I appreciate the open floor to have the discussion. And really appreciate everyone, especially @amvanhoose_701479, challenging me to look at things in different ways and explain myself better. I’m just obnoxious and combative by nature to a point and don’t mind an argument, but you guys are all friends and I respect all these discussions we’re able to have here.
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It’s been really helpful for me as well. Frankly, some of the arguments I see against masking and vaccinations on the interwebs are just incomprensible to me. Finding someone who can articulate a more rationale approach to some of the concerns helps me understand a lot better.
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I appreciate your views. Thank you for sharing. I know you speak for yourself and not others but I really am hoping to continue to learn about the concerns others have about masks and vaccines.
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Fun update:
New OSHA standards went into effect today.
-eye protection in all patient care areas
-N95s for staff caring for all COVID + or suspect/rule out patients (previously it was only for aerosol procedures)
-anyone in the building must wear surgical grade mask, no more cloth masks
So I am just suited up looking like I’m ready for a long Organic Chem lab seeing patients today 
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You have an odd idea of “fun”. 
Someone clearly needs (i.e. deserves) a refresher course on “fun” at a post-pandemic WDW! 
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I’m so sorry! The damage done to really awesome health care workers makes me so mad.
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That’s so sad. This whole thing is so crazy that if it were a movie/book people would say it is too “out there”
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I have literally been having dreams lately that I wake up and it was all a nightmare.
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Me too. Thanks for all you do on this thread. May we all get to go on all our dream trips without fear soon (or just the grocery store although I am loving curbside pickup😂)!
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TIFIFY
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I did wonder whether I should post that second image. Whether I was being deliberately emotionally manipulative.
But COVID became real to me when we started getting footage far more horrifying than that from Italian hospitals back in March 2020.
If being emotionally manipulated is what it takes to persuade people to get vaccinated, then so be it.
I’m not a big fan of humanity, but I don’t want to stand around and watch while yet more hundreds of thousands of people die nasty deaths entirely pointlessly. I get we all have to die at some point. I just kinda favour people dying peacefully in their sleep. Or at least quickly.
COVID is a nasty, nasty disease. And — since it’s been brought up — as much proof as I need that either there isn’t a God, or that he’s not remotely a benevolent one. (Though I’ve been persuaded of this for at least as long as my dog — an entirely innocent and blameless animal whose only desire appears to be to make me happy — has had rhinitis. It’s miserable for us both and utterly pointless. If it weren’t clear that he enjoys his life despite it, I would have put an end to it. A statement which I leave deliberately ambiguous.)
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Those images from the Italian hospitals will not be soon forgotten. I think images are important because words don’t seem to be working. I lost faith in humanity long ago yet I seem to be either a moron or an optimist because I am constantly surprised when people make the same stupid choices over and over again. Hugs to Calvin❤️
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Wow, those have been the rules in my hospital (in Canada) since the fall. They work though!
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Yeah, due to shortage of supplies N95s we’re only for aerosolizing procedures. We’ve had patients strolling into our office unmasked for months despite HUGE signage stating the requirements. And we’ve had multiple verbally abusive patients 
It burned into my brain forever the meeting our office had back in March. We all were handed a mask & a brown paper bag. Reviewed proper donning and doffing. Then told to use one mask per week 
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Ew, 1 per week? We had the paper bags too LOL. Our province removed its mask mandate but it is still in place for all health care facilities. Can’t wait for everyone to start complaining about that when they come in!
Yep. It was gross. But there were no masks anywhere.
[Shudders and runs away]
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Well, there’s an easy way out of that…
If a person who has been in a school tests positive for the virus, the school must notify its local health department. That includes teachers, staff members, students or a visitor who was at the school.
The school must also submit a report to the Texas Department of State Health Services via an online form. That report must be submitted every Monday for the week before (Monday - Sunday.)
However, schools aren’t required to conduct contract tracing.
“Given the data from 2020-21 showing very low COVID-19 transmission rates in a classroom setting and data demonstrating lower transmission rates among children than adults, school systems are not required to conduct COVID-19 contact tracing,” read the guidance.
Ta da. No quarantine issues! 
This just came out. Our school district starts 8/18. A neighboring one starts 8/11.
Our district already announced they will not be updating case counts online. Time to figure out how to submit an Open Record Act request, I guess…
ETA: At least they’re are requiring positive cases to stay home, even if asymptomatic. Wonder if parents will comply with that?
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I know of multiple situations where kids were sent to school even though a parent or guardian was positive
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