‘The data from Israel shows that vaccination blocks 94% of asymptomatic infections and 97% of symptomatic infections.’
the salient issue in this particular thread deals with the concept of needing masks while being out of doors; it is my firm belief that it would be very difficult for a virus to acheive significant spread when exposed to sunlight and wind...
the diddling by the medical community (you know, the people who are supposed to issue guidance during a health crisis) on something as obvious as this, has led to some unfortunate social interactions that were completely avoidable; there are going to be some hard feelings that will last a long time after these masks are history...
I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience with people who aren’t up to date on the science. In truth, the science has demonstrated strongly since at least May of 2020 that outdoor transmission is extremely unlikely and rare, regardless of masks.
I think - as I have from the early days of this - that people wearing a mask while indoors in a public place reduces the risk of transmission. This is based on a lot of research done into how transmissions actually happen in the real world. However, outdoors it just doesn’t spread effectively. I think the wind - more than anything - creates an environment that is extremely unhelpful to the virus. Sunlight may also play a role, but I wouldn’t be any more concerned about being outside near other people after sunset than I would at noon. As long as you aren’t right on top of one another, the risk of transmission is virtually nil.
CDC would have a lot more credibility if they’d come out and said this much earlier. The data was there to support it, but it took them this long to own up to that. The same can be said for fomites. Again, we had plenty of data going back into June 2020 saying fomites didn’t ever seem to be the source of transmission in any widespread study of transmission metrics for real world case investigations. Further, direct experimentation showed that although the virus was present on surfaces, it never seemed to actually infect cells when transferred to a medium where it had the opportunity. Being on a surface outside the body appears to deactivate the virus in some way. We’ve known this for a long time, but it was only recently that the CDC updated their guidance to reflect that.
So just this morning I was at a large grocery store.
Quit using a mask when I’d passed the two weeks after second dose threshold but use a plastic face shield ONLY in the store to keep the peace (and avoid being banned).
But the moment I hit the lobby on the way out, off it comes.
So...this morning...as I go to my car (the only one in the parking lot!) as car driven by a masked Karan (of course!) parks catecorner from mine. The whole parking lot was open, but she HAD to park there.
Karan sat in her car masked up while I loaded my groceries, returned the cart, and got into my car.
ONLY after I had driven 50 feet away did she dare to exit her vehicle.
There is paranoid, and then there is hyper diaper wiper paranoid.