Japan Has A Positivity Rate of 2 Percent, Yet People Are Still Wearing Masks

[TomCADem]

It is interesting in this travel video how folks in Japan are still wearing masks even though their positivity rate is less than 3 percent. If this were the U.S. and the positivity rate was less than 3 percent, there would be demands to fully reopen and demands for laws banning masks.

[Grokenstein]

1. Why aren't the hospitals full

Last edited Thu Feb 25, 2021, 11:47 PM - Edit history (1)

of people suffering from the effects of "recycled air" and all the other things we were told masks would do to us?

Somebody (with sufficient protection from violence) should ask the maskholes about that.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Same thing in China....viral infection has been real for a long time.

Last time I was there (2014), 25% of the population wore masks and there was no specific viral outbreak to support it. I think many Chinese realized a long time ago that person to person infection in public venues was a permanent part of life there.

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Many Chinese wore masks when I was there in the mid-1980s.

There wasn't any particular virus, but farmers still used human night soil to fertilize and there was always lots of bacteria in the air as a result. When my doctor found out from my father that I was going, he gave him a prescription for a strong antibiotic for me. The doctor had already been and said I'd likely need one He was correct; I got an upper-respiratory infection and took the pills.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. How you got into China in the mid-80s is a story I'd like to hear.

China gave no visa's to business folks until the early 90's.

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. It was with a very small group tour with a company called Globus Gateway.

That was all that was allowed back then. I had to send my passport to the Chinese embassy in D.C. for the visa, which they sent back with all the proper stamps.

There wasn't much time off from group activities, but I took advantage of every available free time to walk around on my own.

I enjoyed it, but have never wanted to go back because it was on the cusp of change and I knew that much of the old China would be gone.

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. Well, Zhongshan, PRC in 1995 was a whole lot different.

The nexus of ex-Pats from everywhere who did not want to do Karaoke ....they were engineers tasked with moving manufacturing into China. They loved China culture, but we offered a true American/Canadian Musical/refuge experience. Dead and the Band, Weir and Young had their moments....even Commander Cody played "Down to Stems Again Seeds Again Blues" in Friends Bar, downtown Zhongshan, PRC, in 1995. Locals loved it.

It was a UN of culture, Chinese folks would engage to learn the language....French, Begium, German, English....it was a great time to be engaged with China.

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. The hotel where we stayed in Guilin had a disco of sorts.

It was called a disco, but was really a bar that played old American rock n' roll -- no actual disco music (which didn't bother me at all). It was crowded with group and lots of Japanese tourists. There didn't seem to be any locals.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was when I did the twist with an older Japanese man. We were applauded afterwards. I'm a terrible dancer, but the twist never took a lot of skill.

That trip also made up for my inability to dig the way to China as I used to try when I was a kid.

[PSPS]

4. Masks have been routine in China for many decades due to air pollution.

[progree]

6. Minnesota is between 2 and 3% positivity. We still have a mask mandate, lots wearing

masks including me. 2% positivity is not safe. It's a lot better than it was, but not safe. And a great starting point for a new wave of infections when restrictions are relaxed too much.

Some restrictions have been relaxed, e.g. bars & restaurants opened for indoor dining at 50% capacity, and a max of 2 people together at a counter or physical bar area inside a bar/restaurant. And a 11 PM closing time.

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https://www.vox.com/2021/2/20/22280817/covid-19-deaths-us-nursing-home-icu-ventilator

What it’s like to die from Covid-19 -- patients describing "lungs on fire, lungs full of bees, like trying to breathe thru a straw, or feeling like they are being smothered, and many many needles and tubes #### high risk of delerium, some put it at 65% for ICU Covid patients. High anxiety, anger, ### Flipping people onto their stomachs has also helped get more air into their systems. During this practice, called proning, the sick individual is typically put on a medication to paralyze them so they cannot move. #### Some people decline to go through some or all of this, or at least to endure it indefinitely, but that does not guarantee a lack of suffering. #### Chance of survival of a covid person on a ventilator is about 50%.), VOX, 2/21/21

EDIT-got the darn year wrong, its a VOX article from February 21, 2021