The Lemon Fool

88V8 wrote:I was at a concert Sunday, quite a high churchy space but no specific ventilation afaik. Most of the time I wore my mask, but even though the audience and the performers were mostly oldies, few others did.
At Waitrose, masking has plumetted.

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

V8

daveh wrote:

88V8 wrote:I was at a concert Sunday, quite a high churchy space but no specific ventilation afaik. Most of the time I wore my mask, but even though the audience and the performers were mostly oldies, few others did.
At Waitrose, masking has plumetted.

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

V8

Yes even here in Scotland there are now very few people wearing masks. I voted yes always, which was true at the time, but that is down to only occasionally. I try and have a mask with me in case shops are requesting masks be worn or if somewhere is very crowded.

88V8 wrote:It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

Dod101 wrote:

daveh wrote: Yes even here in Scotland there are now very few people wearing masks. I voted yes always, which was true at the time, but that is down to only occasionally. I try and have a mask with me in case shops are requesting masks be worn or if somewhere is very crowded.

I was in both M & S and Tesco yesterday. Very few were wearing a mask although at least of those shops I noticed had a notice on their door saying something like 'Please wear a mask if you can. Better to be on the safe side'. I did not have one on me and doubt that I would have worn it anyway.

Dod

Lootman wrote:

88V8 wrote:It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

Ah, but is it over because it is out of the news? Or is it out of the news because it is over?

richfool wrote:I'm a firm believer in the old saying: "Better safe than sorry".

Dod101 wrote:

richfool wrote:I'm a firm believer in the old saying: "Better safe than sorry".

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask? Especially if the shop in question is not very busy anyway. I enjoy the freedom of not wearing one I must say, although I would I think wear one on a train or bus and certainly if it was crowded. Maybe also sitting in a concert hall, next to a stranger for a couple of hours.

Dod101 wrote:I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask?

Hallucigenia wrote:

Dod101 wrote:I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask?

Yes. And so are other people. Masks are not "just performative", see eg :

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm


https://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/

Dod101 wrote:

Hallucigenia wrote: Yes. And so are other people. Masks are not "just performative", see eg :

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm


https://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/

RECEIVER is wearing nothing has always intrigued me.

Dod

servodude wrote:

Dod wrote: RECEIVER is wearing nothing has always intrigued me.

Dod

It means wearing "NO Facemask" Dod!
You filthy cretin

DiamondEcho wrote:I don't think gut-feel on perceived risk is a useful guide, for example not using protection walking down a busy high street or amongst other people in proximity, but putting a mask on the moment you walk into a shop. I'd thought I was navigating that ok too.

I also understand that infection rates are waaay higher ('don't I know it') than official reports might suggest. Apparently, based upon a 'triage'/NHS Covid nurse this week it is because 'People aren't willing to test anymore now tests aren't free. Neither are schools nor 1workplaces testing'.
My tip: Don't get at all complacent, I wasn't and still it got me... then for the initial days it felt like daily Russian Roulette over your symptoms vs LFT test results, something I'd suggest you really don't want to get into.

[No 'kind words' on my obituary yet thx folks, I believe I'm now almost through it. But my point is a serious one and I hope it is a useful experience into the mix].

daveh wrote:
The best stats now for the rate of covid infections is the weekly ONS survey. Last data I've seen was about 1:50 infected in England, 1:45 in Scotland.

Gersemi wrote: Particularly interesting is the page on vaccinations at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... s/vaccines . This shows that the people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.

9873210 wrote:

Gersemi wrote: Particularly interesting is the page on vaccinations at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... s/vaccines . This shows that the people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.

If you are referring to the section Vaccine effectiveness Unvaccinated people were more likely to be admitted to critical care with COVID-19 it does not show that people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated. It shows that an individual who is unvaccinated is overwhelmingly more likely to end up in critical care. Whether the majority in critical care are unvaccinated depends on the fraction of the population that is unvaccinated.

The page does not directly give the "at least one dose" vaccination rate, but it does show that at least 97% of the 65+ population is triple vaccinated. While it is likely that the unvaccinated are a majority of those in critical care, it won't be anywhere as overwhelming as the 90:1 odds ratio.

I mention this mainly because I have seen arguments that "the majority of new cases are among the vaccinated, so vaccination is harmful." The predicate is often true, but the conclusion is wrong.