CDC New Data Mapping Sending Mixed Messages on Covid

A very important article in the NJ Spotlight News website entitled “Conflicting Covid 19 maps send a mixed message on Safety” points out the current state of affairs on how the State of New Jersey and local municipalities are faced with mixed messages from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). This is an article that is a must-read.  China and Hong Kong are in the midst of a Covid Surge. Articles like “Covid Spike Preceded by Surge in Cases From Hong Kong” make it clear that the latest Covid variant spreads quickly.

Everyone is tired of Covid 19 restrictions, especially mask-wearing.  Restrictions on inside mask-wearing have been lifted.  The CDC issued opinions at the beginning of the pandemic which were inaccurate.  One of those inaccurate opinions was that any mask would prevent the spread of Covid.  The truth however was only N95 or equivalent masks protected against Covid 19 infection.  Yes, a mask would help somewhat but only an N95 mask provided the best protection.  The rationale for sure at that time was we need N95 masks for medical staff and do not want individuals to buy up a scarce quantity of N95 masks.

The article points out the mixed message that the CDC is sending out with two maps.  One map indicates whether indoor masking is needed.  The second map shows the level of viral spread/ transmission in New Jersey.  The indoor masking map is Green indicating no indoor masking is needed. However, the rate of transmission map is Red indicating a high viral transmission rate.

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lack of testing to track the spread of the virus.  At one point, all testing was done at a doctor’s office or government-sponsored medical facilities which would provide test results in two to four days.  The result was logged to a central database and reported to the media.  Today, most persons feeling ill have access to Covid 19 Home Testing Kits and the results from those tests are not reported to a central database.  So there is clearly under-reporting of the Covid 19 variant, yet the transmission rate map is Red.

Those who want to mask as a way to stop the transmission and getting sick from Covid want indoor masking to be reinstated.  The City of Philadelphia announced this week that it was reinstating indoor masking at Restaurants. The announcement has been met with ridicule.  Those who oppose indoor masking point to the CDC's need for an indoor masking map and point out it is Green.  What is the public to believe? The initial lockdown over two years ago was designed to contain the spread of the disease to a level that would overwhelm the nation's hospitals and health care system.

Hospitalizations are down but the number of hospitalizations traditionally lags behind the number of persons who are sick with Covid.  Presently, we are not getting an accurate rate of infection due to self-testing at home.  So are we playing with fire by not requiring indoor masking?

One expert, Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist and public health professor at Montclair State University stated “By shifting our focus to risk relating to hospital patients, that means we’re going to be too late to respond.  [Hospital patients] is a lagging indicator” We have essentially decided again, we are tired of public-health measures, we are tired of prevention, so we’re going to back into a treatment mode. Instead of trying to prevent people from getting sick” by controlling the viral spread, we’re going to shift the burden back to the individual and wait until people are at the hospital and then treat them.”

Join us on our Discussion Board and let us know what you think about Indoor Mask wearing.