Texans are Now Free to Move About the Republic

[rogue06]

And unused hospital ships and whole medical tent complexes ---- the loony left on hyper-hysteria.

Left unused around the same time Cuomo was ordering patients who had tested positive for Covid be placed in nursing homes among those who are among the most vulnerable to the disease

[Cow Poke]

Left unused around the same time Cuomo was ordering patients who had tested positive for Covid be placed in nursing homes among those who are among the most vulnerable to the disease

I do believe you've got a point, ol' chap!

[kccd]

Whose medical advice? Presumably you mean only those experts given the stamp of the approval by the state, but they are by no means the only experts stating their opinions. Quite a number of them have commented on the physical dangers of long-term mask use, for instance.

links?

[Cow Poke]

links?

And, perhaps, you've missed the medical experts talking about the damage this lockdown is doing to our school kids?

[Mountain Man]

links?

I'm sure you can find them if you really want to.

[kccd]

Well, I never said it was wrong, and it makes you feel good, apparently, but I simply don't accept that number.



We're at that point, I believe, where you're just repeating the same things over and over, and I remain unconvinced, so....

You TOTALLY misrepresented the Texas Governor's Executive Order, either by total ignorance or dishonesty. I prefer to consider it ignorance on your part.

He is still encouraging people to wear masks, but essentially removing the penalty for not doing so.
He is also leaving it entirely up to local businesses and entities to decide for themselves.

Can you at least acknowledge that is what this thread is about, not inaccurate portrayal of what he said?

Why do you think the official numbers are wrong? The great bulk of the death numbers came from the Trump administration, which consistently attempted to downplay this pandemic. So you think they were lying to us?
What number would you accept and what source for that number would you accept as legitimate?

Yes, I am repeating the same facts, because you have rejected those facts without actually explaining why you reject them and what you actually think is going on and where you get your information.

I fully understand that the Texas Gov has removed the mask mandate, but this official action sends the clear message that he thinks masks are no longer needed, no matter what he says out of the other side of his mouth. He cannot possibly be "encouraging" people to wear masks when his official position is that there is no need to do so. The result is that business owners who want customers to mask will have a harder time getting compliance and will likely face belligerent anti-maskers. How is this not an accurate portrayal of what Abbott is doing and what will happen?

[kccd]

And I'm sure it makes you feel good to keep using their deaths as fodder for your debate.

I just wish you were an honest debater instead of a shill for the loony left.

Well, if I am not an honest debater, then I must be dishonest - is that what you are saying?

How does it make me a shill when I accept the data and conclusions of medical experts?
Are you saying that only the loony left trusts the medical experts, and that makes us loony?

[kccd]

Once again, ad infinitum ad nauseum, seat belts and red lights are LAWS. Wearing masks is not, it is a public health order, which is NOT A LAW.

I don't see anybody complaining when a business demands masks. But people have a choice to enter that business or not, do you agree? And if a person decides not to enter a business that demands masks, then that is his right and the owner of the business cannot force that person to put on a mask in order to make him come in to the store.

Perhaps a simple answer to your most basic question, about why it is so onerous to wear masks, is, as CP said, the so-called science behind it changes so often that nobody knows what they are doing, and the scientists only look foolish.

I have a very dear friend who's daughter is a microbiologist, working in the discipline currently throughout the year. She has come to the conclusion that wearing a mask no more stops the covid virus than a chain link fence will stop a shotgun blast.

Now, I choose to believe someone I know personally than a zillion "scientists" who can't agree on what the science says on any given day. I will also have you know that I wear a mask when I am out in public, in spite of being convinced that it is not particularly effective, because I have to buy groceries and other items in stores that in my province have bought into the hype. That is the ONLY reason I wear a mask.

You don't say anything about the level of expertise of your friend's daughter, but anecdotal evidence from a single unnamed individual who is not here to explain her position should not be given more weight than the world's experts. For what it is worth, I have a Ph.D. and >40 years of running a lab that focuses on virology.

It is always possible to find someone with a degree in science who perhaps works in a scientific field who disagrees with the scientific consensus. There are such people even today who claim that HIV-1 does not cause AIDs, for example. But the existence of these people on the fringes does not validate their views as acceptable alternatives.

I don't know where you got the idea that experts disagree on the efficacy of masks. There was some initial questioning, especially at the beginning when panicked people were buying up the mask stocks making them hard to get for medical professionals. But at this point there is broad consensus that properly fitting masks are protective if worn correctly.

[kccd]

This is the kind of crap for which I (and others) see you as a joke.

From CDC, no less..... [ Interpretative Summary for March 5, 2021 ]

Beginning on January 11, the 7-day average of newly reported cases declined for 43 consecutive days. There was a brief increase between February 27 and March 1, 2021; and as of March 2, the 7-day average of new cases began to decline again. There has been an overall decline of 74.9% of the 7-day moving average since the highest 7-day average of 249,360 on January 11, 2021. On March 3, there was a 5.7% decrease in the 7-day average number of daily cases reported compared with the prior week, which provides an encouraging sign of continued progress.

NEW CASES

chart-reported-cases.jpg

And, to your fearmongering post about hospitals being full and refrigerator trucks for the dead bodies...

New Hospital Admissions

Hospital admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 decreased 67% from the national 7-day average peak of 16,540 admissions on January 9, 2021 to a 7-day average of 5,490 admissions on March 2, 2021. The average number of daily admissions fell by 14.8%, compared to the previous week.

Hospital Admissions

chart-reported-cases.jpg
So stop being such a hysterical spreader of Doom and Gloom false information.

Where did I ever claim that cases and deaths were going up? They are clearly going down, but we are not out of the woods as the current number of cases and hospitalizations is at about the level of the surge at the beginning of last summer. Those numbers were unacceptable then and are unacceptable now.

Medical experts say we are not out of the woods and have a way to go to reach anything close to herd immunity. Further declines will be fueled by increased vaccination and by following advice on how to mitigate spread, including mask wearing and social distancing.

And note that I am far from "hysterical". I have yet to call anyone names or question their honesty or intelligence. I simply follow the science.

[kccd]

Whose medical advice? Presumably you mean only those experts given the stamp of the approval by the state, but they are by no means the only experts stating their opinions. Quite a number of them have commented on the physical dangers of long-term mask use, for instance.

What are the physical dangers of long-term mask use? Medical professionals and researchers regularly suit up in their jobs and I am unaware of such dangers being reported.

[kccd]

And, perhaps, you've missed the medical experts talking about the damage this lockdown is doing to our school kids?

No, I have not missed those concerns, much of which is coming from experts in psychology and education. Safety should be the primary consideration.
My sister is a teacher as are many of my friends.

[Mountain Man]

What are the physical dangers of long-term mask use? Medical professionals and researchers regularly suit up in their jobs and I am unaware of such dangers being reported.

You can't have looked very hard for any evidence contrary to what you want to be true, because articles pointing out the dangers can be found quite easily.

[kccd]

You can't have looked very hard for any evidence contrary to what you want to be true, because articles pointing out the dangers can be found quite easily.

So post some links. What does the CDC say? How about the Mayo Clinic?

Articles on right wing conspiracy sites don't count.

[rogue06]

What are the physical dangers of long-term mask use? Medical professionals and researchers regularly suit up in their jobs and I am unaware of such dangers being reported.

One problem is that they also tend to switch masks several times so bacteria and other contaminants don't build up whereas the average person just grabs the one in the car that they used for the last two trips to the grocery store.

[mossrose]

You don't say anything about the level of expertise of your friend's daughter, but anecdotal evidence from a single unnamed individual who is not here to explain her position should not be given more weight than the world's experts. For what it is worth, I have a Ph.D. and >40 years of running a lab that focuses on virology.

It is always possible to find someone with a degree in science who perhaps works in a scientific field who disagrees with the scientific consensus. There are such people even today who claim that HIV-1 does not cause AIDs, for example. But the existence of these people on the fringes does not validate their views as acceptable alternatives.

I don't know where you got the idea that experts disagree on the efficacy of masks. There was some initial questioning, especially at the beginning when panicked people were buying up the mask stocks making them hard to get for medical professionals. But at this point there is broad consensus that properly fitting masks are protective if worn correctly.

Since I know my friend's daughter and have since she was born, I have more faith in her expertise than I do in yours, who I don't know at all. For all I know you could be making up your credentials, so by your own logic, your "anecdotal evidence from a single unnamed individual" just turned around and smacked you in the face.