Coronavirus

Joebot wrote: If you're jogging or biking, I can understand not wearing a mask. It's just too hard to breathe when you're exercising. But a walk?

I got into an (online) argument with some of my more progressive local friends about exercising in a mask. I tried running with a mask on, and had trouble drawing enough oxygen, even after adjusting the mask to allow more air in from the sides. They insisted that the mask shouldn't have affected me like that at all. They don't know what they're talking about it, and the breathability gets worse once the mask gets soaked with sweat. It doesn't really matter because I only go running after 10:00 PM, when everybody else in my neighborhood is home and watching tv, so I don't wear a mask while running anymore.

Here in Houston, masks are still mandatory. I know there are some exceptions, but I can't remember what they are.
I don't wear a mask while running through my neighborhood, and the few people I encounter (also running or walking dogs) don't either.
BUT, when I went to the arboretum for a nature hike, people had masks. Usually they weren't wearing them, but as soon as we came upon one another on the trails, the masks went on. That was refreshing to see.

In our town it's mandatory mask inside always, mandatory mask outside when six feet can't be maintained (eg downtown, crowded sidewalks). I'm fine with that, outdoor conditions seems to be a major virus deterrent in most studies. I do wear it all the time on campus to try to set an example for students.

Wear the mask around your neck and use it if you are getting close to people.
You don’t need to wear a mask if you are outside and not around others.

Shellhead wrote:

Joebot wrote: If you're jogging or biking, I can understand not wearing a mask. It's just too hard to breathe when you're exercising. But a walk?

I got into an (online) argument with some of my more progressive local friends about exercising in a mask. I tried running with a mask on, and had trouble drawing enough oxygen, even after adjusting the mask to allow more air in from the sides. They insisted that the mask shouldn't have affected me like that at all. They don't know what they're talking about it, and the breathability gets worse once the mask gets soaked with sweat. It doesn't really matter because I only go running after 10:00 PM, when everybody else in my neighborhood is home and watching tv, so I don't wear a mask while running anymore.

Shellhead wrote: I got into an (online) argument with some of my more progressive local friends about exercising in a mask. I tried running with a mask on, and had trouble drawing enough oxygen, even after adjusting the mask to allow more air in from the sides. They insisted that the mask shouldn't have affected me like that at all. They don't know what they're talking about it, and the breathability gets worse once the mask gets soaked with sweat. It doesn't really matter because I only go running after 10:00 PM, when everybody else in my neighborhood is home and watching tv, so I don't wear a mask while running anymore.

My understanding is that "the dose is the poison", meaning that it is the duration of exposure and the concentration of what someone is exposed to that determines whether they catch the virus. Adding a bit of extra caution to that idea, it seems to me, would clear someone to jog maskless if they can keep 6 feet away from pedestrians by circling around them. I always stand aside to give a jogger space when I am out strolling about.

Those exercise masks with the fancy valves are banned from my workplace, they are totally useless. Bananas and gaiters are worse then useless apparently. The only masks with documented efficacy are (surprise) actual medical grade gear or stuff so thick anything other than short conversations and a slow walk are possible.

Heck, just a few short months ago wearing a mask AT ALL was still under considerable debate for these types of viral infections ( www.wired.com/story/the-face-mask-debate...fic-double-standard/ )

So I don't hate on folks who don't mask provided they keep some distance (particularly indoors) and don't touch my stuff. These fashion masks most folks are wearing have no proven effect as far as I'm concerned (though I wear them all the time).

Masks to protect YOU suitably should be medical grade and you'd be better off with a face shield to boot. to protect OTHERS, pretty much everything is a good bet except for the ones with the little vent--it's there to expel your exhalations, kind of missing the point, and maybe the spandex gaiters, but man there has been a lot of noise about this. I still lean towards probably better than 0. But a mask you can see through when in use? That's garbage. I think of lot of the gaiters end up like this, maybe that's the issue.

I don't like seeing people not wearing masks, if only because it's them basically saying, "I don't care if I get you sick." Like smokers blowing it in your face. It's rude, and unnecessary. By the way, smoking/vaping are good analogies for aerosol transmission. If you can smell someone smoking, you are smelling the little particles they blew out of their lungs. A good metric to use at restaurants, lines, and so forth when you'd be around someone for a spell.

Upper midwest has been seeing a recent rise in cases because of South Dakota. First, there was Sturgis, an annual week-long motorcycle rally. The town of Sturgis normally has a population of 7,000, but this year over 350,000 showed up for the rally. Most did not wear masks, and the crowd made social distancing impossible. Now cases are spiking in both Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota, and Iowa. Even Colorado has traced 20 cases of COVID-19 back to Sturgis, not that anybody would call Colorado part of the Midwest. South Dakota will also stage their annual state fair this weekend, and that will likely prove to be another super-spreader event. It wouldn't normally draw a lot of attendance from adjacent states, but might this year because the other state fairs in this region were cancelled.

ubarose wrote: Our county has had 76 new cases in the past 14 days. All UCONN students, except for 2 who were UCONN faculty. An entire dorm was put under quarantine before classes even started.

64 cases at my daughter's college (Missouri S and T) since they started two weeks ago. All but 2 are students.

I did my first mandatory saliva coronavirus test for work.

In case you do one of those, do not do anything that might dry your mouth out in the hour or two beforehand. You need a *lot* of spit. I was sitting there trying to work up more spit for the straw and my mouth was dry as hell.

24 hour turnaround which was great.

According to this piece of research running by yourself without other people should be fine. Also it depends on the breathability of the mask. I have a couple of old N95 masks and on hot days they are not pleasant.

www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3223

I've been deciding whether or not to go see Tenet in a distanced Imax theater, and I guess what convinced me to stay home was the possibility of hurting my family.

CranBerries wrote: According to this piece of research running by yourself without other people should be fine. Also it depends on the breathability of the mask. I have a couple of old N95 masks and on hot days they are not pleasant.

www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3223

I've been deciding whether or not to go see Tenet in a distanced Imax theater, and I guess what convinced me to stay home was the possibility of hurting my family.

What convinced me was the middling reviews, complaints about hard to understand dialogue, and a seemingly convoluted plot.

We're seeing a huge increase in Wisconsin. It's mostly in the 10-29 age group, so my assumption is its driven by students since there are a lot of schools with in-person classes.

In totally unrelated news I saw today, a nearby school district is noting that parents are being really smart about the pandemic by:

- Sending their sick with covid kid to school (kid was sick enough to go to the nurse's office where they found he had previously tested positive and was supposed to be quarantining at home)
- Refusing to test a kid w/ symptoms, and sending that kid's siblings to school
- Lying to contact tracers

So we got that going for us now.

This map confirms what Minnesotans have long suspected about the Upper Midwest: