Yeah both of them need to take a page from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s book. New Mexico still has a reasonably low rate but it’s rising and she has halted all phases of reopening back to Phase 1 and is threatening to go all the way back to shelter in place.
She’s right.
Wow - where have you been. In MA, since patients entering hospitals with active respiratory disease were given masks and health care providers wore masks and a face shield, the number of documented transmissions of covid-19 via close contact in confined spaces for prolonged periods of time dropped to near zero. They do work - you are incorrect.
That is my understanding, in no uncertain terms.
What is it with people that they are fighting this so hard and have made it a political issue where it is not one?
I’m obviously not a libertarian and you admit the problem, no top to bottom consistent public health message and education. Frustration and fear are understandable – hell, I’m in my 70’s – but are not a good justification for a public health policy. I suggest for a more complete, nuanced view, including the mask issue, check out Dr. Michael Osterholm’s July1 podcast (or transcript). He’s the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and literally one of the very top public health experts/leaders in the world. I don’t know if links are allowed here, but if it doesn’t come through check their website: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/episode-14 (masks are discussed starting at 46:35 or p. 13 of the transcript).
There is no time or room for a lot of nuance. And the mask requirement is clear - they work.
This virus is transmitted in the air. Either by droplets or it aerosolizes. They won’t say if it aerosolizes but they do say absolutely that droplets out of our mouths and noses contain the infection and spread it. You are wrong to continue to insist otherwise.
Why don’t you want to wear a mask? What is wrong with taking a precaution that saves lives? Do you stop at stopsigns, wear seat belts and believe the experts on smoking?
I think the best question is this:
What is a good, compelling reason to not wear a mask?
So, is what it looks like when a politician has gotten so far out on the wrong side of a (literally!) life and death issue that he’s desperately trying to claw his way back before falling off of the cliff?
I saw a piece yesterday that said, if Abbott were up for re-election this year, he’d probably be facing a couple of GOP challengers because of the way he’s vacillated on how to handle the pandemic.
I’m sure it was an accident but your credentials and the list of articles that support your views seemed to have been omitted.
And before you tell me to Google it, I’ll point out that as these are your claims the responsibility to support them is yours.
ETA: I see you’ve added one link. That’s a good start.
It was the same shit with seat belts
There is a subset of human that demands the right to be deliberately stupid. These are the same folk who will willingly hold an M-80 in their hand to see if it hurts when it goes BOOM!. I knew a kid who severely damaged his hand for life doing exactly that for that reason.
Well the GOP who might go against him already are suing him for trying to impose any orders at all about the pandemic. They were against the shutdowns, masks, good hygiene. They won’t be a good alternative.
We know, we just don’t have their flair for exposing hypocritical Texas Republican insanity in one or 2 pithy sentences.
Right now, that’s a false choice. You need to shut down everything to get case levels low enough to where wearing masks (plus aggressive testing, tracing and isolating) will work.
A mask mandate at the moment is like trying to fight a wildfire with a fire extinguisher. It only works if the fire is small enough.
A mask mandate now is still a good idea. It has been shown empirically to cut R0 substantially. And in places like Texas every little bit will help people not die or be permanently disabled. You’re right that it works best in conjunction with more serious measures, but since we don’t have those measures, we do what we can.
I don’t agree. I agree that things need to shut back down but if they aren’t going to then at the very least masks will save I have read up to 30,000 lives.
Don’t get me wrong, mask mandates are necessary and saving as many lives as possible absolutely correct.
However, the only way Texas avoids mass casualties is if you change the focus from masks to shutdowns. If the State government won’t do, then you need to focus on local city/county and even voluntary shutdowns by businesses.
Well of course I agree with that. We shouldn’t have opened and Abbott was told by local authorities that he doesn’t like because they are Democrats and he is making this political like the rest of the GOP.
I couldn’t agree more and schools should stay the fuck closed until 2021, too.
By gawd it’s my right to infect anybody stupid enough to get within 6 feet of me!
Should be dead by now then.