Almost like outside and inside are different, eh?

embeng4096 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

So why were public outdoor areas like skate parks filled with sand to “promote social distancing”?[1] Or parking lots at beaches and state parks closed “to curb the spread of coronavirus”?[2]

[1]: https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/coronavirus-san-clem...

[2]: https://calmatters.org/health/coronavirus/2020/03/coronaviru...

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ceejayoz 33 minutes ago | parent [-]

> So why were public outdoor areas like skate parks filled with sand to “promote social distancing”?

Because we didn't know better yet. Note the date; April 17, 2020; just a couple weeks in.

Restrictions on outdoor activities were rapidly lifted once we got a handle on how spread happened.

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embeng4096 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

LA County Parks is implementing following changes effective November 30, 2020:

All playgrounds will be closed. Fitness zones and exercise equipment will be closed. Parks and trails remain open for outdoor, passive use for individuals or members of the same household. Masks and physical distancing are required. No group gatherings are permitted

https://covid19.lacounty.gov/covid19-2-2/closures/

Emphasis mine

Edit: and for reference, because I do think you have a point, the George Floyd protests started months before November 2020.

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ceejayoz 23 minutes ago | parent [-]

So LA was being a bit dumb.

See also: Schools wiping surfaces instead of opening windows.

	▲	embeng4096 11 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		NYC playgrounds closed until July 2020 (a time concurrent with ongoing protests): https://data.cityofnewyork.us/dataset/Parks-Closure-Status-D... Washington state continues to close park/trail facilities through July 2021: https://www.wta.org/go-outside/social-distancing-hiking-in-t... I agree with you that some protocols were dumb. Schools should have opened windows, or added UV-C lights, or replaced high-traffic surfaces like doorknobs in large common areas with antiviral materiel, added foot-use mechanisms for opening doors, and so on. Or, if it was too expensive for any of that, asked cleaning staff to spend more time on high-transmission areas like bathroom faucets and doorknobs even if it meant less time elsewhere. But I think there's something more than just outdoor vs indoor going on.

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suttontom an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

The hypocrisy was most notable in experts who said those protesting against the lockdowns (outside), who were considered right wing, were risking spreading the disease, but then said the opposite when the protests supported a left-wing narrative.

Also the CDC who said you had to stay six feet apart even outside who then were OK with people gathering close together during protests and shouting (specifically called out by the CDC as a risky behavior).

	▲	ceejayoz 20 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		We do a lot of risk/reward balancing in life. Maybe we can discuss specific cases, if you like, but "I want to whine about public health restrictions" and "someone got murdered by the state" perhaps have different risk/reward profiles. We know ventilation matters. Public health officials flubbed this one pretty reliably; schools and doctors' offices should've had HEPA filters in every room instead of clorox wiping everything obsessively. Outdoor protests, in hindsight (and of either kind), were a nothingburger for COVID spread.