Looks like Omicron is going to dot the i and cross the t on mask wearing. Faux masks are completely worthless against it and nothing more than facial decorations.

Your cloth mask is not good enough protection against Omicron, according to an expert — here's why (msn.com)

Old news, most have been “fashion accessories” since delta.

 

From the very beginning when there were not enough masks and folks were sewing them up from whatever they had on hand and donating them. Most of the ones I've seen lately were designed as a Decorative cover for the N95 mask, except they didn't bother to actually wear the N95 under their fancy cover. My wife even bought one from the Mayo Clinic gift shop except she actually wears a N95 under hers. Lately I've have been seeing N95 masks that have been improved for a better fit at the hospitals and medical offices. The N95 masks I have leak like all get out around the edges since they don't fit very well around the nose and over my beard. They would never pass the respirator fit test we required at the chemical plant to prevent harmful vapor exposure.

 

From the very beginning when there were not enough masks and folks were sewing them up from whatever they had on hand and donating them. Most of the ones I've seen lately were designed as a Decorative cover for the N95 mask, except they didn't bother to actually wear the N95 under their fancy cover. My wife even bought one from the Mayo Clinic gift shop except she actually wears a N95 under hers. Lately I've have been seeing N95 masks that have been improved for a better fit at the hospitals and medical offices. The N95 masks I have leak like all get out around the edges since they don't fit very well around the nose and over my beard. They would never pass the respirator fit test we required at the chemical plant to prevent harmful vapor exposure.

That's why facial hair is forbidden when working with poison gasses and using gas masks - you'll never get a reasonable seal over stubble (or an actual beard). I assume the same is true for viruses. Also, there is a full training of how to bend the nose tabs on N95 masks. Look it up (but don't waste your time if you plan to stick with the beard).

 

That's why facial hair is forbidden when working with poison gasses and using gas masks - you'll never get a reasonable seal over stubble (or an actual beard). I assume the same is true for viruses. Also, there is a full training of how to bend the nose tabs on N95 masks. Look it up (but don't waste your time if you plan to stick with the beard).

No question the mask is not able to stop it while inhaling, it’s close proximity to the mask while exhaling or coughing, droplets atomized slow it down or hopefully depending on the mask stop a large percentage. Now if someone also will use the cough suppression method into the crook of the arm maybe even better. Getting close to reduction is as good as it gets no better than that, and to be honest, I am about me and what I intend doing, it’s the why I am that guy who will be the next variant producer lol mutate that Mother of all bombs, sending it around and around and around. To prevent that I’m nice enough to help you by wearing my useless mask. Hopefully for some ease their moments around me after an asthmatic cough I have no control over, and god forbid I don’t unknowingly have COVID when I do.

 

Your poorly fitting mask is not useless, it is much better than no mask.

There are some unvaccinated people without masks banned from their jobs and banned from almost everything who are protesting and are spreading the virus around. Every day some of them die in the ICU of hospitals. Every day some of the smarter ones get vaccinated.

 

Your poorly fitting mask is not useless, it is much better than no mask.

There are some unvaccinated people without masks banned from their jobs and banned from almost everything who are protesting and are spreading the virus around. Every day some of them die in the ICU of hospitals. Every day some of the smarter ones get vaccinated.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/with-omicron-experts-warn-against-cloth-masks-2666823

"The issue here is if you have a single-layer, the ability to filtrate is absolutely minimal and doesn't make a difference whatsoever," said Peter Juni, head of Ontario's Science Advisory Table in an interview with CTV news last week.

 

My cheap common masks are 2 layers of cloth material (not woven) with blue on the outside and white on the inside. They have a metal strap that goes over my nose and fit my nose and mouth well. They filter fairly well. Light does not penetrate like an ordinary single layer of woven cloth does.

 

https://www.statnews.com/2021/12/22/omicron-oddity-case-numbers-dont-predict-deaths/

An Omicron oddity: The number of cases doesn’t predict the number of deaths

But there’s something else different this time around, at least in the U.K.: the statistical relationship between Covid-19 cases and deaths appears to have broken down with Omicron.


Looking at daily death rates in the U.K. from May 15 — essentially from the point at which the Delta wave began — to Sept. 15, there is a highly statistically significant relationship between daily new cases and deaths. In short, case rates accurately predict death rates.

But beginning the analysis on Sept. 15, coinciding with flattening of the Delta curve and the onset of Omicron, shows no statistical relationship between Covid-19 case rates and deaths.

A large percentage of cases are reinfections/breakthroughs and these have much lower death percentage.

 

Maybe the number of deaths from Covid-10 are less now because there are fewer antivaxxers now?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...-crew-is-fully-immunized-navy-says/ar-AAS7XAU

A coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Milwaukee, whose entire crew was “100 percent immunized,” has forced the ship to remain in port after a scheduled stop in Cuba barely one week into its deployment, the Navy announced Friday.


An unspecified “portion” of the Milwaukee’s 105-person crew is isolated aboard the ship at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, according to Cmdr. Kate Meadows, a spokeswoman for U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command. The Navy does not disclose infection counts “at the crew/unit level,” she said in an email.

 

 

https://www.amny.com/news/covid-19-statistics-nyc-omicron-new-infection-records/

Despite the massive uptick in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations across the city are much lower than they might have been at times before the COVID-19 vaccine became available. As of Dec. 20, the city saw a daily hospitalization average in a 7-day period of 114.

By comparison, the city saw 442 people hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms on Feb. 3, 2021, the highest daily total this year; and 1,781 people hospitalized on March 31, 2020, at the peak of the deadly first wave.

Deaths from COVID-19 are also far lower today than in previous waves during the pandemic. The 7-day average citywide daily death total stood at 14 on Dec. 20. By comparison, the city saw a year-high 93 deaths from COVID-19 on Jan. 27, and a horrific 816 COVID-19 deaths in one day on April 7, 2020.

But Omicron, Delta and the other variants of COVID-19 continue to particularly hit the unvaccinated population hard. As of Dec. 11, the city’s Health Department reported that the unvaccinated case rate stood at 758.5 per 100,000; the vaccinated case rate was just 127.49 per 100,000.

 

My area of Canada is doing very well for the last week, except my city's Mayor got the virus.
Instead of many of antivaxxers dying, only one did. Instead of hundreds of antivaxxers being hospitalized, only 7 were.
Almost everybody is fully vaccinated, even teens and little kids. Antivaxxers are few and far between.
Thousands of new cases of the Omicron variant have tested positive and have the sniffles at home. Maybe they took their masks off too early in the pandemic. Since they are all fully vaccinated then they will probably develop "super immunity".

 

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others. The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after. Therefore, people who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others.

Additionally, CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for those exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.

 

Since an unvaccinated person gets a severe infection then they transmit much more virus to others and must quarantine longer than a fully vaccinated person who has a minor infection.

Today a doctor on the news said that all unvaccinated people will get the virus and many of them will be hospitalized.

Everybody should wear a mask indoors and when near other people until doctors say the pandemic is finished.

 

Georgia getting hammered, again.
18 Atlanta ERs Turning Away Patients As Georgia Reports Record COVID Test Positivity Rate (msn.com)

 

Georgia getting hammered, again.
18 Atlanta ERs Turning Away Patients As Georgia Reports Record COVID Test Positivity Rate (msn.com)

"It's like déjà vu all over again." To quote Yogi Berra.

Everything returning to being a mess just when people were slowly starting to feel safe. We have people dying while waiting for getting into an ER because ERs are all jacked up with COVID cases. We are back to having National Guard troops helping in hospitals up here. Self COVID test kits abundant a few weeks ago on pharmacy shelves are now extinct. A total mess. Oh yes, and not to omit failed 911 calls because Cleveland EMS services are understaffed with broken down squad trucks.

Ron

 

Newly found cure will end the virus - https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att...-041820957.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_11 But the anti-vaxers won't take it because the blue skin will tell others they are using it.

 

The news article about Georgia hospitals turning away Covid-19 cases does not say a single word about the very low rate of vaccinations that is causing the problem.
The news people should reveal that fewer vaccinated people get the virus and if they do then there are no symptoms or the symptoms are so mild that hospitalization is not needed.
Hospitals are for heart attacks, cancer treatment and broken bones, not for antivaxxers.

 

Let's all hope the wave is quick. So far, while cases are going to the moon, the severity of cases from Omicron is still relatively low.

https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/omicron-may-reduce-delta-infections-south-african-study-shows

Infection with the omicron coronavirus variant can also strengthen immunity against the earlier delta strain, reducing the risk of severe disease, according to a paper released by South African scientists. While omicron has been shown to be highly transmissible and can evade some antibodies, after two weeks of getting symptoms immunity to subsequent infections from the strain rose 14-fold, accor