Is this a joke? CDC to recommend everyone wear N95s in the face of far less virulent Omicron

We aren't in a pandemic at this point. This virus is endemic. A leaky vaccine, that still allows for getting the virus and transmitting it, was never going to stop covid. The virus will continue to get more contagious and less severe...that's how viruses work. Just accept you're going to get it at some point and probably will a few times per decade and stfu.

Less virulent but far more transmissible. Makes perfect sense.

CrispyChicken wrote:

On my run today, I almost got hit by a car that ran a stop sign while I was about to enter the crosswalk. Fortunately, the driver was wearing a mask, so no COVID worries; however, I was running without a mask, so I suppose the driver feared for her life.

Funny...

2:18 at the casino (SLU grad) wrote:

You are the joke. If everyone got vaccinated, everyone wore a N95 mask and quit gathering in large crowds I think we would be closer to the end of the pandemic than in the middle of one. This from a long time registered Republican.

I'm glad you came up with this. Now that it's been identified, should be easy to execute. Problem solved.

I've heard this solution recommended by a lot of individuals, both sides of the aisle. But just curious, where do you think the virus will go? Do we wear N-95 masks and get vaccinated every three months for the rest of our lives (and I do believe strongly in the value of vaccines to this point in time, but going forward with less morbid variants, who know?)? Have you ever spent a day wearing a sealed N-95? Is that a life worth living? When we take the masks off the virus will still be there...

The virus will become endemic just like the cold virus. Hopefully, it will continue to downgrade itself through mutational drift, as the omicron variant has done. But ultimately, herd immunity in one form or another is the only answer...

I have become a full Trump supporter when it comes to COVID. Get the vaccine, get the boosters, masks optional, no lockdowns, no mandates.

Still going to vote democrat probably for other reasons. But good grief.

yoopercat wrote:

I've heard this solution recommended by a lot of individuals, both sides of the aisle. But just curious, where do you think the virus will go? Do we wear N-95 masks and get vaccinated every three months for the rest of our lives (and I do believe strongly in the value of vaccines to this point in time, but going forward with less morbid variants, who know?)? Have you ever spent a day wearing a sealed N-95? Is that a life worth living? When we take the masks off the virus will still be there...

The virus will become endemic just like the cold virus. Hopefully, it will continue to downgrade itself through mutational drift, as the omicron variant has done. But ultimately, herd immunity in one form or another is the only answer...

Exactly. I can't believe people haven't spotted that this is cyclical and will be until we finally just say 'enough, we accept it' and move on.

Stoppit Smith I wrote:

2:18 at the casino (SLU grad) wrote:

You are the joke. If everyone got vaccinated, everyone wore a N95 mask and quit gathering in large crowds I think we would be closer to the end of the pandemic than in the middle of one. This from a long time registered Republican.

+1 quadrillion

This is the only true answer.

Take out dream, hope, wish, whim, fantasy, feeling, anger, angst, depression, longing, pleading...and reduce it to pure fact.

This is the only solution.

Meanwhile, it is dreaming, hoping, and wishing that this will ever happen.

Solutions that aren't practical in reality are useless.

dafdf wrote:

We aren't in a pandemic at this point. This virus is endemic. A leaky vaccine, that still allows for getting the virus and transmitting it, was never going to stop covid. The virus will continue to get more contagious and less severe...that's how viruses work. Just accept you're going to get it at some point and probably will a few times per decade and stfu.

Is STFU the same as FJB?

When people can't work out what they think is a contradiction or implausible scenario, rather than allow that there is more to it than they have considered, the dull ones will reject the scenario and declare it wrong. Then they attempt to discredit it with false parallels or examples of contrary parts of unrelated elements. Thus they have "destroyed" the original thesis with a clever case or quip.

Further information or suggestions that they consider another view will be lost on them: they have closed shop, strolled away convinced that there is no other view possible.

I don't think people realize how frequently you are supposed to replace masks like this in order to use them properly so they actually work. They are not something you can just wear over and over again with the same effect. We would as a county probably be going through billions of masks a day to actually use them properly. This is totally unrealistic.

I'll admit I have actually made a bit of an attempt to try and get Omicron over the past three weeks. I'm vaxxed and boosted, and I have to travel a bunch in the next month, so I'd rather not have those plans botched by a bout with Omicron.

That being said, 2300 people died of COVID yesterday, so clearly there are still a huge number of conspiracy theorists out there who aren't protected. Not my problem, but it would be nice if those people took steps to help us alleviate the crisis. People aren't dying of COVID anymore, they're dying because they didn't protect themselves against COVID.

They finally abandon the "cloth masks protect us" misinformation. But the N95s have not been in short supply for months (more domestic production plus we can freely import them from Korea and China). Finally, when we face a mild strain that promises to end the pandemic in the next month or so, they go all in on N95s which are also imperfect but a lot better than cloth masks. By the time the ponderous operation of our government manages to give everyone three of them, we'll be seeing the tail of omicron. The tardy delivery of home tests is also too little too late.

Puget Sound Runner wrote:

I'll admit I have actually made a bit of an attempt to try and get Omicron over the past three weeks. I'm vaxxed and boosted, and I have to travel a bunch in the next month, so I'd rather not have those plans botched by a bout with Omicron.

That being said, 2300 people died of COVID yesterday, so clearly there are still a huge number of conspiracy theorists out there who aren't protected. Not my problem, but it would be nice if those people took steps to help us alleviate the crisis. People aren't dying of COVID anymore, they're dying because they didn't protect themselves against COVID.

No. They are dying of the other 4 comorbidities 75% of them have

There are currently more people in the hospital because of COVID than at any other time during the pandemic. We are extremely lucky that omicron is not putting people into the ICU and deaths have declined significantly compared to Delta. But our health care system cannot handle the massive number of people coming in to the ER with shortness of breath, needing oxygen and emergency care.

Giving in to Omicron will not yield herd immunity. Upper respiratory viruses tend to leave behind fairly short lived immunity. 4-6 months is typical. That is why people get colds multiple times a year. But omicron is not a cold. It does hit hard and people are knocked off there feet for 1-2 weeks and many end up needing emergency care.

Also, counting on omicron to stay less virulent is not a safe bet. It is a myth that viral infections always evolve to become less virulent because keeping the host alive is an advantage. Plague sustained very high virulence and IFR because it sustained transmission through fleas on rats. There is no reason why omicron can't mutate to become more virulent and still be the dominant variant.

The best way to keep that from happening is to minimize transmission. N95s are the best protection we have to stop transmission. It would be stupid to not have people wearing N95s when indoors in public settings at this point. It would get transmission to come down, sparing the healthcare system, and keep new variants from emerging. There should be an omicron specific booster available this spring and other promising vaccines and therapeutics are in the pipeline. Now is probably the most important time in the entire pandemic to hunker down and do everything possible to limit transmission.

listen to this podcast. he does it every week. it is not at all clear that it is less severe in this country. it may actually be more severe. uk is 90% vaccinated for 65+. we are not close. demographics in SA are very different as 45% believed to have had a covid infection and population age is 10+ years younger. at this point we just don't know if it is more severe than delta lack of testing is crippling understanding the data. we should have required n95/kn95 mask two years ago and we would not be in this situation

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars

It's a recommendation not a mandate if you're so salty just don't follow it lmao

[quote]Precious Roy wrote:

There are currently more people in the hospital because of COVID than at any other time during the pandemic.

Not true at all.

There are more people in the hospital testing positive for Covid than at any other time as everyone is getting omicron.

2:18 at the casino (SLU grad) wrote:

You are the joke. If everyone got vaccinated, everyone wore a N95 mask and quit gathering in large crowds I think we would be closer to the end of the pandemic than in the middle of one. This from a long time registered Republican.

+1.

If it weren’t for Trump and his racist hillbilly anti-vaxers this would have been completely over in April 2021