Facemasks

Still got facemasks? Good, because COVID isn’t going anywhere soon. When it comes to mask use, public policy now puts the burden of choice on you. Kimberly Mas reviews personal and community risks in this Vox video:

 

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Top photo (Subway poster, Farragut West Metro station, Washington DC ) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Mask-Wearing Cuts Covid by 53%

Florence Nightingale, masked, after H. M. Bonham-Carter

A global research study published in BMJ shows that wearing facemasks is the most effective non-pharmaceutical measure reducing COVID-19 incidence and fatalities:

“Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, reducing incidence by 53%, the first global study of its kind shows.

Vaccines … do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.”

“Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.”

— “Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study,” Andrew Gregory, The Guardian

Related:

“As GOP Fights Mask and Vaccine Mandates, Florida Takes the Lead,” Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, via Yahoo News

“Mixed feelings as D.C. lifts mask mandate,” Chelsea Cirruzzo, Paige Hopkins, Cuneyt Dil, Axios

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Image (“Florence Nightingale masked, after a lithograph by H. M. Bonham-Carter”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Trump Blames Biden For Lack of National Mask Mandate

“President Donald Trump moved to blame his Democratic competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, for not instituting a national mask mandate during the coronavirus pandemic.

The claim, made at an ABC News town hall Tuesday with undecided voters in Pennsylvania, is misleading for two reasons: Biden has, in fact, urged all state governors to mandate mask-wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Democratic candidate is also not the president and has no authority to mandate anything. Trump does.”

— “Trump Blames Biden, Who Isn’t President, For Not Instituting Mask Mandate,” Nick Visser, Huffington Post 

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Masks Work

Florence Nightingale masked, after H. M. Bonham-Carter

Face masks help contain the spread of COVID-19 better than you think. Henry Reich does the math:

How Masks Got Political

Health authorities agree: Wearing a mask can help stop the spread of the coronavirus. But even after thousands have died, many people still don’t believe it.

A Vox video by By Madeline Marshall.

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Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-vvy

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Study: COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet If 80% of Americans Wore Masks

 

U.S. COVID-19 deaths now total 76,032, while Japan had 577 coronavirus fatalities. Adjusting for population, the Japanese death rate is 2% of America’s. The difference? Everyone in Japan wears masks. Berkeley computer scientist De Kai built the Masksim simulator and run multiple scenarios of mask usage. Bottom line: wear a mask.

More:

“If 80% of Americans Wore Masks, COVID-19 Infections Would Plummet, New Study Says,” David Ewing Duncan, Vanity Fair

“Universal Masking is Urgent in the COVID-19 Pandemic: SEIR and Agent Based Models, mpirical Validation, Policy Recommendations,” De Kai, Guy Philippe Goldstein, Alexey Morgunov, Vishal Nangalia, and Anna Rotkirch, arXiv

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Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-uY1

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

November 5th: Guy Fawkes Day

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in England. Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot, a 1605 conspiracy to blow up the British Parliament Building. A stylized mask said to resemble Fawkes has been adopted by the Occupy! movement as its symbol. Previously, the mask had been used by the Anonymous computer hacker group. They got it from the Warner Brothers movie “V for Vendetta,” which is based on the comic book graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Just one thing. Fawkes wasn’t a revolutionary. He was a reactionary.

Guy Fawkes Day

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in England. Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot, a 1605 conspiracy to blow up the British Parliament Building. A stylized mask said to resemble Fawkes has been adopted by the Occupy! movement as its symbol. Previously, the mask had been used by the Anonymous computer hacker group. They got it from the Warner Brothers movie “V for Vendetta,” which is based on the comic book graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Just one thing. Fawkes wasn’t a revolutionary. He was a reactionary.

Guy Fawkes

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in England. Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot, a 1605 conspiracy to blow up the British Parliament Building. A stylized mask said to resemble Fawkes has been adopted by the Occupy! movement as its symbol. Previously, the mask had been used by the Anonymous computer hacker group. They got it from the Warner Brothers movie “V for Vendetta,” which is based on the comic book graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.

Just one thing. Fawkes wasn’t a revolutionary. He was a reactionary.