Covid Vaccine Poll

[jeff oakley]

44 minutes ago, AdamR said:

 

One of the funniest / saddest things I've ever seen, from last year: person stood with mask pulled down over their chin, puffing away on a cigarette!

 

Saddest is seeing them doing the same whilst hooked up to a drip or with their portable oxygen just asking to blow up.

[jay.perry]

I have to attend the chest clinic at the hospital regularly regarding my asthma and often see patients outside the entrance with oxygen tubes up their nostrils and a cigarette in their hand, usually directly bellow the no smoking sign!! 

[Arm]

Just to balance the mask comments. I usually wear one when required. Doesnt normally bother me but a few weeks back went to hospital with covid symptoms.  Wore a mask at that time but was struggling to breath so lifted it to help . My O2 content was very low (91). However then got reprimanded by the nurse for not wearing my mask properly !

 

Plus had to ask her to remove her mask as I'm partially deaf and it helps to lip read when in noisy environments. 

 

[Boombang]

21 minutes ago, Arm said:

Wore a mask at that time but was struggling to breath so lifted it to help . My O2 content was very low (91). However then got reprimanded by the nurse for not wearing my mask properly !

 

Out of interest what sort of mask were you wearing?

[Arm]

Some the wife gets for her job in  the nhs. She gets same ones for us.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Omicron Stakes 

[Blatman]

Had my O2 sats checked in a hospital recently whilst wearing both the "standard" blue mask and an N95 mask from the hospital. Neither one showed a drop in oxygen take-up using the standard fingertip monitor. I have often wondered if there is a diference that, whilst un-noticable to the wearer, was measurable. For me at least, there was no measurable difference. There are plenty of apochryphal stories and plenty of people who seem to believe that wearing a mask is "bad" and causes isues. I've always believed this to be nonsense as there are plenty of professions where people wear masks all day and they aren't dropping like flies...

[MR.C]

Little difference on idle ,raise the breathing rate and you will see where people are coming from.

[Jim RS]

1 hour ago, Blatman said:

Had my O2 sats checked in a hospital recently whilst wearing both the "standard" blue mask and an N95 mask from the hospital. Neither one showed a drop in oxygen take-up using the standard fingertip monitor. I have often wondered if there is a diference that, whilst un-noticable to the wearer, was measurable. For me at least, there was no measurable difference. There are plenty of apochryphal stories and plenty of people who seem to believe that wearing a mask is "bad" and causes isues. I've always believed this to be nonsense as there are plenty of professions where people wear masks all day and they aren't dropping like flies...

Agreed but the masks the professionals wear are poles apart from the simple covid masks. Most of the pro masks have exhaust valves to let the air out freely and then filter air being breathed in, my usage was dictated by the work in hand going up to fully remote supply and these are big pieces of kit being totally unsuitable for general mobility. 

Try doing any manual labour in most masks apart from force fed and you'll start to sweat, I attended a carol service were we had to wear masks and singing was another level.

From what's stated the main purpose of masks is mainly to protect others not just the wearer and anything with a valve would be pointless but why not wear a mask, they've saved me so far from silicosis, asbestosis, etc. so why not covid.

[Blatman]

1 hour ago, MR.C said:

Little difference on idle ,raise the breathing rate and you will see where people are coming from.

 

Which is where exactly? It seems to me that most of these stories are from people looking for an excuse to avoid the rules rather than having jobs or engaging in activities where wearing a mask would prevent that activity and no I'm not talking about going to the gym, and running/exercising outside does not require a mask. Certainly for any job where better O2 throughput and protection is required the employer would have thought about it already, surely?

Completely agree and understand that masks are there ostensibly to protect others which makes the mask nay sayers position even more selfish and galling than it might otherwise appear.

[Steve (sdh2903)]

Working a 12 hour shift masked up was fine. However having to do any persistent heavy lifting or repeated journeys up and down stairs was difficult, very difficult, And I'm relatively fit and healthy. Some of the older 'less nimble' chaps were really blowing.

 

So @Blatman from personal repeated experience I'd agree with @MR.C on this one. However I expect you'll find some data laden response to prove it wrong. 

[Blatman]

1 hour ago, Steve (sdh2903) said:

 

So @Blatman from personal repeated experience I'd agree with @MR.C on this one. However I expect you'll find some data laden response to prove it wrong. 

 

And if I do?

 

From what I have seen of the anti-maskers, most of then couldn't do a 12 hour shift of standing still, let alone work...

[Blatman]

Took about 30 seconds...

 

https://www.washington.edu/ima/2021/04/19/masking-up-while-working-out/

 

Quote

The CDC states that wearing a mask during exercise is safe, as masks don’t significantly restrict oxygen flow. However, wearing a mask may affect how exercise impacts our bodies, according to exercise scientists. Cedric Bryant, president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, states that for some people, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.”

 

So oxygen flow is not significantly restricted, which is the complaint we hear. BUT it does affect heart rate. Had any of the anti maskers used that as the reason, then OK. But no, they all say "they can't breathe properly" which, as ever is not accurate.

 

I'm sure I can find more if I looked for longer...

[Steve (sdh2903)]

13 minutes ago, Blatman said:

 

And if I do?

 

From what I have seen of the anti-maskers, most of then couldn't do a 12 hour shift of standing still, let alone work...

 

Can you not construct a response without being derogatory any more?  

[Blatman]

My point was that most anti-maskers are trying to avoid wearing masks for "normal" activities like going to the shops or work or travel on public transport and that sort of thing, rather than 12 hours of heavy manual labour. I should have made that clearer.

 

Other than that, I am not trying to casue offence any more than anyone else is. Plenty of responses in this thread could have been interpreted badly by many readers, me included. I take the view that such responses are not well written or were written in a hurry or whatever and rather than imbuing them with any "emotion" or criticse the writing I focus on trying to debate the issue. Was I being provocative? Yes. I do that, to stimulate debate. It's somethng I do often. I was not trying to be derogatory and if I strayed into that territory then I apologise.

 

I took up the challenge and found evidence that suggests those of an anti-mask persuasion who claim that mask wearing (and for the purposes of this can we agree that this is for "normal" daily items as described and not serious physical effort for many continuous hours?) causes them to be short of breath and the claim that masks "prevent breathing" in these "normal" situations is bogus. 

That said I am of course prepared to accept that many folks may be genuinely claustrophobic but did not realise it until mask wearing came along. This can cause anxiety which can manifest itself in many ways with shortness of breath being a common anxiety effect. But for the vast majority of people, wearing a mask when shopping or travelling on public transport or when walking around the office at work has zero impact on their ability to breathe normally.