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Basically no lockdown other than shutting down bars at 8 PM, plenty of exposure between proximity to China and super-crowded trains
The difference between Japan and the USA is their ubiquitous mask use
We went on a 20 year jihad over a single 9/11's worth of preventable deaths in the USA, and yet we can't be bothered to take any action when we're racking up a 9/11 every couple of days?
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view...
Can you show me statistics regarding this "real and obvious risk of psychological and social harm" of children wearing masks?
You're literally saying you don't require evidence for your views and trying to frame this as a virtue?
What possible study could give you definitive information to decide here? Social "sciences" are rife with replication errors, the whole industry is suspicious.
But so what? This is such a modern hyper rational mode of thinking. It's a weak mentality to be unable to use experience and judgement to act and decide but to defer to dubious "experts" to tell you how to live and raise your own children in the context of something so obvious as "kids need to see faces and be seen to develop socially" given masks don't stop the spread of covid and they're not at risk anyways; they should have normal social interaction and not live in a bubble for 2 years.
We already know the risk from covid for kids is virtually non-existent. You're willing to risk their social development because no one told you to do otherwise yet? How did your ancestors navigate such perilous environments and situations without a bunch of studies to tell them what the "facts" are for every decision? They had to think for themselves quite often, using their wisdom and intuition
This is the danger of politicized science. It becomes one sided and a-scientific.
Similarly, the current vaccine does not prevent infection, but it significantly reduces symptoms and helps reduce the amount of people who'd otherwise be hospitalized with COVID-19.[2]
Death rates are the most serious metric to look at (and it's abysmal), but certainly not the only metric. Long-term effects of the virus aren't well understood, but individuals have reported brain fog or lack of sense of taste/smell long after clearing the flu-like symptoms.[3] Folks who get sick and transmit the virus, or are severely hospitalized, have still been affected.
Most children do not have issues masking in school unless trusted adults are telling them it's a problem. I have two sons, both of whom mask at school with no complaint, and the school has a full mask mandate except at mealtimes for those eating. Neither the school nor the district have reported any instances of psychological or social harm, and I'm having a hard time finding a credible source that believes that's true.
So, we have a set of assumed (or just plain made up) negatives, and a whole host of scientifically proven benefits. When folks say we are not a serious nation, they mean that this debate is even happening in the first place. The reasonable asks: a facemask indoors in public, and a vaccine. Against a worldwide pandemic that's killed over 700,000 in the United States alone and shut down our hospital systems in some cities.
[1]: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br... [2]: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythings... [3]: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythings...
Those are not reasonable. You may think they are, but there are obviously people who disagree.
Also, the vaccine and masks may have been a reasonable ask, but it is not a reasonable mandate! Once mandates started kicking in, and politicians started saying "The voluntary phase is over" while not following their own rules, then they became unreasonable and definitely not "asks".
Also, we have had far worse pandemics and have not had those "asks".
Also, the Hong Kong Flu might be close to COVID in per capita deaths.
However, it was a mainstay for a period of time without any where close to the current division over using masks.
Why do people forget that an infectious disease doesn’t stick to just one person? Do they not get what infectious means?
It would be much more beneficial to encourage weight loss and fitness regime for overweight people. The vast majority of deaths have occurred from overweight comorbidities. But this has never been widely addressed as a tactic to decrease severe cases.