I've spoken at length with my best friend, a doctor, and a neighbor, also a doctor -- both of whom believe it's not rational to shut down the economy for the risks of this pandemic, particularly w/r/t the demographics of those most at risk given the (relatively low) mortality rate. Neither are Trump/GOP supporters.
I've spoken at length with others.. not doctors.. who think it's not rational to open up at all, and that things need to be shut down further until progress is made.
My workplace recently sent out a survey and asked if we were ready to come back to the office, if there were those who were interested in volunteering for a Back to Office pilot project. My team all voted against, with "commuting on Bart" as the first and conclusive deal-breaker. I also don't want to sit in an office with a mask on all day. So, for now, WFH.
Of course, if I was subject to unemployment... I don't think I'd change my vote but I would have a different emotional response to the question.
(FWIW, I was let go from a contract gig during the first week of SIP, and was hired a week later by a company I'd been in process with for a few weeks).
Where your doctor friends virologists? Doctors are some of the worst people to ask, in my opinion, about what to do if they do not have subject expertise. They have just enough knowledge to speak authoritatively and not nearly enough subject expertise to really know what they're talking about.
The old adage that doctors are the worst patients, I think, rings true.
We are no longer having real honest debates where we talk about all the evidence. Most of the studies can't even be replicated due to the dangerous nature of containing a virus and the limited labs and universities equipped to handle that research. You combined that with the massive political influences of Gavi, the Gates Foundation and others, and we're looking directly in the face of a Orwellian Ministry or Truth.
Texas is talking to other experts (https://www.westernjournal.com/texas-lt-governor-goes-off-fa...) and you can be sure that, since they're a red state, they'll be slammed for not taking the official dose of science from the US federal government, where Colorado can have the same numbers and no one will blame them since they're blue.
Very little of this virus is about "experts" as much as it is about politics. That's the fucked up part.
The answer is yes. Being an "expert" in one field does not make an expert in another. Knowing how to perform brain surgery does not make you an authority on vaccines.
In the case of Karol Sikora, he is an expert who even spent 2 years working as a director at the WHO.
Yet whenever anyone posts anything about him, it's met with immediately criticism, either ignoring his WHO work, stating he's 'only' an ecologist, his exaggeration on his connections to the Imperial College .. but none of those criticisms invalidate his expertise or the fact that he was hired by the WHO and had experience directly in infectious diseases.
Oddly enough, people will immediately attack his character and background, but they won't bring up his involvement in Lockerbie.
I'm in Ann Arbor Michigan, and we've been back in the office for a month now (with lots of precautions). While not as safe for others, an N95 mask isn't too bad to wear if you can get one - about the only issue is the elastic carves indentations into the soft tissue of your skull that takes several hours to return to normal - I'm kind of worried that I'm permanently damaging the bone - but I figure Doctors/Nurses do this for 8 hours/day as well.
Oh, also Coffee can only be drunk on officially (socially distanced) coffee breaks. Which is kind of weird. I figure as long as everyone is wearing a mask, the office is well ventilated (we have open windows), you are socially distanced and clorox-the-hell out of everything a couple times.
And we are also essentially bathing in Ethyl-Alcohol at this point. Dispensers placed around the office and people scrubbing down anytime you touch anything.
I'm honestly curious as to what mechanism could exist on a mask that could filter air in one direction only (and also why someone would build a surgical mask to do that) - surely you want protection in both directions?
> I'm honestly curious as to what mechanism could exist on a mask that could filter air in one direction only
You could have a mask that formed a tighter seal with internal underpressure, but moves slightly away from the face allowing exhalation to escape with overpressure.
Obviously, you wouldn't want that in a surgical mask, but it pretty easy to do. There are more complex variants you could do where the difference in operation is driven by the direction of pressure differential.
I've spoken at length with my best friend, a doctor, and a neighbor, also a doctor -- both of whom believe it's not rational to shut down the economy for the risks of this pandemic, particularly w/r/t the demographics of those most at risk given the (relatively low) mortality rate. Neither are Trump/GOP supporters.
I've spoken at length with others.. not doctors.. who think it's not rational to open up at all, and that things need to be shut down further until progress is made.
My workplace recently sent out a survey and asked if we were ready to come back to the office, if there were those who were interested in volunteering for a Back to Office pilot project. My team all voted against, with "commuting on Bart" as the first and conclusive deal-breaker. I also don't want to sit in an office with a mask on all day. So, for now, WFH.
Of course, if I was subject to unemployment... I don't think I'd change my vote but I would have a different emotional response to the question.
(FWIW, I was let go from a contract gig during the first week of SIP, and was hired a week later by a company I'd been in process with for a few weeks).