They can't even see their own bias, they have completely discounted any other factors, personal hygiene, contact avoidance, food eating habits, etc. Masks are the only factor, and since you got covid, you must have engaged in non approved, non-mask wearing behavior.

Public transport has always seemed to be a cesspool of potential infections. Lol.

I believe NYC failed to implement anti viral cleaning practices for public transportation in a timely manner. Even though video from places around the world with similar situations showed staff spraying down public transport.

I think the airlines were even ahead of NYC in this respect. It would be interesting to match up NYCs infection curve against the anti viral cleaning beginning in public transport.

Why would nuanced, respectful debate diminish my credibility? In the other thread I have merely pointed out that a representative democracy like in the U.S. and most of the western world is still a democracy. The people don't make most decisions directly but they elect their representatives through a democratic process. If you call this splitting hairs it may say more about your ability to engage in intelligent debate than anything else.

Why don't you address the points I make instead of simply accusing me of hair-splitting. It's true that oversimplified black/white statements make for better headlines and provoke more reactions on forums such as this, but that doesn't make them right or appropriate.

Because as anyone reading the other thread can quickly see, it is PAINFUL even to have discourse with you. I could agree with you at the 99% level and you would be constitutionally incapable of allowing me that residual 1% without arguing about it. You are ENTITLED to your opinion but I am also entitled to mine. My opinion is that you are a pain to have a discussion with even when you are right, and impossible to converse with when you are wrong, a condition far more often than you will ever acknowledge.

Just because the guy writes a “well thought out post” doesn’t mean it has any substance.

That particular posts contains nothing but anecdotal evidence or speculation from personal experiences. I live in a Covid “hotspot” in the north east. If I came on here and posted about what my day usually looks like and what I see in various public places one could glean that Covid is not an issue in this region at all. That is clearly not the case.

Hey, if you don't enjoy discussing with me fine. No need to bring "anyone" else into it. I can accept your opinion. Just don't make it seem like everyone else agrees with you. I can assure you most people have no problem communicating with me (and vice versa) both online and in real life. Having said that, I agree that it seems to be futile for the two of us to continue this.

You know, I think you have a point. What I wrote a page or so back was indeed a mix and included anecdotal evidence and speculation. I would however disagree that my post contained "nothing but anecdotal evidence or speculation from personal experiences".

It is a fact that public health experts in Germany and elsewhere, just like in the U.S. largely agree that masks should be used indoors and/or where a safe distance cannot be kept. That's not politicians making these things up. That's politicians implementing scientific guidance. Yes, there is continued debate as to how much masks protect the wearer vs. the other person and just how helpful each type of mask is and what dangers come with inappropriate mask use and hygiene. None of that means that masks don't work, though.

As pilots we travel the world. It is rare to see almost the entire planet reacting similarly to a situation. Almost everywhere it is being taken seriously. Almost everywhere mask use is mandated. It's not about party politics. Almost everyone is behind this. In Germany that's all political parties from the socialists, greens, social-democrats- liberal-democrats, christian-democrats. The entire established political spectrum is in favor of following the advise of the scientists. The only opposing party are the far right AfD.

The other thing I wrote that makes logical sense, or at least so I hope, is that all those comparisons between populations that have worn masks and others that haven't are not meaningful as they are not comparing like for like.

It's also a verifiable fact, that at least in my country a lot of infections originate from situations where no masks have been worn, such as weddings, birthday parties, other gatherings.

There are still so many questions as to why some parts of the world are hit so hard while others not so much. There don't appear to be simple answers. Masks alone cannot explain everything but they can be part of the solution. Just google "scientific consensus on mask use".

“It's also a verifiable fact, that at least in my country a lot of infections originate from situations where no masks have been worn, such as weddings, birthday parties, other gatherings.”

Same song in the US & Canada. Proper contact tracing reveals this pretty quickly. Large, indoor, no precaution gatherings are how you effectively spread this virus.

There’s evidence of this but there’s also evidence, plenty of it in fact, showing the virus is transmitted via the droplet route. Contact with infected surfaces is also a transmission vector. Remember when the scientists demonstrated they could keep viable viruses on various physical surfaces for days at a time? Well, it hasn’t been shown to be a major transmission factor. Show us where ‘medical professionals,’ have proven covid is all airborne... For now it looks to be a distant second after the droplet type.

So the virus doesn’t travel as an isolated particle. The natural environment, oxygenated atmosphere, sunlight, temperature, etc., would quickly disable the thing. It is essentially always piggybacking on some sort of droplet, be it aerosol sized for the airborne route or larger for the droplet type. Masks can catch these. Of course some will get through. The idea of masks was always to reduce.

As to your condom example, a condom with pinholes is still better than no condom at all in limiting STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

Lockdowns have been definitively shown to be ultra highly effective in reducing transmission; (and IMHO a cure worse than the disease).

Remind me again which airborne, aerosol transmitted, corona virus we have been able to stop the spread of, and develop an effective vaccine for. I forgot.

The life lost due to lockdowns is far greater than corona deaths. They shouldn't even be discussed as a viable defense.