Unmasked
There are a few things I am enjoying about this so-called “new normal”. Social distancing does work. It may be one of the few truths. Of course I hate people for the most part, so it only goes to say that I have a very close personal space. I don’t like crowds and I don’t appreciate people crowding my personal space, unless they are large breasted blondes pressing against me.
I hate doctors’ offices and waiting rooms with vinyl chairs covered with god knows how many germs. I always maintained the best place to get sick was at a doctors’ office or a hospital. Now they are forced to clean the furniture many times daily instead of maybe once a week. They should have been doing this decades ago, knowing full well that their patients were spreading sickness like wildfire.
However now it seems the world is on a mask crusade. Modern day witch hunt. I see idiots daily driving in their car alone, wearing a mask. I see joggers running alone wearing masks. That is downright dangerous.
The face mask issue is endemic and proof of the dumbing down of society. 911 call centers are being inundated with calls of people reporting seeing people not wearing masks. People are walking around in fear for their life when they see someone without a mask.
Are masks bad? No. There are times when wearing a mask is important. As a sufferer of asthma and possibly COPD, when I ride my motorcycle or side by side, I cover my face. In the Arizona desert, “Valley Fever” is a real concern. It is a bacterial infection that is debilitating. In close proximity of total strangers for a prolonged period of time where social distancing is not an option, wearing a mask also makes sense.
What doesn’t make sense is the KGB tactics employed by many cities where citizens report people they don’t like because they were not wearing masks. What does not make sense is to jail people that refuse to wear a mask immediately after the liberal politicians freed murderers and violent felons and rapists from prison because they might get COVID if they remained locked up. This is after those same states locked up elderly people in nursing homes where they caught COVID and died. 40% of fatalities were of the elderly lined up in box cars called assisted living facilities and murdered by liberal politicians.
So, what do you know about masks? What can you tell me about a N-95 mask versus a disposable surgical mask? What can you tell me about the cotton cloth masks that breed bacteria? Do you know the difference? Did you even know there is a difference?
Okay – first, N-95 and KN-95 masks are not classified as masks but as respirators. They capture 95% of the particles (0.3 micron) that you breathe in. Both masks inhibit the amount of particles inhaled. N-95 is stricter in demanding a steeper exhalation meaning you are exhaling whatever you are breathing. This is good, because you are exhaling CO2 – carbon dioxide – rather than breathing it in again and endangering yourself. CO2 is bad unless you are a plant, which many people I am discovering are. K-95 masks allow you to expel the CO2 easily; KN-95 masks retain the bad gas that can cause harm. K-95 means you are exhaling possibly COVID and infecting people that think they are safe near you. KN-95 means you are retaining possibly unsafe levels of CO2.
These respirators are designed and regulated by OSHA, and are to be worn by people who work in environments with hazardous dust particles. The COVID particles are much smaller. So, yes, they will protect you to a very small extent, possibly (no real studies have been done to prove this) from someone that is affected; the valves in N-95 allow you to exhale freely and contaminate anyone around you. They were never designed to protect against viral contamination. They will do little to protect others from you if you are infected. They are the most effective masks (respirators) against COVID, by the way, according to what we currently know.
Next in line are surgical masks. They are the masks that are white on one side and blue on the other. The white side should always be worn inside, it is absorbent, the blue (or colored) side is waterproof and should always be worn outside.
They are disposable and are designed to be worn for a short period of time and discarded. They are not as effective as N-95 respirators
According to the CDC, the commonly worn surgical masks will limit — but not eliminate — the chance of inhaling large, infectious particles circulating near the face. But they are recommended over the fitted K-95. And both are used to protect the wearer, It is interesting that after March 2020 this language has disappeared.
So even with the limited intake of oxygen you get when wearing any mask – it is similar to a person from the east coast visiting Denver CO and getting light headed – the decrease in oxygen is not a major concern. Don’t drink and drive and don’t go on a marathon and you will be fine, your body will acclimate.
Your body does not acclimate to the increase in Carbon Dioxide. Motor skills deteriorate and your cognitive abilities decrease. You become confused easily, and might actually vote for a democrat.
Okay, now we come to the cotton fabric masks that people are wearing now. K-95 masks mean you are infecting others while protecting yourself. Surgical style masks are not fitted and allow you to expel your breath. They are designed mainly for operating rooms and clean environments.
But that cool cloth mask allows you to express your point of view. But your glasses get fogged up. So, you pull them below your nose, thus infecting everyone near you. Or you walk around in a fog because you are used to it and will vote for Biden. But you are expelling your breathe and contaminating all around you.
What is worse is that the cotton is absorbing your warm breath and creating a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Well, from one of those unscientific journals:
The trial saw 1607 hospital healthcare workers across 14 hospitals in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, split into three groups: those wearing medical masks, those wearing cloth masks and a control group based on usual practice, which included mask wearing.
Workers used the mask on every shift for four consecutive weeks.
The study found respiratory infection was much higher among healthcare workers wearing cloth masks.
The penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% compared to medical masks with 44%.
So, go ahead, wear cloth masks and get sick, or steal masks from professionals that need them and wear your N-95 and infect others. Or just go on pretending you are holier than thou and look down on those of us that doubt. Just call me Thomas.