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Delta, American, United, and other major airlines signal rejection of new CDC guidance saying they should block middle seats

Soumis
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reignited the debate on whether airlines should be blocking middle seats just as airlines thought it was settled. A newly publicized study found that maskless flyers could spread COVID-19 at a higher rate when middle seats were not blocked, Insider's Hilary Brueck reported. Flyers on opposite ends of a three-seat row with the middle open reduced their risk of exposure by 57%, the study said. (www.businessinsider.com) Plus d'info...

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jesussmitharoo
having the middle seat empty means obese sweathogs can't exploit your space.
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling 1
That is a side benefit...
ghstark
Greg S 3
Robert Clowning is one of these "science is real" people who don't actually understand *any* of the science and mathematics in question.

First, we need to dispense with the notion that the CDC is exclusively about science. This is false. Just recently the CDC paused the use of the J&J vaccine because of a tiny number of reported blood clots. The "science" says that this decision will kill and maim many people. It wasn't science that motivated this CDC decision, it was the desire by the CDC to improve the image and trust of the CDC in the minds of Americans. That is, the CDC decided it was more important to promote the optics of the CDC "appearing to be proactive" than it was to save lives.

Second, and this is something Clowning obviously didn't do, you need to read the study to understand its limitations. The study is about dispersal, and it is a useful study. It relies heavily on an earlier study in 2017 made before Covid-19. However, that study does not consider the effects of wearing masks. This is one critical limitation. The study also does not consider the effects of having a significant number of the passengers vaccinated and/or already recovered from a Covid-19 infection. This is another critical limitation. Although there's no science to support or contradict it, it is at least plausible to suggest that a mask-wearing, largely immune person in the middle seat will serve to block dispersal rather than enhance it.

Third, there is reason to question the applicability of these studies to the Covid-19 case. The IATA's numbers show a drastically lower rate of Covid-19 infection than would be predicted by these dispersal studies. Actually, that's also a reason to doubt the IATA's numbers too, and the IATA of course has a conflict of interest here.

Finally, despite the childish pretensions of some, decision makers must balance risks with economics. Selling middle seats means airlines will be more financially sound, and this in turn means more jobs at these airlines and downstream businesses, and higher employment is strongly correlated to better public health.
dnorthern
dnorthern 0
You fired on all cylinders.

You are right about Clown (ing)
bbabis
bbabis 3
In November, people who thought they were smart voted what common sense we had out of the government. Now it is up to companies and those of us that still posses it to apply it where necessary.
charlie02vy
Yes, let's continue to be afraid of "virus" with a 99.97% survival rate......
Oh wait, with the "vaccines", the survival rate is going to go up to 99.98%??
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling -3
The virus has a higher death rate than that, and unfortunately hasn't killed the ones that want to volunteer others to die in their stead.

It's also not dying that people should be afraid of, it's living with the long lasting symptoms that the virus causes. The dead get off easy compared to the fight the 'long haul' 'survivors' have to deal with on a day to day basis.

Oh, and the new variants are far more infectious, so that 'small death rate' is spread over a lot more people.

The 'death rate' nearly doubles, per 1,000 cases: https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n579

The variants ARE killing more people, they just aren't killing enough people, apparently...
canuck44
canuck44 5
So much of the CDC is pure theater...especially the mask pronounce,emts. The airlines should just ignore these bureaucrats and practice common sense...like our governor in Florida.
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling -6
Masks work, you simpleton. Get over the BS that it sucks your manhood. Good grief. People are carrying on like three year olds over wearing a mask to protect other people. So selfish...
sho69607
Spencer Hoefer -4
All they work for is big wads of saliva, the rest (like vapor) is invisible to the naked eye and goes right through. Hence why you can technically use a vape pen with a mask on.
dnorthern
dnorthern 0
They do work. Except you are using yours incorrectly. Perhaps placing your typing hands in separate masks, and binding each tightly, will be of use.

It certainly would go far to prevent your spread of hyperbole and scantily cited “information”
punkrawk78
Silent Bob 1
How is this "new guidance" when it's based on a study conducted in 2017? Oh, and in the study the subjects (mannequins apparently) were not wearing masks. How we can take anything these people say seriously anymore?
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling -2
Because: science. It's a lot like magic, but it's reality.
dnorthern
dnorthern 3
Please cite a credible scientific study that supports your claim. You made it, you back it. Not up to anyone else to prove your assertion.
mbrews
mbrews 1
- Recently some couples, traveling together on a single-aisle jet, would book an extra ( middle) seat cheaply with flyer miles. That might have worked during Fall 2020. BUT - in Summer 2021 the couples' extra middle seat will probably be the only open seat on the flight !
rjb729
Robert Burns 0
Dr. Falsie said you don’t need to wear a mask. My Emmy Award winning Governor Coumo said not to trust the vaccine.
I must believe the experts.
tarbaby
phil gibson 0
It’s all about “money”.....
Screw the CDC and Dr. Fauci and all the other morons. We are Americans and we are going to get our freedom back!
Dubslow
Dubslow -5
Don't forget that the peer reviewed literature for the last year has been totally shit, without a care in the world for empirical soundness
Quirkyfrog
Robert Cowling -4
'Empiricle soundness'? Is that like 'sound science'? I watched someone argue that the epidemiological research into the pollutants killing people in a chemical spill weren't using 'sound science' to watch that person be decimated by an epidemiologist who showed how little the person flapping their lips knew about, well, damn near everything... It really was a sight to see.
dnorthern
dnorthern 0
Clearly your source of information is derived via extrication from the lower reaches of the human digestive tract.

Bully for you
talktalatka
F A 0
Are you talking about this?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/03/more-computer-generated-nonsense-papers-pulled-science-journals/358735/
dnorthern
dnorthern 0
“It’s settled science!” A mantra bleated by uninformed sheep. Science is never “settled”. Science is subject to continued scrutiny and study. Science is an ongoing process of observation, measuring, hypothesizing and experimentation.

“Settled science” has brought us, throughout history:
- the earth is flat
- the sun resolves around the earth
And any number of other scholarly works that have been since disproven.

The “settled science” sheep forget, conveniently, that current cv vaccinations are not yet “settled”. NONE have fully undergone the scientific rigor (eg Phase Iii trials) other drug regimens go through prior to being accepted as generally effective.

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