To Mask or not to two - Mask Megathread cont.

Once again in with the assumptions and the digs. The later "at least I hope you don't" was a horrible thing to say to me.

Your Anti-mask "useless" comments have been consistently pulled up in thread. Somehow your still here wriggling your way in and out of engaging in conversations based on poor fabricated excuses when the science is laid out. You clearly have no issues with telling porkies, ignoring facts, belittling science and insulting other posters.

@xhomelezz Classic deflecion spin technique. Just following others. Deal with others first. Their fault. Not mine.

The story is growing fast, wonder if righttoknow will have more for later in the week.

On another occasion in March, an Oireachtas member complained after a staff member went to inspect a party room in the Convention Centre.

“He said I should not enter until someone came to the door and added that I had no right to enter the room without permission,” said the report. “There were several members inside not wearing masks.”

On a later visit to the same office in April the situation was unchanged, with the same Oireachtas member ordering the compliance team member to leave.

“He approached me without a mask and closer than two metres,” said the report. “I had to ask him three times to put on a mask while talking to me … he was quite aggressive in his approach to me.”

Repeated unsuccessful attempts were also made early this year to have some TDs stop wearing ineffective face visors, unless they could provide medical certification for using them.

A member of the compliance team said they would not keep asking: “Two TDs continue to wear visors. As they have already been requested to provide medical certification in respect of non-mask wearing, I don’t intend to ask them again.

“It has been indicated by [redacted] that they have not provided such certification.”

A similar issue with face visors was also logged later in February, but nothing had changed.

“I reminded Deputy [redacted] that I had asked him two weeks ago to provide a medical cert, but that none had been received,” said the complaints log.

So what. Here is another real world example.

Ireland on August 20, 2020 - the day the mask mandate was introduced (IIRC)

129 cases

Ireland on August 20, 2021 - after 1 year with the mask mandate

2024 cases

So are you comparing life at the end of August 2021 with August 2020? Do you not see any difference?

Just looking at the road traffic will tell you that life had returned almost to normal by Aug 2021, with the consequent increase in opportunity for the virus to spread, etc.

And what point are you trying to make anyway, that masks cause Covid?

Have you done any reading up about masks, with an open mind? Even without reading up on it, common sense will suggest that people wearing masks will emit less of the droplets that carry respiratory viruses, and so reduce the transmission somewhat!! I find it difficult to understand how people can argue that masks don't help somewhat to reduce transmission. Just breath against a cold window, with, and without, a mask and see the difference!!

This is an emotional response.

It has been quantified in the studies cited on the thread from Australia, Bangladesh, Arizona and the effects are far from miniscule. Studies you have no coherent response to.

We got cases under control in August 2020 through unsustainable measures. Its laughable to present that as we dont need masks cos we had low cases coming out of lockdown which has been implied on this thread. Masks are a sustainable proven low cost measure for reducing cases / limiting case growth as other measures/capacity limits were ended.

'Covid theatre' shows just how anti-science and anti-intellectual a place your posts are coming from. They have been recommended by every major health authority in the world.

The studies I've seen fail to put numbers to it. They go like between 0.3% and 6.3% decrease. You guys read that as 6.3%. I read that as 0.3% aka haha.

Can we put a number to modest or far from minuscule? What number are the mask advocates here willing to put their name to? How much do you think masks help? Genuine question.

Also define sustainable please. I read sustainable as happy enough to live with permanently or semi-permanently. It is far from that IMO.

I don't have time to go into it in detail now, but a quick Google gives the following ...

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210907/masks-limit-covid-spread-study - study from Bangladesh concluding 9% reduction in cases - also discussed here https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02457-y

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-what-does-the-science-actually-say-about-face-masks-12349337 This Sky news article form July 2021 claims much higher reductions, up to 70% !!!

https://theconversation.com/evidence-shows-that-yes-masks-prevent-covid-19-and-surgical-masks-are-the-way-to-go-167963 citing many studies

The point of my post was not to ridicule. The point of it was pointing out that comparing two schools the way it was done means as much as my two reference points do.

If people meeting up in their homes are 'horrendous amounts of sessions' to you we're just on a different planet altogether I think.

Ridiculous, not comparing like with like. The private school will be kids with well off, well educated parents, probably all able to work from home. Of course the infection rate will be lower than in a public school where parents jobs mean that they have to mix with more people. Class sizes, size and ventilation of buildings, school buses versus private cars - money explains the disparity.

Haha, oops my bad 😂

Lucky rich kids kids then, didn’t have to wear masks all day. I’m sure they didn’t suffer too badly with the mild sniffles.

Every major health authority in the world recommends masks and are satisfied of their practical value as an effective measure to reduces cases and transmission. This is not a political opinion.

These are the scientific experts, and this is based on multiple avenues of evidence:

* Lab studies establishing a plausible mechanism of action

* Contract tracing of real world examples for masked v unmasked infectious cases

* Comparitive epidemiological studies of mask use in the real world by ordinary people in different settings (Arizona schools, Bangladeshi villages, Australian cities)

This is science in action. Examples of all of the above have been cited on the thread.

You talk about opinion and political views and signalling, but that is all you have engaged in along with throwing up smokescreens.

Are we to conclude that you are right and all the major health authorities in the world are wrong, and what do you back it up with? Nothing.

Your view of masks is wrong, and it appears to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding or miscomprehension of what science is if you think the recommendation for masks is not grounded in science and is a good\bad political opinion.

You should see my face boy! ;)