Tongue in cheek. Sort of. 
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(3). Res ipsa loquitur.
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I’ve known a few well educated scientists and engineers in my life. The one thing they seemed to lack was a little bit of common sense.
Like everyone else … engineer, scientists or not.
Returning from Seattle to Tampa Bay I didn’t wear my mask continuously during the majority of the flight. Had read that the air exchange and filtration on an airplane is amazingly good at keeping germs away. Ended up with a mild case. Woke up the next morning with a scratchy throat and tested positive. Telemed visit with my PCP and a Rx of Paxlovid got me back to normal quickly. But I had had every booster that was available prior
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At first with Covid the thinking was that planes were safe for the reason you outlined. Then a case study showed that, IIRC, 11 people got COVID from a single plane flight. That led to a mask mandate for air travel.
Pre-vaccination my supervisor at work had a lot of air travel and always double-masked. Then a study came out that double-masking reduces transmission by 83%. I started double-masking.
I would say that airports/ air travel is responsible for close to all cases of COVID of people I know personally.
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Hi Steve, i agree. For me there was zero downside. No problems at all wearing a mask. But I mentioned “particularly toddlers” in the part you quoted (but did not quite fully quote), and there are a wealth of publications that suggest that toddlers masking has had a deleterious effect on their development.
If you want me to data-dump all these studies on you please PM me. More than happy. Or you can simply google it for yourself. Because there are many credible studies indicating small children suffered, and no credible study that says small children were not negatively affected by the mask mandates.
But yes, I certainly agree, me and you (and other adults), not so much. I’m happy to hear that you’re happy you were not affected. Neither was I.
Edit to add
I’m sorry, but this is not right at all. Here’s the timeline.
As of 31 March 2020, the CDC 's position was that the general public should not be wearing mask.
As of 20 April 2020 (less than 3 weeks later), the CDC had shifted to “the general public should wear cloth masks”.
Then in response by 30 April the major US carriers (Delta, American, etc.) instituted masking rules. There was no intervening study re 11 people getting covid via air travel at that time. There may have been one later, but at that time (30 APR 2020) the airlines simply responded to CDC recommendations.
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I did not remember correctly, you’re right. But I did find that there were case studies about flight attendants getting COVID from flights. In February and March, 2020. I assume that even before a case study is presented, the stories of the flight attendants contracting COVID would send alarms through the industry, eventually causing governments to react.
CASE PRESENTATION
Case A
A 25-year-old woman working for Korean Air as a cabin crew member became ill on February 21, 2020, with symptoms of cough and a mild fever. She was examined for COVID-19 on February 24, 2020 and was confirmed positive the next day (Table 1).
Table 1
Clinical information in cases A and B
| Cases | Age (years) | Sex | Symptoms | Symptom onset | Examination date | Confirmation date | Incubation period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case A | 25 | Female | Cough, mild fever | 2020 Feb 21 | 2020 Feb 24 | 2020 Feb 25 | 7 days |
| Case B | 36 | Female | Cough, mild fever, myalgia | 2020 Mar 6 | 2020 Mar 6 | 2020 Mar 6 | 15 days |
Thorough epidemiologic investigations suggested in-flight disease transmission as the source of infection. On February 15, 2020, 39 Korean Catholic pilgrims boarded KE958 (B777) from Tel Aviv, Israel to Incheon, ROK. Soon after their return to ROK, 30 pilgrims were diagnosed with COVID-19. The flight attendant had worked during this flight. Moreover, there were no other identified sources. After the flight, she flew back and forth from Incheon, ROK, to Los Angeles, USA, between February 19 and February 22, 2020. On route from Los Angeles (February 20, KE012, A380), she began to feel ill and was subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19 on February 25, 2020 (Table 2).
Table 2
Flight characteristics
| Cases | Flight number | Aircraft | Departure | Arrival | Departure date | Arrival date | Flight time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case A | KE012 | A380 | LAX | ICN | 2020 Feb 20 | 2020 Feb 22 | 13 h 20 min |
| KE017 | A380 | ICN | LAX | 2020 Feb 19 | 2020 Feb 19 | 11 h 10 min | |
| KE958 | B777 | TLV | ICN | 2020 Feb 15 | 2020 Feb 16 | 10 h 25 min | |
| Case B | KE012 | A380 | LAX | ICN | 2020 Feb 20 | 2020 Feb 22 | 13 h 20 min |
| KE017 | A380 | ICN | LAX | 2020 Feb 19 | 2020 Feb 19 | 11 h 10 min |
ICN: Incheon; LAX: Los Angeles.
Case B
A 36-year-old woman who worked on the same flights (KE012 and KE017) showed symptoms including coughs, a mild fever, and myalgia on March 6, 2020. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on the same day (Table 1).
After the first flight attendant was diagnosed with COVID-19, a 2-week self-quarantine period was imposed on all crew members, including the second flight attendant. Of the 30 crew members, only she was diagnosed with COVID-19 on the eleventh day of quarantine. She did not have any known epidemiological links to COVID-19, other than contact with the first flight attendant. During both flights (KE012 and KE017, A380), the second flight attendant worked on the upper deck (prestige class), and the first flight attendant worked on the main deck (first and economy class) (Table 2). They shared the crew’s resting area and ground transportation after the first flight attendant had developed symptoms.
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Yes, the one thing that we are still learning and seeing now is just how big of an effect no having in person classes has had on younger children and students. This is a key developmental period for children at that age, and it will be hard to make up for that loss time. I’m not of the mind it can’t be undone, but will require real intervention (in my view) to make up for that lost time and experiences.
Other than that, even if masking is not significantly reducing anyone’s chance of catching COVID, sneezing and coughing in has always been something we try to be mindful in public. I am still baffled by people who disagree with requiring common courtesy of not sneezing in my face (whether you have an virus or not). Did we think those sneeze guards on the food buffet are for looks? Please stop ignoring common sense, and stop shouting about your entitlement to act in non-civil and rude ways while out in public. Having a right to do something doesn’t mean you should do it whenever you feel like it and that there aren’t social consequences of it.
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I’m always amazed by the non-hygienic behaviour of some people at buffets. I’m surprised we don’t have more Norovirus, E. coli and salmonella outbreaks.
Of course, these types of illnesses will be even worse for someone whose immunity has already been weakened by a virus.
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Yup…I gotta stay away.
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This is why I’m masking for an event at someone’s home this weekend. I just got boosted, but I know at least 2 immuno-compromised and one chemo patient will be there. It’s not a burden for me ….
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Even though my health is generally ok, I was spending a lot of time with my mom who was going through cancer treatment most of last year (in addition to being elderly in general) and eventually was her caretaker through hospice at my house. Yeah – if enough people would just think through how many people are impacted.
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Sorry about your mom. Been there.
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Wait, there are actually carbon lifeforms that believe it is not inappropriate to sneeze in someone’s face?
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Yes. One of my cats. His DJ name is Snotmaster Izz, Carbon Lifeform.
You should see the bottom halves of my lower kitchen cabinets. Talk about needing sneeze guards.
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Thank you for mentioning this. BITD I started annual flu shots to protect my dear one from me. We gotta do whatever we gotta do.
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Getting mine tomorrow. Then I think I’m done with the fall vaxxes. RSV, Covid, Flu.
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I’m trying for the RSV tomorrow; had to wait until Oct. 1 for the insurance contract for us ‘seniors’ to kick in.
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