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Yes possibly true, but Asian countries have been wearing masks for years, for pollution mainly.
[Post edited 1 Jul 2021 13:30]
More to do with pollution and smog.
But I see no reason why we shouldn't continue wearing masks on public transport at the least, well I will anyway, as I've enjoyed not having the annual 3 colds a year.
There really isn't any need for your last line is there?
SB
I'm not so sure about that, I was temperature checked when I flew into Osaka on the last day of 2019. Throughout the next four weeks in Japan the wearing of face masks in large cities noticeably increased although the main news story was the indignation over the róle of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan at first. By the end of January Covid was starting to dominate reporting, weeks before it was noticeable in the United Kingdom.
I'm not so sure about that, I was temperature checked when I flew into Osaka on the last day of 2019. Throughout the next four weeks in Japan the wearing of face masks in large cities noticeably increased although the main news story was the indignation over the róle of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan at first. By the end of January Covid was starting to dominate reporting, weeks before it was noticeable in the United Kingdom.
There is no evidence that the Japanese knew anything about C19 in late 2019, have you been at other times in the winter and not been temperature checked? Perhaps they randomly check people?
As for the masks, I suspect people are just more cautious there due to past outbreaks of SARS and other viruses and thus they take no chances and wear masks if there are any rumours of infections going round.
I'm not a fan of attributing anything more that the above without any form of evidence.
There is no evidence that the Japanese knew anything about C19 in late 2019, have you been at other times in the winter and not been temperature checked? Perhaps they randomly check people?
As for the masks, I suspect people are just more cautious there due to past outbreaks of SARS and other viruses and thus they take no chances and wear masks if there are any rumours of infections going round.
I'm not a fan of attributing anything more that the above without any form of evidence.
SB
Evidence is, of course, vital. As in knowledge of agendas that may skew which evidence is presented, how much weight is given to evidence and whether all the evidence corroborates a particular point of view or whether conflicts arise as the evidence is pieced together.
Anecdotal accounts are, of course, open to personal preferences and cherry picking but they are also useful as a compliment to 'hard' evidence and a way of focusing on what arises so that a line of action can suggest itself and be acted upon. If they are what is necessary to get broad public acceptance of public health matters then they are pragmatically useful.
My point on this was to underline the experience of SARS making East Asia more reactive to new coronavirus threats and then, and now on reflection, I do not see any reason to doubt that the Japanese health authorities knew something was up, they jusy didn't have the full details. We know now that the World Heath Organisation has been on the task since November 2019 (at least...), that's why it is called Covid-19 and not Covid-20.
There is no evidence that the Japanese knew anything about C19 in late 2019, have you been at other times in the winter and not been temperature checked? Perhaps they randomly check people?
As for the masks, I suspect people are just more cautious there due to past outbreaks of SARS and other viruses and thus they take no chances and wear masks if there are any rumours of infections going round.
I'm not a fan of attributing anything more that the above without any form of evidence.
SB
In Asia it is common practice for you to be expected to wear a mask if you have cold or cold like symptoms.
I remember a business trip to Thailand some 5-6 years ago where I had a cold and was presented with a mask to wear
Cases rising quickly, hospital admissions rising, mortality rising. Combined with not enough vaccinations to give population immunity (they need about 85% full coverage I think, which couldn't be achieved without vaccinating a decent %age of kids, which isn't planned).
Doesn't seem like the most sensible approach in my (unqualified) opinion.
....compared to the rest of Europe though.
14 x the rate of Germany 7 x Spain 5 x Italy 4 x France
etc, etc.
Without wanting to go all "Trumpy" it shouldn't really come as a surprise that we are getting more cases than the rest of Europe.
Plus we tend to get the "waves" before them.
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Our testing rates are through the roof..... on 14:07 - Jul 1 with 1079 views
Our testing rates are through the roof..... on 14:04 - Jul 1 by Bloots
....compared to the rest of Europe though.
14 x the rate of Germany 7 x Spain 5 x Italy 4 x France
etc, etc.
Without wanting to go all "Trumpy" it shouldn't really come as a surprise that we are getting more cases than the rest of Europe.
Plus we tend to get the "waves" before them.
Indeed there is the caveat that we are currently testing 10 times as many people as Germany at a rate of 14.52 per 1,000 people compared to 1.4 per 1,000.
Likewise, France is only carrying out 3.84 tests per 1,000, while it is 1.98 in Spain, 2.3 in Switzerland, 2.21 in Sweden and 3.11 in Italy.
Our testing rates are through the roof..... on 14:07 - Jul 1 by hype313
Indeed there is the caveat that we are currently testing 10 times as many people as Germany at a rate of 14.52 per 1,000 people compared to 1.4 per 1,000.
Likewise, France is only carrying out 3.84 tests per 1,000, while it is 1.98 in Spain, 2.3 in Switzerland, 2.21 in Sweden and 3.11 in Italy.
Yep, I heard something similar earlier, by all accounts Red Bull not only gives you wings, it gives you and your classmates a couple of weeks off school.
Whilst that is all good advice I suspect the first incident of someone being abused for continuing to wear a mask will occur about 5 minutes after the restriction is lifted.
SB
I'm going to keep wearing one. I hope it upsets someone.
I'm going to keep wearing one. I hope it upsets someone.
I don’t think it will. Nobody really cares about whether other people wear one or not. I’ve seen many people wear them on the street when they don’t need to without being admonished and a smaller number of people not wearing them in shops and again, nobody has challenged them.
It’s now going to be about personal choice, finally, and I can’t imagine anybody will care what other people choose to do.
That's with the measures in place now, but after July 19th with all restrictions lifted..?
Then the first graph will continue to rise but what is pretty clear is that there is now a significantly weakened link between that and the second graph, and between both of them and the third so wouldn’t expect those to rise at anywhere near the same rate.
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