Hacker News Reader

Comment by blagie | Hacker News Reader

The flip side is that we don't know the impacts of repeated COVID19 infections. If everyone caught COVID19 once a year, what happens? Is brain fog effecting susceptible individuals? Or would we all be in a daze and stupor.

It is endemic, but we're comparing two unknowns:

- Cost of lock-downs each time there's an outbreak

- Cost of outbreaks

I hope the zero COVID policies evolve over time to where they can maintain zero COVID without the draconian policies. I suspect universal N95 masks might be enough.

View on HN

>>I suspect universal N95 masks might be enough.

We have no idea the damage that constant mask-wearing could do. This would be a very dangerous experiment, that interferes with basic the human functionality that we are adapted to.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-lan...

> We have no idea the damage that constant mask-wearing could do.

Pshaw. Many people wear masks constantly. I wear a mask for days at a time when I’m woodworking. Sculptors wear masks while creating their art. Surgeons wear masks for ages during complex operations. My dentist wears his mask all day every day. The guy who paints your house will wear a mask all day. It is simply ridiculous to suggest that we don’t know what mask-wearing will do.

None of what you describe is wearing masks constantly. This would be mask-wearing in all social situations, for years, for every one, including children.

And none of these tell us the population-wide effects of switching to mask-wearing, even for the limited scope that the people in occupations you mention wear masks, would be benign. For example, there is indication that emotional connections between doctors and patients are disrupted by masks:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24364989/

There is no scientific evidence to support your suspicion. There will never be any such thing as "universal" N95 masks. Many people are infected in private homes where obviously no one is going to wear masks. Everyone is doing to be exposed occasionally, just like with the other endemic human coronaviruses such as HCoV-OC43. It's time to accept reality and move on. Fortunately the vaccines and other treatments are fairly effective.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/vinay-prasad/94646

False dichotomy. You are still assuming that the lockdowns will be effective. That seems very unlikely given an endemic disease. Initial short term success doesn't mean much. How are you going to avoid flare up when it's commonplace all throughout the world?

Masking in flareups and vaccines and remote work where reasonable is the clear answer. Zero covid is impossible.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com