Snake, my brother in law's sister's husband took a trip to New York City in November, 2019. Upon returning, he came down with some *nasty* respiratory .... "flu." He got over it, but ....
....Earlier this year, he tested positive for covid 19 antibodies, SO, either C19 was here in November '19 or he got it later and was asymptomatic.
As for masks; here in Alabama the governor has declared a "mask mandate" back in about June and periodically extended it since then. As for effectiveness, I've read articles on both sides from authors with letters signifying medical degrees, biophysics, epidemiologists, etc., etc., behind their names. A recent Danish study indicates a meaningless statistiCal difference between wearing and not wearing a mask. I tend to think that individually, they're of minimal value, but on a macro level they probably "dent the curve" a little bit and help a bit. I tend to think they often look stoopid, but otoh I do wear one in stores mainly for the "macro" effect.
Plus, I have personalized a couple of masks with snarky comments. One says:
THE ANDROMEDA STRAINER
The other one says:
OFFICIAL COOTIE FILTER.
:neer:
The politization of hydroxycoquiline (sp?? ) is criminally vile and I can think of a few "talking heads" here I would happily have shot on sight. Gungeek's advice on getting medical/science advice from doctors and science is spot-on here.