This is going to be suck-it-up time. Yes, you can wear a mask for six hours straight. You’ll get used to it. I suggest masks with ties instead of ear loops.
As to being able to concentrate, yes, people can concentrate while wearing masks. Surgical staffs have always managed to concentrate during long operations.
Masks are going to be the new normal.
Masks on children have not been decided yet. Discussions are just beginning now and who even knows where we will be in the fall. I do know that our staff is making videos for kids on the autistic spectrum, sensory issues etc…to get them use to this. One of my parents already said her 5 year old doesn’t mind wearing one. It won’t be easy, that’s for sure.
Upper grades are not the problem. The little ones will be tough. They are talking about 2 nurse’s offices…one for kids who don’t feel well, and the other for kids to come in for their medications.
This exemplifies how people’s predictions are colored by their experiences and those are wildly different across the country. If you’ve seen medical staff being “chewed up” them you are presumably in a place with lots of cases like New York. Then some people expect disaster and that colleges that open “will close again relatively swiftly”.
Conversely people in other parts of the country are more worried about hospitals going bankrupt through lack of patients and medical staff being laid off. We are getting mailings from local hospitals saying please come in and schedule an elective surgery, our neighbor who is a nurse is spending her shifts making training videos because they have no patients. Some people conclude that colleges should therefore just get on with it and open up because you have already “flattened the curve”.
But even then there is a huge discrepancy between those who are lucky enough to have the ability to work from home and those who don’t, between those who are still employed and those who aren’t, and between those who have savings and those who don’t.
This has been an interesting thread, but I’d be more comfortable if people were prepared to acknowledge that there isn’t a single best answer, whether for colleges or anything else. Different states will do different things, as they should, because they have different experiences and more importantly different willingness on the part of the voters to balance the health and economic risks in one direction or the other. Likewise different colleges will be influenced differently by their location and by their economic situation.
It is all very well to say this should be led by science, but ultimately this is a political decision, and even if you want this to be “science led” at a state level it shouldn’t be solely about epidemiologists, what about psychologists, economists, etc. who can give input on the other side of the equation to the politicians who are ultimately going to be held responsible? Likewise college presidents need to consider all of these factors (though I worry that for some the most important voices don’t include the students themselves).
Unfortunately the politics mean most people aren’t willing to listen to both sides and try to find the best solution. Few on either side are willing to back down from apocalyptic predictions and accusations of bad faith. Perhaps the one saving grace is that at a very local level, neighbors are actually coming together and trying to work out what is best for themselves, their families and their communities. That’s a difficult thing to do, because there are so many unknowns, and it means finding compromises and balancing multiple factors. That will become easier as we find better treatments and understand the factors involved in spread of the virus much better. But it shouldn’t be assumed that people in other parts of the country are irrational or foolish because they make different decisions (whether they are more or less cautious than your personal position).
Regarding K-12 students wearing masks, kids in China seem to be able to wear masks in classes in news stories I have seen. It’s doable but obviously not ideal.
Children and adults need to adapt in unprecedented times. This might be one of those times…
Little kids love dressing up in fancy dress costumes, including full head masks. I recently had the pleasure of chaperoning a birthday party For a pint sized spider man who wouldn’t take his mask off for a good 3 hours.
A creative designer can come up with face mask designs that kindergarteners would be more than happy to keep on for half a day.
Heck, maybe Disney, Marvel , DC, Nickelodeon ect could produce some.
We have full day kindergarten and pre-K…hopefully it’s a very creative mask.
@Twoin18 wrote:
The fact that five months into this there have emerged “two sides” kind of says it all, doesn’t it?
It says a lot about our politics, but there is no single ”correct” answer here. Demonizing people who balance the issues differently is a huge problem, and is likely to lead to very sub-optimal outcomes. Undoubtedly some states may open up too soon while others may stay shut down for too long. But why do there have to be accusations of bad faith?
Does anyone really believe that the decision Sweden made to have less of a shut down than many other countries wasn’t made because they believed it to be in the best interests of their people? It may lead to more deaths but less economic pain, and that’s their decision. Other countries or states may view things differently. But you can’t say one is “right” and the other is “wrong”.
Bringing it back to college, I think it’s clear that if (and when) there are cases on campus, some colleges will stay open and some will close. If we start demonizing (or suing) those colleges that make a different decision to the one we personally would have made then that will be a very bad outcome.
@Knowsstuff and what if there’s no vaccine? Masks forever! So there will be masks in public where it can be somewhat policed or at least where other people will see you with or without a mask and people will likely wear them if most are. But what about a family gathering? Say ten people in my backyard. Masks? Thanksgiving. Inside and masks? I get that every little bit helps and I hope it’s enough to wear masks in public and in school but it’s really not realistic to tell people they should wear masks in their own house with a friend over. And college students will have to wear them when they have to wear them but will not do so hanging in their rooms with friends and certainly not in their off campus apartments. This is really hard because it just sets us all up against each other depending on what we each decide to do. Can’t get together with friends who make different decisions or family either. I don’t even think the science we’ve all seen makes it clear what is overkill and what is not when it comes to masking or distancing. I’ve seen articles that say “if someone coughs really hard and in your direction” then the droplets might get to you. But there’s also news that we can fight a few droplets. It’s when we are exposed in a bigger way for a longer time that it’s most worrisome. What about phase four when groups of 50 can be together. What does that mean? 50 people with masks all six feet apart. That makes me laugh. What kind of gathering is that exactly?
I’ve been all for social distancing and we are still doing it but I am starting to see why people are losing their patience. 90 percent of the cases in our town were at a nursing home. Most people here have been social distancing for almost two months. Honestly, in a few more months, I don’t think there will be this political divide anymore. I’m almost as liberal as they come and even I am getting frustrated with the lack of direction on exactly how this spreads, exactly how dangerous it is, etc. I think almost everyone will start moving back to some sort of normal over the summer in private settings. I wouldn’t have a big party and won’t let our kids to to one but we are definitely looking for ways they can (1) work and (2) socialize safely. Both of our kids have been invited to grad parties and we said no but, at some point, I’m sure we will let them see more than one friend at a time.
Dr. Fauci said this isn’t like flipping a light switch. There has to be a plan in place to protect public health while also opening the economy.
It’s not all or nothing, yet that’s what the national plan seems to be.
Sometimes there actually is bad faith, although accusations of such are not always accurate, and some instances of bad faith go unnoticed.
Deep breath… ?..
People will have to make up their minds on what do to. Too much misinformation out there is the problem and in honesty no one really knows at this point. My son will wear a mask at school when he needs to. My daughter at college doesn’t wear one with her 5 friends even today as they watched their online graduation. They do social distance and wash their hands etc. They “are” taking it more seriously then even I would of thought to be honest.
Groups in your house or back yard. Just keep them smaller. Social distance at the table. We entertain in our backyard. We will wait and just do that. We can easily social distance and still have quality time. Major holidays. Well maybe just don’t have again large crowds. A good friend of ours was just in Northwestern with CV. Her husband is now coughing. This is the closest we have gotten to someone that has it. It will touch a lot of our lives going forward. We all have choices to make. Hopefully they will be smart ones. 50 people crowds… Well I will be avoiding those for awhile. Might not even go downtown for awhile unless the lakefront opens up. I can just walk and stay away from people. How long? Don’t know yet?
I’ve been wearing a neck gather recently that was provided to our company(an essential business) by one of the suppliers we represent. We need to wear a face covering if we enter, and remain in the office. The gaiters are quite comfortable and easy to breathe through. When in our personal offices we simply pull them off and they hang around our necks. When we need to move through the office, or talk to someone else, we pull them over our nose and mouth. I brought some home for my teenage son with the hope of mitigating his grumping about masks. He actually likes them and has worn them out of the house.
https://www.beloit.edu/our-story/the-beloit-action-plan/
So much has been talked about the “Beloit” Plan for the fall. Well, this is it but it’s more extensive then even I thought. They seem to be going out of their way to make something special happen. Matching instate tuition for the surrounding Midwestern States. That can be huge for many. I like their approach and what their trying to accomplish. I really feel this can be a positive unique model going forward.
@petitbleu If the students don’t like that idea, they can opt to either continue remote learning or take a gap year. As for hotel staff, that is their job. They will either have to deal with it or find another job. That’s tough, but it’s the reality we find ourselves in. That’s life.
@homerdog I truly believe it would be hard to concentrate for like two days then you would get used to it. Within a week, they wouldn’t even notice it. I’ve had to wear and speak using a surgical mask, they’re not that bad.
@GKUnion wouldn’t taking a gator or mask on and off defeat the purpose? I read a whole story on how to take your mask off so that you don’t touch your face. It’s pretty complicated to do it correctly and I’m betting hardly anyone does. I guess it’s better than nothing but touching your gator to move it to cover your face could put the virus right on your face if you didn’t just wash your hands.
“That’s life”? Working in a hotel and having to deal with infected students all day and night? If you don’t like it, too bad? Sometimes what I read here really makes me wonder.
While I can appreciate Beloit’s strategy for the fall, one needs to remember that their total student population on campus is a very manageable 1,500. That’s smaller than my daughter’s high school! In addition, their isolated, Midwest college town has a population of only 35k.
Will their plans and strategy work at larger campuses that have say 10,000, 20,000, or 50,000 students? Think NYU, UMichigan, and UT-Austin and the sizable cities they reside in?
I’m not convinced…
@Twoin18 wrote:
But it’s not like we’re lacking in thoughtful, well-meaning people; there are lots of voices of reason out there: the current Fed Chair - of all people - is one of them; Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA Commissioner is another. Heck, I’ve just finished listening to Gary Cohen on one of the Sunday morning shows and he was as big an administration official as there ever was. These guys are all Republicans! Why are they and people like them constantly being knee-capped?