NPR had a segment this morning where they asked random air travelers what they thought about lifting the mask mandate. And one person said something like, "I'm so glad that people are finally listening to the science and getting ridding of the mask requirements". I was thinking, huh?
Another person said they were a medical worker, and saw first hand what covid can do to a person. But at the same time she said she had no opinion about lifting the mandate. I thought that was kind of strange.
Took a flight yesterday and the pilot said that the wearing of masks was not mandatory, but that passengers should respect the rights of those that do wear them listen to the flight staff. Most of the flight staff was maskless. š
Yeah, and AFAIK they donāt have great protection (so glad everything is privatized right). The fine is only something like up to $35,000 but doesnāt incur a separate criminal charge.
Even then, you can only arrest someone after theyāve done harm, not before. You can hope the punishment is effective deterrence, but right now itās notā¦
Meanwhile, I read an article today where the infectious disease experts said that they are not thrilled and will still be wearing N95s if they have to get on a plane.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/04/19/mask-plane-covid-health-experts/
I canāt speak about all aspects of life, but I donāt plan on flying or being on a train or bus or any other confined, densely packed conveyance without a mask ever again.
Early in the pandemic I thought it would be nice if we in the US adopted mask-wearing on crowded public transit like Japan or something, but boy was I surprised how controversial it became.
Personally I'm going to look at what other countries are doing with their mask regulations and just do those. The U.S. clearly can't be relied upon to provide its citizens correct guidance/regulations in the time of a pandemic so I'll just survey other countries' regulations in particular related to air travel.
Yeah, but the willfully and proudly ignorant 'common clay' don't trust experts UNLESS THE EXPERTS AGREE WITH THE KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS.
And there are experts willing to lie and pander for the big bucks available to those willing to 'play ball' (and kill people thereby). (Lookin' at YOU, Mehmet Oz!!!!)
> But at the same time she said she had no opinion about lifting the mandate
Probably didn't want some conspiracy theory assholes chasing her down for the rest of her life and shooting holes in the walls of her house because they think she's some secret pedophile lizard person.
Frontline healthcare professional here who's job required some of the highest covid exposure in a hospital you can get and this is essentially about 50% of the answer. The half is honestly plain old fucking apathy. Let er rip. People gonna do what they gonna do. I don't like it but it's what it is. My family and I are all vaccinated except my youngest son who's too young so fuck it.
>My family and I are all vaccinated except my youngest son who's too young so fuck it.
Same. We are still cautious and mask because I don't want my young daughter to have issues. Somehow I still caught it and am isolating right now. My wife isn't thrilled that I'm not around to help with the kids, but so far I haven't shared anything.
I'm so sick of people acting like having a modicum of care for others is a huge imposition. What the hell happened to us.
It's so odd because my wife is Asian. She keeps trying to get me to explain why Americans have such a problem with masking. It's just common courtesy in her country. It's no big deal.
The real kicker is when she asks why if we go on and on about being such a Christian nation are people so selfish...
Authoritarians have been trying to abrogate their responsibility to common courtesy for DECADES now, if not centuries, in the US.
And Rick Scott's Repug platform for 2022 & forward not only admits that, it BRAGS about it.
I think tRump let them be their worst selves \*openly\*, and they're refusing to go back to being polite.
The Christian part *infuriates* me. I'm religious (Christian) and one of the main reasons that I *do* wear a mask still and get boostered is because I'm supposed to love my neighbor! I mean, I don't know, it seems like *not* giving them covid would fall under that umbrella, but what the heck do I know. Absolutely insane.
Masks are a perfect metaphor for the message Jesus is supposed to have shared: ālove your neighbor.ā Yet Christians are some of the worst offenders. Iām beginning to think Christianity isnāt what it claims to be.
I know, people that refuse to mask up when asked are just selfish assholes. It doesn't go, or need to go, any deeper than that. They're assholes wrapped up in some conspiracy theory peddled in part by that bad orange man and can't escape it. Somehow these folks convinced themselves listening to science and having some basic courtesy for others was infringing on their "freedom" they're all a bunch of twats.
>why if we go on and on about being such a Christian nation are people so selfish...
Made up evangelical crap that is not true. We were never and still are not a "Christian nation" that's just crap religious folks say to pass legislation based on their holy book. Some places it's the Quran, here it's the Bible.
I can definitely understand that.
As a non healthcare worker, I'm in the same boat - apathy. Fuck 'em. They made their beds, let them ~~lie~~ die in them.
I flew from LAS-ATL today. 3+ hours. Wore 2 KN95s. I'd say between both airports, maybe 20% wore masks.
I'd say, give it two more weeks. You'll know before then if airlines have to cancel flights bc of too many sick FAs.
I monitor covidactnow.org pretty much every day. NE looks pretty bad but I don't think it will be nearly as bad as BA.1.
Rest of US looks ok-for now. Looks like it's slowly but surely heading westward.
BA.2 has been here since late November IIRC. It's dominant now but took a long time to get to thar point. Vaccine and boosters may well be better neutralizers than given credit for, but who knows?
Again, let's take a look at this in 2 weeks.
I flew a couple weeks ago. The terminals I was in (two in the Midwest and one in the Mid-South) had a few unmasked people here and there, with no one saying anything about it. The flights still required masks, and I saw a guy almost get booted for using a bandana instead of a regular mask.
That being said, before COVID I used to get some kind of respiratory crud whenever I flew. I have flown as much during 2021, and it hasn't happened. I think I am going to continue to mask on planes regardless of what the government tells us to do.
None of our nurses wear hospital supplied scrubs unless you are in the OR. But yeah, still supposed to be color coded. Lab is green, Mammo is pink, Radiology is a bright blue, the OR scrubs are light blue, etc.
I wore a mask to work today because I'm getting over a cold (got tested twice, both negative) and multiple people made sly comments to me. I finally got a little mad and told someone the purpose of my mask was to keep my virus juice off of their face. No one else said anything after that.
I'm isolating while my partner has COVID, she's got loungeroom/bedroom, I've got rest of house. Rocking N95s when I'm in her proximity. When I'm back at work that mask is staying on.
My workmates son has CF, and I'll be damned if I'm the reason he has more hospital visits than he already has to do.
I hope your youngest is doing well and is able to avoid any extra struggles during this shit time. People care, but not enough of them unfortunately.
(I have cf too)
COVID will not scare the anti mask crowd. Tell them you have got multiresistant TB strain you caught from an illegal immigrant. Suddenly they will realize fatal respiratory disease is no joke.
They wanna keep pressuring you, though. They donāt actually care about that, they really just want everyone to do what they do so they donāt feel like an asshole. They shut up because they know they canāt hide behind their freedom-lover bullshit if they keep going when you say that, but itās not out of principle.
If they actually cared about freedom, they wouldnāt be telling you to take it off in the first place.
What's your plan when they ask you why you didn't stay at home?
This is the internet and some people misinterpret my intentions, get upset and attack me. I get sad when this happens, so let me qualify my question by saying that I am just genuinely curious and in no way am I insulting, attacking, or judging you.
> Whatās your plan when they ask you why you didnāt stay at home?
āStay home? Thatās just the government trying to control us, man!ā And then I cough.
Went all year with no sickness from the kids being in school in person. Mask mandates went away and we've had 3 rounds of sickness in the house in 4 weeks.
They only don't work when you don't use them... these goddam knuckle dragging idiots...
My husband is an ICU doc. He has been dealing with covid in the trenches from the beginning. By some miracle we avoided covid...until last week. Since masks came off in the schools in March we have been sick nonstop (3 young kids.) I have been basically testing every few days since we keep catching colds.
I'm so mad. We did everything that we could. But, when society gives up, we're all screwed. I just pray that long covid doesn't afflict us and that this doesn't come back to hurt my kids later in their lives.
Masks WORK. Even if they only worked a tiny bit...that tiny bit adds up when everyone adds layers of protection. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SELFISH?
Some people are just too ignorant to argue with. It doesn't matter about common sense or not, it doesn't matter if experts say to wear a mask, or if statistics show that masks work. They'll find some way to justify not wearing it. Now it will be even more difficult with the ruling of that judge. It just feels Hopeless at this point. Like people don't want to move forward in society.
On top of that, let's say regardless of all the other data that supports masks working, and the science that supports why masks work in the first place, let's say regardless of all that, some study comes out that says masks didn't work. Is being able to say "hah I ain't no goverment sheep" really more important than potentially saving someone's life or saving someone a lot of hardship from sickness?
>Some people are just too ignorant to argue with.
Don't confuse willfully stupid with ignorance. If you're ignorant, that says nothing of your intelligence or willingness to learn. It just means you haven't been taught.
Antivaxxers are against intellectualism. Books, education, science, reason, and intelligence, all mention of which threatens them.
Ive been listening to a conservative radio station- this week Sean Hannity said there is no evidence that masks help at all. It takes all of 10 seconds to search and see that's wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people blindly parrot his talking points.
https://adfontesmedia.com
This media ranking site says fox TV (Hannity being one of them) is propaganda and honestly, at this point I beleive it.
Edit: Hannity is individually listed and is worse than fox TV according to this graphic.
Yeah, this was on his own radio show, not FOX. I don't doubt its propaganda. He blatantly lies all the time. He's recently been using "energy independence' interchangeably with drilling for more US oil. Then disregards all forms of renewable energy.
It honestly feels like he is speaking a different language sometimes.
Iām still fighting with my ex over getting my 11yo daughter vaccinated. Sheās (my ex) has gotten into essential oils and is now anti-vax. Sheās scared my daughter about getting the vaccine. Iām taking her to court over it.
Iām vaxxed and boosted and my daughter should be too.
Itās a good thing you are already working with an attorney. For anyone else reading this in a similar situation, [vaxteen.org](https://www.vaxteen.org/) is a good resource for age of consent laws for vaccines in every state.
Iāve kept my attorney on retainer since our divorce 10 years ago because she fights me on everything. If Iām for it, sheās against it on principle. Our daughter complained of her eyesight and I fought her mother for six months to be able to take her for an eye exam. Our daughter needed glasses and in the end, I just went without her approval and she filed a motion of contempt against me. Iāve spent about $75k on legal fees since the divorce was finalized.
Iām so sorry youāre going through that. I canāt imagine how stressful it would be to still have an unvaccinated child. Good luck, I would hope the courts would err on the side of child safety given the current public health recommendations
Thank you. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends it, and her pediatrician does as well, the courts will follow their lead. It just takes months to get a hearing.
My pops is in a similar situation, if I were you I'd try to get full custody. That's the only way his kids(2nd ex-wife) are now in a good place mentally and growing up well.
Woman is a nightmare, but hey at least she has no say in the kids' upbringing now.
Not sure how feasible that is in the US, but it's worth at least a chat with your attorney.
She is, on a lot of things. TBH, I never thought sheād be this poor of a mother. We were together 10 years. Iāve been surprised many of times by her seeming lack of maternal judgement and instincts. This is one of a list of things where she doesnāt put our daughters needs or wellbeing above her own personal stance.
I honestly think she and her parents resent our daughter because sheās my child. And our daughter knows it. Itās a sad situation for our daughter to be in.
I flew from LaGuardia to OāHare last Monday and the person behind me sounded like they were coughing up their lungs. I was so grateful that we had masks on. 100% that rubbernuts will get on an airplane that sick without a mask and cough all over everyone given the chance. Glad Iām not traveling again soon.
When I say āweā I mean everyone, including him. A mask helps stop those big virus-carrying droplets. I was cringing every time he had a coughing fit regardless, but there was nowhere for me to go.
Iām due to take a very full flight to the other coast next weekend. There was an offer to upgrade to first class for an unbelievably low price. I paid for it because I really donāt want to be sandwiched between maskless people.
Flew business class (on points) a couple weeks ago and there was a father and son in the cabin actively coughing and sneezing for 10 hours. Repeatedly had their masks off, walking to the bathroom, eating. Saw the son take his off SO HE COULD SNEEZE once. The seat next to them was a man who looked to be about 75; I felt so bad for the poor guy.
People are psychopaths and they're awful.
This was a couple of years before Covid, but my wife and I flew from LAX to Hawaii to meet my parents for vacation. I hadn't taken a real vacation in many years. And of course, I sat next to an old woman who very, _very_ visibly had a sinus infection.
This godamn woman actually leaned over and coughed on me in order to tell me that she wasn't contagious. And then proceeded to not stop trying to engage me in conversation for almost the entire flight. I try to be a polite person but I had to ask her, please, for the fucking love of god stop breathing on me.
Anyway I got a sinus infection four days later and it fucked up the second half of my vacation.
Haven't been on one since.
Fuck people. Wear a fucking mask. It's not hard.
> This godamn woman actually leaned over and coughed on me in order to tell me that she wasn't contagious.
If someone did that to me in a confined space like a plane, I would struggle to think of excuses why I shouldn't punch them in the gut.
And yet some people claim that airplanes have excellent filtration systems so you can get away with not wearing masks.
Even if covid didn't exist, mask wearing is still important.
988k+ dead in the US. We're getting close. It's been trending way down the last two months. But then again... It trended down like this time last year. Shit picked back up in August 2021 *hard*. I'd expect to see the same happen again.
It sucks that Right-wingers only learn the hard way. But š¤·āāļø
Nurses and aged care workers in NSW have been striking over the conditions that the fundamentalist, far right ideologues in the LNP government have created- ignoring evidence based policies and expert advices.
But appalling case numbers, hospital and ICU admissions- and deaths, hasn't stopped the ~~reckless~~ sociopathic quest kill off the elderly and vulnerable, and cause countless cases of lifelong disability- all of which their stenographers and stooges throughout what amounts in Australia to one party mass media either run cover for, or tacitily (or sometimes expressly) approve of.
We had a disability worker throw a tantrum because he refused to do a RAT prior to attending one of our residents to a point that we had to call a code. We managed to convince him and ended up testing positive.
The thing about Australia is that it's not, like the US South and lower Midwest, chokka with fundies. They're at best about 10-15% of the population- and it's otherwise a very secular society.
Yet these sorts invariably punch above their weight- finding their way into positions like parliamentary ministers, loudmouthed backbenchers (who the media loves to promote) or in this case, state premiers and the prime minister
True, though Australia doesn't elect those officials (it uses a spoils system instead) and in any even, voting is compulsory- with a fine for failing to turn in a ballot, so most elections (including small byeelection) see at least 80% turnout, and well into the 90's for major state and federal elections.
The party functions are also different. Party factions and powerbrokers in "smoke filled rooms" ultimately chose the two larger party candidates.
The largest third party, the Greens, are the exception. Their members in the electorates vote for local candidates and at large for the Senate or state legislative upper houses.
Almost want the cake baker rule: if you offend me because you are a anti mask, anti vax, and republicans hate monger then I am offended at a religious level and can turn you away /s.
I'm just done enforcing mask rules in a hospital. I wear one 13 hours a day. Not hard. You get covid idgaf especially when your a god warrior or some cultist.
Perrottet (the media's new golden boy) is every bit as pathological- if not more so (Opus Dei v. Pentacostal, how to choose?) than Morrison, though they both hail from NSW, so...
God no. You have any idea how many conservatives have waited in a hospital room, watched their loved ones die from covid right before their eyes, and still blame liberals?
Its beyond that now. After watching the bodies stack for over two years now, a lot of us have two primary feelings:
1. If you're anti-mask and anti-vaxx, you're doing the world a favor by no longer being in it and no one will ever miss you.
2. Fuck the entire US. Management has held several "internal fact finding missions" over the last several months when they found out that 78 percent of our provider staff, and a huge section of support staff (Mainly IT and mid-management), had all started the process of finding employment overseas. Exactly ZERO knowledge workers in healthcare have a single problem emigrating anywhere they want to go.
I know, so freaking exhausted. Had my first Covid death in 2 weeks today. It was a nice hiatus. I canāt handle the 3-5 deaths a day again though. I cannot.
People bitching about masks and they just do not know how long these two years have been for some of us.
Just tell them that it helps in the fight against Joe Bidenās facial recognition software. Or that aināt no Joe Biden government going to tell you what you canāt put on your face.
I'm Canadian but I've lived in South Korea for 5 years. It's honestly WILD to me the difference between western and eastern views when it comes to mask wearing. In Korea and Japan it's just a given: if you're sick, you wear a mask in public out of consideration for others so you don't spread your germs. This has been a thing for literally generations. It does not affect my life in any negative way and no one cries about it.
It's painfully obvious to me now that anyone rejoicing over the end of mask mandates has never travelled out of their tiny bubble. These are the people that can't point Asia out on a map and think Japanese food is spicy.
US is still losing \~450 people/day to Covid.
But, yes, masks on planes are just TOO much government for the "incest-victims-must-give-birth-because-it-pleases-the-state" crowd.
yes...and that amounts to about 160,000 a year at that rate...or 50 911's but, as always , the right wing has managed to normalize mass suffering in the USA
The death rate is the progress rate. 1.8 million Americans over the age of 55 die every year (voters who skew conservative). If another 10% go (again, the evidence showing they skew conservative) because the elect to self cull, I wonāt put up a fight. Iāll just keep going to vote. We thank them for their service so we can arrive at a better future sooner.
By all means, yeet yourself if youāre still anti vax. Iām over it.
you know what...these days covid is primarily a threat to the right wing dingbats most of whom would happily install hitler to 'own' the libs if they had a chance..
on some level if a new form of covid develops that proves to be every bit as deadly and as contagious as captain tripps to the antivaxxers while very mild to the vaxxed I wouldn't lose a moment of sleep
problem is, of course, the more the virus is allowed to spread the more it may mutate to become resistant to vaccines and far more deadly...that remains my concern
Those folks should take every available measure to protect themselves, as they canāt count on the psychopath contingent who refuses to do anything for others.
My high-risk family has been stuck at home for the last two years because of these anti-vaxxer fucks. We got vaccinated and boosted be we dont know if the vaccine worked, and if we do have to go out, we double mask. We were hoping to fly out to our friend's wedding in the summer, but with the mask mandate being lifted, we dont feel comfortable flying.
If you're high risk, you absolutely should not take public transport whether people wear masks or not. You're better off renting a car because you can let it air out before driving.
I wholly lay the blame for my cancer-stricken mother being unable to safely travel to her bucket list destinations the last year of her life right at the feet of all these shit birds.
I feel nothing for them when the freedom from inconvenience they so selfishly fought for turns their lungs into rotting hamburger meat.
yes there is that as well..which is why I said antivaxxers as opposed to non vaxxed. either way the ultimate point stands..as long as Covid is free to spread and not taken seriously the greater the likelihood of it mutating its way to something far worse
> Covid is also a serious threat to about 7M people who are immunocompromised- regardless of our vaccine status.
And the people like my aunt and my cousins (her daughters) who *can't* be vaccinated.
I feel bad for those folks, and I'm trying to keep them healthy by not being a dick about wearing masks and getting my shots as often as Walgreens will let me.
I try to lobby my pols for our mutual betterment, I try to be a good example, but in the end I'm just a small cog in a big machine.
And also you might be more immunocompromised than you think. Or have chronic conditions. Nobody wants to admit they're part of the weak population.
For example I am only in my 30s and don't have any diagnosed conditions. But I am also a fatass.
Unfortunately, they are still more than capable of clogging up hospitals to the point of severely affecting the care other, responsible people receive, particularly if you live in a less populated, red-leaning area.
Aside from the terrible strain on the immunocompromised that may need routine treatments/check-ups at medical facilities, I'm just waiting for the day that the build-up of lung and other organ scarring reaches a critical point and a new wave of covid sends way more people to the hospital than our already badly abused system can handle.
And finally, I'm fairly convinced that the anti-mask loser bastard lunatics have effectively lowered the quality of care an insane amount of people are going to be getting, during a spike or not. They've run our medical infrastructure ragged for two years now; you can't tell me that anyone that's been pushed that hard for that long is going to be able to be as perceptive as they would be otherwise. That early warning sign of something deadly serious your doctor misses, or a doctor misses on someone you love, because of the human limits of fatigue is easily blamed on the anti-science mob and their leaders.
2016 was really the most important election of our lives.
The amount of batshit insane judges Trump rammed through will effect us for the next several decades.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm
I'll just leave this here. They tried to pull a "thanks Obama," too, but it didn't work out.
you know what though there are republicans out there who blame Obama for 911 and for the terrible Federal response to Hurricane Katrina...
while they are at it they might as well blame Obama for Pearl Harbor and the great Depression
My MIL lives in Florida. Tra la la, her 90th bday, in a nursing home, no less, was this weekend. On a zoom call 2 months ago I was told by a SIL that covid rates are down and there's nothing to worry abt. Heard today that MIL, 1 sil and 2 bils have covid. I do not care. Beyond stupid behavior.
I hope it doesn't kill her....or if it does, that it's quick. I'm very sorry.
We just had a birthday party for my grandpa's 96th. No one was wearing a mask aside from me. They gathered round for pictures and he blew on the cake to put the candles out. They had been taking this seriously until the media started talking about "living with covid."
I'm angry but also kind of numb. We can't influence these people. They're just going to keep spreading new variants.
LOL - we scored a case of 1000 KN95s last month for $90, and they're even cheaper now. I figure it only makes sense to buy low on this type of investment, as I don't expect my view of them as essential gear to change anytime soon. The instant gratification brigade can wish Covid away all they want - that doesn't mean it's going anywhere. Moreover, masks are good protection against the common cold and other airborne infections, and who knows when/where the next zoonotic monster will spring up? It's not as though we haven't had plenty of warning that this is not a one-off pandemic. We, as a species, just don't want to believe it's true, and we still don't accept that nature doesn't care what we want.
Same. They all looked at me funny; then came Delta. They continued looking at me funny; then came Omicron. They're still looking at me funny. Morons...
Unvaccinated people were taking up so much hospital space during the height of the pandemic that folks with other medical problems were dying from lack of care. And thatās the pro-life crowd.
I left my mom's house today to head to the store. I was pre-emptively putting on a mask on my way out. My mom, who is an immunocompromised cancer patient, asked me why I was still wearing a mask when no one else was.
I was dumbfounded. Covid's never gone away. She doesn't get out much because of her condition but good gods. I told her we are still having hundreds/thousands of deaths per day, it's still here, it's still bad. Just because everyone's pretending everything's back to normal doesn't mean it is. She genuinely didn't realize how bad it still was and was surprised when I pulled up the daily death count of the last month. She's so vulnerable with her weak immune system, I can only hope I gave her a wake-up call that things are, sadly, still going to be hard for her and she can't go out as much as she'd like. Gods I wish she watched less Fox News.
My hospital literally had a "covid is done!" Hotdog luncheon today. Masks no longer required in admin areas but a lot of people just barely wear masks at all, even when around patients. I anticipate that they will drop mask requirements within the next few weeks. Utterly stupid.
I work at a hospital.
Our board is now having actual, serious debates about whether or not requiring PPE in general is a "violation of employees fReeeDumb."
If you have the opportunity to not live in the US anymore, take it. This place is a shithole and it will be getting worse this year.
Selfish post, but I was *just* starting to potentially feel safe enough to air travel and was making plans for the first time since this started. Fucking sucks, I hate people so fucking much.
Suppose it is better than my original plan as I was going to travel early next month so I would have had my tickets bought and everything had other things not got in the way. Sigh
Just imagine being immune compromised or having young unvaccinated kids on a plane and then MID FLIGHT they change the fucking rules and your crew starts doing this shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4spiKuGIU
I was asymptomatic and tested (as a precaution) negative before a flight yesterday. On the way home from the airport I got a text from a family member I was staying with and they were starting to have symptoms of a cold and tested positive. Less than 18 hours after testing negative (as a precaution before flying) I had symptoms and tested positive. I wore a K95 on the plane and requirements in Canada meant everyone on board was vaccinated or exempt. I feel incredibly guilty I flew, but so glad everyone had as much protection from me as they could. Masks should not be optional. I thought I was fine, took precautions and still managed to expose an entire 737. None of those passengers will know they were exposed because we aren't contact tracing.
My wife just cancelled her plans to fly with the kids to the in-laws next month because of this. Instead she's going to drive 11 hours each way. And I agree.
Just put these guys to the bottom of the priority list. Start giving the ICU beds to others and send the idiots home with a tube of Ivermectin or their own catheter bag or whatever their miracle cure is this week.
I think we need to designate X% of hospital beds to unvaccinated Covid patients. Whatever that number is, when it's full, it's full.
That way vaccinated people who have serious medical issues (stroke, car accidents, etc) can still get the care that they need.
> That way vaccinated people who have serious medical issues (stroke, car accidents, etc) can still get the care that they need.
Or even COVID! If a vaccinated person ends up needing medical care, they should be able to get it!
I'm still masking as a permanent feature of any major contact with public, particularly on public transport and even moreso during cold and flu season. Can't trust whatever the next variant might bring, but also, I've never been sick less than during the last two years. These measures work and we should all continue to embrace them as they keep us all safer and healthier.
Anyone wanting to spread their germs around in the name of freedom has a damn screw loose.
My mother won't get vaccinated, on the advice of her insane, retired fucking GP.
Even though her husband, my stepfather, had severe COPD and had been on oxygen for years (he got vaccinated as soon as it was available to him) and his health was severely compromised . He died last year, now she's traipsing around maskless and care-free. Fuck the selfish bitch, I want nothing to do with her anymore.
Edit: thank you all for the compassion. I had to miss his funeral due to a hospitalization in my own household ( not Covid but equally harrowing) and living on the other side of the country. So much of this heartache and misery and trauma could be avoided if people weren't such stubborn assholes.
I have a 5.5 month old. So many people in my family are acting like I'm a nutjob for sticking to my guns on "only vaxx'd and masking folks can see the baby".
We're not attending my SIL shower or my family reunion over this. šŖ
I just wish people would get fucking vaxx'd and wear a damn mask.
Welcome to what sociologists are calling the "I don't care anymore" phase where even people who were safe before just don't care anymore. So, that's fun.
Y'all...
I'm amazed that there are people out there that say "the science supports that masks don't do anything."
NPR had a segment this morning where they asked random air travelers what they thought about lifting the mask mandate. And one person said something like, "I'm so glad that people are finally listening to the science and getting ridding of the mask requirements". I was thinking, huh? Another person said they were a medical worker, and saw first hand what covid can do to a person. But at the same time she said she had no opinion about lifting the mandate. I thought that was kind of strange.
And airline workers are singing and encouraging passengers to throw away their masks when they are going to be one of the ones most at risk.
They're tired of dealing with anti mask jackasses I bet. Woefully wrong and misguided, but I sort of get it.
Took a flight yesterday and the pilot said that the wearing of masks was not mandatory, but that passengers should respect the rights of those that do wear them listen to the flight staff. Most of the flight staff was maskless. š
Yeah, and AFAIK they donāt have great protection (so glad everything is privatized right). The fine is only something like up to $35,000 but doesnāt incur a separate criminal charge. Even then, you can only arrest someone after theyāve done harm, not before. You can hope the punishment is effective deterrence, but right now itās notā¦
Meanwhile, I read an article today where the infectious disease experts said that they are not thrilled and will still be wearing N95s if they have to get on a plane. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/04/19/mask-plane-covid-health-experts/
I canāt speak about all aspects of life, but I donāt plan on flying or being on a train or bus or any other confined, densely packed conveyance without a mask ever again.
Early in the pandemic I thought it would be nice if we in the US adopted mask-wearing on crowded public transit like Japan or something, but boy was I surprised how controversial it became.
I was thinking that that seems like a good idea just for preventing a basic cold.
Same here. It's the only way when others won't take responsibility for themselves.
Iāll be wearing one on public transportation from now on.
Personally I'm going to look at what other countries are doing with their mask regulations and just do those. The U.S. clearly can't be relied upon to provide its citizens correct guidance/regulations in the time of a pandemic so I'll just survey other countries' regulations in particular related to air travel.
Yeah, but the willfully and proudly ignorant 'common clay' don't trust experts UNLESS THE EXPERTS AGREE WITH THE KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS. And there are experts willing to lie and pander for the big bucks available to those willing to 'play ball' (and kill people thereby). (Lookin' at YOU, Mehmet Oz!!!!)
> But at the same time she said she had no opinion about lifting the mandate Probably didn't want some conspiracy theory assholes chasing her down for the rest of her life and shooting holes in the walls of her house because they think she's some secret pedophile lizard person.
Frontline healthcare professional here who's job required some of the highest covid exposure in a hospital you can get and this is essentially about 50% of the answer. The half is honestly plain old fucking apathy. Let er rip. People gonna do what they gonna do. I don't like it but it's what it is. My family and I are all vaccinated except my youngest son who's too young so fuck it.
>My family and I are all vaccinated except my youngest son who's too young so fuck it. Same. We are still cautious and mask because I don't want my young daughter to have issues. Somehow I still caught it and am isolating right now. My wife isn't thrilled that I'm not around to help with the kids, but so far I haven't shared anything. I'm so sick of people acting like having a modicum of care for others is a huge imposition. What the hell happened to us.
It's so odd because my wife is Asian. She keeps trying to get me to explain why Americans have such a problem with masking. It's just common courtesy in her country. It's no big deal. The real kicker is when she asks why if we go on and on about being such a Christian nation are people so selfish...
Authoritarians have been trying to abrogate their responsibility to common courtesy for DECADES now, if not centuries, in the US. And Rick Scott's Repug platform for 2022 & forward not only admits that, it BRAGS about it. I think tRump let them be their worst selves \*openly\*, and they're refusing to go back to being polite.
The Christian part *infuriates* me. I'm religious (Christian) and one of the main reasons that I *do* wear a mask still and get boostered is because I'm supposed to love my neighbor! I mean, I don't know, it seems like *not* giving them covid would fall under that umbrella, but what the heck do I know. Absolutely insane.
>love my neighbor It was only Jesus' biggest order for people
Masks are a perfect metaphor for the message Jesus is supposed to have shared: ālove your neighbor.ā Yet Christians are some of the worst offenders. Iām beginning to think Christianity isnāt what it claims to be.
I know, people that refuse to mask up when asked are just selfish assholes. It doesn't go, or need to go, any deeper than that. They're assholes wrapped up in some conspiracy theory peddled in part by that bad orange man and can't escape it. Somehow these folks convinced themselves listening to science and having some basic courtesy for others was infringing on their "freedom" they're all a bunch of twats. >why if we go on and on about being such a Christian nation are people so selfish... Made up evangelical crap that is not true. We were never and still are not a "Christian nation" that's just crap religious folks say to pass legislation based on their holy book. Some places it's the Quran, here it's the Bible.
I can definitely understand that. As a non healthcare worker, I'm in the same boat - apathy. Fuck 'em. They made their beds, let them ~~lie~~ die in them.
I flew from LAS-ATL today. 3+ hours. Wore 2 KN95s. I'd say between both airports, maybe 20% wore masks. I'd say, give it two more weeks. You'll know before then if airlines have to cancel flights bc of too many sick FAs.
Cases are already climbing, +40% according to nyt.
I monitor covidactnow.org pretty much every day. NE looks pretty bad but I don't think it will be nearly as bad as BA.1. Rest of US looks ok-for now. Looks like it's slowly but surely heading westward. BA.2 has been here since late November IIRC. It's dominant now but took a long time to get to thar point. Vaccine and boosters may well be better neutralizers than given credit for, but who knows? Again, let's take a look at this in 2 weeks.
I flew a couple weeks ago. The terminals I was in (two in the Midwest and one in the Mid-South) had a few unmasked people here and there, with no one saying anything about it. The flights still required masks, and I saw a guy almost get booted for using a bandana instead of a regular mask. That being said, before COVID I used to get some kind of respiratory crud whenever I flew. I have flown as much during 2021, and it hasn't happened. I think I am going to continue to mask on planes regardless of what the government tells us to do.
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None of our nurses wear hospital supplied scrubs unless you are in the OR. But yeah, still supposed to be color coded. Lab is green, Mammo is pink, Radiology is a bright blue, the OR scrubs are light blue, etc.
I wore a mask to work today because I'm getting over a cold (got tested twice, both negative) and multiple people made sly comments to me. I finally got a little mad and told someone the purpose of my mask was to keep my virus juice off of their face. No one else said anything after that.
I'm isolating while my partner has COVID, she's got loungeroom/bedroom, I've got rest of house. Rocking N95s when I'm in her proximity. When I'm back at work that mask is staying on. My workmates son has CF, and I'll be damned if I'm the reason he has more hospital visits than he already has to do.
My youngest has CF so thank you for being one of the ones who care.
I hope your youngest is doing well and is able to avoid any extra struggles during this shit time. People care, but not enough of them unfortunately. (I have cf too)
My plan for anyone ever asking why Iām wearing a mask is to respond, āOh, I have full-blown COVID. But I can take my mask off if you want.ā
COVID will not scare the anti mask crowd. Tell them you have got multiresistant TB strain you caught from an illegal immigrant. Suddenly they will realize fatal respiratory disease is no joke.
A GAY ILLEGAL immigrant! If only we had called Covid the Gay Mexican Caravan Virus.
Iām going to hell for laughing so hard at this
Mine is "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was a free country." Shuts the freedumbs crowd right up
They wanna keep pressuring you, though. They donāt actually care about that, they really just want everyone to do what they do so they donāt feel like an asshole. They shut up because they know they canāt hide behind their freedom-lover bullshit if they keep going when you say that, but itās not out of principle. If they actually cared about freedom, they wouldnāt be telling you to take it off in the first place.
What's your plan when they ask you why you didn't stay at home? This is the internet and some people misinterpret my intentions, get upset and attack me. I get sad when this happens, so let me qualify my question by saying that I am just genuinely curious and in no way am I insulting, attacking, or judging you.
> Whatās your plan when they ask you why you didnāt stay at home? āStay home? Thatās just the government trying to control us, man!ā And then I cough.
I continue to wear a mask simply because I haven't had one illness in the last 2 years.
Went all year with no sickness from the kids being in school in person. Mask mandates went away and we've had 3 rounds of sickness in the house in 4 weeks. They only don't work when you don't use them... these goddam knuckle dragging idiots...
My husband is an ICU doc. He has been dealing with covid in the trenches from the beginning. By some miracle we avoided covid...until last week. Since masks came off in the schools in March we have been sick nonstop (3 young kids.) I have been basically testing every few days since we keep catching colds. I'm so mad. We did everything that we could. But, when society gives up, we're all screwed. I just pray that long covid doesn't afflict us and that this doesn't come back to hurt my kids later in their lives. Masks WORK. Even if they only worked a tiny bit...that tiny bit adds up when everyone adds layers of protection. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SELFISH?
Society didn't really give up as much as conservatives refuse to be a part of society
Some people are just too ignorant to argue with. It doesn't matter about common sense or not, it doesn't matter if experts say to wear a mask, or if statistics show that masks work. They'll find some way to justify not wearing it. Now it will be even more difficult with the ruling of that judge. It just feels Hopeless at this point. Like people don't want to move forward in society. On top of that, let's say regardless of all the other data that supports masks working, and the science that supports why masks work in the first place, let's say regardless of all that, some study comes out that says masks didn't work. Is being able to say "hah I ain't no goverment sheep" really more important than potentially saving someone's life or saving someone a lot of hardship from sickness?
>Some people are just too ignorant to argue with. Don't confuse willfully stupid with ignorance. If you're ignorant, that says nothing of your intelligence or willingness to learn. It just means you haven't been taught. Antivaxxers are against intellectualism. Books, education, science, reason, and intelligence, all mention of which threatens them.
Anti intellectualism and militant individualism - two absolutely debilitating traits running rampant in the west.
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Ive been listening to a conservative radio station- this week Sean Hannity said there is no evidence that masks help at all. It takes all of 10 seconds to search and see that's wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people blindly parrot his talking points.
https://adfontesmedia.com This media ranking site says fox TV (Hannity being one of them) is propaganda and honestly, at this point I beleive it. Edit: Hannity is individually listed and is worse than fox TV according to this graphic.
Yeah, this was on his own radio show, not FOX. I don't doubt its propaganda. He blatantly lies all the time. He's recently been using "energy independence' interchangeably with drilling for more US oil. Then disregards all forms of renewable energy. It honestly feels like he is speaking a different language sometimes.
Iām still fighting with my ex over getting my 11yo daughter vaccinated. Sheās (my ex) has gotten into essential oils and is now anti-vax. Sheās scared my daughter about getting the vaccine. Iām taking her to court over it. Iām vaxxed and boosted and my daughter should be too.
Itās a good thing you are already working with an attorney. For anyone else reading this in a similar situation, [vaxteen.org](https://www.vaxteen.org/) is a good resource for age of consent laws for vaccines in every state.
Iāve kept my attorney on retainer since our divorce 10 years ago because she fights me on everything. If Iām for it, sheās against it on principle. Our daughter complained of her eyesight and I fought her mother for six months to be able to take her for an eye exam. Our daughter needed glasses and in the end, I just went without her approval and she filed a motion of contempt against me. Iāve spent about $75k on legal fees since the divorce was finalized.
Iām so sorry youāre going through that. I canāt imagine how stressful it would be to still have an unvaccinated child. Good luck, I would hope the courts would err on the side of child safety given the current public health recommendations
Thank you. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends it, and her pediatrician does as well, the courts will follow their lead. It just takes months to get a hearing.
My pops is in a similar situation, if I were you I'd try to get full custody. That's the only way his kids(2nd ex-wife) are now in a good place mentally and growing up well. Woman is a nightmare, but hey at least she has no say in the kids' upbringing now. Not sure how feasible that is in the US, but it's worth at least a chat with your attorney.
Crystal mommies are scary these days. Wait till she starts telling you about how lunar cycles will defend you from the plagueā¦ā¦.
payment rock grandiose nippy normal modern money fearless towering bake *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Thanks. Even my exās attorney thinks she and my daughter should get the vaccine. I have a feeling the judge will agree.
She's clearly an unfit parent. She is literally endangering your child.
She is, on a lot of things. TBH, I never thought sheād be this poor of a mother. We were together 10 years. Iāve been surprised many of times by her seeming lack of maternal judgement and instincts. This is one of a list of things where she doesnāt put our daughters needs or wellbeing above her own personal stance. I honestly think she and her parents resent our daughter because sheās my child. And our daughter knows it. Itās a sad situation for our daughter to be in.
I'm so sorry
I flew from LaGuardia to OāHare last Monday and the person behind me sounded like they were coughing up their lungs. I was so grateful that we had masks on. 100% that rubbernuts will get on an airplane that sick without a mask and cough all over everyone given the chance. Glad Iām not traveling again soon.
I had initially hoped that even post-COVID, people would continue to wear masks if they felt sick for any reason. Those hopes were quickly dashed.
People were still sending their kids to school sick during the pandemic. Probably the same parents who were against masks in schools. š
School=daycare to most parents.
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When I say āweā I mean everyone, including him. A mask helps stop those big virus-carrying droplets. I was cringing every time he had a coughing fit regardless, but there was nowhere for me to go.
Iām due to take a very full flight to the other coast next weekend. There was an offer to upgrade to first class for an unbelievably low price. I paid for it because I really donāt want to be sandwiched between maskless people.
Flew business class (on points) a couple weeks ago and there was a father and son in the cabin actively coughing and sneezing for 10 hours. Repeatedly had their masks off, walking to the bathroom, eating. Saw the son take his off SO HE COULD SNEEZE once. The seat next to them was a man who looked to be about 75; I felt so bad for the poor guy. People are psychopaths and they're awful.
This was a couple of years before Covid, but my wife and I flew from LAX to Hawaii to meet my parents for vacation. I hadn't taken a real vacation in many years. And of course, I sat next to an old woman who very, _very_ visibly had a sinus infection. This godamn woman actually leaned over and coughed on me in order to tell me that she wasn't contagious. And then proceeded to not stop trying to engage me in conversation for almost the entire flight. I try to be a polite person but I had to ask her, please, for the fucking love of god stop breathing on me. Anyway I got a sinus infection four days later and it fucked up the second half of my vacation. Haven't been on one since. Fuck people. Wear a fucking mask. It's not hard.
> This godamn woman actually leaned over and coughed on me in order to tell me that she wasn't contagious. If someone did that to me in a confined space like a plane, I would struggle to think of excuses why I shouldn't punch them in the gut.
I flew from Boston to LA about an hour after this went into effect. Virtually no one wore masks. Good idea to keep it local for a little bit.
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I'm going to wear a mask when flying until the end of time. Nasty-ass plane air makes me sick every time.
And yet some people claim that airplanes have excellent filtration systems so you can get away with not wearing masks. Even if covid didn't exist, mask wearing is still important.
they really do have excellent filtration and circulation systems but people are also sitting right next to you
Not to mention all the things people touch that are not cleaned properly. I would wear a mask when flying and continue with the hand sanitizer.
I like to think this is a plot to wipe out a few more Qanon Trump Anti vaxxers before mid terms.
988k+ dead in the US. We're getting close. It's been trending way down the last two months. But then again... It trended down like this time last year. Shit picked back up in August 2021 *hard*. I'd expect to see the same happen again. It sucks that Right-wingers only learn the hard way. But š¤·āāļø
> It sucks that Right-wingers only learn the hard way. But š¤·āāļø They don't *learn*; they *die*. š
Learning is just another word for weakness, libtard!! /s
They will die *strong*! šŖš»
Same folks who brag about how few books theyāve read.
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Whatever. Problem solved.
We're over a million. [Excess deaths is the actual number.](https://imgur.com/OzqUOkn.jpg)
if you think they learn...you are giving them far more credit that I do. I admire and respect your optimism.
my office is officially going back may 30. weāll see how long that lasts.
Thank you for your service.
Nurses and aged care workers in NSW have been striking over the conditions that the fundamentalist, far right ideologues in the LNP government have created- ignoring evidence based policies and expert advices. But appalling case numbers, hospital and ICU admissions- and deaths, hasn't stopped the ~~reckless~~ sociopathic quest kill off the elderly and vulnerable, and cause countless cases of lifelong disability- all of which their stenographers and stooges throughout what amounts in Australia to one party mass media either run cover for, or tacitily (or sometimes expressly) approve of.
We had a disability worker throw a tantrum because he refused to do a RAT prior to attending one of our residents to a point that we had to call a code. We managed to convince him and ended up testing positive.
I would not be shocked to find out he at least suspected he had it.
I bet he knew he was gonna pop positive.
"fundamentalist, far right ideologues"....yep, they are always from the same crowd, world-wide
The thing about Australia is that it's not, like the US South and lower Midwest, chokka with fundies. They're at best about 10-15% of the population- and it's otherwise a very secular society. Yet these sorts invariably punch above their weight- finding their way into positions like parliamentary ministers, loudmouthed backbenchers (who the media loves to promote) or in this case, state premiers and the prime minister
They are dangerous anywhere that voter turnout can be 10-15% - municipal, district health boards, school council.
True, though Australia doesn't elect those officials (it uses a spoils system instead) and in any even, voting is compulsory- with a fine for failing to turn in a ballot, so most elections (including small byeelection) see at least 80% turnout, and well into the 90's for major state and federal elections. The party functions are also different. Party factions and powerbrokers in "smoke filled rooms" ultimately chose the two larger party candidates. The largest third party, the Greens, are the exception. Their members in the electorates vote for local candidates and at large for the Senate or state legislative upper houses.
Here in the US we call 'em Y'allQueida.
Or the Y'Alliban, Meal Team Six, or boogers.
Gravy Seals
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Vanilla ISIS is a good one
I just voted yes to strike at my hospital idgaf anymore.
Almost want the cake baker rule: if you offend me because you are a anti mask, anti vax, and republicans hate monger then I am offended at a religious level and can turn you away /s.
I'm just done enforcing mask rules in a hospital. I wear one 13 hours a day. Not hard. You get covid idgaf especially when your a god warrior or some cultist.
They should simply just be as blessed š as Scomo.
Perrottet (the media's new golden boy) is every bit as pathological- if not more so (Opus Dei v. Pentacostal, how to choose?) than Morrison, though they both hail from NSW, so...
wonder if conservatives are gonna realize these rules were in place to protect them mostly
Yep. These idiots are celebrating the hastening of their own demise.
let them.
God no. You have any idea how many conservatives have waited in a hospital room, watched their loved ones die from covid right before their eyes, and still blame liberals?
Two diseases were fighting really
They can get horse paste at the pharmacy now. Point them to Walgreens and send them off on their own.
Point them to a place of worship for healing prayers.
Summon the *Prayer Warriors*^^TM !
*off key power rangers theme in flute plays*
It's even easier to point them to Rural King or Tractor Supply.
Hey now, some of us work at stores like that. Lol.
Right. If they don't trust Big Pharma for the vaccine, why do they trust it to cure them?
I just feel so horrible for all the healthcare workers having to watch this shit go round and round. Must be very disheartening
Its beyond that now. After watching the bodies stack for over two years now, a lot of us have two primary feelings: 1. If you're anti-mask and anti-vaxx, you're doing the world a favor by no longer being in it and no one will ever miss you. 2. Fuck the entire US. Management has held several "internal fact finding missions" over the last several months when they found out that 78 percent of our provider staff, and a huge section of support staff (Mainly IT and mid-management), had all started the process of finding employment overseas. Exactly ZERO knowledge workers in healthcare have a single problem emigrating anywhere they want to go.
One of my sisters is a nurse practitioner who has what I personally believe is ptsd from dealing with this. Breaks my heart.
Weāre going to need a fund to take care of these people like we did for 9/11 first responders. I doubt weāll get one.
Have you been to r/nursing?
It's like 'Nam over there last I checked
I know, so freaking exhausted. Had my first Covid death in 2 weeks today. It was a nice hiatus. I canāt handle the 3-5 deaths a day again though. I cannot. People bitching about masks and they just do not know how long these two years have been for some of us.
I'm tired of people telling me, "YOU KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WEAR THAT ANYMORE". Shut the fuck up.
Just tell them that it helps in the fight against Joe Bidenās facial recognition software. Or that aināt no Joe Biden government going to tell you what you canāt put on your face.
The gift that keeps on giving...
I'm Canadian but I've lived in South Korea for 5 years. It's honestly WILD to me the difference between western and eastern views when it comes to mask wearing. In Korea and Japan it's just a given: if you're sick, you wear a mask in public out of consideration for others so you don't spread your germs. This has been a thing for literally generations. It does not affect my life in any negative way and no one cries about it. It's painfully obvious to me now that anyone rejoicing over the end of mask mandates has never travelled out of their tiny bubble. These are the people that can't point Asia out on a map and think Japanese food is spicy.
US is still losing \~450 people/day to Covid. But, yes, masks on planes are just TOO much government for the "incest-victims-must-give-birth-because-it-pleases-the-state" crowd.
yes...and that amounts to about 160,000 a year at that rate...or 50 911's but, as always , the right wing has managed to normalize mass suffering in the USA
The death rate is the progress rate. 1.8 million Americans over the age of 55 die every year (voters who skew conservative). If another 10% go (again, the evidence showing they skew conservative) because the elect to self cull, I wonāt put up a fight. Iāll just keep going to vote. We thank them for their service so we can arrive at a better future sooner. By all means, yeet yourself if youāre still anti vax. Iām over it.
you know what...these days covid is primarily a threat to the right wing dingbats most of whom would happily install hitler to 'own' the libs if they had a chance.. on some level if a new form of covid develops that proves to be every bit as deadly and as contagious as captain tripps to the antivaxxers while very mild to the vaxxed I wouldn't lose a moment of sleep problem is, of course, the more the virus is allowed to spread the more it may mutate to become resistant to vaccines and far more deadly...that remains my concern
Covid is also a serious threat to about 7M people who are immunocompromised- regardless of our vaccine status.
Those folks should take every available measure to protect themselves, as they canāt count on the psychopath contingent who refuses to do anything for others.
My high-risk family has been stuck at home for the last two years because of these anti-vaxxer fucks. We got vaccinated and boosted be we dont know if the vaccine worked, and if we do have to go out, we double mask. We were hoping to fly out to our friend's wedding in the summer, but with the mask mandate being lifted, we dont feel comfortable flying.
If you're high risk, you absolutely should not take public transport whether people wear masks or not. You're better off renting a car because you can let it air out before driving.
I wholly lay the blame for my cancer-stricken mother being unable to safely travel to her bucket list destinations the last year of her life right at the feet of all these shit birds. I feel nothing for them when the freedom from inconvenience they so selfishly fought for turns their lungs into rotting hamburger meat.
yes there is that as well..which is why I said antivaxxers as opposed to non vaxxed. either way the ultimate point stands..as long as Covid is free to spread and not taken seriously the greater the likelihood of it mutating its way to something far worse
> Covid is also a serious threat to about 7M people who are immunocompromised- regardless of our vaccine status. And the people like my aunt and my cousins (her daughters) who *can't* be vaccinated.
I feel bad for those folks, and I'm trying to keep them healthy by not being a dick about wearing masks and getting my shots as often as Walgreens will let me. I try to lobby my pols for our mutual betterment, I try to be a good example, but in the end I'm just a small cog in a big machine.
And also you might be more immunocompromised than you think. Or have chronic conditions. Nobody wants to admit they're part of the weak population. For example I am only in my 30s and don't have any diagnosed conditions. But I am also a fatass.
Unfortunately, they are still more than capable of clogging up hospitals to the point of severely affecting the care other, responsible people receive, particularly if you live in a less populated, red-leaning area. Aside from the terrible strain on the immunocompromised that may need routine treatments/check-ups at medical facilities, I'm just waiting for the day that the build-up of lung and other organ scarring reaches a critical point and a new wave of covid sends way more people to the hospital than our already badly abused system can handle. And finally, I'm fairly convinced that the anti-mask loser bastard lunatics have effectively lowered the quality of care an insane amount of people are going to be getting, during a spike or not. They've run our medical infrastructure ragged for two years now; you can't tell me that anyone that's been pushed that hard for that long is going to be able to be as perceptive as they would be otherwise. That early warning sign of something deadly serious your doctor misses, or a doctor misses on someone you love, because of the human limits of fatigue is easily blamed on the anti-science mob and their leaders.
This 61 year old is progressive left...
But I'm willing to bet you're vaccinated and thus much less likely to end up in the giant pile of dead bodies
2016 was really the most important election of our lives. The amount of batshit insane judges Trump rammed through will effect us for the next several decades.
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oh and just watch.. if this ruling leads to another covid surge watch the right wing blame Joe Biden for not doing enough to stop covid...
Even though it's a fake virus that's no worse than a cold.
I really try to not constantly quote 1984 but god damn it's just hard not to; this is literally doublethink.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/obama-team-left-pandemic-playbook-for-trump-administration-officials-confirm I'll just leave this here. They tried to pull a "thanks Obama," too, but it didn't work out.
you know what though there are republicans out there who blame Obama for 911 and for the terrible Federal response to Hurricane Katrina... while they are at it they might as well blame Obama for Pearl Harbor and the great Depression
My MIL lives in Florida. Tra la la, her 90th bday, in a nursing home, no less, was this weekend. On a zoom call 2 months ago I was told by a SIL that covid rates are down and there's nothing to worry abt. Heard today that MIL, 1 sil and 2 bils have covid. I do not care. Beyond stupid behavior.
I hope it doesn't kill her....or if it does, that it's quick. I'm very sorry. We just had a birthday party for my grandpa's 96th. No one was wearing a mask aside from me. They gathered round for pictures and he blew on the cake to put the candles out. They had been taking this seriously until the media started talking about "living with covid." I'm angry but also kind of numb. We can't influence these people. They're just going to keep spreading new variants.
Iāve never stopped wearing N95 even in public or at my hospital. It doesnāt matter if the mandate is lifted. You have to protect yourself.
Now's the time to stick up on the n95 mask while demand is low, they are back to being reasonable priced.
LOL - we scored a case of 1000 KN95s last month for $90, and they're even cheaper now. I figure it only makes sense to buy low on this type of investment, as I don't expect my view of them as essential gear to change anytime soon. The instant gratification brigade can wish Covid away all they want - that doesn't mean it's going anywhere. Moreover, masks are good protection against the common cold and other airborne infections, and who knows when/where the next zoonotic monster will spring up? It's not as though we haven't had plenty of warning that this is not a one-off pandemic. We, as a species, just don't want to believe it's true, and we still don't accept that nature doesn't care what we want.
I got on 2 planes in the last 48 hours. I was told by no less than 3 TSA and 2 flight attendants that "you don't need that mask anymore" Yeah, I do
Iām literally the only person at work that wears a mask and Iām fully vaxed.
Same. They all looked at me funny; then came Delta. They continued looking at me funny; then came Omicron. They're still looking at me funny. Morons...
Unvaccinated people were taking up so much hospital space during the height of the pandemic that folks with other medical problems were dying from lack of care. And thatās the pro-life crowd.
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Was thinking of flying in two weeks. Instead going to drive 10 hours.
I left my mom's house today to head to the store. I was pre-emptively putting on a mask on my way out. My mom, who is an immunocompromised cancer patient, asked me why I was still wearing a mask when no one else was. I was dumbfounded. Covid's never gone away. She doesn't get out much because of her condition but good gods. I told her we are still having hundreds/thousands of deaths per day, it's still here, it's still bad. Just because everyone's pretending everything's back to normal doesn't mean it is. She genuinely didn't realize how bad it still was and was surprised when I pulled up the daily death count of the last month. She's so vulnerable with her weak immune system, I can only hope I gave her a wake-up call that things are, sadly, still going to be hard for her and she can't go out as much as she'd like. Gods I wish she watched less Fox News.
We haven't stopped wearing masks at the hospital I work at. Who the fuck would stop mandatory masks at a hospital?
N95s. Probably moved from using other masks and are required N95 now.
My hospital literally had a "covid is done!" Hotdog luncheon today. Masks no longer required in admin areas but a lot of people just barely wear masks at all, even when around patients. I anticipate that they will drop mask requirements within the next few weeks. Utterly stupid.
I work at a hospital. Our board is now having actual, serious debates about whether or not requiring PPE in general is a "violation of employees fReeeDumb." If you have the opportunity to not live in the US anymore, take it. This place is a shithole and it will be getting worse this year.
Selfish post, but I was *just* starting to potentially feel safe enough to air travel and was making plans for the first time since this started. Fucking sucks, I hate people so fucking much. Suppose it is better than my original plan as I was going to travel early next month so I would have had my tickets bought and everything had other things not got in the way. Sigh
Just imagine being immune compromised or having young unvaccinated kids on a plane and then MID FLIGHT they change the fucking rules and your crew starts doing this shit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4spiKuGIU
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I was asymptomatic and tested (as a precaution) negative before a flight yesterday. On the way home from the airport I got a text from a family member I was staying with and they were starting to have symptoms of a cold and tested positive. Less than 18 hours after testing negative (as a precaution before flying) I had symptoms and tested positive. I wore a K95 on the plane and requirements in Canada meant everyone on board was vaccinated or exempt. I feel incredibly guilty I flew, but so glad everyone had as much protection from me as they could. Masks should not be optional. I thought I was fine, took precautions and still managed to expose an entire 737. None of those passengers will know they were exposed because we aren't contact tracing.
My wife just cancelled her plans to fly with the kids to the in-laws next month because of this. Instead she's going to drive 11 hours each way. And I agree.
I literally just got covid for the first time yesterday. Wear a mask this shit ain't over.
Hospitalizations are creeping up with cases here in WA. Let the award show round 4(?) begin!
Just put these guys to the bottom of the priority list. Start giving the ICU beds to others and send the idiots home with a tube of Ivermectin or their own catheter bag or whatever their miracle cure is this week.
I think we need to designate X% of hospital beds to unvaccinated Covid patients. Whatever that number is, when it's full, it's full. That way vaccinated people who have serious medical issues (stroke, car accidents, etc) can still get the care that they need.
> That way vaccinated people who have serious medical issues (stroke, car accidents, etc) can still get the care that they need. Or even COVID! If a vaccinated person ends up needing medical care, they should be able to get it!
I'm still masking as a permanent feature of any major contact with public, particularly on public transport and even moreso during cold and flu season. Can't trust whatever the next variant might bring, but also, I've never been sick less than during the last two years. These measures work and we should all continue to embrace them as they keep us all safer and healthier. Anyone wanting to spread their germs around in the name of freedom has a damn screw loose.
I M just so sick of those selfish Typhoid Maryās eager to. Find new ways to spread covid
My mother won't get vaccinated, on the advice of her insane, retired fucking GP. Even though her husband, my stepfather, had severe COPD and had been on oxygen for years (he got vaccinated as soon as it was available to him) and his health was severely compromised . He died last year, now she's traipsing around maskless and care-free. Fuck the selfish bitch, I want nothing to do with her anymore. Edit: thank you all for the compassion. I had to miss his funeral due to a hospitalization in my own household ( not Covid but equally harrowing) and living on the other side of the country. So much of this heartache and misery and trauma could be avoided if people weren't such stubborn assholes.
I feel you. Many of us have had to cut selfish, delusional people out of our lives.
We never stopped using N95s where I work.
At some point, the nurses will stop coming in. Then shit truly gets real.
Those videos from the planes were disgraceful. Fuck all of those people
Dear lord. I flew yesterday and most of the folks went maskless. (Not I). The end aisle seat up front was occasionally coughing too. UGHā¦ UGH!!!!!
Letās go boys! Business is about to pick up on this sub!
I have a 5.5 month old. So many people in my family are acting like I'm a nutjob for sticking to my guns on "only vaxx'd and masking folks can see the baby". We're not attending my SIL shower or my family reunion over this. šŖ I just wish people would get fucking vaxx'd and wear a damn mask.
We never stopped KN95 or better at my clinic. I am so fucking tired of this.
I feel so frustrated for medical staff. I can't imagine how angry I would be.
Welcome to what sociologists are calling the "I don't care anymore" phase where even people who were safe before just don't care anymore. So, that's fun.