(11-08-2020, 12:49 AM)NewJagsCity Wrote:

(11-08-2020, 12:34 AM)NeptuneBeachBum Wrote: Fauci said that early for 2 reasons: 1) it was in the early stages of learning about the disease and the scientific community was largely ignorant of what they were dealing with then, and 2) there were shortages of PPE for medical workers and they wanted to make sure they first had access to that type of resources on the front lines before the general population started hoarding it (like toilet paper and sanitary wipes).  You gotta be smart enough to realize that.

Ignorance is no excuse for not acting overly cautious.
Plenty of people like me made thier own face coverings before any PPE was on the shelves for sale. Why wouldnt Fauci encourage that instead of telling them something that most people knew instinctively was wrong.  I started wearing a mask on March 13th, the day lockdown was declared. People looked at me like I was insane and/or diseased.  And lack of PPE wouldn't have stopped most people from making masks if Fauci would have erred on the side of caution. He didn't. So I can understand why there was a certain degree of skepticism.  And even wearing a mask in public at all times, I still got it. Science doesn't always know everything.

These are some interesting comments. It does makes me wonder how much better things might have been, if Fauci and Trump's medical experts had stressed facial covering wearing earlier on. Even if it was homemade facial coverings.

Back in April I got a new job and a couple of days before I started I learned it was mandatory that we wear face masks. I work for the federal government/military and they mandated this before my state NC did. And this was also before more experts did it and people were suggesting it be done more on a national level.

I remember trying to scrounge around to find a mask, because people were really hoarding them and they were no where to be found where I live. I ordered some on Amazon but it was going to be a while before they were delivered. I borrowed a painters mask from my dad for my first day of work and it was extremely uncomfortable. Thankfully, the secretary had some more comfortable ones and she gave them to me to use. I was able to use them to tide me over until the ones I ordered in the mail were sent to me/mask became readily available. 

Early on it seemed like Fauci and also the Surgeon General weren't really clear on the use of facial coverings. It really did seem like they felt they could be optional. Granted they may have their reasons for not recommending them more earlier, on but they really didn't push for them much. Which is one reason why I'm not as critical towards Trump about that. I'm not a Trump Support (I'm a dem), but I don't really blame him as much as others for some things. Because earlier on in like March/April the experts weren't really recommending the masks as much (and they probably should have) and I can't fault him for that. 

I started wearing masks in public/around the time I started my new job in April. And before our governor in NC mandated that we wear them. I remember going somewhere like a Publix early on and seeing how scared some of the grocery store workers looked who were wearing masks. And I thought to myself that they didn't deserve to work in fear, especially with all of the exposure they have to deal with. I deal with a ton of exposure at work, so I definitely empathize with them. Since that moment I decided to wear masks in public for the time being, even though I also wear them 40+hours at work every week. 

And have found them to be uncomfortable at times. And have spoken on some of the downsides of wearing them in the COVID thread on this site. Overall, though I do think they can save lives, can limit the impact of Covid. I deal with a lot of military service members/personnel plus co-workers and every day several people are coughing, sneezing, spreading spittle. It's a ton of exposure. I do think that the mask help me and others deal with that. Though, we still unfortunately have had people come down with severe cases of COVID at work. Including someone who was hospitalized for months along with their spouse and had a heart attack afterwards.

He just came back to work not too long ago and even now isn't working that much. Strange thing about it is, he had his own office and usually worked back there. He didn't interact with nearly as many people as some of the rest of the people at my job did. But he still caught a severe case of it, as did at least a couple of other people at work.

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