General Info

[Soapy Smith]

A scientist from Geneva a few days ago said the mask looks like chicken wire to a virus. His comments of course will be kept off the media.

(snip)

I can't even imagine what a mask would look like from a electron microscope perspective, probably like he said. Chicken wire. If the mask makes you comfy, wear one but it can't stop a virus.

So your Geneva scientist didn't actually run any experiments, he simply asserted that, because the mask is porous, it's ineffective. Assertions like that, even when they seem logical, don't carry a lot of weight when stacked up against empirical evidence. It strikes me there are perhaps three ways you could actually carry out an empirical study about mask effectiveness.

One, you could hold up masks in a laboratory, intentionally try to blow aerosol particles through them, and measure what gets through.

Two, from testing for covid positive cases you could try to assess what proportions of the positive patients had and had not faithfully worn masks in public. There are several difficulties with this approach. First, people lie, so their answers about mask wearing may not be entirely trustworthy. You would also need an estimate of the proportion of people in the general public wearing masks. If the proportion of positive test mask wearers is approximately the same as mask wearers in the general public, you can assume masks make little or no difference. If mask wearers among the positive testing individuals are a smaller proportion of positive cases as compared to mask wearers in the general public, then masks probably made a difference. This approach is also complicated by having to control for factors like social distancing, lockdowns, and so on.

A third approach is to compare infection rates between areas with and without mask mandates. This seems to be the type of evidence most of the "experts" on TV are citing. There are also some potential threats to validity in this design as well: differences in population density, differences in time of initial onset of spreading in particular settings and so on.

Bar tenders, cab drivers, and some scientists all have opinions, but evidence trumps (no pun intended) opinions.

[Locamotive]

That's not what the health officials are saying, mate.

The health official's are just trying to give everyone a warm and fuzzy. The mask most are wearing will not stop a virus. A scientist from Geneva a few days ago said the mask looks like chicken wire to a virus. His comments of course will be kept off the media. Tobacco mosic virus was the first discovered in the late 1800's but with regular microscope it could not be seen. Germans in 1931 invented the electron microscope so the virus could be identified. If you look at a typical mask with a regular microscope the weave is very far apart, I know I have one from my college days. I can't even imagine what a mask would look like from a electron microscope perspective, probably like he said. Chicken wire.

If the mask makes you comfy, wear one but it can't stop a virus.

[Bushes]

Many don't wear the mask properly. The virus is airborne. It survives a long time on surfaces. Including food items. It is found on frozen food items.

The practice to promote not testing is widespread including Europe and US. Tests are expensive and take a long time.

Some Indian cities are a great study on the covid19 virus spread. Mumbai slums are over 70% infected with the Covid19 and will show if herd immunity works. With the Taj Mahal and trains running, the virus will spread further. If heat kills the virus, it will be seen in India. So far reported death rates are low. Again, no test no virus.

Since Trump will most likely do away with ballots or have a supreme Court stacked with his appointees to choose the next president, there will probably not be any coordinated effort to contain the spread of the virus. US troops and Marshalls will be called to stop protesters but not to stop covid19 from spreading.

There are some tongue in cheek advice on Covid19 safe sex. I only wish I had a remote island like Berlusconi, and stock it with a harem.

Sex and parties are still available but most are driven underground if there is a lockdown. Otherwise booking through virtual means to arrange a face to face can be done. Many just don't follow the quarantine.

[Soapy Smith]

They have been tested. The micro fibre neck gator that some people wear does not protect. In fact it actually increases aerosol droplets emitted. The thinking is that the fine single layer of fabric breaks up larger droplets into smaller more aerosol sized droplets.

I saw a guy with a beard in a store yesterday whose face covering was a coarse mesh hair net, this in a mandatory mask county. I assumed it was a passive-aggressive political statement.

[Kabul Guy]

Only by medical masks. Not or hardly by non-medical masks.

They have been tested. The micro fibre neck gator that some people wear does not protect. In fact it actually increases aerosol droplets emitted. The thinking is that the fine single layer of fabric breaks up larger droplets into smaller more aerosol sized droplets.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/08/u...rnd/index.html

I can buy the multi layer home made cloth ones here for 30 p. I have about a dozen, keep a couple in my car, some in my pack, I just wash them in soapy water and hang to dry after each wearing.

No problem.

Remember Mask it or Casket.

[Mogwai]

The virus is on water droplets that DOES get filtered out.

Only by medical masks. Not or hardly by non-medical masks.

[Mogwai]

I think It does make a great difference versus not masking, maybe not as foolproof as the mask you mentioned.

Only medical masks are foolproof. However, I think most people worldwide are using non-medical masks because medical masks are either not available or too expensive.

[BrizLad]

Interested to know if any 'business' type of visa and entering the country? Are the call center bosses of Makati and Clark still entering and leaving the country? Probably still subject t quarantine but are they at least getting in / out of the country?

[Bushes]

The virus is on water droplets that DOES get filtered out.

I wish everyone would stop wining and wear a mask.

As with the Covid19 virus, all the whining and whinging will be with us for a long time.

The world is going backwards in many ways and are repeating history. Trump is trying to plunder Tiktok. He only wishes he could declare China as terra nullius.

For the other poster about cutting queues in PI, it happens all over. (I am sure he has tried to cut a queue with a LBFM by offering sweetners. I know I havd).

In New York, there ard many swippers. Taxis, buses, checkout, checkin are common. Swipper no swpping. Actually the South Asians are the worse or maybe there are just more of them in the queues I usually stand in.

The good thing I see is more countries opening up. Lock downs are killing the economy. As with the FAA safety regulations, the systemized balance between cost and lives lost is sinking in and being adopted by many. (I am and will avoid the 737 max).

PI will need to open up to at least to people within its borders. If you are a young stud in the PI, the girl buffet is cheap and plentiful.

PI is still sending their workers around the world. I read that European cruises are going to restart. Many PI ladies work there. Likewises, I assume you can hire a PI lady for some tasks in some countries and bring them out. You might just have to live on that one pussy for a year or 90 days.

China also announced recently that foreign residents who fled are allowed back in.

Likewise Thailand is working on tourist quotas and new guidelines. Google is your friend. Confirm and reconfirm and triple check any announcements. When the left hand does not know the right hand is doing, you as the traveller will get stuck. Thailand is a really good example and I knew a couple people caught there.

[Kabul Guy]

That's not what the health officials are saying, mate.

The virus is on water droplets that DOES get filtered out.

I wish everyone would stop wining and wear a mask.

[D Cups]

Actually it won't make much difference if they wear a mask or not. The virus is so small that it will go right through it. Unless it's a FFP2 or IIR mask, but that is most likely not the case.

The majority of the masks that people wear worldwide offer very little protection.

That's not what the health officials are saying, mate.

[Drbombay]

Populist politicians (ie 99% of them) sing from the same hymn sheet. There is no way mongers will be allowed in soon and, if they were, they would be blamed for Covid spikes and the shake downs would be horrendous. I would actually say some elements in Pinoy society are happy with this.

Duterte is not going to risk Angeles or Makati blowing up in his face. They are small; beans compared to international remittances in any event. The clock is being resent. Reality is being dispensed with and virtual is in. Europe is a mess with quarantine and other rules changing from day to day. I am under self quarantine myself but, more sadly, am confined to barracks as we cannot go anywhere or bonk anyone. Talk of going to the Philippines is akin to going to the moon, or Africa in the 1930's.

Jollibee days are over.

Not to be too cynical, but IMO things will probably begin to ease up in regards to travel when the Philippine Fiscal year is over and a tally can be done on the lower amount of remittances sent back from those overseas workers who may have had to work "on their backs" to make ends meet. Same goes for those tourist $$ that flow into places like Angeles, Subic and other areas. Maybe one fiscal year can be sustained, but a long term reduction in that type of money flow will begin to change political minds. Same as in places like Singapore, Thailand and other popular mongering locations. Not being able to send OWA out to other parts of the world to replace those that are out there who have stopped or moved on, and the whole cycle of revenue being brought in by bars and clubs can only be missed for so long. Don't let them fool you into thinking that it isn't a lot of money, because if it wasn't, and those do gooders had their way many places would have been closed a long time ago.

Just like the current US election cycle shows, people will use this crisis to get what they want. Case in point the LA Public Health director being caught on the microphone talking about opening the schools after the November 3 elections, as if by that magic date if Trump loses all of a sudden the virus will go away. Not making light of the COVID, nor is this some global plot against Trump, but a politician will do what they can to get as much power and money for themselves and screw the people. Emergency declarations mean more money flow from the government, and for those who work the system they know how to "work the system" and get as much of that excess as they can until those at the top realize that overall more needs to be coming in from other sources.

My long term guess, by the summer of 2021 things will start getting better. By late summer early fall of 2021 travel will see steady increases so that by late 2021 there will be an increase in flights and travel. How can I say this? Winter Olympics in China in 2022 and they could not live it down if they cancelled like Tokyo in 2020. Things will "miraculously" get better by then for the Games to begin.

[Datiao]

Actually it won't make much difference if they wear a mask or not. The virus is so small that it will go right through it. Unless it's a FFP2 or IIR mask, but that is most likely not the case.

The majority of the masks that people wear worldwide offer very little protection.

How does the country u are in now deal with this issue? Is it mandatory for masking ?

I think It does make a great difference versus not masking, maybe not as foolproof as the mask you mentioned.

[GDreams]

Actually it won't make much difference if they wear a mask or not. The virus is so small that it will go right through it. Unless it's a FFP2 or IIR mask, but that is most likely not the case.

The majority of the masks that people wear worldwide offer very little protection.

The masks people wear are to protect other people from those who have the virus sending contaminated aerosols throughout a room or surfaces. To protect the weara they need to be ones with close seal and exhaust valves which keep the fit but don't protect others.

[WestCoast1]

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