“At 3rd stage, when case in thousands will make changes to contact tracing, the definition of contacts & isolation requirements”.

By Mr Murka – Guest Blogger.

Inspired by this quote went searching for a related article and get up to date on the latest round of chaos as Gotham (Auckland) prepares for more joker madness and (media) hysteria to infect us so we comply as oppose to offer actual solutions focused on public safety.

This is opposed to the apparent status quo where the focus on compliance not only has little to do with public safety but is causing a public back lash which may under mine efforts to curb covid.

A year ago Germany and other European countries were looking to mandate N95/FFP2 masks, at some point, (which I’m struggling to find a link for) Germany did mandate FFP2/N95 masks for general public and advised eye protection in high risk environments, which would actually be more like a pub or cafe than a clinic where people are not taking off their masks so much.To the best of my knowledge NZ has never made any advice to the public about eye protection. Clearly with masks, and Rapid Antigen Tests we are severely lagging behind the rest of the developed world – so much for “Go Hard, Go Early”.

2020 OIA documents confirm the government mask policy was literally focused on compliance not an actual expectation they would be worn correctly. Doing what you were told was considered more important than providing an actual effective medical protocols.

It is a load of rubbish. I’ve been singing this song since the get go – few care, even less really seem to get it that eye protection is the actual equivalent of the over analogised seatbelt.

You literally take it off when your done, zero side effects, zero. For the price of two jabs and a booster you could have a full face mask which would last a lifetime, or three sets of half masks and anti fog splash goggles, both options being face fitting and higher filtration than N95.

Today in the announcement that NZ moves to Red Light against the highly transmissible Omicron, there is finally some discussion about better mask protocols.

Still they omit talk of eye protection.

Are you getting the feeling that they’re not taking things seriously looking at multi faceted protection protocols (so again if that the case what is this really about).

Me, personally, I have excellent masks, goggles, full face WTC for various tasks. Having worn these to shops people look at you like you are a bit special, and not in a good way. I bought a $3 cloth mask because no one is wearing goggles, so why bother, it’s all lip service. Now they are releasing more “science” to keep you in a state of anxiety.

Do what you like, but don’t ever fricken lecture me about how masks are either
A) bad, or
B) how my last weeks fashion mask is bad.

I honestly don’t care anymore, I probably have done more reading on it than you, and yes, my other mask is a not quite a Rolls Royce, but it’s at least a late 80’s Mercedes vs your skateboard with shopping trolley wheels on it.Mask guidance may be updated, no consideration of making them free.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the Government was considering changing the advice it gives on mask use as research has shown N95 and surgical masks are far more effective at reducing Omicron transmission than simple cloth masks.The current advice on the Covid-19 website does not distinguish between different types of face coverings as long as they cover the mouth and nose.Bloomfield cautioned that N95 masks needed to be fitted properly.Asked if she was considering subsidising N95 masks so they were free for everyone, Ardern said the Government “had not yet considered that”

And what about tear gas?

Demonstrators often also wear a variety of different protective masks — from simple surgical masks to half-masks with filters.

Surgical masks are probably only effective for concealing demonstrators’ identities. However, when the police fire tear gas grenades that spray an aerosol, only FFP3 filters can provide some protection. To prevent the tear gas from getting into the eyes, airtight protective goggles are absolutely necessary.

Occupational safety filters from the hardware store do not offer any real protection. A proper full face gas mask with a military NBC filter would do the job.And, of course, this also provides good protection against viruses.

But in everyday life nobody wants to walk around like this”https://m.dw.com/…/coronavirus-face-mask…/a-52291265

Eye Protection“The importance of a strong evidence base to any intervention is NOT YET understood, yet an apparent rigorous approach, within narrow silos of knowledge, evident in this pandemic, might not have served us well. The failure to acknowledge historical precedent might also have delayed an effective response to this crisis. There is an urgent need to develop better eye protective strategies, based on the understanding of ocular interactions with the environment” *

Studies show that the virus can be effectively transmitted through the eyes, underscoring the importance of protective goggles for health care workers or potential transmitters of the virus, in addition to the need for additional education measures to encourage hand hygiene and discourage touching of the eyes.

Eye protection by face shield or goggles reduced the infection risk by a factor of 3 (Chu et al., 2020).

As explained in the main text (CITED ABOVE), the fractional contribution of droplet transmission through the eyes (eye infection) is described by the parameter x. In Fig. S2, we show how different values of x would affect the results. For our calculations, we assumed an estimate of x = 0.3. Higher values would reduce the differences between surgical and N95/FFP2 masking.

For universal masking, 100% compliance would be difficult to achieve because masking is not always possible and practical, for example at home, during eating or drinking in restaurants and bars, in schools and kindergartens, etc. 12,28. The potential importance of such situations is demonstrated by a recent modeling study attributing around 10% to 40% of daily infections to restaurants and cafés/bars 29.

Moreover, a lack of willingness to follow recommendations or mandates for mask use may also lead to low compliance with mask wearing. The misrepresentation of mandates as law, with a ‘do as your as told’ attitude, may be back firing and only fueling political instability and polarisation. As opposed to transparently offering this as a recommendation and encouraging its practices via nourishing the concept of having pride in good citizenry ship and unity (team building) via the empowerment to be achieved from making clear that yes this is a voluntary act and as such your action mark you as a caring citizen not simply an obedient one.

One of the earliest evidence for potential importance of eyes in infection transmission and therefore eye protection came from the Spanish influenza epidemic .

Despite evidence from the previous SARS and MERS outbreaks suggesting an impact of eye protection , the COVID-19 pandemic has seen much less research focused on eye protection. A call for face shields to provide eye protection early in the pandemic seemed to be largely ignored in both practice and research , despite some promising studies. One early observational study in India of healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19 patients in the community showed a dramatic decline in the numbers of workers getting infected after face shields were made mandatory . However, this study has received relatively little attention. A recent plea in the Lancet Microbe pointed to eye protection as a potential missing key

Regardless of the type of procedure, adequate eye protection is considered fundamental by the WHO, which encourages the use of goggles or/and face shield covering the front and sides of the face. Similar advice has been also reported in the ECDC and CDC documents. In Europe, the use of face shield is recommended for both non-AGP and AGP in 22 out of 30 countries, while in Austria and Ireland it is indicated for AGP only. In 3 of 6 European countries not listing face shield as recommended PPE, other means of eye protection are suggested (Estonia, Germany and Luxemburg), whereas in 3 others no information has been reported (Greece, Romania, and Switzerland).”

And remember if nothing else a good face mask works against teargas and not just covid.

When Masks Work Well Vs When They Do Not? How to wear the right masks in the correct way.

EYE SEE – WHY MASKS ARE NOT ENOUGH.