I see the pubs are well and truly open in the UK:
(Image from today’s Aftenposten)
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ETA: This mask subject is getting on my nerves. Yesterday saw the start of a “discussion” in Germany with several states starting to question if they could walk back on the rule that everyone must wear a mask in supermarkets and other shops. It’s on today’s headlines. To be clear, we are in a very good situation in Germany, and we actually could ease this right now without having a surge of cases in the next four weeks, I bet. But I also bet we would have a surge in two months, and this can be prevented if we keep the measures in place instead.
Oh, and their motivation?
The background to the discussion are complaints from retailers that customers are less interested in shopping because of the mask requirement.
Now, back to what angered me even more:
and it drew dozens of critical responses and international attention
Dozens isn’t enough.
This.
I expect more of this to come. Hell, even in Berlin there have been people on the streets protesting the extremely weak German “lockdown” with the star of David attached. It’s been a while now, and I think they stopped doing that. But that it happened in Berlin shows that Der Schoß ist fruchtbar noch, aus dem das kroch.
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Yeah, I think it will be harder to put restrictions back in place if things get bad again. However, if I were German I would worry more about the long-term ramifications of this BS I linked above.
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Because one plague wasn’t enough:
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Oh, believe me, I am worried. However, slightly less so than because of the cavalier attitude towards easing restrictions state-wide or locally.
Two reasons: we don’t have a vaccine yet so WDKS about the vaccine and the ramificatons currently, so I can’t be bothered (to much) to worry to much about this (vocal) fringe group.
Second, the mask/distancing rules are basically training for the time when a second wave hits, and might even strongly contribute to prevent a second wave. If we don’t have a second wave, we can deal with vaccination when we get a vaccine. If the second wave hits while we don’t have a vaccine - which is, of course, much more likely - the antivaxxers are the least of my problem.
In addition I just want to point out without downplaying the importance of the issues raised in the article that people like Attila hooman are basically the nuttest nutters around at the moment. The general problem, especially the problem of Baden-Wurttemberg being a harbour for anthroposophics, homeopaths, and (no kidding) homebrew Neonazis (as opposed to people “radicalised by the internet”) is mixed in, but deserves a different treatment. sigh
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Who wants to bet she got tricked into paying that much for a knock off Rolex
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The three requirements for PPE to be effective are that it is appropriate for the hazard in question, that it fit correctly, and that it is used correctly. This article seems like a very, very poor way of affirming those three requirements.
Even in this day and age, proper masks are neither hard to find nor expensive. I recommend a 3M 6200 and P100 Organic Vapor filters, but that’s just how I roll. That combo can be had for under fifty bucks, and unlike all the fabric masks, can be shorn of lungfunk as often (and as thoroughly!) as you deem necessary.
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They worry me in a few ways. The first is the strain on the healthcare system. It was already overwhelmed during the first wave. These preventable new cases are making it worse. I don’t know what is keeping medical professionals going through all this, but if they reach the breaking point we’re all screwed.
Are antivaxxers the type that don’t want to prevent disease, but expect everyone to drop what they’re doing and care for them first when they get sick? Will we wind up creating Covid Colonies to isolate these folks in the future? People are suggesting we find a way to track them, probably for future triage purposes.
Early on, the unmasked complained that the government was trying to force them to follow safety guidelines and stay inside. My reply was usually, “Not yet, but keep acting foolish and see what happens.” There was no martial law declared or fines levied to reduce the number of scofflaws in my area. We saw a greater armed response for the BLM demonstrations and protests than to enforce any virus health & safety orders set by the state.
So once again, the rest of us have to pay for their willful ignorance and selfishness. If their behavior leads the rest of us to be locked down after creating this never-ending wave of cases, that would fulfill their prophecy/conspiracy-fed worldview. It might also lead to a backlash. I can’t imagine these folks deciding that this is the one vaccine they’d be willing to try.
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Here are safer alternatives:
(Multiple cruise line options)
https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/how-you-can-set-sail-with-virtual-cruises-during-covid-19.html
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I don’t know where this 20 minute number comes from. Masks do become less effective over time as they are worn but studies indicate they are 50% effective up to 90 minutes.
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Because it’s 2020…move over Corona!
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Not gonna link it, for obvious reasons, but Amazon is offering MAGA facemasks, for about 100% more than comparable masks. Irony is truly dead.
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Also, if all the data would be managed by one Excel spreadsheet
I’m aware of, personally, two multi-$100’s of millions losses by institutions where Excel figured front and centre in the disaster, and numerous smaller catastrophes.
So yeah… I was heartened this time around to see the CSSE saved in flat CSV files on Git. That doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a basic info handling discipline that works.
(and, little industry secret here, it’s a blockchain if you save the previous commit number in your repository… 
)
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Young people with resources suffer and die from this bastard too. I hope Il Douche and his acolytes who are counting on this to only hurt minorities will come to understand this.
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It sounds alarming, but bubonic plague’s endemic in that part of the world. 2020 is a bastard year, to be sure, but that’s good old-fashioned plague, not any new awfulness. 
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Not to mention that Yersinia pestis is a bacterium that is very susceptible to antibiotics. Not that I would wish for a plague outbreak, but relatively speaking, it would be fairly easily dealt with.
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My perspective comes from the privileged situation of Germany.
We currently have 12k of free ICU units, and free capacity in ECMO as well. Plus, there is a national register on those now, so noone will be taken by surprise if numbers are going up plus these units can be managed to prevent triage situations.
https://www.intensivregister.de/#/intensivregister
Of course this can all go south quickly, but this isn’t really that fringe group which is the problem. They get far to much attention in comparison to other problematic behaviour and decisions.
Doing away, from the side of government, with the existing regulation on masks (to be worn in public transport and while shopping, or get fined) is a far more imminent danger than those irresponsible arseholese.
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Arresting doctors during a pandemic. Sounds like a (very bad) plan.
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“Donald Trump claims 99% of coronavirus cases are ‘totally harmless’ as US infections surge”.
Yeah, that’s kind of like what what the editors at Megadodo Publications made out of a long report submitted by Mr. Prefect on the issue.
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