FAO Amex Mask-Dodgers (Heads Up: NSFW)

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

 

[Scappa]

 

[AmexRuislip]

Walking through Amersham this morning, you wouldn't believe the amount of gimps that weren't wearing masks, some coughing their guts up.
Very charming.
I could start a business providing mobile spittoons for the unclean

 

[The Clamp]

I wear a mask because it saves hassle but there’s really no reason to be doing so now. In the sense that it’s pointless. The virus will spread and needs to spread. We want it to mutate and weaken. Ideally we want a less lethal but faster spreading virus. Slowing it down prolongs this process.

 

[dazzer6666]

I wear a mask because it saves hassle but there’s really no reason to be doing so now. In the sense that it’s pointless. The virus will spread and needs to spread. We want it to mutate and weaken. Ideally we want a less lethal but faster spreading virus. Slowing it down prolongs this process.

I don't disagree, but waiting a couple of weeks until we have more solid data on Omicron isn't unreasonable (IMO) so if the experts have determined mask-wearing is sensible for now I'm not quite sure why so many people are ignoring it. If it is indeed the very mild 'end game' version of Covid, then yes, let it rip (and anyone not vaccinated can take the risk)

 

[Seagull58]

I don't disagree, but waiting a couple of weeks until we have more solid data on Omicron isn't unreasonable (IMO) so if the experts have determined mask-wearing is sensible for now I'm not quite sure why so many people are ignoring it. If it is indeed the very mild 'end game' version of Covid, then yes, let it rip (and anyone not vaccinated can take the risk)

It's the first time I've heard that omicron might be a weak, "endgame" version before it dies out. Where is this information/hypothesis coming from?

 

[The Clamp]

It's the first time I've heard that omicron might be a weak, "endgame" version before it dies out. Where is this information/hypothesis coming from?

I’m not sure about endgame but it will probably be less lethal. Viruses become weaker with transmissions and time. They just want to live, unnoticed in our nose and throat. Killing the host is not beneficial.

By slowing down the transmission rate, while helping the NHS, you keep the virus more lethal.

At some point an unnoticeable variant will emerge, hopefully spread quickly and that’ll be an end to the worry. This Omicrom may be that. It seems to be spreading rapidly but doing little harm. And that is EXACTLY what we want.

 

[dazzer6666]

It's the first time I've heard that omicron might be a weak, "endgame" version before it dies out. Where is this information/hypothesis coming from?

It won't die out, it'll just become something we live with....................there are articles on the main thread today that support this theory, but nowhere near enough data yet to know.

 

[US Seagull]

It's the first time I've heard that omicron might be a weak, "endgame" version before it dies out. Where is this information/hypothesis coming from?

Wishful thinking.

 

[The Clamp]

Wishful thinking.

I for one wish Omicron turns out to be the one. It will come along at some point.

 

[dazzer6666]

Wishful thinking.

Oh definitely, but backed up by at least some scientific theory. We'll soon know.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I’m not sure about endgame but it will probably be less lethal. Viruses become weaker with transmissions and time. They just want to live, unnoticed in our nose and throat. Killing the host is not beneficial.

By slowing down the transmission rate, while helping the NHS, you keep the virus more lethal.

At some point an unnoticeable variant will emerge, hopefully spread quickly and that’ll be an end to the worry. This Omicrom may be that. It seems to be spreading rapidly but doing little harm. And that is EXACTLY what we want.

'Probably' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this post.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Oh good .... we've moved back to mask shaming from vaccine shaming.

 

[The Clamp]

'Probably' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this post.

Unless Covid is unique, it will act the same way as other viruses and mutate into a far less lethal for . It could be argued that we have prolonged the pandemic with all our lockdowns and mask wearing. Obviously a lot of people would have died so it wasn’t an option. We need to be cautious but the longer we keep applying measures, the longer Covid will remain lethal.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Unless Covid is unique, it will act the same way as other viruses and mutate into a far less lethal for . It could be argued that we have prolonged the pandemic with all our lockdowns and mask wearing. Obviously a lot of people would have died so it wasn’t an option. We need to be cautious but the longer we keep applying measures, the longer Covid will remain lethal.

Is it proven that lethality in viruses decreases in a linear / predictable fashion, or does it fluctuate? Surely this is all driven by mutations on the virus, so there's a chance that the 'next' variant might be MORE deadly?

I'd welcome some (peer reviewed) reassurance.

 

[The Clamp]

Is it proven that lethality in viruses decreases in a linear / predictable fashion, or does it fluctuate? Surely this is all driven by mutations on the virus, so there's a chance that the 'next' variant might be MORE deadly?

I'd welcome some (peer reviewed) reassurance.

I am wrong.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/7839167002

 

[Weststander]

It's the first time I've heard that omicron might be a weak, "endgame" version before it dies out. Where is this information/hypothesis coming from?

Scientists have been discussing this in recent days, I think a few posters screen shotted some of this on the main Covid thread.

 

[US Seagull]

Unless Covid is unique, it will act the same way as other viruses and mutate into a far less lethal for . It could be argued that we have prolonged the pandemic with all our lockdowns and mask wearing. Obviously a lot of people would have died so it wasn’t an option. We need to be cautious but the longer we keep applying measures, the longer Covid will remain lethal.

Right. Because thousands of years of humanity suffering from smallpox was ended when it magically mutated into something less lethal.

...Oh wait, no...it was the vaccine.

It is NOT some kind of rule of viruses that they have to become less lethal overtime. Some do. Many don't.

 

[Bozza]

I wear a mask because it saves hassle but there’s really no reason to be doing so now. In the sense that it’s pointless. The virus will spread and needs to spread. We want it to mutate and weaken. Ideally we want a less lethal but faster spreading virus. Slowing it down prolongs this process.

Curious as to your epidemiological background. I have absolutely none at all, but reading those who have it in abundance seem to be very much in agreement that further mutating is *not* what anyone wants, hence the need to "vaccinate the world" (and not just us rich folk).

I wear a mask to protect other people because, just a few weeks ago I was walking around infected and infectious and had no idea. Fortunately I'm largely a hermit and the few occasions I was in enclosed spaces with others, I dutifully masked up, and this was before the reimposition of masks. It may just have kept someone out of hospital or even saved a life. There's no way of knowing that, of course, but it was certainly a positive for those I met that I was wearing a mask at that time.

 

[The Clamp]

Right. Because thousands of years of humanity suffering from smallpox was ended when it magically mutated into something less lethal.

...Oh wait, no...it was the vaccine.

It is NOT some kind of rule of viruses that they have to become less lethal overtime. Some do. Many don't.

Yep. After some research I have admitted I was wrong. See my last post.