Mask Up: U.S. Automakers to Extend Plant Requirements

@Coastie we would all like that but it is not currently feasible or responsible. Non vaccinated are infectious for a longer period. And a number of studies indicate that they 'spread' greater amounts of the virus. Furthermore the unvaccinated are still putting our healthcare systems under unsustainable strain. And your decision to not wear a mask puts others at risk, as you may be spreading infectious aerosol into their work space/environment. We recently had an outbreak at our workplace. First the only 2 unvaccinated, one who is quite ill. That necessitated that everyone working in the facility undergo regular testing. Within a few days some of the vaccinated workers also tested positive using both rapid antigen and PCR testing. They fortunately were all asymptomatic and suffered no ill effects. Seems that it was spread in the washrooms, as only one person was allowed in at a time and they admitted to taking off their masks while in the washrooms. We had to stop that practice and improve the ventilation in the washrooms. As @LouBC has posted, improved HVAC standards and installing windows that open improves the health results in the workplace.

@Arthur Dailey I know what you're saying but if we are all acceptant of the facts that 1) COVID vaccines don't STOP you from getting COVID, 2) The main draw to vaccination beyond shorter transmission times is the substantial reduction in effects, 3) A reduction in effect is, in essence, making this no worse than the common cold... assuming you know you even have it, 4) COVID isn't going anywhere because the anti-vax community exists beyond COVID 5) You'll never vaccinate 100% (or even 70%) of the population. Those things considered, at what point does someone of power accept that there NEEDS to be an end goal? So far, nobody has actually stated what the end points are, which after 20+ months of dealing with this, nobody knows. This is the reason this debate and issue will continue to get stronger and more heated every day. Keep pushing for vaccinations but allow people to choose. It's not a hard pill to swallow, nor should it be a debatable topic at this point. Some people will ensure their own safety and the safety of their loved ones, some won't. It's not yours or my job or right to tell me which side my view falls on. If you're vaccinated, congrats. If you catch it, you might (probably) won't even know it. If I catch it, I might not even know... or I will. My choice. (Again, I'm vaccinated.)

@coastie: Freedom of choice is great, but when you boil it down, taking precautions is meant to do one basic thing: keep people out of the hospital system, which is incredibly easy to overwhelm. My girlfriend works at the largest trauma hospital in Denver, and the impact of the virus on the facility and the people who work there has been severe. It doesn't take all that much to overwhelm any hospital's ability to handle COVID cases. My girlfriend's hospital is already coming close to the point where they won't be able to take elective or non-critical cases due to all the COVID cases. When that happens, everyone loses. In that context, taking precautions is all about protecting your community. It's citizenship 101. So, yeah, when people say "f**k you, I'm not doing it," what they're really saying is "f**k you, I don't care what happens to my community." And, yeah, they're going to get trashed for that. Why shouldn't they? Then we have the people that purposely spread misinformation or disinformation, and that's even more loathsome. All of this feels like a self inflicted wound to me. And it makes no sense. Enough is enough, indeed.

@Freed- are you then saying that people should be forced to get the vaccine whether they want to or not? If so, cool. Lets hypothesize that. Boom. Now the populous that CAN be vaccinated, is. Now what? COVID is still here. People still can't be vaccinated. The incredibly fragile medical system is still incredibly fragile, and this disussion is beginning to sound eerily similar to EV charging system infrastructure. Maybe these COVID dollars should be poured into medical facilities for the next outbreak? (For the record, two of my family members are ER/OR RN's at Cedar Sainai in NY and MUSC in South Carolina. Neither one is seeing anywhere NEAR the case count they were 6 months ago, in fact MUSC is cutting nursing hours after surge staffing over a year ago.) Again, define an end point. Define a clear goal. Arbitrary "this is going to continue until [insert overlord here] decides we are done" will never work long term, especially now that the media is actually touching on the vaccination rates and discussion of COVID is all but gone. I don't expect to change your mind, you shouldn't expect to change mine. I've done my part, I don't expect everyone to do the same.

@CoastieLenn * I gotta stop doing three things at once. My fat fingers get all in the way.

@Coastie: Unfortunately we can't predict an 'end point' as the science is still evolving, as is the virus. Eventually from what I understand the hope is that the virus will eventually mutate until it becomes one of the less virulent Corona viruses, unlike SARS and MERS. And eventually other forms of prevention such as the proposed nasal spray will be proven effective. And eventually new treatments/medicine for even virulent cases/infections will become available. But those are still in the future. Until then, if someone 'chooses' to remain unvaccinated then I have no problem in imposing restrictions on them, be they mandatory testing, mandatory masking or even restrictions on the events/venues that they can attend. And at least in Canada the jurisprudence has supported that this is legal and justifiable.

@KC: where or when do you see those? Neck gators are not masks. And as to your question regarding the size of the particle that is a red herring used by anti-maskers/vaxxers who have no understanding of how masks work. The answer to that question is already in some of the linked articles. When you have more than one layer of non-woven material it creates a maze. The virus regardless of size has to pass through the maze and more often than not (measured efficiency rate) will get trapped on a fibre, regardless of the particulate size. As posted multiple times, a MERV 13 air filter on an HVAC system will trap the majority of virus particles. If you wear a mask with materials which create static electricity, which N95s are constructed to do, then the electrical charge captures even more particulates. Much like an electronic air cleaner on an HVAC system. And although you may inhale the virus as an aerosal it leaves your mouth/nose as a droplet and therefore it is much more easily trapped when you exhale/breath it out. Meaning that even low efficiency masks help prevent the transmission of the virus. A 'good mask' protects you. A 'poor' mask protects others. Here are more links. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.17.20069567v2.full.pdf https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/03/962197192/5-hacks-to-make-your-face-mask-more-protective

The Cramer Plan for Omicron: Immediately give the vaccine to everyone - the vaccine which was developed before Omicron existed and which hasn't been tested against Omicron. (Cramer Plan might have some flaws.) https://www.mediaite.com/news/cnbcs-jim-cramer-demands-biden-impose-nationwide-vaccine-mandate-in-epic-rant/

@ToolGuy Update: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/i-have-covid-jim-cramer-says-he-says-hes-been-triple-vaccinated-and-has-a-mild-case.html