Joshua, are these chilly and wet days going to end up being a blessing or a curse as far as spreading potential?
Good question. In other parts of the country, the mayor of Miami said they had huge crowds.
I was wondering if gatherings indoors due to the lousy weather might actually be a bit more risky. At least a huge crowd outdoors has access to plenty of fresh air as opposed to recycled air indoors.
Agree
A friend posted this a couple of days ago. I of course agree. But a comment on the post gave me pause. The person asked if the same respect should be shown to those who do not wear masks.
I believe respect should be shown to all. I have firm views but never intend for that to mean I do not respect others who have equally firm, differing views.
I thought this made for a good discussion here.
It is a fine line. Wearing a mask does not impact the life of anyone. Not wearing a mask might impact the life of someone. But still, both are choices. I’m torn on this
As of yesterday, Market Basket (where I shop for my mom on Sunday mornings) removed their one ways from the aisles, and their policy is now requiring masks for those who are not fully vaccinated while those fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear one in the store. This is done on the honor system.
This was my first trip into a store without one. It was a very easy transition to make for me. About 50% of the customers and about 50% of the workers were masked. So 50/50 all around. Nobody gave anybody dirty looks or comments that I saw. JUST HOW IT SHOULD BE. It was smooth and people were respectful. That experience should be a model for society at this time. I was very pleased with it. 🙂
That sounds encouraging.
The Star Market at Prudential in Boston where I shop sometimes no longer have their one-way aisles as well. Quite frankly, I never obeyed them and no one ever gave me dirty looks or said anything to me about it. Not even a store employee.
I really wonder if there ever was any real “science” in those one-way aisles anyway.
It was more about crowding and distancing.
I also shop at that Star Market sometimes. It’s very spacious.
I actually liked the one-ways. I thought the flow of the store was better. 🙂
Philip, the weather this weekend is conducive to virus spread – rhinoviruses (colds) and coronaviruses thrive in cool, damp, heavy air. Of course, this also drives people indoors where transmission is even easier.
Test positivity is quite low right now (0.67%), but it’s certainly not 0 and it’s a lot higher than, say, England (0.31%), where they’re very concerned about spread. What this means is that spread this weekend is not only possible, it is probable, especially given the lifting of all restrictions.
Suppose 20% (very conservative estimate) of the people attending the Bruins game last night are not fully vaccinated or don’t carry natural immunity from a prior infection. Further assume that 20 people (I’m being very conservative) sitting randomly throughout the Garden have a coronavirus infection. You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to know that under the conditions of no masks, no distancing, shouting, throngs of people huddles together, that it’s very likely there will have been some spread at the game last night. Similarly, at Fenway Park on a cold, damp, day with thousands of people in the stands and no masks or distancing there will likely be some spread. From there, who knows …
Now, you may ask, surely we’ve reached some level of herd immunity. We’ve built up a protective ring around the unvaccinated. Well, no, we haven’t (not yet, at least) as this article explains. In fact, the unvaccinated are just as susceptible now as they were at the peak of the winter wave. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2021/covid-rates-unvaccinated-people/?
Besides Uganda and South Africa, this week the countries added to the list of rapid rise in cases: Scotland (very high rate of vaccination), Taiwan, Malaysia, Columbia, Chile (high rate of vaccination), Suriname, Dominican Republic, Portugal (high rate of vaccination).
C-19 for 5-31 is ready.
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Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Joshua, are these chilly and wet days going to end up being a blessing or a curse as far as spreading potential?
Good question. In other parts of the country, the mayor of Miami said they had huge crowds.
I was wondering if gatherings indoors due to the lousy weather might actually be a bit more risky. At least a huge crowd outdoors has access to plenty of fresh air as opposed to recycled air indoors.
Agree
A friend posted this a couple of days ago. I of course agree. But a comment on the post gave me pause. The person asked if the same respect should be shown to those who do not wear masks.
I believe respect should be shown to all. I have firm views but never intend for that to mean I do not respect others who have equally firm, differing views.
I thought this made for a good discussion here.
It is a fine line. Wearing a mask does not impact the life of anyone. Not wearing a mask might impact the life of someone. But still, both are choices. I’m torn on this
Thoughts?
https://imgur.com/a/4V1n6dP
As of yesterday, Market Basket (where I shop for my mom on Sunday mornings) removed their one ways from the aisles, and their policy is now requiring masks for those who are not fully vaccinated while those fully vaccinated are no longer required to wear one in the store. This is done on the honor system.
This was my first trip into a store without one. It was a very easy transition to make for me. About 50% of the customers and about 50% of the workers were masked. So 50/50 all around. Nobody gave anybody dirty looks or comments that I saw. JUST HOW IT SHOULD BE. It was smooth and people were respectful. That experience should be a model for society at this time. I was very pleased with it. 🙂
That sounds encouraging.
The Star Market at Prudential in Boston where I shop sometimes no longer have their one-way aisles as well. Quite frankly, I never obeyed them and no one ever gave me dirty looks or said anything to me about it. Not even a store employee.
I really wonder if there ever was any real “science” in those one-way aisles anyway.
It was more about crowding and distancing.
I also shop at that Star Market sometimes. It’s very spacious.
I actually liked the one-ways. I thought the flow of the store was better. 🙂
Philip, the weather this weekend is conducive to virus spread – rhinoviruses (colds) and coronaviruses thrive in cool, damp, heavy air. Of course, this also drives people indoors where transmission is even easier.
Test positivity is quite low right now (0.67%), but it’s certainly not 0 and it’s a lot higher than, say, England (0.31%), where they’re very concerned about spread. What this means is that spread this weekend is not only possible, it is probable, especially given the lifting of all restrictions.
Suppose 20% (very conservative estimate) of the people attending the Bruins game last night are not fully vaccinated or don’t carry natural immunity from a prior infection. Further assume that 20 people (I’m being very conservative) sitting randomly throughout the Garden have a coronavirus infection. You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to know that under the conditions of no masks, no distancing, shouting, throngs of people huddles together, that it’s very likely there will have been some spread at the game last night. Similarly, at Fenway Park on a cold, damp, day with thousands of people in the stands and no masks or distancing there will likely be some spread. From there, who knows …
Now, you may ask, surely we’ve reached some level of herd immunity. We’ve built up a protective ring around the unvaccinated. Well, no, we haven’t (not yet, at least) as this article explains. In fact, the unvaccinated are just as susceptible now as they were at the peak of the winter wave. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2021/covid-rates-unvaccinated-people/?
Well, you heard this one from me several weeks ago, that is, a prediction that Africa will be hit hard soon. See article below. This appears to have started. Uganda and South Africa are seeing increases of 35% a week in terms of caseload. These populations are very susceptible to B.1.617.2 https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/556166-south-africa-tightens-coronavirus-restrictions-amid
Besides Uganda and South Africa, this week the countries added to the list of rapid rise in cases: Scotland (very high rate of vaccination), Taiwan, Malaysia, Columbia, Chile (high rate of vaccination), Suriname, Dominican Republic, Portugal (high rate of vaccination).
C-19 for 5-31 is ready.