I dont get why people make such a fuss about wearing a mask. Really cant understand. Its just a mask. Everybody wearing a mask will most likely help us to start have a normal life again. We can go back going to shops, theatre, cinema etc. Really. I cant understand.

There is a lot of in between these people, there is a spectrum.

I definitely trust 100% science and scientists but I do not trust the politicians at the front of it. The WHO situation in the past few months made it very clear for me. As for media, yeah I dont trust them and the last 4 years just showed me that I can never take what they say as truth. I need to always check other sources because the bias became so strong to the felt and right that it is difficult to find the truth. I'm 100% pro vax, people against it are batshit crazy. At the same time I think we should have pro-vax campaigns from the government debunking the anti-vax arguments because if you dont do it people will always have a reason to believe them.

So... it's a spectrum.

You still need to be careful though. Cloth masks stop 40% to 90% of droplets, but not micro droplets. They greatly help reduce the risk of infection, yet packing 100 people in a smallish space with bad ventilation or recirculated air is still not a great idea. Cinemas and indoor dining is not recommended.

Everyone wearing them with social distancing will quickly get the transmission rate under R1 and keep it there. Then when the daily infections are actually low enough, theaters can open again. However it seems that once governments start to re-open things they just steam ahead according to whatever schedule they had in mind regardless of what the infection rate is doing. We're continuing with phase 3 while infection rate is going up.

Normal life is probably off the table until a vaccine is available. Just look at Australia how quickly things can turn. As long as the infection worldwide is still so high and (some) travel is still allowed, you can't get rid of it. New Zealand is still importing cases as well but is managing to keep them isolated. Then you can return to normal.

Quick responses are needed when a new cluster is found. Waiting a week or more to see how it goes is what got us into this mess.


Anyway it all helps. Stay outdoors when possible, wear a mask indoors, social distance, reduce the number of people indoors, better ventilation or UV-C air filters and of course good hygiene. But it all only works when everyone works together, otherwise it will just drag on for another year until vaccines are widely available (and effective)


Edit: just got back from the supermarket. Now 100% mask use, employees and customers. People are all keeping their distance, checkout uses gloves as well. It took half a year but better late than never.

Sorry I believe I didnt explain myself properly. I dont think that masks are 100% guarantee, but they help and a lot and I dont understand why governments and WHO were against people using it in the begginning, saying it didnt help. You dont need to be an einstein to know that a person coughing directly into your mouth is much different than it happening when the person is wearing a mask. If you are ALSO using one you decrease the chances of contamination A LOT. Add social distancing and really, the chances are very small. I just dont get why authorities were against it. Just doesnt make sense. The chance of contamination decreases a lot and when you add the statistical effect of all those decreases then you get to a minimal chance of contamination.

I truly think we can go back doing a lot of stuff if we wear masks, like going to the cinema or theatre, shops, museums, etc. Of course other stuff like football games, rock concerts etc that will come back only when we have a vaccine.

They were against it because they knew people would empty all the store shelves and medical professional wouldn't be able to get them. They should just have said mask help but don't buy all the masks wear a piece of cloth or make your own mask. The counter argument to that is that people would have done it anyway but what about the loss of credibility? was that lie worth it?

Agree. Also how many lives could be spared if they had told people since the begginning that even a cloth mask would already help?

-The initial question isn't really pointing at testing specifically. People are spreading it and contracting it, and while the tests prove how much, they don't explain the why and how behind everything.

-So whatever someone provides me is 100% correct, no faults or flaws? Often enough, some of recent, individuals who were in some cases backing each other, were also directly contradicting each other on some points. Both pushing 'undeniable' data/facts who believed they were right, yet only one of them could have been. It was also said to me that people should easily know what's 'right and wrong' and should ignore whatever or whoever is wrong, even if they are deemed professionals or specialists. How could they not have known themselves before presenting those 'facts' to me? The same type of individuals in general who like to point out that the problems are mostly because of politicians making decisions, and not listening to the professionals or specialists who supposedly provide those facts. So forgive me for not simply consuming whatever I'm served, but I appreciate the added items to the 'menu' so I can go through and come to a better conclusion.

-I question the numbers, because they have been legitimately criticized for more than a few reasons. That's not to say the numbers hold no value, but the value they hold is lesser than they would otherwise because of it. More testing in general would be a good idea, but there would at some point come a time where continuing to increase testing would be a waste. Where that point is exactly is up to the professionals to analyze, predict, and act. Maybe they do just enough, maybe they underestimate, maybe they overestimate. The 'perfect' amount of testing here isn't an exact science unfortunately.

The bigger problem was waiting far too long to take measures. When Wuhan went into full lock down on Januari 23rd, alarm bells should have been ringing all over the world. But governments all waited for an actual outbreak to happen in their backyard before taking measures. Many were detecting cases for a long time but since it likely wasn't community transfer, no worries! Here the PM still told everyone to enjoy their March break holiday, bringing back tons more cases, while Europe was already in panic mode.

They waited too long to give negative travel advice.
Too long to mandate 2 week quarantine when returning.
And far too long on social distancing and use of masks.

Nobody wanted to disturb the economy, which is now much worse off than if we had acted quickly and decisively. Of course the problem was, how do you convince people it would get bad if you prevent it from getting bad. Fake news and deep distrust of governments and science are partly to blame for the mess we're in. The government doesn't trust the people, and people don't trust the government. What a wonderful world.

3 days straight of over a thousand deaths here in the US.

Damn Peru and Chile for making the US look slightly better.