Gregory's Server@GreySkies Evolutionary pressure for a still-rapidly-mutating virus (that is being helped by the population's utter unwillingness to take any precautions) was going to mean it evolved to reinfect more people. I don't know where this ends, but I think this fall and winter, many people will be disappointed to learn their presumptions about COVID were all wrong.
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10 comments
Are you saying that KN95's are not worth wearing? I'd need to go searching for articles/studies I've seen that say otherwise, but I'm pretty confident that they're out there. N95s are certainly better, but only if you can manage to keep them on for the full duration of possible exposure - no nose scratching, no sips of water, no snacks... Is that feasible on let's say a coast to coast flight?  @joeinwynnewood @GreySkies @augieray Against R₀ ≅ measles current circulating variants, you want a continuous, well-fitting, elastomeric gasket against bare skin. (Block the filters and inhale and the mask crumples but does not leak as you hold the inhale.) COVID has evolved; what was more than sufficient against the wild type is not necessarily sufficient today. COVID brain damage mechanisms that are inescapable and permanent are now known in detail. I'd stay off the flight. @joeinwynnewood @GreySkies @augieray If you want some home empiricism, finish sand—meaning use a fine grit—a lot of pine in various masks and see what's in the mask at the end of the day. Elastomerics got created in industrial contexts for a reason. Simple disposable masks, even N95s, tend to leak if you move your face much or after twenty minutes and the nose bridge doesn't hold its shape. That's because they have to be cheap enough to be disposable. Elastomerics work better and cost less. @graydon @GreySkies @augieray First, I've had 6 vaccinations, that chart only goes to 4. Second it says nothing about the degree to which vaccination reduces the likelihood of infection in public spaces. @joeinwynnewood @GreySkies @augieray You might want to look for "COVID neuron fusion"; you might find the university press release https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2023/06/covid-19-can-cause-brain-cells-fuse%E2%80%99 or the paper, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg2248 interesting. (There is of course nothing to say this is the only mechanism.) As for vaccination; those figures give the odds of infection on exposure. Where the exposure happens isn't relevant.  |
@augieray
I wish you were right, because this could finally mean change in the right direction. I do, however, believe the opposite is going to happen. People will double down on their behavior, simply because there IS no alternative to it in the collective mind. The alternative would be masking largely (among other measures) and masks are dead for the general public. So no matter how sick they get and how many die, it's all still better than masks i'm afraid (for them).