Gesundheit ...
 

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And it doesn't have to be sneezing, it can be talking (especially loud talking), singing, whistling, laughing, or breathing deeply (especially through one's mouth).

Of course the droplets won't go as far as with a cough or sneeze, but they could still end up on a faucet, elevator button, keyboard, phone, light switch, countertop, dinner plates, drinking glasses, cutlery, gym equipment, scissors, church pew, etc., someone (maybe an at risk person), touches that object, and then touches his nose, mouth, or eyes, and they get sick, maybe really sick (enough to be on a ventilator), or even die.

All because somebody else refused to wear a surgical mask (not to wear a mask is our God given right as Americans, we are free and have the freedom to do as we chose, like it says in the Declaration of Independence, or the Gettysburg Address, or the Magna Carta, that's why we defeated the Germans at Pearl Harbor).

How can I be sure that I don't have COVID-19 right now this second? Maybe I have it and I'm asymptomatic? And testing is nothing more than a snapshot in time. I've named my mask Charleen, and she helps me to keep my loved ones, and strangers, safe, maybe not 100% safe, but safer than if I didn't wear her.

Asians, especially Chinese and Japanese, have been wearing surgical masks for years, in some cases for particulate pollutants from burning coal, but in many cases to prevent the spread of infection. It's accepted there. We may have to learn to accept it here, especially before we come up with a vaccine.


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What if there's never a vaccine? They've never come up one for any of the other human coronaviruses(common cold, SARS-1, MERS, etc). Even the flu today is a remnant from the Spanish Flu and that vaccine still is maybe 50% on a good year

Then we have choices to make don't we? And I think at the end of the day we do not need a vaccine. We need something that will prevent people from dying. Even a treatment is just as good as a vaccine. And even if there is one, I am like others probably not taking it anyway, at least at first. I never take a flu shot for some of the same concerns.

Peace

Sneezing in your hand does as good as a mask does and then you can wash said hand almost immediately. Sneeze into a mask you'll need a new one unless you like smelling your snot all day. We aren't doing surgery.

If it weren't for local health department busy bodies, nobody would be wearing masks that arent already immunocompromised. You definitely won't see one in the medical facilities I work at outside of the ORs. Even the WHO is saying no healthy people should be wearing masks.

Well I'm sure those lovely ladies sitting in trailers outside of hospitals would gladly shove that cue tip through your nose and into the back of your throat if you want the really fun test. They tell those ladies that you should see the fear in your eyes to know if they went far enough. Or you could get the antibody test which is a bit less invasive. I'm glad I wasn't near the labs the day they started doing the tests in house as they grab every employee they can grab hold of to do calibration tests.

My biggest concern would not be not with the facility and how well it has been sanitized. My biggest concern would be handling my whistle a countless number of times throughout the game intermingled with handling the ball countless numbers of times throughout the game....a ball which will be handled by countless numbers of others (players, partners, coaches, etc.), some of which will also be handling their whistles or mouthguards. That, to me, seems like a far more likely of an avenue of transmission than a doorknob that isn't properly sanitized.

There are ways to avoid all of that, but I'm not sure it would be practical on a large scale, but it is worth considering. We could change our protocols to simply not handle the ball, ever. In reality, there is only one moment in a game where it is really necessary for us to actually handle the ball....the opening toss. We could change the rule to just give it to the visitors. At all other times, the only reason we handle the ball is to control the action. But, that can actually be done, if we want, with the whistle and/or verbally.

Soccer more or less already does this. This wouldn't necessarily eliminate all opportunities for transmission but it would remove what is, in my opinion, one of the biggest opportunities within the game.

The other potential issue is the actual blowing of the whistle. Surely, blasting air through the whistle, which often has a fair amount of saliva, is bound to aerosolize some of that saliva, creating the equivalent of a small sneeze. The only way to eliminate that is to move away from a whistle. An electronic, hand triggered, whistle may be the future. I've never heard one, but someone above mentioned they were not a very good proxy for a real one, but they could certainly be made better if the demand is there.


I've actually done a game, many years ago, when I had pink eye, which, while not fatal, is very contagious through contact. It was a fairly informal volunteer church youth league and I was to work solo. I was ready to cancel but they didn't have someone else to do it. The league director and I came up with the idea that I could do the game without making ANY contact with anything. All the players, coaches, and several parents that were present were presented with the situation and agreed to proceed. The players were directed to never throw/hand me the ball and if they did, I'd dodge it. I'd blow the whistle when needed and I'd direct them what to do with the ball. As an extra precaution, even though I wasn't touching anything aside from my own whistle, I washed my hands on every timeout/intermission. I think one of the coaches did the opening toss.

Or, we just realize that life is meant to be lived and not in fear of something like a virus and the fact that all people die eventually. We can take reasonable precautions, even some aggressive precautions, but we don't necessarily have to stop everything. It could be just another step in the evolutionary cycle and that, while not pleasant, may just run its course in time, taking a fair number of people with it, and fading away, even if we do nothing.

It sounds like people are trying to make this political statement. I said we have a choice now don't we? That means that some people will risk their health to do things that others will not. It is not about stopping everything. You can continue while others will not. And when the right people die in your life and we still have no "fix" then again it might influence your choices. We all have choices. We act like we are mandated to do things.

Peace

Those involved with training have dedicated a good amount of effort teaching officials techniques to avoid hasty, impulsive whistles. Without having one of those electronic, push-button whistle devices to experiment with personally, I'm wondering if such would impact favored whistle discipline. Would their use initiate a habit of impulsive whistle use that would need to be moderated? Or would the "patient whistle" be something more natural with these new-fangled finger operated gizmos? Time will tell, if they ever do become commonplace.

Good questions. I suppose it could be either.

Gesundheit ...
 

Many people certainly stifle their sneezes and coughs, but how many stifle their talking loudly, singing, whistling, laughing, or breathing deeply?

My Health Care Hero ...
 

That's my daughter. When Connecticut first started COVID testing she stepped up and VOLUNTEERED to do the testing, more dangerous back then due to a shortage of personal protective equipment for nurses (she used the same N-95 mask for her entire first week, keeping it in a labelled brown paper bag overnight). Last week, as Connecticut hospitals decided do elective surgeries, she went back to her regular job as a post-operative nurse, however, she continues to VOLUNTEER to do COVID testing on weekends because trained nurses are needed, especially nurses like my daughter who specialize in safety and personal protective equipment education and supervision.

When she's not working, she's self isolating (because of her job, she's at high risk to get COVID) and hasn't had any contact with me, her two siblings, or her nephews, to protect us. She's my health care hero.

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Also, while rapid tests still require the swab to be inserted high up into one's nasal passage, most testing today only involves the simple painless swabbing of the inside both nostrils.

Well unless your making out with them while they're doing that, your pretty safe from that dangerous laughing.

Laugh Out Loud ...
 

Sneezing, coughing, talking (especially talking loudly), singing, whistling, laughing, or breathing (especially breathing deeply) all may spread respiratory droplets that may contain large numbers of COVID virus particles. Some activities may spread respiratory droplets farther than others, and a surgical mask may stop, or slow, the spread of many of these larger respiratory droplets.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...0px-Sneeze.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_mask

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_droplet

Hero ...
 

She does this, despite putting her own health at risk, and isolating herself from her family and friends, because she feels like she's making a difference, she's preventing the spread of this virus, and she's saving lives.

Florence Nightingale Pledge: With loyalty will I aid the physician in his work, and as a missioner of health, I will dedicate myself to devoted service for human welfare.