Astrid reports over at Parknews.biz that the Dutch have determined that wearing a mask is of no particular value and are not recommending it except in some extreme situations. Read all about it here.
Being a contrarian I am not a great fan of masks. I do wear one, however, as a courtesy to others when going into stores, entering restaurants, on busy sidewalks, and between my car and my office. I also wear them to go to the restroom here at work.
I also following the guidance of the State of California as follows:
The order includes several exceptions, including for outdoor recreation and exercise such as walking, hiking, running or bicycling. But if people are doing such activities and cannot stay 6 feet apart from others, the state says they should wear masks.
When I walk Suki at 5 AM and 4 PM I don’t wear a mask. (See guidance about walking above). Suki ensures that I’m more than six feet away from others, particularly UPS and Fedex drivers.
Frankly I find masks uncomfortable. I have difficulty breathing when wearing them. They are hot, and after taking them off I usually have some soreness in my nasal passages for up to half an hour. I also know that it’s true that wearing masks is to protect others from me, not vice versa.
I have another reason I don’t think we should wear masks. When we are so covered, we cannot see the facial expressions of other people. Nor can they see ours. I know smiles that light up a room, but not any more. I know frowns that telegraph entire paragraphs. Now, not so much. In other words, it is hard to properly communicate with people who are wearing masks. Plus if, like me, you are mostly deaf, its virtually impossible to hear what other people wearing masks are saying.
The state of CA recommends masks in parking garages. Now, when was the last time you were within six feet of someone in a parking garage? Just sayin.
It seems to me that if we were really serious about this mask business, we would have people who could be really harmed by Covid 19 – the elderly, infirm, sick, – wear masks like surgical masks that actually protected them from the disease . Others who were afraid could do the same. Then let the rest of us go about our business, maskless. Sure wash your hands often, sneeze into your elbow, keep a distance, stay home if your are sick, and lets get back to life.
I’m sure our betters have other ideas and will continue to destroy what few pleasures we have left.
JVH
3 Responses
I love the ones that are wearing mask and take them off to smoke!
Like you John, I really do not like wearing a mask but, the law is the law and I really do not see this as a freedom/liberty issue. My personal choices have been affected to the extent that I choose not to return to the museum that I volunteer at for as long as I would have to stand round with a mask on for seven hours. Just feel admiration for all those doctors and nurses that do this every day to keep us hale and hearty
Now, about the Mail on Sunday article about Holland. As is so often the case with that particular journal, The Mail on Sunday’s report isn’t quite the whole story.
The Netherlands has had just as severe a lock down as the rest of Europe and although the details may differ from their neighbours; people haven’t been to work, schools and restaurants have been closed and travel has been severely restricted. That has included a mandatory quarantine for anyone entering the country. Not my opinion but the information from friends and relatives that live there.
They did manage to force the numbers right down by the methods they used and relaxed the rules. the result was kind of inevitable, within three weeks infection levels had tripled and the ordure has well and truly hit the whirly thing.
Holland is split into, I think, 23, Security Regions and the The Dutch government has passed management of the situation to these regions. The effect has been immediate; Amsterdam and Rotterdam are already rolling out mandatory mask wearing ($112 fine) and other regions are urgently considering doing the same. So what the chap from the Mail wrote on August 1st may well have been true then, now it isn’t, and I would be very surprised if a competent journalist would not have been aware that what he had written would have been out of date by the time that he pressed the send button.
Peter: According to the Associated Press, today, and I’m sure you believe every word written by it, that even though the arm of the law is coming down in Amsterdam, many people are simply ignoring the edict. Funny people, these Dutch.
The law is the law. I’m sure that’s true, even if it makes no sense at all. Wearing a mask riding a bicycle, jogging, walking the dog, hiking, or frankly in the park with no one within half a mile makes no sense to anyone. But our betters are hell bent on forcing the issue, making themselves look like idiots. Unfortunately facts are facts. The virus has been no more deadly in Scandinavia where masks and lockdowns were scarce, than in countries like Japan and the Philippines where mask wearing is deregeur. States in the US that have had less formal lockdowns nor masks are showing lower death rates that say, California or New York, that are locked up tight. I know that these inconvenient truths (sorry bout that) belie the agenda that seems to permeate our governing betters, but there you go.
For all intents and purposes the pandemic is over in Sweden. The death rate, the only way to judge such things, is basically zero. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/ Now it is a relatively small country compared to the UK or the US, but strangely they found that if you treat people like adults, and give them alternatives (wash your hands, social distance, stay home if symptomatic) plus take care of the elderly and infirm, the virus has a tendency to run its course.
But I’m only a dumb editor — what do I know
Best
JVH