So we are now told that wiping everything down with Clorox was unnecessary, but...

[Baitball Blogger]

Covid was bad enough. We really didn't need anything else to compound the problem. Like a heavy Flu season. So, I think that the precautions were helpful because they reduced the complications of other health issues.

On a side note, I wonder what the rates were in 2020 for bacterial or food poisoning. I suspect that those numbers also plummeted.

[Voltaire2]

1. We do know that seasonal flu was almost non-existent last year.

So there was that. We probably won't do it, but we could basically eliminate flu as a threat if all masked up every fall.

[RobinA]

4. My Question Is

If masks and distancing made the flu nonexistent, why didn't it work anywhere near as well for COVID? And I'm not being snarky, this really doesn't make sense to me. Maybe less flu due to less travel couldn't get a toehold due to already existing masks and distancing? Cautions were in place long before flu would have come knocking on the door.

[LisaL]

6. Covid is more infectious than the flu.

So what works great to stop the flu doesn't necessarily work for covid.

[OhioChick]

16. This

[lagomorph777]

17. Not enough people actually masked/distanced, to stop COVID.

But enough of us did, to stop the flu.
COVID is way more contagious than the flu, so higher levels of compliance are needed to stop it.

[Yavin4]

19. In NY, masks and distancing worked extremely well for COVID mitigation.

I'm working on a data project about it right now. Sixty days after the shutdown order and the mask mandate were put into place, cases, deaths, and hospitalizations declined exponentially.

In one of the most densely population regions in the country, the infection rate was at 1% from June until late November when the holiday season drove up the numbers again.

[flor-de-jasmim]

2. I wonder what the final tally will be:

with...

fewer traffic accidents
fewer cases of other types of infection
etc. etc.

[Kaleva]

3. I didn't find it hard to do.

It didn't take long to wipe down high touch items in the home most every day and I did it for months.

[LisaL]

5. I dunno if it's unnecessary.

Just read about a guy in New Zealand, who was vaccinated yet still got covid. The community spread in New Zealand is basically zero. But the guy worked on cleaning airplanes from countries with high community spread, and presumably got it that way (from surfaces)?

[Baitball Blogger]

13. That is scary.

[samnsara]

7. wash state reported no deaths from flu for a certain period of time...

..apparently something is working!

[Demsrule86]

8. I believe flu is transmitted through the air just like Covid to a much greater extent

than previously known...all this flu from phones and door knobs, I don't buy it. I have every intention of wearing a mask during flu seasons in the future. It will save thousands of lives every year if others do it too.

[LisaL]

9. But rates of bleach poisoning went up.

Apparently some people were spraying themselves with cleaning products.

[Native]

10. Not unnecessary...

According to new CDC guidelines released this month, disinfectants are likely unnecessary unless someone in your home is sick or has tested positive in the last 24 hours. That said they also say tbat it's still possible to contract the virus if you touch an infected surface and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth, according to the CDC.

So, as usual, we continue to get mixed messages.

I still prefer to err on the side of caution.

[Hugin]

15. +1

There are those who err on the side of convenience and those on caution... Like you, I'm caution.

It's been a hard lesson that one out of a million is usually me.

[Native]

18. The minute things start going well I get worried because I know what's around the corner! Lol.

[GoCubsGo]

11. It's not that it wasn't necessary, but there was overkill.

Wiping down common surfaces, like door knobs and grocery carts was, and still is a good idea. Nobody is saying that was unnecessary. Sanitizing groceries, mail, one's pets, etc., was unnecessary.

Beyond the Clorox wipe-downs, what else has really made a difference is that people have been washing their hands more often. It's amazing to me how little that was being done before COVID. I will never stop being horrified at the need for signs in public restrooms telling employees that they must wash their hands after using the toilet. People have to be told this??? Eeeeewww.

[dem4decades]

12. My son is a teacher and he said he might wear a mask next year.

Just to protect him from cold and flu, never mind the covid potential.

[Hortensis]

14. Well, we always knew cleanliness was necessary to avoid disease,

and now we're seeing it. Scientists have to determine just what ways, and how much, a new contagion is most efficiently spread, but I remember that well after the surface-spread recommendations were lessened Dr. Fauci was still doing it and leaving purchases outside for a period. He was 80 and apparently felt the extra caution was appropriate in his case.

Now that we see the huge difference just some improvement makes in spread of colds, flu, etc., I wonder how many will continue? Especially since stopping most contagions comes far less from wiping down our counters than just washing our hands when out and arriving home (and keeping them away from eyes, nose, mouth).

Just think of all the people we've seen in public bathrooms all our lives who left without washing or, very often, did a dainty little 2-second soap then rinse that doesn't begin to approach the count-to-20 brisk genuine washing of hands required to clean them of pathogens. Or how about all those who wash then touch the door others just left residue of their evacuations on? Yuck.