BA.5 Variant, the worst version of Omicron, is vaccine evasiive and surging across the country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Masks are over. No one normal is going back to masking. Luckily you can choose for your self

I never stopped wearing a mask and I never got Covid. Same with my fam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are over. No one normal is going back to masking. Luckily you can choose for your self

I never stopped wearing a mask and I never got Covid. Same with my fam.

DP. I stopped wearing a mask over a year ago, and am living totally normally, I've also never had covid.

[Anonymous]

The masked should just leave the unmasked alone, and the unmasked should just leave the masked alone.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:New Yorkers have been asked to wear high quality masks both indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces. The BA.5 variant is extremely transmissible. It is also vaccine evasive. And as this variant surges across the country, hospitalizations are rising.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/cdc-covid-guidelines-isolation-nyc-risk-infection-omicron-variant-ba5/3766416/

Not gonna lie, we when better off when Trump was president and his opponents were yelling "science, science, science!" Now, no one wants to be responsible for the already F'd up economy but simply giving some basic protocol to minimize spread. We are in "fend for yourself" mode.

They probably should mandate masks again. I did it very happily when it was mandated but when I don’t have to, I like can’t (won’t) make myself. It feels like a burden when it isn’t mandated! I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I will wear it everywhere with perfect adherence … if I have to. But if I don’t have to, I’m not individually gonna make myself. Because masks do kinda suck all day long.

Masks aren't effective against the variants.
Maybe a smidge better then doing nothing.

I dont’t believe that to be true - at all.

Mask mandates are not effective in preventing viral spread. On an individual basis, masks can prevent infection. No one's wearing a mask 24-7, which is why the mandates won't work. People are still going to socialize, eat in the company of others, have parties, go to weddings, take naps at daycare, meet randos for sex, etc. You can't shut down socializing permanently and yes, having faces exposed is actually important for socializing.

Masks help control spread full stop:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johndrake/2022/02/04/the-real-world-effectiveness-of-face-masks-against-covid-19/amp/

“Statistical analysis showed that the odds of infection were about half for people who reported wearing a mask in public compared with people who didn’t. (Results of this study are reported in terms of “odds ratios” which are related to relative risk, but not quite the same thing.) For people who wore masks “all of the time” (instead of “some of the time” or “most of the time”) the estimated effect was even more significant.”

Mask mandates =/= masking. Pay attention to language.

People who are motivated to wear good masks properly (for whatever reason) should do so.

Mandates = requiring people who don’t want to wear masks or who suck at wearing masks (children) wear masks = ineffective.

You missed it— I was responding to a poster who wrote “masks don’t work”. Nothing about mandates. Always best to clear up misinformation, don’t you think.

Ah, it appeared that you were repsonding to the quote directly before your’s, which was about mask mandates, not the earlier statement,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New Yorkers have been asked to wear high quality masks both indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces. The BA.5 variant is extremely transmissible. It is also vaccine evasive. And as this variant surges across the country, hospitalizations are rising.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/cdc-covid-guidelines-isolation-nyc-risk-infection-omicron-variant-ba5/3766416/

Not gonna lie, we when better off when Trump was president and his opponents were yelling "science, science, science!" Now, no one wants to be responsible for the already F'd up economy but simply giving some basic protocol to minimize spread. We are in "fend for yourself" mode.

They probably should mandate masks again. I did it very happily when it was mandated but when I don’t have to, I like can’t (won’t) make myself. It feels like a burden when it isn’t mandated! I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I will wear it everywhere with perfect adherence … if I have to. But if I don’t have to, I’m not individually gonna make myself. Because masks do kinda suck all day long.

Masks aren't effective against the variants.
Maybe a smidge better then doing nothing.

I dont’t believe that to be true - at all.

Mask mandates are not effective in preventing viral spread. On an individual basis, masks can prevent infection. No one's wearing a mask 24-7, which is why the mandates won't work. People are still going to socialize, eat in the company of others, have parties, go to weddings, take naps at daycare, meet randos for sex, etc. You can't shut down socializing permanently and yes, having faces exposed is actually important for socializing.

Masks help control spread full stop:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johndrake/2022/02/04/the-real-world-effectiveness-of-face-masks-against-covid-19/amp/

“Statistical analysis showed that the odds of infection were about half for people who reported wearing a mask in public compared with people who didn’t. (Results of this study are reported in terms of “odds ratios” which are related to relative risk, but not quite the same thing.) For people who wore masks “all of the time” (instead of “some of the time” or “most of the time”) the estimated effect was even more significant.”

Mask mandates =/= masking. Pay attention to language.

People who are motivated to wear good masks properly (for whatever reason) should do so.

Mandates = requiring people who don’t want to wear masks or who suck at wearing masks (children) wear masks = ineffective.

+1. Plus how much transmission is in public spaces vs. family/friend gatherings where you are less likely to be wearing a mask? There's still a heck of a lot of masking in the stores in MoCo yet the current rates aren't all that different than other places I've been this summer with very little mask usage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New Yorkers have been asked to wear high quality masks both indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces. The BA.5 variant is extremely transmissible. It is also vaccine evasive. And as this variant surges across the country, hospitalizations are rising.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/cdc-covid-guidelines-isolation-nyc-risk-infection-omicron-variant-ba5/3766416/

Not gonna lie, we when better off when Trump was president and his opponents were yelling "science, science, science!" Now, no one wants to be responsible for the already F'd up economy but simply giving some basic protocol to minimize spread. We are in "fend for yourself" mode.

They probably should mandate masks again. I did it very happily when it was mandated but when I don’t have to, I like can’t (won’t) make myself. It feels like a burden when it isn’t mandated! I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I will wear it everywhere with perfect adherence … if I have to. But if I don’t have to, I’m not individually gonna make myself. Because masks do kinda suck all day long.

It shouldn't need to be mandated. Be a decent person and wear one.

NP but it’s funny you claim a decent person would wear a mask. I’ve never had Covid therefore I’ve never spread Covid to someone else. Doesn’t that make me decent? Have you had Covid and given it to someone else? If so I’d say by your measure you’re less decent than I am.

I never had COVID before last week either, but I got infected along with my family and many others that we know who are now getting it for the first time. Be careful. You may think you’re lucky but this variant is no joke. I wish I had gotten an earlier variant because I probably would have been a lot less sick.

Why do you think that? DH and I just had Covid, as did my 70yo parents and a few other family members, and we hall pretty much had a cold- some worse than others and not pleasant by any means but nothing terrible. My SIL and sister who had it last summer/fall (likely Delta for one and Omicron for the other) seemed to have it much worse, and both lost their sense of taste/small. The one who had delta says that is still not back to "normal." The taste/smell thing seems to have gone away with this variant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks are over. No one normal is going back to masking. Luckily you can choose for your self

I never stopped wearing a mask and I never got Covid. Same with my fam.

On the flip side, I know a couple families who never stopped masking or taking precautions and are now collectively losing their minds on social media posts that they did everything right and missed soooo much and still got Covid.

[Anonymous]

People who don't take measures to prevent Covid should think about the long term health problems many people have after Covid. Even if you get through Covid, it may not be though with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who don't take measures to prevent Covid should think about the long term health problems many people have after Covid. Even if you get through Covid, it may not be though with you.

Our family's goal was not to never get Covid, but delay as long as possible, preferably until our kids could be vaccinated. Some of that was luck because DH has always worked in person and mask mandates went away at his workplace a while ago. Plenty of his colleagues got it previously but we ended up getting it from a family event- ha! Anyway, the amount of effort it would take to completely avoid covid (e.g., quitting a good job just because it was in-person, not sending kids to school, never seeing family/friends) isn't worth it. Despite you saying "many" people have longterm problems, I don't know any personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who don't take measures to prevent Covid should think about the long term health problems many people have after Covid. Even if you get through Covid, it may not be though with you.

I have thought about it and have decided what is most important to me is that my children have a normal childhood and that I live a life where I see my friends and family. So those are the risks we've taken. Feel good about my choices and also respect other people's choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who don't take measures to prevent Covid should think about the long term health problems many people have after Covid. Even if you get through Covid, it may not be though with you.

I have thought about it and have decided what is most important to me is that my children have a normal childhood and that I live a life where I see my friends and family. So those are the risks we've taken. Feel good about my choices and also respect other people's choices.

+1

I decided this about a year ago and am very confident in my decision. My family is both physically and mentally healthy after some struggles in 2020. I’m fine with others choosing to still take precautions, my immediate family and extended family are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who don't take measures to prevent Covid should think about the long term health problems many people have after Covid. Even if you get through Covid, it may not be though with you.

I have thought about it and have decided what is most important to me is that my children have a normal childhood and that I live a life where I see my friends and family. So those are the risks we've taken. Feel good about my choices and also respect other people's choices.

+1

I decided this about a year ago and am very confident in my decision. My family is both physically and mentally healthy after some struggles in 2020. I’m fine with others choosing to still take precautions, my immediate family and extended family are not.

I am immunocompromised (chemo pt) and I applaud your rational thinking and common sense. I wear my KN95 when out and about and expect exactly no one to do the same. I don’t even expect my kids to! The mask whiners are really starting to get on my nerves.
Live your lives people. Life is too short.

[Anonymous]

Two and a half years in and I don’t see a huge difference in the frequency of infections among my mask wearing friends and my non mask wearing friends. On top of that, lots of people are reporting a slew of non Covid infections now that their immune systems are getting challenged again. I think the truth is that if we really wanted to prevent Covid, we’d be masking at home or with friends instead of the grocery store, but who would do that? I never thought I I would say this, but I don’t think makes sense anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two and a half years in and I don’t see a huge difference in the frequency of infections among my mask wearing friends and my non mask wearing friends. On top of that, lots of people are reporting a slew of non Covid infections now that their immune systems are getting challenged again. I think the truth is that if we really wanted to prevent Covid, we’d be masking at home or with friends instead of the grocery store, but who would do that? I never thought I I would say this, but I don’t think makes sense anymore.

We plan to send DD to public school masked AND we will have to mask at home because my husband has a blood disorder which makes him extremely high risk.

We will mask at home when she is home so she can catch a break from masking. HEPA filter and distancing, ventilation, etc. At night doors closed and HEPA unit in hallway between our bedrooms.

DD will lunch away from her peers so she can be unmasked to eat.

Our goal is no exposure at all. It will be hard, but may not be impossible. In our case its worth the effort because the risk to my husband from any form of covid is extreme. Im high risk from hypertension, but lack risk factors like heart issues or obesity. So I may just be elevated risk.

If we didnt have these risks, we would just mask in public settings and not at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two and a half years in and I don’t see a huge difference in the frequency of infections among my mask wearing friends and my non mask wearing friends. On top of that, lots of people are reporting a slew of non Covid infections now that their immune systems are getting challenged again. I think the truth is that if we really wanted to prevent Covid, we’d be masking at home or with friends instead of the grocery store, but who would do that? I never thought I I would say this, but I don’t think makes sense anymore.

We got Covid outside and don’t mask outside.