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Showing posts with label face masks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label face masks. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Public Health Decisions


Georgia currently has no statewide mask mandate.  The governor, Brian Kemp, as corrupt as they come in regards to science-denial, racist/racism and Trump surrogate, wants the good people of Georgia to make up their own minds about whether or not they need to wear a face mask.
Prior to becoming Georgia's governor, Brian was the Secretary of State there, in charge of voting and little things like denying voting rights and access to ballots to blacks, gerrymandering, and so on.  
So, yeah, he's a real stand-up guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Some Cases, Such As A Public Health Crisis/Pandemic, You Have To Give Up Some Personal Liberties For The Good Of Everyone.
A national health emergency, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, needs to be addressed by public health and government officials.  And YES, some of the decisions those groups or individuals make WILL EFFECT the population… such as wearing a protective face covering like a mask, covering the nose and mouth.
When that same government official (governor, deputy governor, assistant governor, and so on) mandates something like a mask, YES, we the people of that state have to abide by those directives.  Again, for public health safety.
So, when a high school principal makes a remark like, “Class changes at the high school level are a challenge when maintaining a specific schedule.  It is an area we are continuing to work on in this new environment to find practicable ways to further limit students from congregating.  Students are in this hallway environment for just a brief period as they move to their next class. … There is no question that the photo does not look good. ... Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them."
Read that last line again, slowly.
Astonishing, right?
NO. You have to GIVE UP that “personal choice” in order to keep yourself and others safe.  Period.  FULL STOP.
There is no personal choice involved here, but there most definitely should be discipline or punishment for not adhering to the state mandates. 
Maybe that’s where a lack of leadership comes in.  Maybe the governor doesn’t believe in science and public health over public safety.  In that case, heck, it’s an easy decision.  Go back to school or lose funding. 
Sure put the lives of these young people at risk.  They’re expendable, right?  You betcha, they are!
Here’s the picture, which clearly shows most of the students not wearing masks or other face coverings.   

Yes, teenagers do have many rights and are afforded many personal choices and liberties, even in a school setting.  They have rights and responsibilities, as well, and among those are being educated in a safe environment.
This is a situation where, try and weasel out of it as they may, the district and school board will be hard pressed to come up with a logical explanation as to how they can 1) Justify suspending a student for pointing out gross negligence on the part of the school and its board members, 2) How not wearing a mask is personal choice and not a requirement.  (Not to mention, appropriate social distancing.), and 3) How this is not a public health emergency situation.
We've seen time and again as businesses reopen after months of closures, that because this is so important to them and they desperately want to get it right, many are going above and beyond state guidelines and mandates to protect not only their staffs but their potential customers as well. 

They need to be thanked graciously and applauded for their efforts.
Schools, as we've seen,  have to go above and beyond.  
Our children's lives are on the line.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Quaranteaming


It sounds cute, sort of.  But, hold up a minute here.  It started as a way to self-isolate, but, with another person, thus “teaming”.  The thought behind it being, ‘if we both have to stay home and quarantine ourselves, why not do it together’?

Again, almost sounds like a good idea… however, consider this.  That means the two of you can never go out alone, must stay together 24/7 (just like a married couple), pretty much do everything together.  The second you separate, and don’t do things together, but rather apart, that’s when you set yourself up to come in contact with an outside party.

Is that so bad?  Y-E-S!!  Why? (Because I know you’re thinking that.)  Think of it like another very well known virus, HIV.  Sounds extreme, and it IS.  HIV is transmitted by unprotected sexual contact in the semen.  We know that using condoms dramatically reduces the chances of contracting it. In the same way that HIV changes with each new infected person, the coronavirus adapts to new "hosts" (people) as well.  An antibody test is a very good start.  Many, many more coronavirus tests are likewise a good start, but ultimately, a vaccine is what we need and that is still 12 to 18 months away, putting us well into 2021, closing in on 2022.

Guess what?  The protection, or condom, in this case in regards to the coronavirus, is that face mask.  So, where are we going with this?  I’m glad you asked.

In the same way that condoms and fewer sexual partners reduce that chances of one contracting HIV, that face mask is your protection against potentially contracting the coronavirus, and further, limiting people with whom you spend time quaranteaming, if that’s your choice, you lower your risks of getting it.

And to be clear, no, I wouldn’t start calling your mask a face condom.  That just sounds wrong, and not a pretty image you want floating around in your noodle.

I guess if you are someone that easily feels isolated/alone, then maybe that’s a good choice, but, keep in mind, it IS a commitment, potentially for several months.  It sounds great, and I get that you don’t like being alone at home.  That’s a tough one, for sure.  Maybe getting tested for the coronavirus first, to make sure you’re both negative?

My only concern would be what it does to your friendship during the quarantine.  Could potentially be a friendship killer, and I don’t know that ground rules would help much, if at all.

Since you have to be at home anyway, what about:

  • Catching up on reading
  • Binge watching those TV shows you’ve missed because you don’t own a DVR
  • Journal writing
  • Learning a new musical instrument (Guitars are a great one to start with)
  • Jigsaw puzzles
  • Word Search puzzles, crossword puzzles
  • Sewing
  • Meditation
  • Yoga

… and on and on, ad infinitum.