Masks no longer required in medical settings - Page 3

Comparing hindsight v the current attitude:

Do "we" remember the plastic gloves & sanitizers. Cleaning our car interior & carefully wiping our shopping trolleys. Salt & pepper pots in restaurants being replaced with individual sachets? Do we remember being advised to avoid hand-shakes & kisses, door handles out & at home, ash trays in bars, & wiping of the tables. 

During that time, do we remember in bars, clients with their mascarillas strung around their neck, elbows,wrists or placed on an adjoining bar table whilst they spoke, drank or exhaled into our faces, (2 mtrs apart) drinks & aforementioned masks & then dutifully replacing their masks, to inhale the results on their way home. Do we remember the discarded plastic gloves blowing down the road? (now blue monkey-masks still litter the floor).

In all, the sanitizer companies now, much have had a glut. One of the only differences seem to be the lack of ashtrays. The human race seems to have endured through all the "expert" covid advice. (so far).

V

I also wore a mask throughout the required period and whilst I don't generally do so now, I would happily comply with the ongoing requirement to wear one should I visit any vulnerable people - not for my sake, but for theirs.  

What I won't be doing is suggesting that anyone who contracted or died of Covid-19 succumbed because they were, "mainly unfit from lifestyle choices or infirm from a long life,many burning candles at both ends, who succumbed to illnesses of all descriptions,most avoidable," (sic).  Where is the evidence of your sweeping generalisations and judgemental comments?

I wasn't "fooled" then or now, I simply prefer to have respect for others.

Hi V2,

"The human race seems to have endured through all the "expert" covid advice. (so far)."  

That's the problem with sweeping generalisations: say that to the families of the 6,948,764 people in the World who have died (so far) of Covid-19 and it sounds callous.  No different to the people who constantly whinge about having to wear face masks and denying their efficacy, yet cannot provide any proof.  If they end up hospitalised with Covid-19, do you think they'll be telling the doctors and nurses trying to save their lives not to bother with masks?

Yes, I do remember sanitising the contents of our shopping bags, when Covid-19 was first identified in Europe in early 2020, but I also remember stopping once experts had demonstrated that the likelihood of catching the virus from hard surfaces was very low.  That's the evolving nature of a novel virus.

And yes, I do remember "clients with their mascarillas strung around their neck, wrists or placed on an adjoining bar table whilst they spoke", but that's because they were too stupid, or selfish, to wear them as they were designed.  

The World's knowledge of Covid-19, the reasons why some people are more susceptible to it than others, why some die, why some recover, why some are enduring the effects of Long Covid, will be studied for years to come.  The results will continue to inform treatments and therapies and, hopefully, one day, the experts will achieve a breakthrough, irradicating it entirely, as they did with, for example, Polio.  In the meantime, I'm happy to follow the advice and requirements, because I know the experts know more about it than me.  Unfortunately, I think their biggest battle will be against the social media brigade, who can't read beyond the headlines of click-bait, reporting it parrot-fashion without question, because they don't give a damn, so long as it supports their selfish needs.

Kind regards,

Kim

Hi K2.

I thank you for your lengthy response & your statistical death rates during this mutating virus). I do not dispute.

To compare eg: poliio virus: if one contracts polio, (normally via faeces of someone with the infection, or with the droplets launched into the air), masks were never considered as a solution [This disease was thought to be all but eradicated (99.9%) but due to disruptions and with anti-vaccine sentiment spreading across the world, the virus is making a big comeback (May, 2022).].

But,  talking vaccines aside, we were considering about variant airbourneAerosol mask-wearing mutating viruses, (ie:common cold, influenza, sars/covid etc. which as you already know is impossible to eradicate ). In other words. regarding "Masks no longer required in medical settings" 

You quoted WHO results You stated ["February 2023,"] I could only find,]["Last updated December 2021"].https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-firm-masks-strategy-against-covid-19/

In January 2023, Archie Cochrane published a comprehensive analysis of 78 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in several countries over a period of time, including six RCTs conducted during COVID-19 pandemic, concluded that wearing face masks “makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID-19 like illness compared to not wearing masks”. 

Although the WHO still stands by it´s original statements although that mask wearing seems to be being "enforceably"  abandoned, as we see, regarding the uncertainty about the effects of face masks, read:. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-firm-masks-strategy-against-covid-19/

With regards V

Don't give a monkey's, no colds, flu etc since the beginning, we will still use ours in Dodgy places!

WHO statement url  above, main word is "Appropriate"

Hi V2,

"To compare eg: poliio virus: if one contracts polio, (normally via faeces of someone with the infection, or with the droplets launched into the air), masks were never considered as a solution [This disease was thought to be all but eradicated (99.9%) but due to disruptions and with anti-vaccine sentiment spreading across the world, the virus is making a big comeback (May, 2022).]"

My comparison was simply about a novel virus in its early evolution, versus a much better established virus that was eventually eradicated (UK in 1984 and Europe in 2003).  And yes, cases of Polio are on the rise, but as your comment concedes, vaccines can't work in people who refuse to have them.

"But,  talking vaccines aside, we were considering about variant airbourneAerosol mask-wearing mutating viruses, (ie:common cold, influenza, sars/covid etc. which as you already know is impossible to eradicate ). In other words. regarding "Masks no longer required in medical settings" 

You quoted WHO results You stated ["February 2023,"] I could only find,]["Last updated December 2021"].https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-firm-masks-strategy-against-covid-19/

In January 2023, Archie Cochrane published a comprehensive analysis of 78 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in several countries over a period of time, including six RCTs conducted during COVID-19 pandemic, concluded that wearing face masks “makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID-19 like illness compared to not wearing masks”. 

Although the WHO still stands by it´s original statements although that mask wearing seems to be being "enforceably" abandoned, as we see, regarding the uncertainty about the effects of face masks, read:. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-firm-masks-strategy-against-covid-19/"

Cochrane Reviews are generally highly respected.  However, the particular review that you have quoted has been subject to criticism from around the World - not for the process itself, but because of the misleading conclusions drawn by its researchers:

"...some experts objected to some of the language the authors used to summarize their results and took issue with certain decisions and interpretations of the review.  All agreed that it was incorrect to conclude that the review shows masks “don’t work.”

https://www.factcheck.org/2023/03/scicheck-what-the-cochrane-review-says-about-masks-for-covid-19-and-what-it-doesnt/

Personally, I do not believe that the efficacy, or not, of masks has led to the decision to lift compulsory wearing.  I believe that, as humans, it's very important for us to be able to see each other's faces when we communicate.  That's not to say that we can't communicate when wearing masks, but we may miss the social cues that come from non-verbal facial expressions, so our natural preference is not to wear them.  In so far as the science is concerned, I think the best we can say at the moment is that further research is needed, but like vaccines, masks won't work if people have them strung under their chin or hanging off their wrist.  Unfortunately, if Government scientists need to recommend mandatory wearing of masks again, there will always be people who think they're above the law.

Kind regards,

Kim