To be honest, when you see a few other countries over the new year being 'back to normal' you have to wonder where we in the U.S. went wrong? How did these other countries get it together and everyone wear their masks and beat their Covid-19 problem?
To be honest, you don't have to look all that far to figure it out and see that there's a very good reasons why masks aren't working here in America.
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First, We Have More To Worry About
New Covid variants are starting to show up, which is actually quite normal for a virus - to mutate, to ensure its ongoing existence. What we've seen to date though, is how here in the United States, the massive resurgence of Covid19. But how is this happening?
People Want To Get Back To Normal
Some will call it stupid, others will say it's people being tired of being cooped up away from others and wanting businesses and other things to get back to normal. They want to get back to work. They want to support their local businesses again. Etc., etc. All of which, are good things.
I get that people want to get back to normal. So many people are missing their routines and friends. Look at the holiday travel we saw over the last few months. And then, look at the resurgence of Covid. People got their normal, but at a price.
The problem though, is that the people that are freely contracting Covid are usually not the ones who will suffer from it, but rather, become the 'Typhoid Mary' of this disease, passing it on to others and those, to more others, to even more, until someone dies.
When a person contracts this thing, (26 million in the U.S. so far) but then recovers, for many their personal experience and opinion is that it's not as bad as they all say. I get their perception, as they go on with their lives, extolling the over-hype of Covid19. But they, plus those who want to believe them become the new Typhoid Mary's of our era. (not quite that bad but...)
So no one thinks it's that bad and more become anti-maskers. Except for the friends and families of the 433,000 who have already died because of it in the U.S..
Per The National Center for Biotechnology Information
Typhoid Mary: Mary Mallon was born in 1869 in Ireland and emigrated to the US in 1884. She had worked in a variety of domestic positions for wealthy families prior to settling into her career as a cook. As a healthy carrier of Salmonella typhi her nickname of “Typhoid Mary” had become synonymous with the spread of disease, as many were infected due to her denial of being ill.
No matter how we feel about it, we have to behave as if we have or could contract it, and help kill this thing off.
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Why Masks Are Seemingly Not Working
With the new and potentially more dangerous variants coming out of the woodwork, we're being urged to wear our masks and to even double up our masks. And I'm all for this personally!!!
But some people are saying that masks don't work. People are pointing to how all the countermeasures aren't working. But the real issue that confuse this failure point is that people are either not wearing masks, or not wearing them when they need to.
Case in point:
-On the AVTA Commuter bus system in Southern CA. One driver never wears her mask. Riders that get on the bus will take their masks off to talk with each other or eat. SMH. There's very little enforcement onboard. I have to cover my own a** to stay safe.
-People go into businesses that don't allow entry without a mask. But then people pull them down once they're inside or the management does not enforce the signs.
-There are the folks that say they're taking great precautions and then hang out with friends in groups of maskless gatherings. But I have to ask: What are their 'great precautions,' because from what I see sometimes, chin diapering and other flaws to how they wear their masks are not very effective.
If nothing else, because I'm quite worried about my health, I am learning to not trust other people. Period.
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California Is Opening Back Up... PROTECT YOURSELVES
California is opening back up and allowing businesses to get back to making money, because $$$ is the bottom line to many things. Yet at one point, as the disease started re-surging, a common denominator to the newly sick people were that they ate at a restaurant.
The studies from three different countries weren't seeing outdoor dining, but they were pointing out a fascinating correlation, not blaming outdoor dining and family gatherings. (AKA, "great precautions" that seemed to fail somewhere.)
As far as outdoor dining goes, here's food for thought:
You sit under an outdoor tent, clustered with a bunch of other people. If you are not in the utmost upwind position of everyone, then you are in everyone else's downwind exhale zones.
They've seen where now, 6-foot separation is not enough at times, as they've recorded where people 20 feet apart still contracted the disease. In the early months of this Covid era, it was noted how people in one side of a restaurant could get someone seated at the opposite, far end of the interior, sick. Albeit, it takes an amazing amount of bad luck, but it's possible.
How lucky are you feeling?
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The Common Coronavirus
You know that incurable malady called the common cold? There are four strains of Coronavirus that feel and act just like the common cold. But where I'm going with this isn't that fun fact, but I reflect back on how when someone you know gets a cold, then shows up at work, declaring, "I am not contagious now," or some other such silliness.
Since when have most of my friends become scientists and medical experts on such things? Let's keep this in mind when people tell you silliness like the above:
Cedars Sinai says:
"You're generally contagious with a cold 1-2 days before your symptoms start, and you could be contagious as long as your symptoms are present—in rare cases, up to 2 weeks."
As with a cold, Covid-19 has it's contagious-factor timing:
Harvard's School of Health says:
"A person with COVID-19 may be contagious 48 to 72 hours before starting to experience symptoms. In fact, people without symptoms may be more likely to spread the illness, because they are unlikely to be isolating and may not adopt behaviors designed to prevent spread."
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It's Up To You
...To Keep You, Your Friends and Family Safe
How do we catch this thing?
The CDC says:
"It spreads through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes.These particles can be inhaled into the nose, mouth, airways, and lungs and cause infection. This is thought to be the main way the virus spreads.Droplets can also land on surfaces and objects and be transferred by touch. A person may get COVID-19 by touching the surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes. Spread from touching surfaces is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."
It's all up to you to make smart decisions about keeping safe. Sure, the vaccine is getting out there, but that won't be the end all of this, not quite yet. We have to be vigilant.
Sure... masks can be annoying. Even though right now, during the winter time, they're kind of nice to have. But if I see a business welcoming unmasked people or blatantly not enforcing mask policies, I won't frequent them. Some say we're shaming places when we call them out, but it's information that's good to know. Considering there have been Covid surges in essential worker populations of late, I think it's very good information to know.
Wash Your Hands
Healthline says:
Did you know that people touch their face up to 16 times an hour!
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Only Trust Yourself
I've stopped trusting people. I've seen folks come into a building, and cover their mouth with their hand saying, OH, my mask is in my desk! So I wonder then what kind of measures do they take outside of this building?
I don't even trust my own family outside of my home.
I look at it this way...
Who could I potentially kill if I catch this thing...
-I could die. And that looks like a truly ugly experience. Hell, I could even die in an ambulance sitting in a parking lot of a hospital due to overcrowding.
-I could give it to a friend or family member. They could die because of my carelessness.
-What I pass on could end up killing mine or a friend's revered family member like a mother/father, grandmother/father or what not. I may not know about it, it could happen and it would be on me, whether anyone would know it or not.
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So please, please be safe, take care of yourself and be part of the solution, not the problem.
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