New Covid wave has begun and we should wear masks again, warn scientists
www.independent.co.uk
Spread of new variant could cause extreme pressure on NHS and cause more damaging long-term health problems, Independent Sage expert says
  • @artvandelay@lemm.ee
    0•11 months ago

    I came here because I was tired of seeing this garbage on reddit all the time. How long are you going to let yourself be scared?

    • @lorgo_numputz@beehaw.org
      1•11 months ago

      I’m not sure. Perhaps until we devise an effective preventative vaccine or, at least, a working strategy to prevent long Covid?

      What do you suggest instead?

    • @dr_catman@beehaw.org
      1•11 months ago

      How absolutely moronic. Hey, malaria has been around since Ancient times. How long are you going to let yourself be scared of that? Go to the nearest swamp and see if you can attract some mosquitoes, bro.

    • @EremesZorn@beehaw.org
      1•11 months ago

      How dramatic. I don’t think people are generally still scared of this. It’s been part of our lives for a few years now.
      Normal people see this and go “Hmm, I’ll keep some N95s around in case there’s a notable uptick in people gettin’ sick this flu season.” Meanwhile, some people, such as yourself, seem to have a negative knee-jerk reaction to anything in the news related to COVID, and then proceed to get shit upon by the community when you bitch about it; their knee-jerk reaction is to immediately assume you’re a right-winger and call you out on it (they’ve done it to a couple other people in here). While I don’t think that’s a fair assumption off the cuff, I can see how they’d jump to that.

  • @DjMeas@lemm.ee
    0•11 months ago

    I still wear a mask when going out to stores because I’m immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant. It’s ultimately up to me to protect myself from others but what bothers me most lately are people who either laugh or think I’m stupid for still wearing a mask. Some even go as far as to call me out and shame me for it. Can people just mind their own business? I’m not trying to get them to wear a mask so why are they so fixated on me taking mine off?

    • Blake [he/him]English
      0•11 months ago

      Genuinely, I think it’s probably because they feel a little guilty when they see you wearing one, and that’s uncomfortable for people, so they respond by taking it out on you.

    • starlinguk
      1•11 months ago

      We’re all over masks. But we’re still wearing them because we’re not idiots.

  • craigevil
    0•11 months ago

    masks do NOT work. Not unless you are wearing at least an N-95 or better mask. More fear-mongering in an election year, surprise surprise. Do not forget to get your lovely vaccines.

    • @usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml
      1•11 months ago

      1. N95 work the best but that doesn’t mean other masks do nothing. They still very much reduce risk

      2. this is an article about the UK. Election years aren’t really quite a thing in the UK as the UK parelement’s elections are called whenever the ruling party/coalition calls it as long as it’s within a certain time frame (in this case by 2025) and it’s highly unlikely for them to call for sooner than they have to as the Torries aren’t exactly polling well

  • @Chipthemonk@lemm.eeEnglish
    0•11 months ago

    Masking is not an effective solution. Anyone that propagates this shit is just doing it for clicks at this point.

    Have you read the highly respected Cochrane Review? https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses

    Read the review. It’s the most comprehensive post pandemic study from a highly respected journal. They clearly state the following:

    There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect. The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.

    If we can’t settle the issue after a 2 year pandemic, I highly doubt it will ever be settled by science.

    Masking is political theater and is ultimately a matter of expressing your tribe at this point. Alternatively, we could think of people who wear masks today as leaning more heavily towards social humanism and hive mentality (society over the individual), where non masks proponents lean towards liberal humanism (in the sense of freedom of the individual, that is, personal liberty).

    Given that the science is inconclusive about masks, and even suggests that they are not effective, it’s about time that news outlets drop the topic. If you want to wear a mask, then do it. But don’t force anyone else to or suggest that governments should regulate it.

    COVID is over. New shit will come. Masks won’t be the solution.

    Edit: downvotes without any proper rebuttal. Classic tribalism at all cost despite the truth.