I thought we were avoiding non Chatham centric posts like Beldar’s interpretation of a poorly done study that attempted to contradict the well done study at Brigham hospital in Boston. No wonder this was rejected by competent journals. Here follows my op-ed from the Chatham News; knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 the virus, and COVID19 the illness is evolving so rapidly that we must be prepared to be corrected as we have new eyes to see with. This will be true for vaccination too. Right now, I would prefer the Oxford/Astrazenaca vaccine using the 1/2 dose first followed by the whole dose. I will stay isolated at home as much as possible; we Old Farts gave up our Friday lunch at Virlies and won’t go back any time soon. I will die straight into my gravesite by the magnolia tree in the yard rather than Donaldson Funeral Home.
Leave off your mask and make life easier for SARS-CoV-2 and harder for us.
” As restrictions are easing, masked crowds are filling Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market, one of the largest in Southeast Asia.”Thailand has a much lower infection rate than the US.
Please stay home or wear your mask covering your mouth and nose. UNC has Tar Heel masks if you want to be fashionable. Others advertise one for $6.99 with an eye shield. Test how far away from a cake candle you can be and still blow it out. That is minimum distance you should keep away from others. Put your mask on. If you can still blow out the candle, you need a better mask. If you can’t blow out the candle, the mask slows the spread of the virus.
N95 masks with valves are for medical personnel to protect them when treating patients with COVID-19. Other N95 masks are all material and filter both ways; they are a little harder to breath in and out and are not as easy for the wearer to tolerate for as long, but protect the wearer better. Surgical masks are for the OR, but OK for trips to the grocery store etc. They do the same as cloth masks: slow down the exhaled air. Any retained CO2 is minimal and has not been found to impair the surgeons, nurses, techs, who wear them or to lower pO2 in active folks wearing them. Surgical masks have been well-documented to minimize exhaled pathogens, avoiding infecting surgical wounds and sickening other persons in the OR.
Don’t you dare go into the grocery store where MY Sweetie is shopping and breathe your breath into her air without slowing your germs down with a mask! We have three grocery stores in Siler City. My bet is that business will be best in the store that insists customers wear masks, maybe even supply one and have a charmer to offer help for those who don’t know how and are starting to enter. No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service. Pick up has replaced a lot of in person grocery shopping.
The uninfected have as much responsibility to remain uninfected as the infected have to avoid infecting anyone else. Problem: we don’t know who is who until spread has happened. Make a statement: shop at those stores that require masks. This is a nasty bug. Wash your hands again, wear a mask in public (the Town of Siler City took delivery of cloth masks they can rewash), avoid infecting ourselves by touching our eyes, picking our nose, touching lips or mouth; maintain at least 6 feet physical distance in public, be sociable to other people wearing masks in public and express appreciation. Keep doing all the things we can to make our world a hard place for the virus to make a living. Avoid allowing the virus to make this a hard place for us to make a living. Or you can leave off your mask and make life easier for the virus and harder for humans. It won’t sneak as far if we wear a mask.
Vaccinate health care and other essential workers first, especially essential workers in nursing homes. Let COVID deniers and mask deniers scramble to maybe find a vaccine as long as supply is limited. Be forgiving; some people don’t handle uncertainty well. Be prepared to be vaccinated again. When? Still a question.
John Dykers
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2020 14:50:17 -0500
From: “John Dykers M.D.”
Subject: Beldar Conehaed post