masks and antibodies

If you took a shower at home, but the sign at the local Mikva says to please take a shower before entering, do you just walk in without showering?

JUST me -” (as opposed to asking my doctor):”

Good Idea. Your Doc doesn’t know as much as Me.

“If I have a lot of antibodies, do I still have to wear a mask?”

It depends – do you know what type of Antibody you have? Are you going to test yourself everyday to make sure you still have them?
There is more than one type of Covid19 floating Around.
It’s called Mutation. Ask your doc, if he/she Even knows about this!

So the Answer is – if you won’t be exposed to the Mutation, and you check everyday that you still have those antibodies – then you don’t Need a Mask.

Not sure about the whole mask thing to begin with but just a word on antibody testing.
Many of the tests (especially the earlier ones) had very high false positive rates. They were in the 5%-10% range. That doesnt sound high but in terms of false positives that can be very significant. Not sure where you live but if you dont live in NYC area, then the percent of population that had Covid is probably about 3% or so. If you assume that, then a test with a 10% false positive rate means that if you come back positive you have less than 25% chance (3/13) of actually having it. So the test is almost meaningless.
Even with a 5% false positive rate, with a 3% population rate you would have 3/8 chance of having it (37.5%) if you came back positive.
If you live in NYC where the population rate is about 25%, then it is much more meaningful even with 5-10% false positives.

If you think mask work, you are very naive. Not even the CDC or anyone in the government by any chance has been seen wearing masks.

Frumshmurda718, google “Jared Kushner and Adm. Brett Giroir, the federal official overseeing testing, wear masks at the White House during President Trump’s news conference.” Google “Fauci wearing mask.” Google “Redfield wearing mask.” In mid-May, White House staffers were told to wear masks.

Even if one thinks he doesn’t “need” to wear one. Out out of respect, one SHOULD wear. This is a classic MARIS AYIN case.

Frumshmurda: You neglected to report that Fox News also showed pictures of Martians landing in Willy and BP were seen wearing masks, so they are taking the viral risks seriously. Geez…..where do you guys dig up this garbage??

Yes, you need to wear a mask. You may be a carrier, even if your antibodies protect you from infection. The mask protects the rest of us from your possibly infected spit, sneezes, and coughs.

To add to what Huju said, you spread droplets when you talk or sing. The louder you are, the more droplets you spread, which is why public health experts are concerned about rallies, sports events, and religious services.

yehudayona-“To add to what Huju said, you spread droplets when you talk or sing. The louder you are, the more droplets you spread, which is why public health experts are concerned about rallies, sports events, and religious services.”
at protests they are screaming a just as much if not more then sports/rallies/ or religious services

yehudayanu- most protesters were not wearing masks

After scanning a random set of videos from the protests I’d guess that somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the participants on average were wearing masks. Also, they were OUTDOORS and a lot of them were trying to stay at some distance from others. Last night in Tulsa, INDOORS, about 10 percent were wearing masks and sgitting on top of one another (although based on the low turnout they could have left every other seat empty)

Yes, you need a mask. You always needed one, and you always will.

So it seems that the vast majority of people in NY, especially among the frum orthodox jews are not mask bearers, yet there is no surge of the coronavirus.

That is not to say that masks are not beneficial, and there can be other factors at play here, but it seems that masks are not necessarily the answer to everything.

There is a non-medical reason to wear a mask in certain jurisdictions: It is required by law, no matter your health status.

To add to what huju said: Nobody should try to fine-tune the guidelines that the medical experts recommend. They recommend masks, but did not make distinctions between those who have have antibodies and those who don’t, or those who are too short to spit in the average face, or so tall that their droplets go into the air and never come down. New York, and the Northeast generally, was hit hard and is recovering steadily. Let’s not press our luck. Yes, I would like to go to minyan, but the first mitzvah is to protect life.

Headline and sub-head from the well-known left wing Wall Street Journal:
Early Data Show No Uptick in Covid-19 Transmission From Protests
Public health experts say preliminary test results are encouraging; outdoor locations and masks may have helped

The article is behind a paywall, or else I’d present more here. Of course it’s too early to judge the effects of the indoor, mostly unmasked Trump rallies.

2scents -“Yet, have almost zero new cases for the past few weeks?”
And I thought that you’re a medical professional?
To answer – almost e/o has antibodies.
But the consensus right now is they only last 2-3 months.
We’ll have to see if we’ll have a second wave or not.
I’m going to wear one – when I go out.

Apparently, both infections and hospitalizations have swung to lower age groups. This seems to be due to a reduction in social distancing as the economy opens up. Since younger people have a much lower mortality from COVID, deaths will probably trend lower, at least for now. The big unknown is whether the death rate will rebound as the younger people spread the virus to their elders. I suspect that will depend on how much testing is done and whether those who test positive self-isolate. Given the resistance to past COVID mitigation recommendations, particularly in some of the places that are now hot spots, I’m pessimistic.