rickg523

What it's like is firing a shotgun into a crowded bar and every person that gets hit with shot themselves gets a shotgun and fires it.

jmastron

In the public orders I've read (my county's and some others), masks with valves are explicitly called out as not qualifying when masks are required, hopefully employees are being trained to reject those where masks are required. Covering the valve with a cloth mask would bring it back into compliance.

Smiley90

Why does everyone assume I can't drive competently drunk?! This whole "outlaw driving while drunk" thing has been a bureaucrat's dream.

Why does everyone assume I'll hit people in school-zones driving 60?! This whole "school zone speed limit of 30" thing has been a bureaucrat's dream.



This is how your post sounds like.

Dublin_rfk

I agree with you wholeheartedly! I wear a mask (PPE) 80+ hours a week and do so both as required by law and customer requirements and TO PROTECT MYSELF! I do not wear a mask to protect others and honestly don’t care if others don’t protect themselves. Period end of sentence. Please look at the numbers you see that you stand a better chance of being hit by a car walking across the street than catching the ‘virus’ getting sick and dying.
As background I am 60+ With added risk factors. I have also been on the road nonstop this year. TPE, NYC, SFO, LAX, ORD, RDU, RAP, DEN, PHL, and other smaller cities. I have had three nasal swabs (do you have it) all negative and today I took the antibodies (have you had it) test and expect that to be negative as well.

Dublin_rfk

WELL THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! I will now double my attendance over last year’s attendance ZERO!

narvik

i would abide by the rules concerning masks with valves, but like i said; I see little point in being pedantic about the valves when many (in our area) now don't even bother with masks covering their face.
They might have a 'compliant" mask, yet they chose to wear it around their neck or only their mouth!
There are no employees that I've seen recently (around here) enforcing ANY kind of masks-wearing rules, probably because MANY of the employees also either don't have a mask, or are wearing it around their neck or not covering their nose.

(my location: Northeast Pennsylvania, USA)

knownothing

I would love to see the "public orders:" and data. Medial personnel are given them. The valves point downwards - not outwards. If you google, there are several studies that show that they are not only ok, but if you wear glasses are better (most dont lower tham below nose as many with other types do)

radonc1

It actually does make a big difference for those who want to go to the movies.

The data is convincing that being indoors or closed environments, in large groups and without protection is the primary source of spread of infection.

Why a movie theater would want to open without requiring masks simply befuddled me. Glad they came to their economic senses.

Diplomatico

Probably because they presume the mask requirement will depress attendance at the theater. While I have no qualms about donning a mask to run errands (groceries, bank, gas station, etc.), I would not pay to sit in a movie theater wearing a mask for 2-3 hours.

On the other hand, this is likely to be ignored and virtually unenforceable once the lights dim and the movie starts. I doubt if high school usher Bobby is going to patrol the theater during the movie, interrupting the show to tell patrons to put their masks back on.

the810

Because theaters, just like other businesses, like to earn money and that's not possible if you torture your customers for over two hours.
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narvik

They ALREADY torture me with their ridiculous Air Conditioning; I don't go to the cinema without a winter jacket even in Summer.
Asking me to wear a mask is nowhere near as excruciating as their chilly temperatures (IME)!

radonc1

Surgeons wear masks for far longer than 2 hours without being tortured and have been for decades. Never heard a peep. That includes a heavy gown and gloves as well as other protective gear. And they usually stand the whole time while working.

My ER docs do a whole shift in masks.....that is 12 hours. They must be Gods to withstand the discomfort

Steel workers and welders wear masks as well and they are far heavier and less comfortable than the masks we ask movie goers to wear to protect others. How in the world do they do it

They all must be better at suffering than anyone else

wrp96

Just got back from a doctor's appointment. Yes at first I found it uncomfortable to breathe through the mask, but by the end of the two hours I had gotten used to it and was no longer noticing it. And I have asthma.

jmastron

These county orders through 6/12 had this: "Any mask that incorporates a one-way valve (typically a raised plastic cylinder about the size of a quarter on the front or side of the mask) that is designed to facilitate easy exhaling is not a face covering under this Order and is not to be used to comply with this Order. Valves of that type permit droplet release from the mask, putting others nearby at risk." https://www.saccounty.net/COVID-19/Documents/2020-06-12-HealthOrderStayatHome-SIGNED.pdf. I've seen similar wording in other documents and in an LA Times news article that I can't seem to link.

However, the updated version released today replaces all face covering text with a statement about alinging with the new California state orders requiring face coverings. The state orders don't cover this, but refer to "cloth face coverings" without saying either way whether real non-cloth masks are sufficient or not. It isn't the first time the state documents appear more rushed/incomplete -- the early county stay-at-home orders were a lot clearer about things like exercise being allowed etc, while it took a few updates before the state versions were so clear.

The N95s I have with valves have a flap right on the front that might direct some of the droplets downward, but likely not all. That may be sufficient as long as you're not standing near a much shorter person or someone bending over to pick something up, looking up while you breathe out, walking past seated people at a restaurant, or breathing/coughing/sneezing over things that other people will be touching (groceries on the shelves, the pay screen at the register, etc). In the end, better than nothing and may comply with the letter of the law as written in many places if not the spirit, so I can't really fault people too much.

Most studies for industrial uses of N95 masks are going to be solely concerned about hazards *inbound* to the wearer; there's no intention to block anything outbound in that case so a valve is perfectly fine. I don't believe medical situations typically allow N95s with valves where surgical masks are otherwise required, but I haven't spent much time searching.

volabam

When the theater pays what surgeons get paid, I'll be happy to go along with that logic.