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OP/ED BY LARRY HEWS, Editor, Hews Media Group • June 12, 2020
Welcome to Orange County, the land of #AllAboutMe.
The board of supervisors here this week overruled the county’s Health Director – and why do they have that power – going to a “strong recommendation” of wearing a mask versus mandatory mask wearing while out in public.
In true Trump speak, Republican 3rdDistrict Supervisor Dumb Don Wagner was quoted in the L.A. Times, “There’s always going to be community infection going on, there’s always flu infection going on.”
Flu? Hey Dumb Don, 202 people have died in the OC and we are sheltering in place.
“Are you telling us masks, in your professional opinion, are going to be necessary until the end of time or until there’s a vaccine or what?”
Well Dumb Don, strong evidence and experts say they prevent outbreaks.
Health experts expressed alarm at Dumb Don’s actions and the large rebellion about masks, saying it will make it harder to prevent new outbreaks of coronavirus.
But here is DD, arguing the COVID is the flu and we should not wear masks.
So here we go Dumb Don, you’re a lawyer, judge this evidence and argue a case against wearing masks.
The new yes-man installed by Dumb Don and his colleagues, stated “I stand with the public health experts and believe wearing cloth face coverings helps to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community and save lives.”
Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, UC San Francisco chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics told the LA Times, “It’s the only way we get back to work — it’s to mask, all of the data tells us … it’s pretty clear that masking is the element that changes the trajectories of the COVID pandemic.”
Data Dumb Don, data tells us to wear masks.
A recent study out of Germany found that face masks reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by around 40%.
Places that have kept coronavirus transmission under control, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, have virtually universal wearing of masks in public.
A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that “ wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission.”
Studies Dumb Don, studies tell us to wear masks.
The California Medical Assn., which represents doctors across the state, has said mandating face masks is an appropriate public policy.
Dr. Diana Ramos, president of the Orange County Medical Assn., said, “This public health crisis is not over. As we begin to reopen our county, the science is clear: wearing a face covering can help slow the spread of this deadly virus,”
Many health officials say that face coverings fight against COVID-19 — as they can block transmission of the respiratory droplets released by asymptomatic people when breathing or talking.
The journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness found that homemade cloth masks “significantly” reduced the amount of potentially infectious droplets expelled by the wearer.
Dr. George Rutherford, a UC San Francisco epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert said, “Masks provide a hell of a lot of protection. And I’m more comfortable relaxing things if everybody is wearing masks than if they weren’t.”
Block Dumb Don, block the virus.
According to a Times analysis, just last week Orange County reported 1,179 new coronavirus infections — a weekly record in the course of the pandemic, and up 22% from the previous week.
Hospitalizations are up 34% from a month ago. Last week average in hospital, 400, two weeks ago, 300.
And last week, Orange County recorded 30 coronavirus deaths, the second-highest weekly toll. As of Thursday , there were a total of 7,987 confirmed cases and 202 deaths in Orange County.
Data Dumb Don, lots of data.
Dr. David Aizuss, past president of the California Medical Association summed it up nicely, “On behalf of the California Medical Assn., it’s our opinion that mandatory face masking is appropriate In Orange County.”
“Our position is that this [mask rebellion] is being driven by ignorance and politics instead of science.”
Ignorance and politics Dumb Don, ignorance and politics.
From New York Times today
Texas, Florida and California all recently reported their highest daily tallies of new virus cases, a concerning sign as the U.S. continues reopening. |
| Friday, June 12, 2020 2:00 PM EST |
| The rise in cases helps explain why the nation continues to record more than 20,000 new cases a day even as some of the original hot spots, including New York, have seen dramatic declines.
While some officials in states seeing increases attribute the rise to increased testing, and the number of cases per capita in Texas and Florida remains low, some health experts see worrying signs that the virus continues to make inroads. |
It would be nice to present facts without name calling. Let’s put statistics in context and utilize death rates from 2017 in Orange County according to the CDC There were 20k total deaths, which 1,543 were caused by flu and respiratory diseases (let’s not get into 930 car accidents which we have never been told to Stop driving as a society). 1,407 of those flu and respiratory deaths were residents aged 65+. As of June 13th, 87% of the COVID19 deaths were ages 55+, 74% of those were 65+. So we are limiting personal freedoms for 3.5 million people when 161 deaths were ages 65+. The trend in both viruses leans toward the elderly, but in 2017 the difference is the flu is almost 8 times higher than today’s covid. Also keep in mind 3.3k of the 8.6k infections are in Santa Ana and Anaheim. The bottom line is that the medical professions are learning about covid on the fly. Three months ago the surgeon general, Dr Fauci, the WHO and CDC stated that masks don’t prevent the spread. We live in the US and we have Guaranteed personal freedoms which should not have unreasonable mandates (like wearing masks at the beach or walking ten feet in a restaurant before you take it off to eat) while the medical field figures this virus out. We didn’t do it for Aids, SARS, Eboli, H1N1. If you want to wear a mask because you believe the science should be safe, correct? Does the science say there has to be two masks between people in order to avoid infection? If you are that afraid, you should stay home. Why dont we begin to think strategically and protect the portion of the population that is susceptible (I.e N95 masks for the elderly and vulnerable) rather than focusing on the masses.
Interesting take, equating car deaths to a pandemic. You also forgot to mention the entire county was sheltering, they were not in 2017. And there’s a reason Anaheim and Sant Ana are high most of the people living there are low income essential workers. And since I wrote this many articles have come out about wearing masks, including an article in Lancet. Do you think Fauci was influenced by BLOTUS in saying masks don’t work? Shame on you picking on a guy who is considered the best infectious disease doctor in the world with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. And look at the countries that make their people wear masks, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, they are doing very well. And what about New Zealand? Complete shut down and they are completely open. Denmark, same. Prevention will stop the spread and any prevention method should be used, Where is your argument for asymptomatic people? What’s going on in Texas Arizona and Florida? and Wagner is still an idiot….
“Three months ago the surgeon general, Dr Fauci, the WHO and CDC stated that masks don’t prevent the spread.” Reference? I have never heard Dr. Fauci make such a pronouncement. Moreover, your personal freedom equals my death. What about my personal freedom to stay alive? Were you in Tulsa over the weekend, by any chance?