Media Madness!

[Packerjohn]

COVID, COVID, COVID that’s all the news talks about. If 500 people die in a plane crash still COVID, COVID, COVID. If you get hit by a car and are taken to a hospital and are discovered to have the virus and subsequently die, the hospital lists your death as being from the virus. If masks are the salvation they have been sold to us to be, then why, after all these months with huge majorities of people wearing them, does the virus continue to spread and prosper. Chinese masks bought at reputable stores also have a major warning on them: "These Masks Will NOT prevent the Contraction of ANY Disease...," or words to that effect. I think this crisis is largely driven by the media who need to sell their stories to make income. Its quite amazing that since March 2020 apparently no one in America has died from old age. Or the flu. Miraculous. I have pandemic fatigue and mostly what I am sick of are women bullies that act like hall monitors in stores. The next time some woman tries to tell me that I can’t come down a store aisle because she is there, I am going to film her and post it on Facebook.
You see this sort of behavior in other things -- such as those who ride alone in cars while wearing masks. These are the sort of people who tell one earnestly "We are in a war" and scrub their hands for twenty seconds each time, never touch their faces, always wear a muzzle, hardly ever leave the house . . . and get the virus just like the rest of us.

 

[Sunny]

The media have plenty to write about, Packerjohn. They don't need to make up hokey threats from coronavirus just to sell newspapers. You sound like you're suffering from a severe case of quarantine fatigue, and who can blame you? We're all in that boat.

But we're also in the midst of a life-threatening illness, especially at our age. Be careful. You don't have to be hysterical about it, and I agree that it makes no sense to wear a mask when driving alone. But just remember that you are surrounded by a very dangerous virus, and yes, it is out to get you. And all of us. We will be in this predicament until the vaccine is ready.

 

[asp3]

COVID, COVID, COVID that’s all the news talks about. If 500 people die in a plane crash still COVID, COVID, COVID.

If you get hit by a car and are taken to a hospital and are discovered to have the virus and subsequently die, the hospital lists your death as being from the virus.

If masks are the salvation they have been sold to us to be, then why, after all these months with huge majorities of people wearing them, does the virus continue to spread and prosper.

Chinese masks bought at reputable stores also have a major warning on them: "These Masks Will NOT prevent the Contraction of ANY Disease...," or words to that effect.

I think this crisis is largely driven by the media who need to sell their stories to make income.

Its quite amazing that since March 2020 apparently no one in America has died from old age. Or the flu. Miraculous.

I have pandemic fatigue and mostly what I am sick of are women bullies that act like hall monitors in stores. The next time some woman tries to tell me that I can’t come down a store aisle because she is there, I am going to film her and post it on Facebook.

You see this sort of behavior in other things -- such as those who ride alone in cars while wearing masks. These are the sort of people who tell one earnestly "We are in a war" and scrub their hands for twenty seconds each time, never touch their faces, always wear a muzzle, hardly ever leave the house . . . and get the virus just like the rest of us.

It's in the news now because we are currently experiencing the highest rate of infection we've had since the virus was first detected in this country. To me that is newsworthy.

I'm willing to bet your car accident scenario may have happened a few times but there are no reputable reports that lots of deaths clearly occurring from non Covid related reasons are being reported as such. In fact when one looks at the death rates now as compared to last year the number of Covid reported deaths does not account for the additional deaths occuring in the US.

Masks are working where they are being worn diligently. Here in my county in California the number of new cases per 100000 people is somewhere between 6 and 7 1/2 over the last few weeks. In North Dakota today or yesterday's 7 day average was at 158 per 100000. Taiwan had no local transmission for the last 200 days but they are using masks, quick effective testing, excellent contact tracing and strict quarantine for those who bring the virus into the country.

It's probably the Chinese company covering themselves from legal exposure. No one has said that masks completely eliminate the possibility of getting Covid, it just greatly reduced your chance of spreading it or getting it.

Although media organizations do exist to make money I don't believe they are exaggerating anything to get people to watch them. In fact one of the most successful media organizations here in the US, Fox News has done everything they can to underreport the concerns of many doctors and health organizations and they are making plenty of money.

Can you please share statistics that say no one has died of old age or the flu since March 2020?

If you don't want to follow the protocols a particular store has put in place to reduce the chance of having someone spread the virus to someone else I think you should consider shopping elsewhere or doing it online.

I agree that some people are overblowing their response to the virus, but we really don't know whether those people have underlying conditions which might make getting Covid more deadly for them. So I don't judge people who go overboard because I'm not aware of their situation.

 

[declassified]

There is a lot about COVID-19 the public is not aware of, but they will.

 

[asp3]

Another reason we haven't heard about flu deaths is because we're just getting into the traditional flu season. If you look at the graphs in this report the flu generally doesn't start to get into full swing until about week 48 of a given year (calendar year, not flu season year) and we just finished up week 44 last week.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

 

[Oris Borloff]

I can think of a couple of reasons why someone would be in their car alone and wearing a mask. The first reason would be that they put the mask on once and don't remove it until they get home to lessen their contact with their face and contaminating the mask or it's just a hassle for the wearer to get it on right in the first place. The second reason is they may have just dropped off someone or on the way to get someone and want to lessen the risk of exposure to someone else in a closed environment.

 

[Chrise]

Un-Plug Forever....

 

[StarSong]

I can think of a couple of reasons why someone would be in their car alone and wearing a mask. The first reason would be that they put the mask on once and don't remove it until they get home to lessen their contact with their face and contaminating the mask or it's just a hassle for the wearer to get it on right in the first place. The second reason is they may have just dropped off someone or on the way to get someone and want to lessen the risk of exposure to someone else in a closed environment.

In addition to the reasons you listed, I sometimes keep my mask on when zipping from one errand to another one nearby.

Wearing a mask doesn't feel burdensome to me, so a few extra minutes with it on my face is not a big deal.

 

[squirrelwhisperer]

Masks are working where they are being worn diligently. Here in my county in California the number of new cases per 100000 people is somewhere between 6 and 7 1/2 over the last few weeks. In North Dakota today or yesterday's 7 day average was at 158 per 100000. Taiwan had no local transmission for the last 200 days but they are using masks, quick effective testing, excellent contact tracing and strict quarantine for those who bring the virus into the country.

If masks work so well to prevent the spread of COVID, why weren't the prisoners given them instead of being released..

 

[Becky1951]

If masks work so well to prevent the spread of COVID, why weren't the prisoners given them instead of being released..

Given the over crowding of prisons its impossible to maintain 6ft away from each other.

 

[squirrelwhisperer]

they can stay in their jail cells, like we stay in our homes.

 

[Sunny]

I can think of a couple of reasons why someone would be in their car alone and wearing a mask. The first reason would be that they put the mask on once and don't remove it until they get home to lessen their contact with their face and contaminating the mask or it's just a hassle for the wearer to get it on right in the first place. The second reason is they may have just dropped off someone or on the way to get someone and want to lessen the risk of exposure to someone else in a closed environment.

Good points, Oris. You're probably right.

 

[Ronni]

I wear my mask in my car when I'm out running errands, going from one store to the next.

My car is my "safe space" so I don't want to do anything to contaminate it. I have sanitizer with me, so before I get in my car, touch the door handle etc., I sanitize my hands. If I take my mask off and on in between errands then I'm touching its possibly contaminated surface then touching parts of the interior of my car. It's a small thing, but it makes me feel more secure.

 

[Becky1951]

they can stay in their jail cells, like we stay in our homes.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/virus/virusresponse.html

 

[asp3]

If masks work so well to prevent the spread of COVID, why weren't the prisoners given them instead of being released..

Besides the prison overcrowding that @Becky1951 mentioned there are other reasons.

1. It has already been shown that being in a confined space with multiple people even if you're wearing masks that the threat of exposure is greater.
2. The prison and jail population is also rather fluid with people moving in and out all the time so that it would be more difficult for prison officials to segregate new arrivals, but I would agree with anyone who said this is a weak argument for releasing someone.
3. This is just conjecture, but I would imagine that the ventilation systems in prisons and jails are not sufficient to keep air from recirculating throughout the entire facility or large areas of the facility making it more difficult to prevent the virus from spreading.

 

[MarciKS]

So let the infected criminals loose so they can spread the virus even more while they're committing murders and stealing and whatever else they're doing. Swell idea.

 

[AnnieA]

If masks work so well to prevent the spread of COVID, why weren't the prisoners given them instead of being released..

Given the compliance rate with masks in the Western world for the general population, I don't think convicted criminals would do any better. And as @Becky1951 said, the conditions are too close for it to be very effective.

I can see releasing non-violent offenders. But IMO, if you've harmed another human being and are incarcerated for it during a pandemic, tough luck.

 

[Nathan]

If masks work so well to prevent the spread of COVID, why weren't the prisoners given them instead of being released..

I only know of a couple prisoners being released due to Covid-19, but they were some kind of celebrity or former political type. "Social distancing" in prison would be a challenge, a lot of prison housing units are dorms, where there's 50 to 100+ inmates living together. I suspect that masks would be a requirement when outside of their dorm. Visits with family in the Visitor's Center would be where the distancing and masks would be closely adhered to.

 

[AnnieA]

I only know of a couple prisoners being released due to Covid-19, but they were some kind of celebrity or former political type.

That's contrary to what's been reported by multiple outlets from multiple locations around the US since the beginning of the pandemic. I've read of numerous communities that have released prisoners. But I'm not going to go back and cite all the sources because a simple search will bring up a lot of hits.

 

[StarSong]

That's contrary to what's been reported by multiple outlets from multiple locations around the US since the beginning of the pandemic. I've read of numerous communities that have released prisoners. But I'm not going to go back and cite all the sources because a simple search will bring up a lot of hits.

That's what I've read and seen also. In California, the overcrowding was primarily eased through early releases (3-6 months early). Sex offenders or people serving time for domestic violence or a violent crime didn't qualify.

 

[chic]

Just turn off the news if it all bothers you so much. I quit watching the news last April. I stay informed by reading the news. I only tuned in lately for election news. I'm sick of it too, but you do have control over this much anyway.

 

[CarolfromTX]

Good lord! I am not keeping that mask on in the car. Even if I am running a series of errands. Nope. Nope. Nope. I am not a danger to anyone.

 

[Ken N Tx]

Just turn off the news if it all bothers you so much. I quit watching the news last April. I stay informed by reading the news. I only tuned in lately for election news. I'm sick of it too, but you do have control over this much anyway.

...Watch the local weather, then go streaming...

 

[StarSong]

Good lord! I am not keeping that mask on in the car. Even if I am running a series of errands. Nope. Nope. Nope. I am not a danger to anyone.

Whatever floats your boat, Carol. Some of us were merely pointing out why people may be spotted driving with masks on.

Not judging people who do and not judging people who don't. We're all finding our way through this.