The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

After 8 months on the front lines and seventeen on the back lines, I tested positive.  It sucks. My muscles ache and I have pain behind my eyes

If your vaccine is current the most likely outcome is you will feel like crap for a few days.  If you are stupid enough not to be vaccinated then you could be in for a lot worse.

My company mandated we all be boosted so I am

What really sucks is I had an obstacle course race today that I had to miss

Who hasn't tested positive at this point?  If you've gotten vaxed it's just like getting the flu or a bad cold. NBD

I have never even been tested.  Although I am pretty sure I had it.

Hope it’s a speedy recovery D4L. I haven’t had it yet. I’m waiting for my turn, but so far so good. Back in December 2019 I had a cough for most of the month that just wouldn’t go away. That could have been it maybe?

This is worse than the cold or a flu

It would likely be even worse if you weren't vaccinated.

Conservative downplaying aside, this is the same disease that has killed over a million Americans in the last 2 years.  It's no joke.

Don't believe I ever had it. Tested twice for precaution.

Been drinking lots of water

You crack me up. My daughter finally caught it a couple of months ago and no, she is not vaccinated. She only had 3 days of feeling bad. At this point hospitalization has gone from about 2% of the people (deaths are much lower) to even lower regardless of vaccine status. Don't worry though because as the election gets closer the dire need for vaccination will rise again and your constant fear from us non-vaxers will be used against you again.

DFL ... hope you are feeling better soon!

Kind of cool how the flu and other colds quit killing people though.

Yes, the masks and social distancing guidelines that were put in place drastically reduced transmission of colds and the flu over the last two years.  Because masks and social distancing work, that was a predictable outcome, but welcome nevertheless.

However, it should be obvious that if conservatives are willing to revolt over masking and social distancing for a disease that's killing a 9/11 worth of Americans each day, there is absolutely zero chance they would ever be willing to regularly wear masks for something as insignificant as the flu.  So it is what it is.

Took a home test. I am still positive and suffering. Somebody should invent a mucus sucker you can stick down your throat

Such a thing exists. They’ll call it suction in the hospital. Never had it used in me but I e seen it used plenty of times when I was working in a hospital. Doesn’t seem very comfortable. If you’re having that done to you you’re in bad shape.

Don't take a test every day, that's pointless.

Make sure you get fresh air and eat clean. Lots of water.

Vitamin C every day, and paracetamol (ie. Tylenol) can help with the fever and body aches.

If it's significantly effecting breathing then medical attention should be sought immediately regardless of how bad you may think it is or not.

Not sure about what happens there in the USA, but some states here in Australia still prefer you have a government PCR test after testing positive to a RAT and/or having symptoms so they can assist quickly if things deteriorate.

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Just curious, is there any chance it could not be Covid?

What your company did is illegal and you can file suit against them for that.

Well the good thing for you guys is we will all be dead soon by your rationale and you won't have to watch us defy your logic. It's hard to believe any conservatives remain based on your logic. Your life should be just peachy these days.

Yeah, there were a ton of false positives with the rapid tests. I think the more thorough ones with the deep nose swab are more accurate but the drug store rapid ones can be iffy. Still, treat it as if it is Covid just to be safe.

I should have done a flu test, too

No it's not.

I'm with Dave, it is not illegal

The Supreme Court ruled that it is.

I think it depends on the company and the state. Here in NYC, you can't even be in an office building without being vaccinated.

Not even close.  The S.Ct. ruled that OSHA can not mandate employers to require the vax, with the exception that OSHA can mandate healthcare facilities.  Private employees are still permitted to have the vaccine as a condition of employment, if the employer chooses.  And healthcare facilities are required to mandate it.  You really need to get a better source for news.

I took one five hour test at work that came back positive.

I have taken two rapid at home tests

All have been positive

I think he just misunderstood as that was pretty much the same story on all news channels. The good thing for me is although our company is based out of Boston they backed down on us in Florida having to get vaccinated after the SC ruling. I know that wasn't the case for everyone and some private companies in Florida still required it.

Like Edge said it's kind of useless to keep taking them. You can test postive for weeks even after getting better and not being able to infect people.

Not true.  Most news channels reported what the actual ruling was.   The RNC propaganda wings pretending to be news channels fed misinformation in an attempt to create conflict and controversy.

You'll be fine, D4L, but you'll likely test positive as you shed the virus for a while.  No biggie.  Just take care of yourself like a normal illness and then maintain distance/mask/stay home -- whatever is appropriate so you don't infect others.  This is life now.  It will probably come and go like this for the foreseeable future, if not indefinitely.

That will damage our planet even more, if we have to keep churning masks out at this rate.

Only symptom left right now is a cough, which could be the result of all the mucus in my throat

I own about a dozen masks that are reusable.  They can be machine washed and using them has the same impact on the planet as changing my underwear daily.  Although I no longer wear them on a daily basis, I will wear them any time I suspect I have a respiratory infection. Regardless if it is Covid, the flu, the common cold, or something else I don't need to infect others.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/05/cloth-masks-not-effective-omicron-covid/9091574002/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/05/cloth-masks-not-effective-omicron-covid/9091574002/)

Most people are still wearing cloth masks. Here's why that's a problem with omicron

Your cloth face mask isn't protecting you against the coronavirus variant omicron, health officials say.

As common as cloth face masks have become, health experts say, they do little to prevent tiny virus particles from getting into your nose or mouth and aren't effective against the new variant.

"Cloth masks are not going to cut it with omicron," says Linsey Marr, a researcher at Virginia Tech told NPR.

Health experts are urging the public to opt for three-ply surgical masks, KN95 masks or N95 masks, which offer more protection against the highly contagious variant.

Omicron spreads more quickly and efficiently than other known coronavirus variants and is extremely transmissible – even through thick fabric face masks. Several countries, such as Germany and Austria, have surgical masks requirements in public.

I am aware of the difference between a cloth mask protection and N95. While there is a difference.  The gap between N95 and cloth mask is tiny when compared to cloth mask and no mask. 

Most of the time I don't wear a mask. However if I suspect I *might* have something contagious I avoid others to the extent possible and wear a mask when contact is unavoidable.  I feel this is reasonable particularly when many others take zero steps to protect others.  If I needed to go into a healthcare setting I would wear N95 to protect myself and others.  Keep in mind the mask's primary role is not self protection but protecting others.  The vax is the primary tool of self protection.

Can someone give me a logical reason to wear a mask in an auto when you are by yourself? LOL ... we see people all the time driving with a mask on and it just baffles me.

If you're shopping and going to several stores, it doesn't make sense to take it off only to put it right back on when you get out of the car, then take it off again just to put it back on again, touching your face every time in the process.

That really seems pretty minimal. I mean we take off our sunglasses to go inside. 

I take off my mask as soon as I get outside, but sometimes will have it in the car (wear it) only so I don't forget it when I go in.  But it's for like 30 seconds in the parking lot.

I can see someone seeing that and thinking I was driving with it.

I also have an immunosuppressed friend who chooses to wear a mask in the car with other people.  I wear one when I drive with her, out of respect, even though she says I don't have to.  It's just a nice gesture.

I know people who get so use to wearing it they don't even notice it.  I can relate, when I first started needing to wear a tie the moment I left work after a few months I stopped noticing it and it might still be on a few hours after getting home.  I also know one women who said it was very difficult for her to get her glasses and mask just right to avoid fogging.  Once she got it right she didn't want to remove her mask to need to go thru the process a second time.

Also there is the issue of cleanliness. Take the mask off set it down on car seat or put in pocket it is now dirty.  Leave it on no issue.

Also do you know for a fact they are alone?  Could be their kid and a friend in backseat both too young for vax. 

Could be on the way to pick someone up and don't want to fill the very enclosed car with droplets.

Why are  you bothered by someone else wearing a mask?  How is this possibly harming you.  And unless it has an adverse effect on you why are concerned with others freedom of choice. 

I see more people with sunglasses on indoors than I do sitting alone with masks in cars.

The "touching your face every time" part of it matters, too.  By keeping your mask on, you are minimizing that.

But the other factor is that for a lot of people who are not politically married to mask opposition, it's not that big of a deal to wear one so they don't feel the need to take it off for every possible second that it's not required.

I know one teenager who would rather wear a mask than have others see her braces, so she is staying masked until they're removed. She says two of her friends still wear masks in school (even though it is now optional) because it allows them to chew gum in class without getting caught.

My niece liked wearing the mask so much that her mom had to disallow it after everyone got vaxxed, because she was using it as a way to hide.  She's introverted to the point that it's kinda like social anxiety and the mask mandate was the best thing that ever happened to her, but in a bad way.

Maybe rather than forcing her to be uncomfortable, help her with counseling to develop social skills and confidence.  Why is it the extroverts are always imposing their lifestyle choice on others?  "No, I don't need to be more outgoing you need to quiet down and leave me alone" Should be the response.

Thanks for your condescending parenting advice for a situation that you clearly don't understand.  You're coming on a little strong.

But it's not an either/or situation.  They have counseling and therapy.  She was adopted from an orphanage in another country where things aren't run like here, so she had stunted social growth, as well as multiple reconstructive oral surgeries.  And then 2 years of isolation with COVID, as she didn't go back to school until a fresh start to the year.  She was regressing socially.



(I accidentally edited your post but made no changes.)

Actually that is one of the reasons why conservatives wanted kids back in school and without face masks. It is detrimental to kids mental well being in the long run. 

We have friends that have a 10 year old daughter who could not speak or look at adults. She would whisper to her father and he would order for her which included her having to answer questions fom the wait staff. We kind of called them out and let them know they are hurting her in the long run by allowing her to to do that. Fast forward a year and she is doing a much better job of ordering food which also seems to be helping her in other ways. They are now pushing her to face her uncomfortable situations rather than hide and it seems to be helping. 

All of it is a balance.

Then I guess it's a happy coincidence that being anti-mask "for the children" also precisely lined up with cynical political gamesmanship: first in downplaying COVID while Trump was president, and later in opposing Biden and the Democrats as mask tyrants.  And I'm sure you might claim that Democrats are simply on the opposite side of the same game... except that we're just saying to do what medical professionals here and in every other developed country on the planet recommend.  But maybe the whole pandemic was a global conspiracy against Trump.

In any case, I think the millions of children who lost loved ones to COVID have suffered significantly more detriment to their mental well-being than introverts being able to cover part of their face in public.

Oh, I 100% don't take our leadership here in good faith that their motivation was actually what was socially most healthy for children.

But there is definitely a balance between physical health vs. mental health with all of this stuff -- masking, lockdowns, distancing, etc.

To me, the solution would have been to require masking until enough time has passed for kids to get vaxxed, then remove the mandate, but keep general distancing practices.  Maybe require masking until you're at your desk.....some level of balance until kids vaccine was readily available.

But the kind of "mental health" we're talking about here has nothing to do with mask mandates, since the kids in question WANT to wear a mask.

What we are talking about is adults forcing kids to take their mask off.  I leave the following two questions to the reader:

1) What kind of person is most likely to be telling someone else that is not their child to "Take off that mask"?
2) Does this person (who, again, is not the parent) has that child's best mental health interests at heart?

For me, these questions are easily answered (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/03/02/florida-desantis-students-masks-covid-theater/9349173002/).

I'll put freedom ahead of mental health any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Ironic that you frame it in terms of "freedom," since the kids in question - the kids whose mental health is of concern to CF - are being forced to remove their mask.

I guess it's "freedom" for everyone who agrees with you and compliance for everyone who does not.

LMAO ... parenting = forced = lack of feedom? You damn right. Kids are supposed to be "forced" to not do things that are harmeful to themsleves. That's the whole role of a parent until they are old and mature enough to make their own decsions.

Careful, there... a person reading this might think you were in favor of schools forcing kids to wear masks that they don't want to wear, but we all know you desperately want to make sure THOSE kids have all the "freedom" they can get.

It's also weird that you're talking about parenting, since I specifically said - twice - that I was talking about adults who are not the child's parents.  I'm not talking about parents concerned with reclusive kids; I'm talking about conservative busybodies who supposedly care about "freedom," yet go around complaining about other people choosing to wear masks (say, while they're driving).

It's as if you just ignore the whole mask thing should be the parents choice and NOT the government. The parent has the right to decide what is best for their child.

These are not black/white answers -- in general, yes, parents should choose over the government -- but in cases where your parenting decisions affect other people, we have to make group decisions together.  That's the basis of a shared society.

Or in cases where parents are scientifically wrong, I think it's reasonable for the government to step in.  Not in a rather benign situation like masking, but I don't that a parent should be able to deny a blood transfusion against generally accepted medical advice, for example.

Every single person posting in this thread has grown up in an era where we were required to get vaccinated before attending public school.  And prior to Donald Trump, none of you voiced any objection to the government forcing kids to get vaccinated.

A parent doesn't want their child to have to wear a mask at school?  Then a parent can choose to homeschool them.
Let freedom ring.

I can't say that I disagree with any of that.

I'm typically not against vaccines but there have been enough "signs" to point that it is dangerous to a percentage of society. I survived Covid. It won't stop me from getting or giving Covid to others. Based on this information I choose not to get it regardless of Trump or whoever has said to get it. The "science" has always been fuzzy and when politicians pretend it keeps others safe for me to get it then I can't help but wonder what the end game is because it isn't truth. I know many(and I don't use that lightly) vaccinated people who infected their spouse, parents and/or friends.   

Seems kind of odd you allude to Trump being a cause for people not to get it when he has gotten it as well as the boosters and even called out people like DeSantis for not disclosing their choice. He's on your side of this ... hahaha I know several Obama/Biden supporters who choose not to get it and you probably do too. Maybe not though as you are in California.

I was originally going to rebut this on the merits, but if you're still saying this stuff in summer 2022, there's no point.  You can go ahead and file COVID vaccines in the same "global hoax" category that you use for climate change and/or evolution.  Best of luck to you.

He got the vaccine in secret and refused to join the other former presidents in making a PSA to promote getting vaccinated.  Trump got vaccinated for the only reason that he does anything: he thinks it will help him.  He has been extremely timid and passive in advocating for others to get it.

And then there's the whole thing about his followers being COVID deniers because he has been telling them to deny it from day 1.

I'm not sure why you respond if you're just going to make blanket assumtions all the time. Either you forget who you talk to, you don't comprehend what they say or you just make stuff up. Either way what comes from you
 tends to be a very exaggerated stance. It may work to impress your friends about the dumb hillbily Trumpers you destroy online but it's nothing in the real world.

As far as Trump I would like to know what is it that changes his stance according  to liberal news and yourself? Is he actually the guy who claims the vaccine got approved so quickly and perfectly because of him or is he the guy who hides his vaccine and "he has been telling them to deny it from day 1?"    According to the Huffington Post (I know you guys lve liberal sources) Trump touted the jabs as “one of the greatest achievements of mankind”.

“I came up with three vaccines – all are very, very good,” Trump told Owens on Wednesday. “The vaccine worked, but some people aren’t taking it. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take their vaccine.”

“But it’s still their choice,” he continued. “If you take the vaccine, you’re protected. But the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”

Assumptions?  You yourself, a Trump supporter, are a COVID denier!  You just did it in this very thread!

Do you really need me to cite a laundry list of times you have downplayed COVID, minimized its impact, or peddled some conspiracy about COVID vaccines?  You're a COVID denier, dude.

Both.  He hid it for as long as he thought denying COVID was his best play, and then when he decided that taking credit for the vaccine made him look better, he switched to that.

Furthermore, I'm not sure why you're citing this as evidence for anything other than Trump's incoherent schizophrenia.  After all, we are talking about the same guy who repeatedly downplayed COVID as just the flu while simultaneously insisting that it's a Chinese bioweapon.  He has no consistency in his positions.

It's weird, because he's kinda both.  I think there's a more nuanced political answer.

I found it odd that Trump didn't get on board with the vaccine 100% and take as much credit as he could for his role in operation warp speed.

But I think that, in order to do that, the political reality meant that he opened himself up to criticism.  All that stuff really early about "COVID being a few cases, soon it will be zero" stuff.  It'll be gone by Easter.

He put himself in both camps.

So, in order to not have to admit publicly that he didn't take this seriously enough early on, he felt the political path to walk was to not directly deny the vaccine (because he helped bring it to market, maybe) and he didn't want direct backlash but to muddy the water and allow for an environment where the vaccine isn't trusted.

It all came down to this: Once Trump tried to "no big deal" this early on, there wasn't a path for him to push the importance of a vaccine to fix something that was no big deal, so he had to double down.  That was unfortunate.

Once the vaccine was available, though, I was able to take care of me and mine, so while I was kinda dumbfounded at it, I cared less.

You have two different situations.

1. The first falls in the category of effecting others. "Your right to swing your arms ends at the tip of my nose". In the case of masks the parents right to send their children to a school with Covid mitigation vastly out weights your child's desire to go maskless.  Same if you feel you child should be able to smoke cigarettes in school, the other children's right to smoke free classroom outweighs your poor parenting choices.

2 The second is where the parenting choice only effects you own children. E.g. car seats, methods of punishment, whether they go to school or work in coal mines at age 7, etc. While in these cases parents are offered a little bit more deference, there are basic standards because many parents don't actually make the best choice for their children.

HAHAHA  ... Just because I don't believe you are more protected if I get a shot that doesn't stop me from getting it or infecting you doesn't make me a denier. Huge stretch. Deny is to say it doesnt exist or ever happened. The fact I say it has been politicised and has not been represented as correct does not equate to denying anything. I spent 4 days in the hospital with covid and stll have some side effects. I no doubt belive in covid. 

I didn't think Trump cared what others thought. He certainly doesn't act like it.  I know what you are saying though. Given enough time he has a tendency to talk out of both sides of his mouth.

The fact that he's in Cali tells me all I need to know about this guy.

To answer the Trump question.....  Basically he is just a two year old.  (See Cassidy Hutchinson testimony about Trump throwing food) He was antimask because the same people who where disagreeing with him about whether it was serious were promask.  Same thing happened with the vax.  When the liberals wanted masks and were say vax would take a long time -- he was saying the vax will solve all.  Once the liberals were telling everyone to get the vax, he stopped supporting it because his entire agenda was being anti-liberal.

If early on in the pandemic Hilary Clinton had came out against masks, Trump would have issued an executive order mandating them in public.

If Obama had on the day the vax was announced, said he didn't trust a vaccine developed by the Trump administration, the republican senate would have voted to mandate the vax.

For the most Trump didn't have a vision or a direction other than being anti-democrats, without any real reasoning other than if Clinton/Obama/Pelosi thinks it is a good idea than it must be a bad idea, if they think it is a bad idea it must be a good idea.

Yes, everyone from California thinks exactly alike.  That is why Kevin Mccarthy and Katie Porter have the EXACT same voting record.

It is the only thing he cared about.  I can't recall once that Obama, Bush,Clinton, Bush, or Reagan talking about crowd sizes.

In the same hearing he is accused of supporting a plot to kill the VP and of throwing food.  Guess which one he thought was more important to deny.

When the California State Government pulls some shit like this, then I don't want to live or go anywhere near there.

https://patriotfetch.com/2022/06/unbelievable-what-this-state-attorney-general-just-did-to-concealed-carry-holders-endangers-their-lives/?omnisendContactID=610b06481215fa3d8b068457&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=PatriotFetch

Hey D4L, I know you said you just had a cough left, did you fully recover?

You're being far too modest in describing your position on COVID!  Let me help provide a more complete picture of your COVID commentary so far:

- "COVID hysteria isn't all it's cracked up to be" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=27160.msg385208#msg385208)
- it has been "proven day in and day out" that the vaccine "doesn't work to any degree that it's worth destroying people's lives for not doing it" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=27160.msg385367#msg385367)
- Ivermectin has been used to fight COVID "successfully in many of the other civilized countries"  (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=27160.msg385419#msg385419)
- you hyped the lying COVID-denying doctor who claims he "invented mRNA" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=27160.msg385452#msg385452)
- there is "no reason" to get vaccinated if you've already had COVID (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26834.msg378873#msg378873)
- you hyped the completely unregulated VAERS website as authoritative data on vaccination side effects (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26834.msg379564#msg379564)
- a person currently testing positive for COVID poses "no more risk" than a vaccinated person (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26834.msg379757#msg379757)
- you fearmongered about the vaccine being more dangerous than the disease (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26801.msg378084#msg378084)
- you hyped an article claiming COVID "has NO credible natural ancestor and WAS created by Chinese scientists" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26777.msg377393#msg377393)
- you downplayed the public health impact of shutdowns as not making "much of a difference compared to not shutting down" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26648.msg374587#msg374587)
- you dismissed the thousands of COVID deaths per day as "less than 1/2 percent doesn't justify ruining millions of peoples lives and shutting down" (http://www.thedolphinsmakemecry.com/forums/index.php?topic=26437.msg371370#msg371370)

You take a back seat to no one in your dedication to COVID denial, sir.  You are the Tom Brady of COVID deniers.

So according to you, the only people who count as "COVID deniers" are those who believe it is imaginary?  Not the people who say that it's just the flu, or that the vaccine is worse, or that it's not dangerous, but only those who say that there literally is no such thing as a COVID-19 virus?
That's a pretty convenient definition for you!

Unfortunately, doctors disagree with you (https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-misinformation-health-433991ea434e12ccfdf97b5db415310d) on the definition of "COVID denial."  They don't define it as only people who think COVID doesn't exist.

Not quite.  Getting there

Going for a two-hour treadmill run yesterday probably WASN'T the smartest thing to do

Still have a little bit of cough that lingers around

I have no fever, no chills, no muscle pain, no breathing issues at all

I still feel anxiety

Wasn't that pre-existing before Covid?

I meant anxiety about Covid.

I have always had anxiety.

I just fear I am going to wind up like that Chinese doctor Wenliang

Do you guys think I have anything to worry about?

Anything can happen with the human body and illness.  Any medicine, any infection, any surgery -- they could have terrible effects that kill you -- it's incredibly unlikely, but it's possible.  But, this is about risk mitigation.

You are young, you've had the vaccine, you don't (to my knowledge) have co-morbidities.  So, take care of yourself, be intelligent about your care and your risks -- rest, take appropriate medicines to treat your symptoms, and take care of your mental health.  That's what you do and the odds are incredible that you will fully recover in a short time without incident.

I'd bet a lot of money you'll be fine

I am vaccinated and boosted, but I am overweight.

I tested positive on Friday, June 17th.

I improved greatly over the next few days

All that's left is this annoying cough.  It hasn't seemed to affect my breathing much, if it all.

Is it possible to still have symptoms even if this virus has left your system?

What has made my anxiety worse is watching videos about the Herman Cain Award winners.

I have also gotten some new information, that I would like to confirm, but accurate sources on this virus are impossible to find.

Some have claimed that the use of masks has sharply reduced flu cases during flu season.

I now know 4 people who have contracted the Covid virus in the last 2-3 weeks, including my nephew.

It's kinda crazy out there right now...

Not just masking, but social distancing and shutdowns also had a drastic effect on reducing flu cases.
As well they should!  Prior to 2020, the idea that staying away from other people as much as possible, and wearing a mask when you can't helps prevent the spread of contagious diseases would have been completely obvious & uncontroversial common sense.  It's only recently that you have a certain faction of people insisting that masks don't do anything and shutdowns don't work.

Shutdowns don't work because it makes no sense to bring the economy to a grinding halt over a disease that has a 99.6% survival rate (myself included).   

This is something that we're going to have to learn to live with going forward, because natural progression means diseases like this thin out the herd.   Like Ivan Drago said in Rocky IV:   If he dies.... he dies.

Some issues I have with this

1) Lockdowns don't necessarily shut down the economy.  Many people can work from home.

2) Lockdowns have great effects on the environment.

3) Even if the survival rate is high, it has still killed over one million Americans.  It has also overwhelmed our hospitals and put our healthcare workers at risk.  (According to some reports)

4) Wearing a mask does NOT affect your ability to work.  It has had positive effects on healthcare beyond COVID (According to some reports)

Even if we stipulate that number as accurate:
a highly contagious disease that kills 4 of every 1000 people it infects is going to bring your economy to a grinding halt whether you intentionally shutdown or not.  You don't get to opt-out of that outcome.

The question is not whether shutdowns will protect the economy.  The question is whether shutdowns will save lives.  And they do.

It's a balance.  If we banned everybody from driving their cars, that would also save lives, but that would be impractical.

Banning cars would cause more suffering and death than allowing them does.
That's the difference: even if you don't officially declare a shutdown, if people are terrified of leaving their homes because of a highly contagious disease that is killing thousands upon thousands of people per day, the economy is still going to tank anyway.

It won’t necessarily tank

Masks don't affect the economy at all.  I don't know why people make such a big deal about wearing them

I don't care if masks are required or not (I wear them into places that require them) but the generic surgical mask is almost useless and gives a false sense of protection. It's a pretend fix so that people can act like they are doing something. Cloth masks are absolutley useless.

If that is the case, why do surgeons wear them?  They wore them even before the pandemic.

It's true that for every site and study you can find supporting one pandemic claim, you can find a site and study refuting it.  It makes it hard to know who to believe.

The purpose of face masks is thought to be two-fold: to prevent the passage of germs from the surgeon's nose and mouth into the patient's wound and to protect the surgeon's face from sprays and splashes from the patient. Face masks are thought to make wound infections after surgery less likely.

https://www.cochrane.org/CD002929/WOUNDS_disposable-surgical-face-masks-preventing-surgical-wound-infection-clean-surgery (https://www.cochrane.org/CD002929/WOUNDS_disposable-surgical-face-masks-preventing-surgical-wound-infection-clean-surgery)

Sounds like surgical masks help prevent the passage of germs from the nose and mouth.

Again, all of the people like CF claiming "masks don't do anything" are transparently performing political wishcasting in service of the former guy.

1) If surgical masks are almost useless, why is this just being mentioned now after we have been using surgical masks in hospitals for nearly a century?
2) If hospital-grade surgical masks are better than "absolutely useless" cloth masks, and N95 masks are better than "almost useless" surgical masks, are they saying that - due to their deeply held personal concern over insufficiently effective masks - they support mask mandates as long as they are N95-only?  Of course not; they don't want any masks at all!

All this anti-mask propaganda is merely throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.  They don't give the slightest damn about people wearing masks that aren't effective enough; they'll just take any excuse they can find to try to scare people into taking off the masks.  The cloth masks and the surgical masks don't do anything, and the N95 masks - which definitely do work! - will suffocate you with your own carbon dioxide, so unfortunately the only reasonable option is to wear no mask at all!  How convenient.

An anti-masker would say the same thing only reversed.

I just want the facts. 

This reminds me of a saying.  Rather than give me.....(can't remember the rest)...give me truth.  I think Henry David Thoreau said it

What is the "reverse" of "We have a century of hospital evidence that surgical masks work"?
What is the "reverse" of "If you really think surgical masks aren't effective enough, then let's agree on an N95 mask mandate"?

At some point you have to use your own best judgement and figure out who is bullshitting and who is making sense.

Cutting and pasting.  This is what an anti-masker would say.  This does NOT reflect my personal belief

Again, all of the people like Spider claiming "masks are effective" are transparently performing political wishcasting in service of the current president.

(Insert a study showing masks don't work)
(Insert a link saying masks are harmful to children)

All this mask propaganda is merely throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks.  They don't give a fig about people's safety.   They'll just take any excuse they can find to try to scare people into wearing the masks.  

Again, who is telling the truth?

The vast majority of this country is leaning towards calling the pandemic bullshit.  EVERY SINGLE COMMENT on any news article or youtube video about the pandemic is saying that it is garbage.

I will start another thread later about the polarization of the pandemic

Edit:  I actually LIKE wearing my mask, so I'm a little slanted on this one.  I think it looks cool and covers the fat part of my nose

I wonder if Mehmet Ozyurek has trouble wearing a mask

I didn't quote "studies."
I said hospitals have been using surgical masks for nearly a century.  Is there even any dispute on that point?
I also said that if you believe surgical masks to be insufficient, N95s are more effective.  Again, is there even any dispute on this point?

"Both sides are loud" is not an excuse.  You have people on both sides of the issue even when the question is as ridiculous as "Is the earth round or flat?" At some point you're going to have to use your own brain and decide who makes sense to you.

I'm lucky in terms of the mask that I don't even have to make a decision.  I'll just wear one.

Now about the vaccine.

The pro-vaxers have the Herman Cain awards.

I wonder why the anti-vaxers haven't started their own version of them. 

The difference in studies is the pro-mask, pro-vax studies are generally peer reviewed scientific studies from sources such as New England Jurnal of Medicine, John Hopkins University, CDC, World Health Organization etc.  Whereas the anti-vax studies are typically a poll on facebook of the opinions of people or antidotal stories.

Could you cite some examples?

While helpful to stop infections and droplets surgical masks don't stop particles like Covid. You can't use "why have they been doing something if it's useless" when the whole reason they have been doing  something is a different "something". Nice political spin. Again .. based on studies surgical masks only offer "partial" protection at best so my statement of them being almost useless still stands and cloth masks are useless.

Here's a pretty straightforward mask guide for COVID from the Mayo clinic, updated just a few days ago.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449

Basically, the fact is that all kinds of masks help in someway, from preventing droplets from being pushed out aggressively when you sneeze (cloth) to stopping or reducing the amount of virus coming in through filtering even small particles (KN95).

Straight-forward, simple, logical, apolitical.

Doctors and epidemiologists say otherwise.  So you're wrong.

COVID-19 is primarily spread through virus-laden water droplets - even very small droplets - exhaled when an infected person breathes, sneezes, or coughs.  A surgical mask works to reduce this.  Even a cloth mask helps, though obviously neither are as effective as an N95 (which forms a tight seal around your face so particles don't escape out of the sides of the mask).

And again: if you were really concerned about the lack of effectiveness on inferior masks, you'd be arguing for mandatory N95s.  Instead, you want to get rid of all mask requirements.  So it seems like your concern is not so genuine, and you just want to try to discredit masking.

Seat belts only offer "partial" protection during an auto accident.
Smoke detectors only offer "partial" protection during a fire.
Helmets only offer "partial" protection in a motorcycle accident.
Ballistic plates only offer "partial" protection during a shooting.
Condoms only offer "partial" protection against SDIs.

In fact there doesn't exist ANY system in the world that offer 100% protection against anything.   

My cough is still there, but it's getting less and less

My fear is that my booster will wear off and it will get worse again.

I literally have no other side effect right now

I am back to work and functioning normally

I don't understand this sentence.

Unless I'm understanding what you're saying wrong, that's not how this works.  You don't have COVID and get sicker because your booster shot is somehow used up.