"... amid a rapid and sustained increase in Covid-19 cases in the nation’s largest county. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, LA county’s public health officer, Dr Muntu Davis... said the county had been recording more than 1,000 new cases each day for a week and that there is now 'substantial community transmission.' Nearly 400 people hospitalized with Covid-19 as of Wednesday, up 275 from the week before. Nine new Covid-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday. 'This is an all-hands-on-deck moment,' he said."
Contrary to my initial reaction, upon reading the article, I think this is an appropriate precaution, based on the numbers. You don't want to backslide into over-cautious mask-wearing, but you don't want to backslide into a new spike.
But I'd like to know what percentage of the new cases, new hospitalizations, and new deaths involved fully vaccinated persons. If the problem is with the unvaccinated, publicize this information and show them what they need to do. Don't deprive the vaccinated people of a key benefit — taking off the mask.
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5 comments:
Dave Begley writes:
"The government won’t give us the relevant numbers because they undermine the rationale for the edict."
I say: That would be my assumption. If they don't give the numbers I'm asking for, I think it's because they want to generate the unsupported belief that the vaccine doesn't work on the delta variation. That belief is either true or false, and if they have evidence that it's true, why don't they put it out there!
Temujin writes:
"I agree that we need to be careful, but what we also need- and has been missing from the very beginning of this- is information and transparency. Real and current information would be helpful.
"As you asked: Are these additional cases just similar to people coming down with a cold or flu? Or are these turning into hospitalizations? Are we back to counting cases or checking to see if the disease is having an actual serious impact? Are people dying or being hospitalized?
"Another key question, as you stated: what is the percentage of vaccinated people in the new cases? And which vaccine did they have? How long ago did they have the vaccine? We had no trial period with the vaccine so the reality is that we don't know how long it's effective- if at all- for any of the variants.
"Also, and this cannot be dismissed: California has a massive influx of illegal immigrants. Chances are, they are not vaccinated. Also the odds are good that some- or many- are coming into the country with Covid. And California and LA County in particular, has a massive problem with homelessness (addicts and mentally impaired accounting for most of them). Do you think these people are vaccinated? Or are they stewing in Covid?
"Our public health system seems to have become a political tool whose communications department is the corporate media. This is a problem. We've lost faith in the CDC and NIH. And we've no faith whatsoever in our media. Government edicts are already finding mass responses by people protesting in the streets in multiple countries. And no- these are not Public Health Approved Race Protests- these are the rank and file citizens of France, Greece, Italy, Serbia and other places. They are not 'down' with another shutdown of their lives for a virus that may not be as deadly as was first shown.
"I see California masking as a pre-step to closing again. That will not be accepted around the US. Best make it clear if we're back to counting cases or if this virus is really making people seriously ill. If it's turned into just another flu or cold, then stop the madness."
"Also, and this cannot be dismissed: California has a massive influx of illegal immigrants...."
I'm getting a LOT of email on that particular topic. I'll just say that rather than trying to copy it all.
Chris writes:
As an LA County resident I can tell you the public health officials are reporting that the problems are with people who are not vaccinated. They are emphasizing that as a way to encourage people to get vaccinated. The numbers for LA County are that from December 7, 2020 and June 7, 2021 99.6% of cases, 98.7% of hospitalizations and 99.8% of deaths have been unvaccinated (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-15/l-a-county-will-require-masks-indoors-amid-covid-19-surge). Now they are kind of cherry picking with those numbers because there were not significant numbers of vaccinated people until a couple of months into 2021. Almost everyone in December who caught COVID would have counted as unvaccinated.
There are less firm numbers for post June 7th. The only thing I’ve seen is a report that unvaccinated people outnumber vaccinated people in the current case count by about 5 to 1. That would imply the more transmittable Delta variant is also hitting vaccinated people to a greater degree than before. However we are also being told that 100% of the hospitalized people right now in LA County are not vaccinated. Even if it is more spreadable it is also effectively a mild disease if you are vaccinated.
The county health people are making a number of other arguments in favor of the new requirement. Perhaps the strongest is that they think when the mask requirements were lifted for vaccinated people then the unvaccinated people just followed suit. Since we are on the honor system there is no way to know whether or not someone without a mask is vaccinated or not.
Anecdotally I can say that even before this requirement a number of local businesses have posted signs requiring masks again, most noting it is due to the Delta variant spreading.
There is little doubt that if things get worse they will do another lockdown here. I think that would be huge mistake but they aren’t going to be asking my opinion.
From Ray (Unfortunately LA County Resident):
Chris reference the LA Times article that has the numbers. And they do not support a masking requirement. Reason Magazine referenced the same article:
Citing Rising COVID-19 Cases, L.A. County Reimposes a General Mask Mandate and Threatens Additional Restrictions
Requiring inoculated people to wear masks does not seem like a sensible or effective response, and it could deter vaccination.
Jacob Sullum | 7.16.2021 1:25 PM
https://reason.com/2021/07/16/citing-rising-covid-19-cases-l-a-county-reimposes-a-general-mask-mandate-and-threatens-additional-restrictions/
And masks seem to be more about virtue signaling, than being effective on reducing the spread of Covid. The seems to be little difference between areas that required masks, and those that did not, for the spread of Covid.
And I wonder, if areas that required masking had a different suicide rate? My hypothesis, is that wearing a masks reduces the ability to pick up body language, and makes people feel more isolated. And we are doing this to children when they go back to school in California, even though Children have a very low mortality rate if they got Covid.
In a medical environment, Dr. change their masks say 14 times a day. The usual person wears the same mask all day. What is the impact on the germs the mask collects on their health?
I am surprised from a political viewpoint, with the recall election just around the corner in September of the CA Governor, that LA County imposed a mask mandate again.
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