Coronavirus Thread

[SpacedX]

47 minutes ago, Legend_in_blue said:

What about 6 people in a lift?  I'd call that crowded tbf.

I always try to use the stairs where possible - although a great example of a situation in which it would have been a good idea to have retained at least one of those masks that you proudly snipped into pieces yesterday. 

[leicsmac]

The current vaccine passport scheme seems reasonable to me - unless it does get utilised to make cash as was theorized above, it should be an entirely free at point of use service.

 

Looking at that government webpage there are even loopholes for people that don't want to (or can't) get vaxxed, in which all is required is someone responsible enough to find out if they might be carrying this rather infectious disease before they come into contact with a large group of other people.

 

If it turns out to be some Orwellian slippery slope rather than a legit effort to combat a virus for which the entire concept of "freedom" is alien, then I'd of course stand corrected.

 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

6 minutes ago, Line-X said:

I always try to use the stairs where possible - although a great example of a situation in which it would have been a good idea to have retained at least one of those masks that you proudly snipped into pieces yesterday. 

State of the general fitness of this nation I think a lot of people would genuinely struggle with more than 3 or 4 flights of stairs.

[ealingfox]

If the vaccine doesn't stop you from getting the virus then what good is a vaccine passport for preventing spreading events? Surely a negative test is better in that regard.

[filbertway]

7 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57893788

 

This was the one from yesterday's news story. I must say, it is not always crystal clear with this government what they are trying to say. However, it sounds like vaccinations only will be accepted, not COVID status (which would include negative tests and recently recovered).

 

"Guided by science" no doubt! They just want to get to as close to 100% double vaccinated adults as they can. I am sure the government will make plenty more U turns yet (not a rare occurence with them). Once people have been pressured into getting vaccines, they will change tone.

That line of thinking makes sense. Be vague and panic people into getting vaccinated, as they believe this is their only chance of having a social life, then a few weeks before it kicks in, actually allow the current covid pass rules.

[filbertway]

1 minute ago, ealingfox said:

If the vaccine doesn't stop you from getting the virus then what good is a vaccine passport for preventing spreading events? Surely a negative test is better in that regard.

I believe the theory is that having the vaccine means that even if postive, as you're body is dealing with the virus better, you'll be much less infectious.

[CosbehFox]

 

[filbertway]

2 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

 

Yeah...people don't seem to realise this

 

Great angle for a story...ministers write to companies to confirm what the law is.

Edited 20 July 2021 by filbertway

[Lcfc82]

7 minutes ago, ealingfox said:

If the vaccine doesn't stop you from getting the virus then what good is a vaccine passport for preventing spreading events? Surely a negative test is better in that regard.

The tests aren’t accurate enough either 

[ealingfox]

1 minute ago, Lcfc82 said:

The tests aren’t accurate enough either 

 

If they're not accurate then why are we doing so many of them and letting them control our lives? Either they work or they don't.

[filbertway]

7 minutes ago, Lcfc82 said:

The tests aren’t accurate enough either 

They're 99.9% accurate now. I know some people are perfectionists but that's pretty accurate

 

[Lcfc82]

2 minutes ago, filbertway said:

They're 99.9% accurate now. I know some people are perfectionists but that's pretty accurate

 

I don’t believe that figure. I know people who have took back to beck tests and got mixed results.

 

They may be more accurate than they used to be though 

[ealingfox]

17 minutes ago, filbertway said:

I believe the theory is that having the vaccine means that even if postive, as you're body is dealing with the virus better, you'll be much less infectious.

 

I'm no scientist but im pretty sure someone who doesn't have the virus will be less infectious than someone who does.

[st albans fox]

2 hours ago, Lionator said:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001354/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_17.pdf 

 

It does, this is the Public Health England data. Two doses leads to 79% efficacy in delta infections. But yeah essentially the more times you catch covid, the milder it'll be on average each time and that includes through immunisation. The mortality rate has gone from about 1% to 0.01% due to vaccination (source https://www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/now-casting/nowcasting-and-forecasting-15th-july-2021/). 

Efficacy against symptomatic illness - i suspect there will be large asymptotic transmission through the vaccinated population

 

 

3 minutes ago, Lcfc82 said:

I don’t believe that figure. I know people who have took back to beck tests and got mixed results.

 

They may be more accurate than they used to be though 

of course it also depends on how good you are at doing an LFT ….. if you have a low viral load and you don’t do it properly then you can get pos/neg etc etc.  I believe that a false positive LFT is very difficult to achieve. 
 

 

[yorkie1999]

50 minutes ago, ealingfox said:

 

If they're not accurate then why are we doing so many of them and letting them control our lives? Either they work or they don't.

Ker-ching!

[filbertway]

44 minutes ago, ealingfox said:

 

I'm no scientist but im pretty sure someone who doesn't have the virus will be less infectious than someone who does.

Very true, but you could also get a negative test and then become infectious within the next 48 hours. 

 

Both have their pros and cons, which is why it makes sense to just allow either

[Legend_in_blue]

2 hours ago, Line-X said:

I always try to use the stairs where possible - although a great example of a situation in which it would have been a good idea to have retained at least one of those masks that you proudly snipped into pieces yesterday. 

Hang about.  I haven't done this yet but thanks for the reminder! 

[z-layrex]

Feel bad for my parents. My niece is getting married on 30th. Dad had a stroke a couple months ago, has done really well but obviously feeling vulnerable. The Covid numbers by next week are going to be something stupid like 1/20 people so they're feeling very worried about attending a wedding. Don't really know what to advise them.

[foxile5]

12 minutes ago, z-layrex said:

Feel bad for my parents. My niece is getting married on 30th. Dad had a stroke a couple months ago, has done really well but obviously feeling vulnerable. The Covid numbers by next week are going to be something stupid like 1/20 people so they're feeling very worried about attending a wedding. Don't really know what to advise them.

I'm really sorry you're in that position. Especially armed with the knowledge you have. 

 

My personal advice would be to explain the risks as they are but caveat it with the guidance of personal responsibility. 

 

You don't want to take on the position of dictating. You'll forever be caught between a rock and a hard place. 

 

That being said, I don't work in the places you do.

[Buce]

 

‘The hospitals are very near to not coping’: UK health workers speak out:

Six healthcare workers share their stories from the frontline amid rising Covid cases'

 

On Monday, for the first time since the early days of the vaccination programme in the UK, new Covid cases outnumbered the number of daily doses administered. As England lifts most restrictions, six healthcare workers from paramedics to paediatricians speak about what the reality is like amid rising coronavirus infections.

 

---

 

The paramedic, east of England

 

"The hospitals are very near to not coping”

It’s horrendous: the hospitals are very near to not coping and our ambulance service is near to declaring REAP level 4 [extreme pressure]. We are seeing a lot more Covid now with cases rising. We’re taking more people into hospital who are really unwell because they’ve had to wait for treatment during lockdown. Their conditions could have been managed if they were seen earlier but now they’re deteriorating and in the acute phase. When you hear about the lifting of restrictions, people seem to forget that it’s not just about people dying of Covid: it’s the cancer patients and the ones on kidney dialysis. I totally understand people’s frustrations but we’re not in a good enough place. What’s frightening is when the media calls us “heroes” – that’s really dangerous as heroes don’t need to be protected because they don’t die, but we’re just humans, like everyone else. I still have night terrors of taking people away from their loved ones knowing they’re going to die. I’m having therapy but quite often I think: “Shit I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this any more.” I think there’s a lot of that among colleagues as mental health cases are through the roof and people can’t cope.

---

The paediatrician, north of England

 

"We have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department”

For the last few weeks we have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department. Modelling suggests numbers have yet to reach their peak. We’re seeing mainly viral respiratory-tract infections in children, and it’s expected that these numbers are going to get worse. It’s because the kids normally would have been exposed to these in the winter, but they were locked down and are therefore not immune now. Another concern is rising cases of children with PIMS, which is a post-infectious viral infection that is quite rare but can be very serious, with some children needing intensive care treatment. There are also insufficient numbers of psychiatric beds for children, which means we have significant numbers of kids with mental health issues presenting in acute medical paediatric units, where they’re now stuck. Overall, it’s unsustainable working in this environment, and made worse with staff absences due to self-isolation. Because of such high levels of admissions, elective surgical cases are being cancelled. An elective non-urgent case will at some point become urgent if not dealt with in a timely fashion. I think the decision not to vaccinate children is reckless. They should all be offered vaccines.

---

The GP, Isle of Wight

 

"We’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant”

We are lucky in that not a single clinical member of staff has had CovidSince May, however, we’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant and lots of children have had to self-isolate. We’re also still working through the same backlog we had in May. Even though people are being vaccinated, it takes three weeks to work so I think we will continue to see the number of cases rise as restrictions ease. For us, the biggest concern is masks no longer being compulsory and getting rid of that is something we just don’t feel we’re ready to do. In our view it’s not just a concern around Covid but viral illnesses we’re seeing in children. Masks are for both patients and staff and I think we may still insist people wear them because of the healthcare setting we work in. I understand lifting restrictions in the summer as we tend to be quieter with other illnesses as we’re outdoors more, but with cases rising you just question whether we should have a few more weeks to allow people’s immunity to kick in. Everyone talks about the flu in winter but we are already seeing winter illnesses in children.

---

The midwife, Greater Manchester

 

"A lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid”

I’m working more than 60 hours a week to cover sickness because a lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid, or they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive. We’ve also seen an increase in women and their partners testing positive too. We have to isolate them when that happens and we only have a certain number of side rooms that are normally for women who are septic or who have high blood loss. If cases rise to 100,000 a day then we’ll have to put them in bays because there’s nowhere else. I’ve met some women who don’t want to be vaccinated as they’re worried about how it might affect their baby before it’s born. Most of them book in for a jab after giving birth but pregnant women are vulnerable and Covid is still a danger to them. Lifting the restrictions might be a little too much at once. There are people in hospital who have had two vaccinations so it’s not foolproof, and the more people who catch Covid the more likely it will mutate.

---

The ICU Nurse, London

 

"Right now we can manage”

We’ve had Covid patients throughout the year, they never stopped coming, and at all times at least one intensive care patient with Covid, though since the last peak in January a maximum of four at any given time. Before the younger people were offered vaccinations, we regularly had Covid patients in their twenties in the ICU.
Sadly, we’re already seeing that people are slacking on taking precautions, such as washing hands and wearing face masks. They walk into the hospital not thinking about the dangers. Right now we can manage, but we do wonder: “will it go off the charts again?”. I will certainly still be wearing face masks and hope people will continue being cautious. I hope people will be sensible in public, stay at home when unwell – even if it’s just a cold – and keep on getting vaccinated. I’m quite apprehensive about the winter.

---

The cardiac physiologist, Birmingham

 

"Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us”

Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us to see if it’s affected their heart. We don’t know much about it and we want to see if it has an effect on other parts of their bodies, not just their lungs. Referrals have increased as services that were closed have now reopened. Some patients stayed at home with their problems and were too scared to go to hospital or see their GP. Only now are they being referred for all these tests and that’s why we’re seeing an increase. I think the lifting of restrictions is difficult. The number of cases in the community is going up, so on paper it doesn’t seem like the right time. My main worry is people travelling. While we might be safe here, we don’t want to bring variants from other parts of the world, especially if other countries have not had such good vaccine programmes. We’ve got a responsibility not just nationally but globally to tackle it.

 

 

Edited 20 July 2021 by Buce

[FoxesDeb]

17 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

‘The hospitals are very near to not coping’: UK health workers speak out:

Six healthcare workers share their stories from the frontline amid rising Covid cases'

 

On Monday, for the first time since the early days of the vaccination programme in the UK, new Covid cases outnumbered the number of daily doses administered. As England lifts most restrictions, six healthcare workers from paramedics to paediatricians speak about what the reality is like amid rising coronavirus infections.

 

---

 

The paramedic, east of England

 

"The hospitals are very near to not coping”

It’s horrendous: the hospitals are very near to not coping and our ambulance service is near to declaring REAP level 4 [extreme pressure]. We are seeing a lot more Covid now with cases rising. We’re taking more people into hospital who are really unwell because they’ve had to wait for treatment during lockdown. Their conditions could have been managed if they were seen earlier but now they’re deteriorating and in the acute phase. When you hear about the lifting of restrictions, people seem to forget that it’s not just about people dying of Covid: it’s the cancer patients and the ones on kidney dialysis. I totally understand people’s frustrations but we’re not in a good enough place. What’s frightening is when the media calls us “heroes” – that’s really dangerous as heroes don’t need to be protected because they don’t die, but we’re just humans, like everyone else. I still have night terrors of taking people away from their loved ones knowing they’re going to die. I’m having therapy but quite often I think: “Shit I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this any more.” I think there’s a lot of that among colleagues as mental health cases are through the roof and people can’t cope.

---

The paediatrician, north of England

 

"We have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department”

For the last few weeks we have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department. Modelling suggests numbers have yet to reach their peak. We’re seeing mainly viral respiratory-tract infections in children, and it’s expected that these numbers are going to get worse. It’s because the kids normally would have been exposed to these in the winter, but they were locked down and are therefore not immune now. Another concern is rising cases of children with PIMS, which is a post-infectious viral infection that is quite rare but can be very serious, with some children needing intensive care treatment. There are also insufficient numbers of psychiatric beds for children, which means we have significant numbers of kids with mental health issues presenting in acute medical paediatric units, where they’re now stuck. Overall, it’s unsustainable working in this environment, and made worse with staff absences due to self-isolation. Because of such high levels of admissions, elective surgical cases are being cancelled. An elective non-urgent case will at some point become urgent if not dealt with in a timely fashion. I think the decision not to vaccinate children is reckless. They should all be offered vaccines.

---

The GP, Isle of Wight

 

"We’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant”

We are lucky in that not a single clinical member of staff has had CovidSince May, however, we’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant and lots of children have had to self-isolate. We’re also still working through the same backlog we had in May. Even though people are being vaccinated, it takes three weeks to work so I think we will continue to see the number of cases rise as restrictions ease. For us, the biggest concern is masks no longer being compulsory and getting rid of that is something we just don’t feel we’re ready to do. In our view it’s not just a concern around Covid but viral illnesses we’re seeing in children. Masks are for both patients and staff and I think we may still insist people wear them because of the healthcare setting we work in. I understand lifting restrictions in the summer as we tend to be quieter with other illnesses as we’re outdoors more, but with cases rising you just question whether we should have a few more weeks to allow people’s immunity to kick in. Everyone talks about the flu in winter but we are already seeing winter illnesses in children.

---

The midwife, Greater Manchester

 

"A lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid”

I’m working more than 60 hours a week to cover sickness because a lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid, or they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive. We’ve also seen an increase in women and their partners testing positive too. We have to isolate them when that happens and we only have a certain number of side rooms that are normally for women who are septic or who have high blood loss. If cases rise to 100,000 a day then we’ll have to put them in bays because there’s nowhere else. I’ve met some women who don’t want to be vaccinated as they’re worried about how it might affect their baby before it’s born. Most of them book in for a jab after giving birth but pregnant women are vulnerable and Covid is still a danger to them. Lifting the restrictions might be a little too much at once. There are people in hospital who have had two vaccinations so it’s not foolproof, and the more people who catch Covid the more likely it will mutate.

---

The ICU Nurse, London

 

"Right now we can manage”

We’ve had Covid patients throughout the year, they never stopped coming, and at all times at least one intensive care patient with Covid, though since the last peak in January a maximum of four at any given time. Before the younger people were offered vaccinations, we regularly had Covid patients in their twenties in the ICU.
Sadly, we’re already seeing that people are slacking on taking precautions, such as washing hands and wearing face masks. They walk into the hospital not thinking about the dangers. Right now we can manage, but we do wonder: “will it go off the charts again?”. I will certainly still be wearing face masks and hope people will continue being cautious. I hope people will be sensible in public, stay at home when unwell – even if it’s just a cold – and keep on getting vaccinated. I’m quite apprehensive about the winter.

---

The cardiac physiologist, Birmingham

 

"Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us”

Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us to see if it’s affected their heart. We don’t know much about it and we want to see if it has an effect on other parts of their bodies, not just their lungs. Referrals have increased as services that were closed have now reopened. Some patients stayed at home with their problems and were too scared to go to hospital or see their GP. Only now are they being referred for all these tests and that’s why we’re seeing an increase. I think the lifting of restrictions is difficult. The number of cases in the community is going up, so on paper it doesn’t seem like the right time. My main worry is people travelling. While we might be safe here, we don’t want to bring variants from other parts of the world, especially if other countries have not had such good vaccine programmes. We’ve got a responsibility not just nationally but globally to tackle it.

 

 

From an outside looking in perspective it absolutely baffles me that people in the UK are happy to ditch all restrictions, in fact are welcoming it.

 

I think another poster summed it up yesterday though when they said something along the lines of 'it's not up to the public' 

 

It is, it very much is, if people care about each other. 

[st albans fox]

15 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

From an outside looking in perspective it absolutely baffles me that people in the UK are happy to ditch all restrictions, in fact are welcoming it.

 

I think another poster summed it up yesterday though when they said something along the lines of 'it's not up to the public' 

 

It is, it very much is, if people care about each other. 

despite the noisiest people not surprisingly making the most noise, the polls tell their own story ..................

Edited 20 July 2021 by st albans fox

[z-layrex]

24 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

‘The hospitals are very near to not coping’: UK health workers speak out:

Six healthcare workers share their stories from the frontline amid rising Covid cases'

 

On Monday, for the first time since the early days of the vaccination programme in the UK, new Covid cases outnumbered the number of daily doses administered. As England lifts most restrictions, six healthcare workers from paramedics to paediatricians speak about what the reality is like amid rising coronavirus infections.

 

---

 

The paramedic, east of England

 

"The hospitals are very near to not coping”

It’s horrendous: the hospitals are very near to not coping and our ambulance service is near to declaring REAP level 4 [extreme pressure]. We are seeing a lot more Covid now with cases rising. We’re taking more people into hospital who are really unwell because they’ve had to wait for treatment during lockdown. Their conditions could have been managed if they were seen earlier but now they’re deteriorating and in the acute phase. When you hear about the lifting of restrictions, people seem to forget that it’s not just about people dying of Covid: it’s the cancer patients and the ones on kidney dialysis. I totally understand people’s frustrations but we’re not in a good enough place. What’s frightening is when the media calls us “heroes” – that’s really dangerous as heroes don’t need to be protected because they don’t die, but we’re just humans, like everyone else. I still have night terrors of taking people away from their loved ones knowing they’re going to die. I’m having therapy but quite often I think: “Shit I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this any more.” I think there’s a lot of that among colleagues as mental health cases are through the roof and people can’t cope.

---

The paediatrician, north of England

 

"We have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department”

For the last few weeks we have seen winter levels of admissions in the emergency department. Modelling suggests numbers have yet to reach their peak. We’re seeing mainly viral respiratory-tract infections in children, and it’s expected that these numbers are going to get worse. It’s because the kids normally would have been exposed to these in the winter, but they were locked down and are therefore not immune now. Another concern is rising cases of children with PIMS, which is a post-infectious viral infection that is quite rare but can be very serious, with some children needing intensive care treatment. There are also insufficient numbers of psychiatric beds for children, which means we have significant numbers of kids with mental health issues presenting in acute medical paediatric units, where they’re now stuck. Overall, it’s unsustainable working in this environment, and made worse with staff absences due to self-isolation. Because of such high levels of admissions, elective surgical cases are being cancelled. An elective non-urgent case will at some point become urgent if not dealt with in a timely fashion. I think the decision not to vaccinate children is reckless. They should all be offered vaccines.

---

The GP, Isle of Wight

 

"We’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant”

We are lucky in that not a single clinical member of staff has had CovidSince May, however, we’ve had families testing positive with the Delta variant and lots of children have had to self-isolate. We’re also still working through the same backlog we had in May. Even though people are being vaccinated, it takes three weeks to work so I think we will continue to see the number of cases rise as restrictions ease. For us, the biggest concern is masks no longer being compulsory and getting rid of that is something we just don’t feel we’re ready to do. In our view it’s not just a concern around Covid but viral illnesses we’re seeing in children. Masks are for both patients and staff and I think we may still insist people wear them because of the healthcare setting we work in. I understand lifting restrictions in the summer as we tend to be quieter with other illnesses as we’re outdoors more, but with cases rising you just question whether we should have a few more weeks to allow people’s immunity to kick in. Everyone talks about the flu in winter but we are already seeing winter illnesses in children.

---

The midwife, Greater Manchester

 

"A lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid”

I’m working more than 60 hours a week to cover sickness because a lot more staff are having to isolate due to family members having Covid, or they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive. We’ve also seen an increase in women and their partners testing positive too. We have to isolate them when that happens and we only have a certain number of side rooms that are normally for women who are septic or who have high blood loss. If cases rise to 100,000 a day then we’ll have to put them in bays because there’s nowhere else. I’ve met some women who don’t want to be vaccinated as they’re worried about how it might affect their baby before it’s born. Most of them book in for a jab after giving birth but pregnant women are vulnerable and Covid is still a danger to them. Lifting the restrictions might be a little too much at once. There are people in hospital who have had two vaccinations so it’s not foolproof, and the more people who catch Covid the more likely it will mutate.

---

The ICU Nurse, London

 

"Right now we can manage”

We’ve had Covid patients throughout the year, they never stopped coming, and at all times at least one intensive care patient with Covid, though since the last peak in January a maximum of four at any given time. Before the younger people were offered vaccinations, we regularly had Covid patients in their twenties in the ICU.
Sadly, we’re already seeing that people are slacking on taking precautions, such as washing hands and wearing face masks. They walk into the hospital not thinking about the dangers. Right now we can manage, but we do wonder: “will it go off the charts again?”. I will certainly still be wearing face masks and hope people will continue being cautious. I hope people will be sensible in public, stay at home when unwell – even if it’s just a cold – and keep on getting vaccinated. I’m quite apprehensive about the winter.

---

The cardiac physiologist, Birmingham

 

"Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us”

Lots of patients with long Covid have been referred to us to see if it’s affected their heart. We don’t know much about it and we want to see if it has an effect on other parts of their bodies, not just their lungs. Referrals have increased as services that were closed have now reopened. Some patients stayed at home with their problems and were too scared to go to hospital or see their GP. Only now are they being referred for all these tests and that’s why we’re seeing an increase. I think the lifting of restrictions is difficult. The number of cases in the community is going up, so on paper it doesn’t seem like the right time. My main worry is people travelling. While we might be safe here, we don’t want to bring variants from other parts of the world, especially if other countries have not had such good vaccine programmes. We’ve got a responsibility not just nationally but globally to tackle it.

 

 

Cut those ****ing masks up! 

[Tommy G]

On 19/07/2021 at 12:23, z-layrex said:

Let's hope your 'freedom' doesn't kill one of the old biddies.

 

I don't think there is any actual proof masks have an effect on the spread. We started to wear them last year and cases went up, and have been in place ever since and have had cases rise since to the wave we are in now. 

 

There is a point in time where we have to live with this disease, if people don't want to mix or are worried about masks etc then OK, it's your choice to go out and mix, if you are that worried sit inside and barricade yourself at home. For the rest of us can we go about our lives? Look at the detrimental affect this is having on the rest of the NHS, cancer treatments delayed, procedures and operations delayed etc. 

 

We are at sub 50 deaths a day now. I'm not anti vaxx or pro vaxx or pro masks or not pro masks just happy to go back to normality, having had both jabs is all I can do. I think being placed under restrictions for the long term is unhealthy. 

[Carl the Llama]

4 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

 

I don't think there is any actual proof masks have an effect on the spread. We started to wear them last year and cases went up, and have been in place ever since and have had cases rise since to the wave we are in now. 

Cases have not risen continuously since masks became commonplace. That is simply a lie.