mcbg1

You do know masks won't protect you much though, right? And that most people who get the virus have little to no symptoms, ever. And that those who do also mostly make it out alive?

mcbg1

All these lockdowns have created a lot of xenophobia. It's us against them. But we are all in this together.

fransknorge

The entire city of Lerida, Catalonia and its surrounding area is put back in full lockdown, effective from today. Residents must stay at home.

ahmetdouas

yes I’m avoiding Spain too risky with government decisions

Sjoerd

I know all of that. I also know that being in crowded places, especially indoors, is giving me a higher chance to be exposed to the virus.
So I have found other activities away from crowds that are equally fun and give me an equal or even better quality of life as before Covid-19.
There are so many fun things to do in life and in a way I am glad that Covid-19 helped me to discover some of them!

exbayern

If I recall, in the UK they permitted people who could prove that they had 6 months or less to live that they didn't have to be 'shielded'. (I cannot stand that term by the way)

I know someone who travels as much as I do, and was just told that she has 3 months left. It was a shock considering her current state of health. I myself am struggling right now at the major life change thanks to COVID, along with having surgeries in the last few weeks. I cannot imagine if I knew that I had only a few months left, and I could not travel and complete my bucket list items, or see people one last time, etc.

The general tone in my cancer during time of COVID group is that we've dealt with cancer and the reality of mortality, and the fear of COVID is not really comparable to what we deal with.

Thankfully as Europeans we do have some choices, but hopefully that expands soon. The hint of a Japanese travel corridor leaves me to slight hope that by the fall there may be one with Germany (although doubtful as it would be difficult to facilitate)

vanillabean

They are probably impressed by how well you speak the language.

mcbg1

That's great. Congratulations!

JohnAx

My contrary thoughts: Home-made or loose-fitting masks are intended to protect others from you, and you can find recipes to make ones that give up to 70% protection for you, if N95 types are still not an option.

I haven't seen any science-based paper that says most people are symptom-free, so that might be more a wish than a fact for the moment.

Similarly, "most make it out alive" is an argument that lets people take themselves to the bar or party with no concern for themselves or *society. That homily should come with a warning that "most" probably will turn out to be 95-99%, that a 1% - 5% chance of dying an agonizing death might not be a fair bet when if you win, all you won was an evening getting drunk with friends and probably not even getting laid, that some of the 95-99% survivors will have spent unpleasant time in hospital, and that it's not true that being being young and/or healthy will keep you alive.

*(Society = the fabric that allows several billions of us to have normal lives in normal times, a fact that a lot of parents don't seem to have passed along to their progeny.)

stimpy

In another step towards normalcy, the official state of emergency has expired in France. So now there can be gatherings of up to 5000 people. And riverboat cruises (but not sea cruises). Events no longer require pre-authorization and so on. Also the President and central government cannot unilaterally bring back a lockdown. Instead local government can manage any regional outbreaks.

https://www.france24.com/fr/20200710...illet?ref=tw_i

On the less happy side, landlords can start evictions again and the utility companies can disconnect people who don't pay.

mcbg1

You've changed my mind. Great!

yvrcnx

I am so sorry to hear that and hope that you are doing well.
Asia seems to be still almost impossible for Europeans as well as the rest of the world but my hope is also right now that Japan might open to certain countries in the next 2 months or so.

You are very fortunate that you can travel to many European countries and hope you get to make some good use of it.
We are doing our first flight on Tuesday, just to Calgary to spend 4 days in Banff and Lake Louise. We just wanted to get out, especially going on a plane again will be a treat.
Europe is next on our list but we are waiting until the end of August to see how things will develop and hopefull travel in September or October. Maybe by then Canada will have opened up to Europeans as well to enter without having to self isolate.

Take care of yourself and I wish you all the best with your health situation.

flyingcrazy

I do find this view that if you do not wear a mask you will die, and how dare you be so selfish not to 100% believe the view that masks will eradicate the virus completely baffling.

Life is all about risk. We take risks everyday. We are more likely to die driving our cars everyday than we are dying of covid19. So will the same posters banging on about masks, stop driving/flying ever cause then they know for sure they will not die in a car/plane crash?

flyingcrazy

Being fearful of a virus constantly is hardly quality of life...End of the day its a natural thing than kills some but not many. We have to deal with it and grow up.

This hysteria is entirely not proportionate. Lets ban all cars then as they kill too.

Masks are uncomfortable and not actually very hygienic either. I would not be surprised if people get ill due to wearing them.

JohnAx

I think you just said that every 100 times I go out for a drive I have a 1-5% chance of killing myself.