A STARTLING CONTENTION: Wearing A Mask Does Not Significantly Reduce Your Chance of Contracting COVID-19!!!

There remains considerable confusion about masks. Much of the following comes from a recent article in Time magazine:

The problem began at the very beginning when the Federal government urged the populace not to wear those N95 masks, for there was a shortage in the operating room.
Then President Donald Trump willfully refused to wear a mask.
Many Republicans followed suit by avoiding masks in public.
This attitude was partially fostered by some Republican governors.
At least 24,000 people in the U.S. died during the previous flu season beginning in 2019.
As of April 1 of this year, the current flu season has killed fewer than 500, and only one child.
No doubt social distancing and hand washing made a difference.
HOWEVER, AND THIS IS STARTLING!!!

Any mask, even the surgical one, DOES NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE WEARER'S CHANCES OF CONTRACTING COVID-10 or the flu.
What a mask does is PREVENT A SICK PERSON FROM TRANSFERRING RESPIRATORY DROPLETS INTO THE AIR.
You would hope that those who are physically afflicted will wear a mask when they get well because they are still contagious, but many don't.
Even more dangerous are the asymptomatic cases, for they don't know they are infected.
Medical science still has not yet absolutely determined the asymptomatic rate, which is guessed to be from 35% to 80%.

So what is my conclusion? If you have been vaccinated, you can seriously consider discarding the wearing of a mask because if you are among the unfortunate minority who gets infected, chances are you will either be asymptomatic or only suffer from mild symptoms. And the odds are very high that you will actually be immune.

In other words, there is something to the above that can be used by the Biden Administration to convince more Americans to get vaccinated, and that is, if you do so, you will feel safe, and more importantly, be safe. If you don't get vaccinated, you can't with assurance travel, attend sporting events, enjoy a restaurant meal or have a bar drink.

What about wearing a mask to avoid the flu or a cold? I think the field is currently mixed, for some are saying that mask wearing DOES NOT very well prevent you from getting any airborne virus into your lungs.

However, those above contentions that "masks do not protect you from COVID-19" and that "my mask protects you, not me" is based on one Danish study involving 4800 subjects. Best for you to read this article to influence your personal belief. Here is another one that says, "not so fast."

Finally, a video on why you should get vaccinated:

Hate to end my posting on a Saturday with that pandemic, so I'll continue with my semi-regular notes of interest about cruises. First, most ships are now requiring vaccinations for all passengers and crew. Plus, they need to gain customers when cruising begins, so are offering real bargains. Here are only two:

Silversea has reduced rates by up to 83%, plus on select sailings receive shipboard credits of up to $300 per cabin. Your Silversea fare includes onboard gratuities, butler service, unlimited internet and complimentary beverages, including wine and spirits.
Celebrity has slashed rates by up to 87%. Plus, get shipboard credits of up to $850 per cabin and all of the following additional perks on select sailings: 1) prepaid gratuities for two, 2) a free Classic beverage package, and 3) unlimited Internet access for two.

You would think that a good amount of normality will be attained by January of next year when my global cruise begins, but this transition period through the summer could be stifling:

The CDC is frustrating cruise lines.

How would you like to become a volunteer (meaning FREE) cruise passenger on simulated voyages or test runs?
This activity will come with some risks.
Royal Caribbean reports that more than 150,000 people have already signed up for these test sailings, which will soon begin.

However, as of this moment, I don't think any cruise line has officially indicated a test cruise departure date.
There is, however, one way for cruise lines and passengers to bypass this system, and that's by ensuring herd immunity. In April, the CDC said cruise ships could legally bypass these simulated voyages if they can guarantee 98% of a ship's crew is vaccinated against COVID-19, and 95% of its passengers are fully vaccinated as well.
Regular cruises are expected to begin in July.

A NEXT COVID SUBVARIANT?

By now most know that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has become the dominant infectious agent, now accounting for more than 80% of all COVID-19 cases. Very few are aware that a new one, BA.4.6, is sneaking in and steadily rising, now accounting for 13% of sequenced samples . However, as BA.4.6 has emerged from BA.4, while there is uncertainty, the scientific sense is that the latest bivalent booster targeting BA.4 and BA.5 should also be effective for this next threat. One concern is that Evusheld--the only monoclonal antibody authorized for COVID prevention in immunocompromised individuals--is not effective against BA.4.6. Here is a reference as to what this means. A series of two injections is involved. Evusheld was developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, and is a t ixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab . More recently, Los Angeles County reported on subvariant BA.2.75.2 . which Tony Fauci termed suspicious and troublesome. This strain has also been spreading in

Part 3: OUR NEXT AROUND THE WORLD ODYSSEY

Before I get into my third, and final, part of this cruise series, let me start with some more newsworthy topics. Thursday was my pandemic day for years. Thus, every so often I return to bring you up to date on the latest developments. All these subvariants derived from that Omicron variant, and each quickly became dominant, with slightly different symptoms. One of these will shock you. There has been a significant decline in the lost of taste and smell. From two-thirds of early patients to now only 10-20% show these symptoms. JN.1, now the dominant subvariant, results in mostly mild symptoms. However, once JN.1 infects some, there seem to be longer-lasting symptoms. Clearly, the latest booster helps prevent contracting Covid. A competing subvariant, BA.2.86, also known as Pirola , a month ago made a run, but JN.1 prevailed. No variant in particular, but research has shown that some of you will begin to lose hair for several months. This is caused by stress more than anythi

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These are held every five years, and there have only been

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