We had an outbreak amongst the firefighters here that were fighting the Cameron Peak fire.
Firefighters were testing positive throughout the time of the fire.
The experience certainly differs state to state, even county to county since our government will not create a nationwide mandate. I know in my immediate area itās not an issue. I can go grocery shopping and everyone is wearing a mask and 95% of them are wearing one properly. My local grocery store had a ābouncerā of sorts enforcing the mask policy at the entrance for several weeks back in the spring. But, if I go outside my county and into more rural areas itās clearly not being enforced at all, which is disheartening because those are often the exact areas that struggle the most when the cases start to rise. A co-worker of mine is down in Missouri and has mentioned literally getting yelled at by strangers for wearing a mask in public. 
3 Likes
There are signs in all the businesses here but Iāve only been a few places that wonāt serve you if you donāt wear a mask. Calling the health department on a boarding barn is a valuable waste of resources.
3 Likes
I have a friend in Missouri who tells me the local hospital is full and they are sending patients 100 miles away to a hospital that is also now full. Itās not good.
@alternate_universe, are there others in the lesson program, boarders, even barn workers, who share your concern? You say many are not wearing masks, but do you have enough communications to know if they have concerns regardless?
It would be helpful if you arenāt alone in this. You probably arenāt, but if you arenāt present enough to build relationships with the boarders and barn staff, I can understand that it might be hard to assess how much common concern there is. It could be that others are hoping that someone else takes it up with the BO. They may even not be wearing a mask just to fit in ā people do that kind of thing even if it doesnāt make sense.
Maybe you could drop a few remarks to individuals āYou know Iāve wondered if anyone has said anything to people in the barn about wearing masksā, just to see how they react. You wonāt have put yourself out there - not too much, anyway. Or, maybe just forge ahead and ask around āIām going to ask the BO about mask-wearing in the barn, would you be willing to endorse that concern if she asks you? It would be helpful if BO knew how many are concerned.ā or something.
Or, if you feel safe enough to wait it out, this is probably coming to a head over the next few months. Both from local responses to the covid surge, and from the new administration which is expected to clamp down hard. Outside enforcement may be coming in the future from nationwide mandates as well as state law and local restrictions. Maybe with funding for more active enforcement.
Wonāt that be fun if a positive case shows up during their contact tracing as having been visiting the barn during their contagious period. And that many people in the barn were not wearing masks or practicing safe procedure (hand sanitizer, hand washing, sanitizing common touch points). If there is active outside enforcement, there could be 14 day quarantines imposed on individuals (including the barn staff - maybe all of them! 
) and maybe even enforced barn closure for 14+ days. Lots of joy all around.
And that might be a way to get BM/trainer to support you in the approach to BO. Of course it depends on the situation and which agency is doing the enforcing, of course. What if their entire worker crew is ordered to be on a 14-day quarantine? And, are any states mandating testing for people who come up in a contact trace?
Basically, BO & BM need to save themselves now by issuing a written and verbal statement to everyone in the barn that due to the new surge, we have to start doing better at covid safety. And so from now on yada yada yada.
But of course some people will watch in horror as the train is barreling down the tracks toward them, and yet never step off the tracks. There comes a point when you have to save yourself.
Anyone in barn management who is concerned that enforcing masks could lose customers may be facing the opposite problem in just a few months/weeks - they could lose customers because they arenāt enforcing masks. Customers (and staff) could become concerned about the impact on their whole lives if they pick up covid at the barn, or if they come up in a contact trace list and have to quarantine because someone else who frequents the barn came up positive.
Note that the positive test doesnāt have to come from the barn, just that the individual has visited the barn during the contagious period. And that most people were not wearing masks or practicing other protection (hand sanitizer, hand washing).
5 Likes
I suggested calling the local health authorities to clarify the rules if the BO wonāt enforce masks. I expect the barn would be warned, not immediately closed down. Health dept. employees in general are not ogres, and they can see that horses need care.
4 Likes
Yeah, I canāt imagine what would happen if multiple barn staff were forced to quarantine. It would likely fall on boarders to volunteer to handle stalls, turn out, and feeding. People would not be happy.
4 Likes
Ditto where I am.
You can walk on the sidewalk, or through the parking lot, in the open air without a mask. But you canāt get through a retail door without one. You also canāt remove it while inside.
I am not out extensively, but since the state law on masks, I have seen 100% compliance in every business I have been in.
Many/most businesses have a smiling gatekeeper who will hand a KN95 to anyone without a mask. But if they wonāt wear a mask, thatās as far as they go.
5 Likes
This may not matter to alt-uās barn, but if there is anything that shows the possibilities of far-reaching implication of positive covid tests ā¦ itās the contact tracing that could reach the barn even if covid does not, directly.
No one is more serious about college football than the SEC (Southeastern Conference including top Div. 1 football schools such as Alabama). They have followed covid rules, attempted to virtually bubble, and tested everyone (players, coaches, staff) a couple of times a week, especially right before games. In fact, Div. 1 college football has generated quantities of fantastic covid data for researchers.
And yet, after a season that was rolling along fairly smoothly for the last few weeks, there are suddenly positives on multiple SEC teams (two weeks after Halloween just like other college students). Games are being canceled to the point that rescheduling them to get in a proper season means that the championship game scheduled for Dec. 19th will have to be pushed back.
Contact tracing is taking out far more players & coaches with quarantines, than actual sick people.
The article below includes an anecdote about an offensive line group that got together for pizza, thinking they were maintaining distance. Later, one tested positive for covid. The rest were quarantined. The team no longer had an offensive line. So that one positive ended up canceling a game.
It is not that there are āoutbreaksā where many people are positive (on some teams thatās true, but mostly very few players are positive). Itās the contact tracing. Itās that Player A is positive, and as a result everyone heās been physically close to in the training facilities , including coaches, are now under quarantine for 14 days. There arenāt enough players left in some positions to field a team for a fair contest at SEC level play, due to contact tracing quarantine, not illness of those players.
FYI players are wearing devices that identify exactly who they were in close contact with during a game. If someone comes up positive, during the game they will have been close to some players, but never close at all to others. Linemen normally donāt get close to wide recievers, etc. This data plus testing has really helped define some of the transmission paths of covid.
2 Likes
True but they are more likely to be alive
3 Likes
Note: DO NOT order a package of N95 masks for your boarders - they are in short supply so please leave them to the medical healthcare providers.
5 Likes
Appreciate where this is coming from ā¦ but realize that this is basically leaving some in the public without a mask, which is defeating the whole purpose of keeping them from becoming another patient for the healthcare providers.
1 Like
There are other masks available to the general public.
13 Likes
Right, whatever works.
Locally Kn95ās are not hard to come by. Not sure why the shortage elsewhere. But the others are fine for the general public, of course.
You would actually do that ??
Would you consider it a terrible thing to do during an out-of-control pandemic that is affecting people that you (apparently) do not see?
Do you read, or do you listen to TV blurbs? Please take the time to read. this https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/01/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s Look at your State, while keeping in mind that the virus obviously doesnāt respect man made boundaries.
Scientists are working diligently to understand this virus, which has never infected people before, but they need time.
The least we can do is to do our best to prevent the spread while scientist work to understand the effect of the virus on humans and how it may affect people who have contracted the virus and become ill or have died, as well as the asymptomatic carriers. No one knows yet how this virus will affect these children in the long run. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/11/16/935559102/over-1-million-children-tested-positive-for-coronavirus-in-the-united-states
Why is anyone whining about wearing a mask? I just donāt get people that donāt get it.
9 Likes
I packed my own food, sat by myself, and again --loudly proclaimed that āI donāt want to infect you,ā to anyone who came close. You might even tell the mum --loudly --that youād feel just awful if her daughter caught COVID from you ā
I think this would be an extremely stupid and risky thing to do. If the daughter were to get covid, the mother could blame you and try to sue you. The whole idea of protecting others if you wear a mask is broadcasting to all those others that you think you may be infected. If you want to call down the wrath and panic of others on your head ā¦ thatās your prerogative; but why take that risk?
Sigh, I was in the middle of reading what you posted and you deleted it and it poofed right before my eyes.
Iām not sureā¦ thatās why Iām asking for input. I realize that it probably wouldnāt go anywhere because the state is more concerned about other businesses such as restaurants and retail. But at the same time, what the BO is allowing to happen is objectively wrong and putting a a big group of people at risk. A report would at least create a paper trail should an outbreak occur at the barn or a contact trace go through the group of us. At least someone would have tried to do the right thing.
1 Like
Quote so I can read it before it poofs again.
