Thread by @SeIpsa

@BRT315 @Saints Yes. I am for regulating behavior of one person to protect another. That should not be controversial. Beyond that, we do it all the time. We regulate industrial waste dumps, pharmaceutical manufacturing, employment conditions, we even have laws on assault and robbery 1/x

@BRT315 @Saints that controls behavior of a person to protect other people from harm.
There are laws against driving home impaired, because that is the dangerous activity. Drinking isn’t. Not wearing a mask is the dangerous activity. Having capacity seating, even with masks, is 2/x

@BRT315 @Saints a dangerous activity. That’s what’s being regulated. And it’s being regulated for the benefit of other people, who are risk as a result of that dangerous activity.
I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.

3/x

@BRT315 @Saints If you not wearing a mask ONLY affected you, and only increased your own risk of getting sick, then I am all for you being able to make that choice for yourself. You can decide to assume that risk and roll the dice on consequences. The problem is

4/x

@BRT315 @Saints you not wearing a mask, potentially affects me. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to be personally responsible, to make that risk choice for myself, if my risk is wholly dependent on the choices other people make.

5/x

@BRT315 @Saints Your statements are just wrong. Not only are “colds and flu” not as contagious, they are also less deadly. The risk is much greater to contract covid, and to suffer long term side effects, or death, from covid than with the cold or flu. We have a vaccine for the flu.

6/x

@BRT315 @Saints The way the flu is transmitted is new and different from covid (hence “novel” coronavirus). Deaths from the flu in the last decade never exceeded 60k in a year, we’re at 215k for covid in 8 months.
We are also NOT taking restrictions more seriously now than in the spring.

7/x

@BRT315 @Saints That is verifiable. In the spring, lockdowns were new and fresh and businesses closed, people were on guard and you couldn’t find hand sanitizer on shelves. People are now numb to the threat, and are easing off personal restrictions.

8/x

@BRT315 @Saints New studies are showing the uptick in cases in the fall linked to people lowering the guard, going maskless more often among groups of friends, eating out in restaurants more, etc.

Masks ARE effective. Period.

9/x

@BRT315 @Saints This has been scientifically proven for DECADES. Why do you think surgeons wear them? Masks are effective against corona virus, specifically, as well. This has been demonstrated in study after study. To be clear, “effective” doesn’t mean “prevents all harm,”

10/x

@BRT315 @Saints it means useful in reducing/mitigating risk. Masks work to reduce the spread of aerosolized droplets that contain the virus and can be inhaled by others, but still, some spread occurs. They are less effective had preventing you from breathing those droplets in, but

11/x

@BRT315 @Saints they are more effective than if you wore nothing. Again, this is not controversial, and has been verified over and over in multiple studies from multiple sources.

I will mask and avoid large indoor gatherings for 5 years, if necessary, yes. That isn’t hard and

12/x

@BRT315 @Saints it’s a small price to pay to save 100s of 1000s of lives. It won’t take 5 years, however. A vaccine should be widely available by middle of next year, with large scale distribution and use within several months. Adoption and use of a vaccine creates herd immunity, so

13/x

@BRT315 @Saints you don’t need direct exposure to the wild virus for that. Once we have the vaccine, routine masking won’t be necessary; I will get my yearly flu (and possibly covid) vaccine to maintain herd immunity and protect others, and myself.

14/x

@BRT315 @Saints Again, I cannot protect myself by avoiding the saints game, if I then have to go to work, or the grocery where people who went to the saints game also are. It is impossible for me to be personally responsible, when other people can expose me to the virus by their actions

15/x

@BRT315 @Saints that I have no control over. Shin guards mitigate damage, they don’t prevent it. People, in general, are not allowed to engage in dangerous behavior that puts others at risk. This is no different than driving drunk.

16/x

@BRT315 @Saints You may be willing to risk the consequences of injury to yourself or your car, but your drunk driving puts me at risk. I cannot be personally responsible, and ensure my own safety by me not drinking while driving, if you’re allowed to.

17/x

@BRT315 @Saints You’re arguing for all or nothing, and that’s a false choice. Either closes everything down and starve, or just open everything up and let what happens, happen. The middle ground is to allow ESSENTIAL services, to operate, including restaurant takeout, grocery stores,

18/x

@BRT315 @Saints gas stations, schools, etc, WITH RESTRICTIONS to limit or mitigate exposure, while not allowing NON-ESSENTIAL things, like indoor football games and crowded bars. Simply put, in person attendance at a football game isn’t necessary for football games,

19/x

@BRT315 @Saints and the minor benefit of reliving your boredom or home field advantage, is vastly outweighed by major downside of such events becoming superspreader petri dishes that expose not only the people there, but the rest of the city once those people go home.

20/x

@BRT315 @Saints The ACB SCOTUS event at the white house was mostly outside, and only involved a couple hundred people, and look at how many in attendance eventually contracted the illness. You’re talking about demanding that we do indoor events, involving 1,000s of people.

21/x

@BRT315 @Saints And, again, I don’t know how you can justify “I wanna watch a football game in person, and if someone’s dad or grandmother or kid eventually dies, well tough luck for them, I need my $8 beer.”

22/x

@BRT315 @Saints I don’t know where you’re getting your data from, but about 20% of covid infections eventually require some form of medical intervention at a hospital or critical care facility. There are more cases than hospitalizations, and there are more hospitalizations than deaths.

23/x

@BRT315 @Saints As makes sense. Data shows declining cases, hospitalizations and deaths once restrictions are implemented and rising cases, hospitalizations, and deaths once those restrictions are eased. The picture is pretty clear, and I’m not sure how you argue against the data.

24/x

@BRT315 @Saints I spent way too much time writing this. If nothing I said in this thread gives you pause, or convinces you to rethink your priors, there is nothing else I could say, and I cannot devote any more time to it, so I won’t be responding further.

25/x

@BRT315 @Saints I wish you luck, and hope you encourage those around you to be as proactive and empathetic as possible, knowing we’re all in this together.

26/26.

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@BRT315 @Saints