Masks Revealed as the Political Symbol They Are (And Have Always Been)

[sophie]

The majority of mask wearers were non white. I am 100% certain exactly zero percent of them were making a political statement of any kind.

Huh, interesting. It's exactly the opposite here in NYC. Lots of people are walking around without masks in the beautiful spring weather, and it's wonderful to see. About 90% of the unmasked are black or Hispanic.

I also find it interesting that NYC's daily COVID hospitalization rate is exactly the same now as it was a year ago - when the mask mandates were freshly imposed and there was no vaccine. Last year, it continued to slowly drop through the summer, reaching a nadir of < 10 per day by the fall before starting to pick up again in November. Wonder what's going to happen this year?

[SomeDude]

For all you who play DnD or other d20 games, would you have your PC wear a ring even if it "only" gave you +1 (5%) to some saving throws?

(Assuming had nothing better of course).

I'll keep wearing mine inside / around crowds with strangers.

I have eaten outside at restaurants, so not totally isolating, but figure wearing a mask don't hurt and might help a little, covid and others.

I'll focus for the time being on getting germs from friends as soon as our schedules align

What if the ring gave you -6 charisma

[glennds]

Look at this idiot for example. I can’t be friends with him, I don’t know what team he’s on. Pick a side, idiot.

Just ask him who won the election.

[whatchamacallit]

For all you who play DnD or other d20 games, would you have your PC wear a ring even if it "only" gave you +1 (5%) to some saving throws?

(Assuming had nothing better of course).

I'll keep wearing mine inside / around crowds with strangers.

I have eaten outside at restaurants, so not totally isolating, but figure wearing a mask don't hurt and might help a little, covid and others.

I'll focus for the time being on getting germs from friends as soon as our schedules align

What if the ring gave you -6 charisma

Doesn't have any effect.
I am an ogre with lower limit to charisma already met.

[glennds]

I also find it interesting that NYC's daily COVID hospitalization rate is exactly the same now as it was a year ago - when the mask mandates were freshly imposed and there was no vaccine. Last year, it continued to slowly drop through the summer, reaching a nadir of < 10 per day by the fall before starting to pick up again in November. Wonder what's going to happen this year?

Where are you getting this information?
I wondered if what you're saying is accurate, so I went here: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/cov ... rends.page
It opens on cases, so you have to click on the hospitalizations tab.
It's a pretty nifty interactive chart, with a link to the underlying data. A year ago the seven day average for NYC hospitalizations was 125. The most updated data as of 5/14 shows 42, a drop of about 65%.
Nowhere on this chart does it fall as low as 10/day. Are you only referencing the hospital where you round?

[Dieter]

For all you who play DnD or other d20 games, would you have your PC wear a ring even if it "only" gave you +1 (5%) to some saving throws?

(Assuming had nothing better of course).

I'll keep wearing mine inside / around crowds with strangers.

I have eaten outside at restaurants, so not totally isolating, but figure wearing a mask don't hurt and might help a little, covid and others.

I'll focus for the time being on getting germs from friends as soon as our schedules align

What if the ring gave you -6 charisma

It's a situational charisma modifier (can be plus or minus) based on the creatures perception check.

Anyone with a -6 I probably wouldn't get along with socially anyways.

Edit: of course, as I understand it, masks still required indoors in California until June 15th, but no longer required (as of 5/3) outside for vaccinated people as long as it's not crowded / can keep socially distanced

[I Shrugged]

Look at this idiot for example. I can’t be friends with him, I don’t know what team he’s on. Pick a side, idiot.

Just ask him who won the election.

He said he’s waiting to hear the results of the Arizona audit, which appears to be a sham.

If the sham audit finds that Biden won the county, watch the progressives tout it.

[sophie]

Tucker Carlson is calling the desire to continue to wear masks despite the CDC's recommendation evidence of neurosis. Many of these people plan to wear masks indefinitely I guess, because COVID will always be with us and no vaccine is ever going to be 100% protective.

My sister & family are good examples. They still wear masks even at home. My niece is planning to take a CNA course near my mom's house, but won't stay with her because she knows my (vaccinated) mother won't wear a mask in the house - she's getting an Airbnb instead. But, that same family is planning to drive cross country next month (about 4000 miles there and back) - and they're not the slightest bit concerned about risk.

Maybe this does qualify as a neurosis (my preferred term is "COVID hysteria"), on the other hand think of how the narrative that all COVID is dangerous, you will almost certainly die or be permanently disabled if you catch it, the vaccines aren't 100% protective which still translates to unacceptable risk, and masks are 100% protective have been drummed into people's skulls for the past year. So more like a hysteria reaction to a prolonged episode of brainwashing, which doesn't require a pre-existing psychiatric condition.

[barrett]

I also find it interesting that NYC's daily COVID hospitalization rate is exactly the same now as it was a year ago - when the mask mandates were freshly imposed and there was no vaccine. Last year, it continued to slowly drop through the summer, reaching a nadir of < 10 per day by the fall before starting to pick up again in November. Wonder what's going to happen this year?

Where are you getting this information?
I wondered if what you're saying is accurate, so I went here: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/cov ... rends.page
It opens on cases, so you have to click on the hospitalizations tab.
It's a pretty nifty interactive chart, with a link to the underlying data. A year ago the seven day average for NYC hospitalizations was 125. The most updated data as of 5/14 shows 42, a drop of about 65%.
Nowhere on this chart does it fall as low as 10/day. Are you only referencing the hospital where you round?

It also appears that both death rates and hospitalizations are at least a month "ahead" of 2020. Of course a lot of that might be attributable to the susceptible population getting hit so hard the first time around.

[sophie]

Where are YOU getting your data from?

I went to this webpage (you have to click on "trends" to get to this):

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/cov ... rends.page

Then click on "hospitalizations" which is the most reliable statistic to use. "Cases" is completely dependent on extent of testing so I don't bother with that.

You can't use the most recent date because data tends to be artificially low. You have to go back 2 weeks before you lose the effect of reporting lags and averaging.

In early May 2020, hospitalizations were still dropping rapidly from the big surge in March, going from 314 on May 1 to 102 on May 10. From there, hospitalizations gradually dropped .. you're right on that, #s were in the range of 20s to 30s with deaths in the single digits between June and October.

Daily hospitalizations for early May 2021 also show a downward trend, from about 100 at the end of April to 60 by May 10.

In a city of 8 million, I regard these numbers as roughly similar. And with the same trends. My point was that masks were introduced in one of these scenarios and lifted in another. How can both of those decisions be justified?

[glennds]

Where are YOU getting your data from?

I went to this webpage (you have to click on "trends" to get to this):

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/cov ... rends.page

Then click on "hospitalizations" which is the most reliable statistic to use. "Cases" is completely dependent on extent of testing so I don't bother with that.

You can't use the most recent date because data tends to be artificially low. You have to go back 2 weeks before you lose the effect of reporting lags and averaging.

In early May 2020, hospitalizations were still dropping rapidly from the big surge in March, going from 314 on May 1 to 102 on May 10. From there, hospitalizations gradually dropped .. you're right on that, #s were in the range of 20s to 30s with deaths in the single digits between June and October.

Daily hospitalizations for early May 2021 also show a downward trend, from about 100 at the end of April to 60 by May 10.

In a city of 8 million, I regard these numbers as roughly similar. And with the same trends. My point was that masks were introduced in one of these scenarios and lifted in another. How can both of those decisions be justified?

Sophie,
Thank you for going to the very same website that I cited. Glad we're operating off the same data.

Look, I took you seriously when you asserted two things in your earlier post (1) that NYC hospitalizations in May 2021 are "exactly" the same as they were a year earlier and that (2) cases then dropped in the summer to <10 ..... and by extension (3) that masks and vaccines have had little impact.

So I did the work to check the data and learned that your facts are completely incorrect. The hospitalizations have dropped by 65% (far from exactly the same and not even close to being roughly similar in percentage terms), the level of hospitalizations never shows <10, and most importantly, there is no basis whatsoever for suggesting that this improving trend has not been influenced, at least in part, by masks and vaccines. In fact, the improving trend and the introduction of the vaccines is precisely the reasoning behind loosening mask guidelines.

Because you hold yourself out as a doctor and a person of science what you write, even if completely erroneous, is influential. It's your right to question the government's decisions, and form whatever opinions you want, but broadcasting these opinions on a basis of incorrect facts is not helpful to your fellow readers.