Bad Bob wrote:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/coronavirus-surge-in-republican-areas-124951839.html
I believe and think the emphasis on positive COVID tests is misleading. What we should be concerned with is the death rate. As of October 16, 2020, the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases was California. Almost 8 million cases have been reported across the United States, with the states of California, Texas, Florida, and New York reporting the highest numbers.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/As a kind reminder, COVID as the only cause of death is less than one percent. What this means, even most unhealthy people will most likely will recover. If you are already in late stages of a disease, "knocking on death's door" and get COVID, most likely you will die. But, not 100 percent guarantee. If COVID is diagnosed and treated early, more than 60 percent of these already dying patients survive and then die from their preexisting conditions.
Do masks stop the spread? No, masks only slow down the spread. Unless you wear a mask, change it very often (after coughing or breathing), 24/7 (to include while eating) you have a better than 75 percent chance of testing positive for COVID.
CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to state that masks actually raise the risk of contracting COVID-19. One data point — that 70.6% of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had self-reported that they "always" wore masks.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6936a5-H.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3IgxGNkBWJye8u-OO__noAaerGV61o-qzOWbd4rsOcdQc_XeXUQ-bmG9QBottom-line, COVID is insidious, people are infected once every minute around the world. It makes you feel like shit for 3 to 10 days, but being sick does not equal death. Wearing a mask does not stop the virus, but it will postpone sickness for a few days or even weeks. Until a vaccine is approved, you can elect to live in a bubble which may offer you protection for a short time. Or you can return to living, knowing you
may get real sick or may be asymptomatic (the case of 40 percent of infected). In the update, posted July 10, the CDC said the basic reproduction number or the number of people one person "is likely to infect" is 2.5, and the infectiousness level of asymptomatic people is 75 percent, relative to symptomatic patients.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html Quality of life is more precious than quantity of days.