitting their job

b) contract coronavirus at some point

Given that, masks are an irrelevance. A teacher who is clinically vulnerable and unwilling to roll the dice is left only with the option to quit their job, regardless of whether masks are used, or windows are left open, or whatever else.

Coronavirus is too contagious for any sort of avoidance strategy to actually work. It's not like, say, cooking chicken, in which you can basically solve food poisoning.

Re: The case against masks at school

#22

Post by deeg » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 4:59 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #14

In a way it's reassuring that people of all political stripes can at least come together on one point: that the CDC has been asleep at the wheel during most of this pandemic. Hopefully at some point there will be a discussion about how to reform the body to be much more proactive.

Surely mistakes have been made (proving that they are human) and we should always be ready to reassess something as important as a pandemic response but this seems ungenerous. The multitude of factors that make up the disease and how our bodies respond, along with externalities, is hugely complex. Trying to come up with a single unified response that is understandable by most people makes it harder. Lastly, the political situation just exasperated everything.

Imagine trying to design a national Kubernetes process that everyone would install in their home. ;)

Re: The case against masks at school

#23

Post by 1shooner » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:00 PM UTC

I may be missing something, but I don't see any sort statistical accounting for vaccination rates in any of this article's referenced studies. The authors explicitly use this to dismiss studies that saw mask effectiveness, but then go on to offer similarly deficient studies as evidence arguing against masks in schools.

Re: The case against masks at school

#24

Post by zemvpferreira » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:02 PM UTC

throwaway22032 wrote: post #21

The case against masks is quite trivial and generalizable across most industries. Today, a teacher now has two realistic options: a) self-isolate indefinitely, either teaching remotely or quitting their job b) contract coronavirus at some point Given that, masks are an irrelevance. A teacher who is clinically vulnerable and unwilling to roll the dice is left only with the option to quit their job, regardless of wheth…

I mix in society, wear masks everywhere, and have yet to contract coronavirus.

Re: The case against masks at school

#25

Post by Avshalom » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:02 PM UTC

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

Re: The case against masks at school

#26

Post by xenonite » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:04 PM UTC

sul_tasto wrote: post #5

aidenn0 wrote: post #2

I live somewhere with mild winters so the schools don't have any hallways (the classrooms just open to the outside). This meant that kids could at least get a break from masking between classes. However, after coming back from winter break, the schools started mandating masks outside as well as in, and including during PE class. As you can imagine, my asthmatic daughter was not pleased.

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

Ironically, they offer four different sizes, while I yet haven't found FFP2 masks in more than in one size.

Re: The case against masks at school

#27

Post by kart23 » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

usefulcat wrote: post #19

The article talks a lot about how there's little or no evidence showing benefits of masking for kids, and also talks a lot about the unknown long-term effects of masking on kids. However, as with so many articles trying to make a point or persuade people, it barely mentions at all the unknown long-term effects of covid. I'm willing to be persuaded by evidence, but (for me) any piece that fails to address such an obvi…

Thats not what the article is about. The article is showing the lack of evidence for masks at schools. If transmission isn't impacted by masks, then the severity of covid has nothing to do with the decision of whether to require masks or not.

Re: The case against masks at school

#28

Post by Tagbert » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

sul_tasto wrote: post #5

aidenn0 wrote: post #2

I live somewhere with mild winters so the schools don't have any hallways (the classrooms just open to the outside). This meant that kids could at least get a break from masking between classes. However, after coming back from winter break, the schools started mandating masks outside as well as in, and including during PE class. As you can imagine, my asthmatic daughter was not pleased.

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

So these are made for one priority: “ Each UnMask is made of two layers of premium ultralight material that are chosen for their incredible breathability and comfort. ”

Re: The case against masks at school

#29

Post by aerovistae » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

sul_tasto wrote: post #5

aidenn0 wrote: post #2

I live somewhere with mild winters so the schools don't have any hallways (the classrooms just open to the outside). This meant that kids could at least get a break from masking between classes. However, after coming back from winter break, the schools started mandating masks outside as well as in, and including during PE class. As you can imagine, my asthmatic daughter was not pleased.

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 remain unvaccinated by choice I don't care about. Those who have vulnerable immune systems I have sympathy for but ultimately I don't feel all of society can wear masks forever on basis of their existence. Especially now that it's such a widespread virus that it's basically unavoidable without being a hermit.

Re: The case against masks at school

#30

Post by CorrectHorseBat » Thu, Jan 27, 2022, 5:06 PM UTC

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #12

siquick wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found N95 masks to be far more breathable than the normal paper masks, and definitely more breathable than cloth masks.

do you mean N95 masks with a valve? If so I agree, but the ones without a valve are way more difficult to breath in, that is kind of the point.

Cloth masks get wet after a while which makes it hard to breathe, N95 masks (with or without valve) don't.