Why mask mandates aren’t coming back even though covid is

Washington Post via MSN ^ | Dec 22, 2022 | Fenit Nirappil, Henry Rogers, Vanessa Kjeld

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Nearly every adult ICU bed in Oregon is occupied, driven by an uptick in respiratory viruses. Portland-area hospitals are operating at a “crisis” level for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The dire picture has prompted state health officials to implore people to slap their masks on, once again, to protect against a triple threat of covid, flu and RSV as people travel and gather indoors this holiday season.

But like nearly every community confronting a third pandemic winter, the entreaty is just that — a plea. Not a mandate. Health officials in a state that was among the last to end an indoor mask requirement in March now characterize mandates as a distraction. Instead, they are counting on Americans to voluntarily don one of the most effective tools for avoiding sickness.....

Only 3 in 10 Americans say they consistently wear masks when leaving the house, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll published in early December, the lowest rate since spring 2020. But 65 percent also said they would probably wear masks again if coronavirus cases rise in their communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has touted masks as one of the best ways to avoid respiratory illness but stopped short of advocating for mandates.....

Mandates should be tied to coronavirus hospitalizations rather than influenza and RSV because covid has a higher mortality rate, she said, noting that masking remains a prudent way to avoid respiratory infections.

[kearnyirish2]

One dynamic that may be supporting the narrative is that they are testing more - and with a virus that often requires testing to even indicate a person has it, that is sure to drive up numbers officially (that were always there but never officially tested).

I know a couple of people who visited the hospital for non-
COVID issues who were told they tested positive; no symptoms, no treatment, but another “positive case”.

[Twotone]

If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

[fr_freak]

Please explain how a mask stops a microscopic virus that is 100 times smaller than the mask filters?

More importantly, why would these "authorities" mandate or "encourage" mask wearing without also putting out detailed instructions on how to wear them correctly? The number of people out there thinking masks will protect them, but then wear the same mask for hours, for multiple days, often without washing them, and touch their masks constantly, is staggering. These so-called experts MUST know that wearing a mask that way INCREASES your risk of every kind of respiratory infection, but they say nothing about it. Yet another clue that it's not about health.

[bray]

Wearing a mask with a beard is the worst.

[GunRunner]

all the Currys

This is the one group, even in Texas, that still masks frequently, even outdoors. I guess it’s a cultural thing of some sort, but why, I can’t imagine. I know India is a matriarchal civilization, and women drive most of this mask and COVID panic crap, so maybe that’s it.

[matt04]

That’s an interesting observation.

[The Duke]

If anyone again ever asks me to don a mask my response is going to be .. “Sorry, I’m not a Democrat”.

[newfreep]

The WaPo pushing the magic mask again.

You misspelled WaPoo...

[mewzilla]

And in a hospital setting, I’m betting that most if the people who are in there with CoupFlu didn’t come in with it, that the patients’ infections are nosocomial, and that vaxxed superspreader healthcare workers are the ones giving it to the patients.

[rlmorel]

Possibly. I am angrier about this kind of thing than you or anyone else could ever dream of being.