XYplorer Beta Club

Have seen yesterday on a German TV channel discussion:

Breaking news testing results show the following:

The nose-mouth (=OP) mask protects also the wearer, although not much, but still!
The hand made cotton mask is usually only 1/5th as effective as the above.
The masks that are hand made from a one-time vacuum cleaner dust bag are almost as affective as the OP masks.

I think we need to get away from the idea that we can protect ourselves with masks. There ARE masks that will protect the wearer -- but for the foreseeable, we need our health services to be the primary recipient of these. Plus which, that level of protection has to be cared for, carefully managed, carefully handled and carefully disposed of.

Homemade cloth masks protect others.

Maybe not perfectly but we don't need perfect; we need to cut transmission to manageable levels, to support and protect our health systems.

You cough into the air, you spread virus. Anyone close enough is at risk.

You cough into a cloth mask, particularly if you have a disposable paper towel between the layers, the amount of virus you spread is cut enormously. The disposable bit -- the paper towel -- is cheap and easy to replace, and washing the cloth with soap kills any virus it might have on it.

This makes sense -- but only if take-up is close to universal.

So we need good, cheap, funky, socially acceptable designs. Not everyone wants to look like a dentist.

Meanwhile in Germany: No mask requirement, not even a recommendation, just a lame "you may do it (if it makes you feel better)"; not even in public transport, supermarkets, work spaces. No special shopping hours for seniors (even the USA have that). Streets and parks crowded with people. At an average of 4000 new attested infections and 200 dead every day we are far from containment phase, but in the media everybody is speaking of finally going back to business as usual. Incredible amounts of money are shifted around, but many businesses and futures will be destroyed anyway. It would have been possible to handle this, it could have been over (=containment phase) by now, but lack of courage and discipline brought us elsewhere. Well, we're still monkeys with tools after all, shouldn't expect too much...

admin wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 14:37 No special shopping hours for seniors (even the USA have that).

Yes, I've been taking advantage of those store hours - depending on the store - 6 am to 7 am for seniors. Everyone but one that I saw in the store last week wore a mask. It made me feel more comfortable being out. My daughters would kill me if they knew I went out at all.

You have the virus and your daughters on your heels?! Good luck!

admin wrote: ↑12 Apr 2020 19:48 You have the virus and your daughters on your heels?! Good luck!

No, maybe you misunderstood, I don't have the virus. My daughters are making sure I stay that way!

Yes, I think I understood. You are between the lines.

I guess I read (or actually misread) your previous comment.

Well, how's everybody doing? Here in Germany... well, don't get me started.

How about Australians? I know there are some of them in the forum. Are they content with the handling in their country? (I would guess so!)

admin wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021 21:38 Well, how's everybody doing? Here in Germany... well, don't get me started.

Still appalled by the number of lives politicians seem to be prepared to sacrifice by not being careful enough in ensuring public health. The economy will suffer even more if everyone is dead... The UK has the highest per capita death rate in the world and somehow everyone's bought into the idea that the politicians have done the best they could.

But I've had the first of my vaccine shots and as far as I can tell I haven't been taken over by aliens or a foreign power, so I guess that's good

admin wrote: ↑05 Feb 2021 21:38 Well, how's everybody doing? Here in Germany... well, don't get me started.

Physically - not too bad. I had my first vaccination two weeks ago, so I feel a little bit safer.

Mentally - who knows? A bit like you, "don't get me started..." I have neighbours that the police have been too at least three times for having parties. They still insist that Covid-19 doesn't exist and that it is a government plan to stop people enjoying themselves. What can you do with that sort of attitude?

Australia is lucky to be a single country continent and was able to control its borders better than most other countries.
Compared to other countries we had very few cases and if it hadn't been for the infamous Ruby Princess it would have been even less.
That doesn't keep half the Australians complaining about the lockdown & quarantine rules being too strict, while the other half thinks they should be even stricter (don't actually know whether it is 50/50 but it certainly feels like it).
So no, not everybody is content with how it was handled and there have been a few outbreaks that could have been prevented but it was a rather steep learning curve for everybody I guess.

I believe this pandemic shows us all too well that too many people nowadays struggle to put their communities (if one even feels to belong to one) before their own egocentric needs with the catastrophic consequences we see.

Thanks for the reports. As I said before, I rather don't start my own rant, it would be long without adding anything new I guess. Just this: I keep on being fascinated how recklessly successes in other countries (East Asia / Australia) are shrugged off with simplistic arguments ("Islands! Asians! Tyranny!").

Excellent Financial Times site for international (and by state in the US) trajectories:

https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?ar ... ues=deaths

and their unique (probably) excess mortality charts:

https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb ... df5b386938