This is probably the most effective thing that the authorites can get nearly 100% co-operation. It provides no protection for the individual weaing the mask (unless it's an N95, or better), but is slows down and interferes with your own breath to protet everyone else from you if you happen to be an asymptomatic person infected. Unimpeded, you breath goes about .8 meters under calm, normal conditions before it is headed to the floor (hence the 6 foot distancing.) Covering your moth with any type of cloth simply makes that distance less, so less chance someone might inhale your breath (or cough, or sneeze.)
If we get a mask ordinance in place of the other measures that would be okay, but in addition makes little sense. IF there really are no new cases then it’s enough to keep the province isolated from the neighbors and let people get back to work, wearing mask and maintaining social distancing as is practical. I for one will be avoiding crowds as far as possible until the whole region is in the clear.
There has been a report, I posted this elsewhere this morning, that tests have revealed the virus up to four metres from the infected person, conveyed by breathing and talking.
That was Sibulan, right? Without trying to look it up, I was under the impression that face masks were, and have been required in Dumaguete City since the start of the ECQ.
I hope it has. Do you have any statistics to show this decrease in patients showing up to hospitals with these symptoms for the last ~6 months. One month of data doesn't really show much. Almost all infectious disease are going to drop during a quarantine and these symptoms aren't unique to the Corona virus. The data presented doesn't tell us much especially if tests aren't being done on patients to confirm COVID-19.
All of that is true, there's a lot of confusion regarding the data, data classification, new classifications, the use of existing protocols, modifications to the existing protocols, etc., etc., etc. And of course, the presentation of the data. The best resource that I've seen to date is https://www.doh.gov.ph/statistics . I haven't found anyway to access raw data that can be sliced and diced in different ways, so we're stuck looking at what they present, how they present it. I've just been looking at the 'Influenza' and 'ILI/SARI' reports to try and get some (very vague and confused) sense of what might be going on. But it's really a bit frustrating. One thing that really stands out to me is the percentage tested, historically, even for SARI cases is really very low. Now that's primarily for Influenza of course, but that's where something new and different like COVID-19 would most likely first be noticed.
Yes, it will be extended. NegOr is supposed to issue a new EO extending it today. So today we should find out the duration and rules associated with the extension.
While the isolation measures for Negros from other islands are effective, they are not perfect. Cargo trucks are exempt, and they each have a human driver and a human helper. If one arrives and is asymptomic positive, he could theoretically infect several other people quickly. The masks are the tiniest inconvenience to lessen that threat. Deliveries from other provinces are still arriving....I had an LBC delivery yesterday of a package which originated in Makati. There were certainly some opportunities, though slim, for the virus to sneak in. And that was just my package....how many others are LBC and other delivery services carrying in from off Negros every day?
