Proof ? . . . No Proof ?


It is amazing to me that so much of what is being done with Covid-19 seems to be presented to the general population as “fact,” and is actually far from being proven fact.

First of all, apparently  the “proof” that masks do anything is mainly based on one study, and not the best study, from Hong Kong. Furthermore, in the beginning we were told not to wear masks! If anyone has some good data on the benefit of wearing masks, I would like to know about it. Now granted I don’t mind wearing a mask . . . but does it do anything? Is there any proof?

Next, is there any evidence that the closing of beaches is beneficial? At this point it is unclear whether heat and sunlight are bad for this virus. For many of other past viruses, the incidence of infection goes way down in the summer. Will this be the same for Covid? Certainly at this time, there is no proof as best I can tell. If heat and sunlight are bad for the coronavirus, and good for us, then perhaps the beach might be the best place to be! 

In addition, wind dissipates the concentration of the smaller particles that are produced by coughing, sneezing, etc. In the 40 years that I have lived in San Diego, I do not recall ever going to the beach and there being zero wind. I am told that very early in the morning there can be little if any wind, but who goes to the beach at 7a.m., other than surfers, and they are in the water, not sitting around on the beach! I am sure that zero wind days do happen at the beach, but . . . again, the beach might be one of the better places to be! Proof . . . No proof ?!

Finally when families go to the beach why is it now “unlawful” to put down a towel and just sit and sunbathe? These same families have been cooped up in the same house for weeks, and now they can’t sit together on a towel or in chairs at at the beach! Again at the risk of being like an echo chamber . . . Proof ? . . . Nonsense!

This morning I have read two different articles about children and Covid. The amazing thing here is that the proof(anecdotal for the most part) is that children and Covid is an entirely different ballgame from adults (>17 y/o) and Covid. First of all, < 2% of reported cases in China, Italy, and the U.S have been in children! Now perhaps that could be related to the fact that children are only rarely tested for this virus. Why is that?  – probably because they typically have few if any symptoms. 

And to boot, there is little proof that children pass this infection onto adults! Adasdar Munro, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University Hospital in Southampton, U.K recently stated that children are not responsible for the majority of transmissions, and that data supports the opening of schools.

There are other retrospective anecdotal studies from Australia and Europe that basically say something very similar . . . So why are schools closed? Certainly not because of any proof that closing schools is the right thing to do!

Now for sure someone is going to mention Kawasaki’s disease that can occur in children as a result of Covid. I am not surprised much by the few cases in children, but here again we do not have any info on the incidence of this with Covid. Frequent? or . . . Infrequent. No proof either way. But these isolated cases cannot be a reason to keep schools closed, can it?

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