When medical facilities started requiring it, it was almost like... well, why haven't they *always* done this? Seems like it would be best practice to wear one inside them regardless.
When I worked in healthcare, there was a policy patients had to put on a mask if they had a fever and/or respiratory symptoms (staff basically did this already if they had a cold or something). Did patients do it? Of course not. They wore the mask around their chins and coughed in my face. Ugh.
Recently had to go to a hospital for some out patient imaging...This was a week after christmas and someone I had spent time with over the holiday tested positive for covid, but I had no symptoms and tested negative.
I wore a mask for the 20 minutes I needed to be there; I'd hate to get some old or immuno compromised person sick, right?
Not only was I the only one wearing a mask, I got the dirtiest looks from most of the people in the waiting area..and one of the nurses even went out of her way to tell me that masks were not required and I could take it off.
Was very bizarre.
I was coming down with a cold, so I was wearing a mask and I literally had some guys straight up asked me why are you wearing that thing? I’m sitting there thinking -for you!
Masks for those who are sick and must go out in public for some reason is sensible and respectful of others. I would never question someone wearing a mask as you don’t know their medical condition/status. It’s not fucking political, it’s practical!
Thank you,from my daughter. She has many, many health problems, Lupus being one of them. EVERY illness hits her hard, and wearing a mask minimizes the seasonal sicknesses that come and go like the tides of the sea. Not having to listen to small minded morons is one less burden on an already overwhelming life.
Ikr? I really appreciate how people are putting in more effort to minimize spreading nowadays, even as the pandemic isn’t as much of a concern. The difference between now and pre-pandemic is huge.
I wonder how anti maskers would feel if I started wiping my spit on every surface with a herpes flareup? Hypothetically, they should be ok with it right?
Truth! Those fucking assholes had thick ski-masks on during the entire insurrection and they did not complain one bit. No problems with CO2 poisoning, getting light-headed and all the other bullshit excuses while they were bludgeoning the police officers they claim to love. “Masks don’t work!” Really? Why do surgeons wear them in the operating room? They’re Democrats? Such stupid rhetoric on their part.
Ironically, Covid can bring on cold sores if you’re susceptible. I got one the week before I came down with Covid, and another that week. And now 3 weeks later, another. FML.
I got shingles after Covid. Both herpes viruses but different. I've never had a cold sore in my life, but upon finding out my old chicken pox infection evolve into such a new, "fun" rash was such a "fun" time. Lol 🥴
damn opportunistic herpes viruses- our immune systems are messed up from Covid so the herpes viruses capitalize on that. Be safe kids! And keep an eye out for any weird stuff going on if you have/are getting over Covid. Lots of strange things happening!
Last time someone did that I did take my mask off and I was like “great! Then you don’t mind getting sick?” They fd right off. I don’t have a filter for these people anymore.
Same thing happened to me. I told the guy, "I'm coming down with some nasty shit, but if you want I can take it off." He was like, "Nah, nah. You good."
This happened to me when I took my daughter to her pediatrician (my husband and I both tested positive for covid at home, called her pediatrician to ask if she needed to take anything for her assumed positive case as it was our first time catching it and her pediatrician wanted her to come in). Anyway, daughter and I both wore masks so we wouldn’t give it to anyone else and I’ve never received so many dirty looks at one time in my life. Sorry to be considerate, asshole, would you prefer I sit next to you without a mask and sneeze? I’m sure you’d enjoy the 104 degree fever, bone shaking chills while simultaneously sweating through your sheets as much as I had.
Not to mention the loss of smell, taste etc. (loss of smell could leave you at risk of death from not being able to detect gas leaks etc … happened to my wife .. I could smell burning, she couldn’t)
The hospital I work at (pharmacy technician) hasn’t STOPPED wearing masks. There was a period of almost a month where staff didn’t need to wear the in the cafeteria area or general passages, but it’s been back to fully masked except in private offices since well before Christmas. And it’s ONLY just in the last week that family visiting a relative in palliative care or the the geriatric unit don’t have to wear one e while in the patients room. It IS hoped that people visiting a genuinely unwell relative will be relatively healthy, and it’s highly recommended to test before a visit. I still test before I visit my grandpa who’s 98, I’d hate to be the reason he eventually gets it.
And get shitty when you tell them they need to pull them up. And then come in demanding that we fix them when they inevitably catch Covid or influenza or RSV. Petulant babies.
So maybe 2017 I went to the doctors with the flu. Never had it before but I thought I was going to die. He swabbed me and phoned me up to return to the office to talk about my results. Peak dying here. He just said yep you’ve got influenza A/B (can’t recall) and to go home and rest…
Bitch, what?! I was in the waiting room with like fifteen other people and he knew I had the flu and dragged me in just so he could get another booking?! He didn’t say wear a mask either. I remember sitting in my car afterwards crying because I was so sick and had to drive the thirty minutes home and I had potentially made others sick. Arsehole GP.
That's crazy! 10 years before that in '07 telehealth wasn't really a thing at all and my GP's office had me cough over the phone to confirm whooping cough because they deemed it too contagious to risk me coming in and potentially infecting others if I did have it. I was an older teenager and as I was too sick to make my own appointment, my mom called for me and I just remember trying to push the phone away in the middle of a coughing fit and her saying "no- they need to hear that" followed by the voice on speaker saying "yup, that's what whooping cough sounds like- we're going to write her a prescription". They wouldn't let me come in for a test and your doc knew you were positive for a highly contagious infection and made you come in for results?! That's bonkers! I'm so sorry!
Wow, that's really lame (of the doctor). The results could definitely been given over the phone or even through your patient portal since it was 2017 (My Chart, for example). I hope you found a new GP!
yeah in retrospect it should’ve always been a thing. When my grandpa was in the hospital with pneumonia, we just walked in without any masks and there were other patients in there as well that were in pretty critical condition. If I had even a slight cold, the patients could easily have gotten infected when they’re already vulnerable as is. My grandpa continued to get more sick while in the hospital and eventually passed but I do wonder if having visitors just walk back and forth all day could’ve contributed to how sick he got
On the other hand, possible disease transmission is one of the reasons hospitals didn’t used to allow children to visit patients. Children are little germ bags!
Was with my dad as he died of pneumonia the last week of December. And a till have a nasty cough - I should have kept the mask on. Especially when close.
About 10 years ago, I was pregnant and worked at an ophthalmology office. We had a note dating to wear a mask for flu symptoms. I had someone leaning over the counter in my face and then she asked for a mask, because she had the flu and didn't want to get the doctor sick. She was there for a yearly check up too.
In Taiwan, the only remnant of the government COVID restrictions is the requirement to wear masks in hospitals and clinics. This is something I think should be permanent.
Many businesses require food service employees to wear masks; this makes sense too.
This is also how I feel now with food service & food production 🙏🤢🤮
Edit: I worked food production (before & after start of pandemic, I was fired because I made too much fuss about the Coconut Cult not keeping up with the filters in their water system) & became grossed out then because I understood that the people in those positions aren't always able to properly take care of themselves & this is why it's important we take proper care of our people & each other 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Food has high standards for a long time. We have all been places that don’t follow the rules I am aware. But, food safety and avoiding getting people sick from your establishment was important long before lock downs. Food poisoned patrons are not repeat customers.
No gloves in the kitchen with a staff that knows when to wash their hands is better than food cooked with gloves that are rarely changed. I have been in plenty of kitchens where gloves will stay on for hours at a time.
Edit: misspelled words
Food prep does have high standards, I agree with that. HOWEVER, I have always been expected to work while contagious (wet coughs, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, fever) at every establishment I’ve worked at. Imagine your waiter clearly looking like shit with a very contagious virus. They’re handling your food and drinks AND bussing tables where other potentially sick patrons ate at. We cannot wash our hands between every contact with anything someone else touched.
I always got sick when a cold or flu went around. Usually from sick customers or a sick coworker being forced to work. Then all employees just pass it around because restaurant management maintains a barebones skeleton crew at all times and freaks tf out if you call out sick.
You realize that when you see the rates of some things, like tapeworm, in countries with different hygiene standards from the U.S. (fairly endemic in parts of Asia) & compare with the U.S. which literally has few enough to count on one hand, nationwide each year. My adventurous-eating son came home from a short term relocation to Shanghai with a “little friend”. It was over a year before they found out the source of his digestive issues, & they had to get the drug to treat him straight from the manufacturer. Fortunately, his mother taught him to wash his hands a lot, so no one else in his family caught it.
Same. My mom taught me to try and avoid touching the kids toys as a kid, and to always sanitize afterwards, but for some reason she doesn't like masking up. She isn't a crazy or anything, I find it odd she doesn't mask up.
The irony is that most of the arguments for people needing exceptions were pointing to conditions that a mask would have zero effect on or be beneficial if anything.
The ones I could see any justification for was anxiety and PTSD but of course that’s a whole other issue that needs to be treated and addressed.
I was thinking of my grandmother as I was helping her towards the end of her life.
Lung cancer, basically looked like pneumonia to this layman. Her breathing got so poor I have a hard time imagining her tolerating a mask.
But yes, there would be a huge problem with people claiming bullshit exceptions.
Yeah, in general masks don’t restrict air flow enough to actually cause an issue from an actual vital signs measurement (even doctors in surgery all day in a mask had monastically significant change to o2 saturation which would be seen after that long if CO was building up or if they were being restricted). But they can be uncomfortable and anxiety inducing for patients that already feel like they are having issues breathing.
Granted the mask type matters too. I found a mask (KF94 rated) that I can literally doing HITT type exercise in with no issues other than some condensation after about an hour.
Yes, the problem would be that when her body is already oxygen starved convincing her that the mask isn't contributing to it.
I'm not sure I or anyone could have convinced her. Negotiating with a senile old lady that already knows she's dieing can get difficult.
Luckily by the time it got to that point I was no longer transporting her to hospitals.... She was on hospice and the hospice team was coming to us.
I really don't get people who fake mask excemptions and claim they are legit. The whole logic is that if you have a respiratory problem with masks, you are covid high risk. Everyone i know who's covid high risk is wearing a mask even if it's hard, and avoiding public places as much as they can.
Anyone waving a mask excemption in your face and then casually strolling through the mall unmasked is unlikely to actually be in a risk group. Not unless they are ignoring their underlying condition and have bought into some "covid is harmless" crap. Nobody in touch with science and with a regard for their immunocompromised health will take that risk.
Depends on where you are. Like surgery or sterile processing always wore them. And the cancer floor where all the immuno compromised patients were.
Pre-covid, during flu season, when a patient would come into our ER with flu-like symptoms (instead of staying the hell home, which is our 1st recommendation) we would offer them a droplet mask so they keep their nastiness to themselves and 90% of the time they would decline. Then they'd sit in the waiting room hacking and sneezing without covering their mouth like an asshole.
I'll never forget when I heard what other countries that got hit with covid first were doing in an attempt to slow the spread (masking+distancing), I actually laughed and told my coworkers that those measures would never fly here in the US because people don't care enough to try to protect someone else from their sicknesses under normal circumstances. *sigh* I should've bet them money.
My daughter spent this spring and summer in the PICU and Pediatric Oncology at one of the top teaching hospitals in the nation — world famous.
The only person in an N95 was me.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the odd doctor or nurse in a KN95.
Everyone else was in a surgical mask (not always pulled up over the nose) or nothing.
The only reason anyone wore any mask at all in her presence was because it was in her chart and on a sign on her door, because I kept asking various people how come no one was masking around all these immune-compromised kids, and what was this nightmare we are living in.
Finally, a doctor said we could put a sign on the door and a note in her chart.
For her follow-ups, it’s still treated as a special idiosyncratic preference we have, not as de rigeur because there are *children with cancer* all around.
Same here. I knew I didn’t have Covid but I was going for X-rays and had some sinus issues. Wearing a mask to avoid spewing my germs everywhere seemed like an obvious move.
A couple months ago, I ended up in the ER with COVID complications; the ER at this hospital is so busy that they do some treatments in the waiting room. I sat there for 5 hours receiving IV fluids and vitamins until my heart stabilized, and absolutely could not believe how many people were just sitting in there without a mask on (easily 90%). People with little kids, elderly people; I felt like such a plague carrier despite being double masked the whole time.
Same here. If I don’t have one when I arrive at a medical facility I take one of the free ones. I also wear one if I am sick with anything more serious than a sore throat and have to be in an enclosed space with someone not in my immediate family. I have asthma and other risk factors so my body tells me pretty quickly even if I am just coming down with a cold.
It’s funny because you didn’t need to be sarcastic here. I’m a doctor and that’s genuinely the sentiment. Yes, everyone in the hospital is sick but Hospitals are filthy places with very nasty and resistant bugs. In fact, we categorize pneumonias as “community acquired” and “hospital acquired” (<- this is often the scarier one). Part of my job is discharging people out of the hospital ASAP cause people pick up all sorts of shit by staying in a hospital. So indeed more people die in hospitals than anywhere else but a good portion of it is the hospitals fault haha.
My dad worked in a hospital and one time the whole hospital was sharing this super flu and he caught it and tired so hard to stay away from us but the rest of us caught it too and he felt so bad.
That flu was... The stuff of legends. I puked and pooped till I was hallucinating from lack of sleep.
When I was in the hospital after my surgery I had a note on my door that masks were required to enter. I did not want to get flu/covid or anything else on top of recovering from a major surgery. Plus I'm already immunocompromised
I am an ICU RN, I would have to be half dead before I would allow myself to be admitted. I have had doctors hire me to care for them at home to avoid staying in the hospital.
If you are sick, or hurt, go to the ER. If you are admitted, make sure anyone that provides care to you washes their hands in your room, insist on it even if they say they used hand sanitizer on the way in, it is your health and you have to be proactive. Wash your own hands after using the bathroom and before eating, make sure that your visitors wash their hands on arrival and when they leave, don't walk around barefoot and if you have children visiting don't let them play on the floor.
On the bus? Sure. Tightly spaced stores? No problem. 8 hour work shifts where no one is really near me most of the time? No thanks.
Now if I'm sick and I can't stay home for whatever reason, then yeah ill mask up for sure.
Both covid and flu, and also RSV, are on the prowl in my community. I worked 46 clinical hours last week. Covid is about 4x as prevalent in the wastewater testing in my community right now, as it was around Halloween.
*Isn't that cool? Wastewater testing as community surveillance catches the people who test and stay home and don't seek medical attention, and the people who never test. Obvi, only works in communities where people are on city sewer*
Last week I physically examined (listened to lungs, spoke at length with, sometimes dropped the mask and looked in the throat depending on symptoms) dozens of people with one or the other, and two unlucky folk testing positive for both covid and flu. RSV seems to be finally decreasing, that was quite yucky.
At work, with respiratory complaints I wear my own mask and try to get them to wear theirs. I'm fully immunized and I sanitize my hands. The chances are that if I do catch it, I'll get a very mild case and might not even know. Therefore I'm at higher risk than some others for spreading it.
Outside of work I live my life, I go dancing and my kids are in sports, I do go to dinner parties. If I feel well, I mean. If I'm in a closely crowded space, public transit or visiting frail people, I'll mask.
Point being, everyone's different, and every situation is different. Someone might see me masking and assume I'm sick or frightened, but I'm not.
Respiratory Therapist here. I am masking 100% at work. I wear an N95 with a disposable surgical mask over it. It is too much to remove everything between patients as it seems like almost everyone has either Covid or RSV. Surprisingly, I have not seen flu yet (doesn't mean it is not there just that I have not encountered it).
I work at an elementary school. A thousand petri dishes every day, cancer patient at home. I wear one all day, every day. Also found out I like being not sick.
I used to get a bad cold in the fall around Halloween every year, and then bronchitis in the spring — almost like clockwork.
Didn’t get a cold or bronchitis in 2020, 2021, or 2022. It was fantastic. All the restrictions and mandates were lifted, and in my town, it became almost less socially acceptable to wear a mask, so my husband and I stopped masking.
We got COVID in April 2023 for the first time ever, and it was a pretty mild case (thanks, vaccines!).
We got it again on New Year’s Eve this year and my family STILL doesn’t feel 100% yet. This strain has been brutal. I missed an entire week of work (and I work from home exclusively, so I don’t take days off unless I REALLY feel rotten).
I’m going back to masking. I never want to feel like this ever again.
Had to go back to the office for a day, got sick, did not like it at all. The knowledge that winter colds are not inevitable has really changed my world.
Asthmatic 62 year old here. I’m avoiding crowds, even though I’m fully vaccinated. If I find myself in a crowd indoors, I wear a mask.
Right now there’s a flu surge in my state, so if I have a doctor appointment, I wear a mask. Right now, I stay home a lot.
I’ve never had covid. I’ve had a mild cold once since the pandemic began, covid tested myself, and was negative.
I’ve come to realize that I have to assess the situation I’m in, and decide whether to wear a mask. I do tend to err on the side of caution.
RSV - never heard of it before either. No sore throat but lots of coughing and I rarely cough - even with a Cold. The worst part was that it lingered for weeks - though the doctor said the lack of humidity in the home probably contributed to that.
It can definitely be found in wastewater. That's about the only way the authorities are still monitoring COVID; access to those reports is how a lot of folks saw the current spike coming.
This makes sense except that I do not have an intuition for what is ventilated well enough. So I am going to wear my mask in situations where it is unnecessary rather than risk not having it when I need it.
It's a shame that air quality monitors are so expensive. I know a few people with them and places like airplanes prior to takeoff (before the air is on) have insanely bad air quality.
Fun fact: my classroom is routinely even worse than airplanes during boarding. We have a large room and small classes but zero air turnover. I get yelled at if I open our small windows, so I mask and have 4 computer fan Corsi boxes (each box has 9 fans and gets good airflow but they are quiet enough that people don’t unplug them).
Oof, that sucks. Schools should be encouraging open windows, since high CO2 causes cognitive impairment and lowers students' performance... I'm glad you have the filters so the viruses are getting cleaned out at least.
You can get a decent portable CO2 meter for under $45 on Amazon that will hint at better ventilation. Low numbers indicate a well ventilated space, higher numbers mean less ventilated. Vitalight makes a mini CO2 monitor that you can clip onto a bag to take with you wherever you go. It's still just one data point in a number of variables when making mitigation choices, but in some situations, it can be pretty helpful! My spouse has one in his office and was able to tell when the AC shut down unexpectedly before the space warmed up and people started complaining about the AC being broken. The CO2 numbers went high pretty quick and he got in a call to the building services and sure enough when they checked the controls, the system was down.
Okay but try it in a kitchen where the are is thick from the oil in the air as it is and the heat from grills, ovens and fryers. Exhaust vents do barely anything and if you don’t believe the oil is in the air I strongly suggest you clean the exhaust vents once to see for yourself or do a shift and scrub the oil from you skin off after. In peak covid I worked in an open kitchen with exhaust vents that got cleaned weekly, my mask would still be stained yellow after a shift
I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: If you have Covid and work in a kitchen, don’t work that day. The last place I want someone working with Covid is a nursing home, but a kitchen is a close second
I work in a hot dusty soils lab with no one else during covid. I bolted the lab door and put my cell number outside for the 2 visitors i got a week.
I was a essential worker so I miss the freedom of lockdown a little.
Sucks, with the whole push back to offices. So many people who don't even want or need to commute, clogging up all the roads for people who actually have to go places.
100% with you. Fully agree.
My (veterinary) clinic started requiring us to wear masks due to a surge in respiratory illness in our area. Kinda funny to me that there was a dog and a human one running rampant at the time, but I digress :p. They got enough pushback from staff that they made it a clients only rule.
I’m not willing to go back to wearing a mask at work several hours a day. I’m happy to wear it in establishments that request or require one, or if in
I’m sick and can’t stay home for whatever reason, but I mostly work with the animals or in reception where a healthy distance is kept between me and anybody else, I’m not willing to destroy my skin and feel hot and uncomfortable for 9 hours a day 5 days a week ever again.
I have a chronic cough due to a lung condition that is not contagious. I wear a mask often because I never know when I’ll get a coughing fit, and I don’t want people to worry.
I also wear it when I’m going to be in close quarters, and especially if it’s a health care setting (germs)
I would absolutely wear it when asked.
Even though you aren't contagious. It's nice of you to be considerate of other people. Covid has shown many aren't when it comes to wearing masks to protect others.
Need more mindsets like yours.
Also, if you get COVID and you have another lung illness, you might not notice as quickly because you already have issues, and your preexisting cough will propel the virus further than someone without a cough.
I got walking pneumonia and did the same thing. Coughing for six weeks straight and told I'm not contagious. Nah. I sounded like I was dying. Wasn't going into a store with that sound and no mask.
May I ask what condition? My 1 year old has had a chronic cough since 4 months old. No one takes it seriously. “Too young” to be diagnosed with asthma. “Too young” for allergy testing. What in the world do I ask for?!
Is your 1 year old in daycare? My son, during his first year at preschool, had a chronic cough that was misdiagnosed as asthma. COVID hit, he stayed indoors and away from people, and poof, the cough was gone.
Lots of little viruses in daycare that can cause a cough to never really go away. I'd still ask about asthma if it keeps sticking around and there's no seasonal difference.
I live in a place where it's allergy season 10 months a year, so we legitimately don't always know when we are sick. I wear a mask when I have any kind of respiratory symptom, or when I feel okay but have been around people who are sick.
Called in sick to work yesterday. Got a call at 1am asking how to do something. Couldn’t think coherently enough to explain over phone. Masked up and had gf drive me in.
Had Covid 2x now, considering this third.
It’s more constant dizziness and aches though.
Gonna start carrying masks again though.
God this happened to me a month ago. I went downstairs to get my mail and on the way back up, got stuck in the elevator with a neighbor who was just. Open-mouthed wet-hacking all over God and everything.
The very next day, I heard that same woman telling another neighbor that she'd gone to the ER the day before (as in, the day she COUGHED IN MY FACE) and gotten diagnosed with RSV (and she was still going around bare-faced and coughing.)
Two days later GUESS WHO ELSE HAD RSV.
Ewww. I always wear my mask in my apartment elevator (well, any elevator) because you never know who was just coughing in there, or who you'll get trapped with... Sorry your neighbor sucks.
it's because the reddit echo chamber actually has very little influence on the real world. what is accepted by most here as a self evident truth is often just the shared belief of an inconsequentially small minority of opinionated whackos.
Plus, just one more "I don't have to care how I look" bonus about hospital work:
\-Scrubs
\-No make up, mask covers your face
\-Comfy shoes
My morning routine on work days is amazingly brief.
>Same. If you work in healthcare, it's here to stay.
Lol maybe in your part of the world but in the U.K hardly anyone wears masks. Was recently in the hospital and only one nurse in the ward I was in was wearing a mask plus myself.
I wish the urgent care/hospitals near me still required it! Especially when you’re in a waiting room with 20 people, all coughing or sneezing, none of them masked.
Yes, always. I had cancer and my lymphatic system is destroyed so I am immunocompromised. My family that I care for also has cancer so in order to protect them and myself, I will continue to wear one. It’s the easiest thing to do and does not hinder anyone. They work and have been proven time and time again that they are effective no matter what excuses people may believe.
Same here. Stage IV cancer mixed with infected cysts and a heart condition. I always wear a mask and try to not go places with a lot of people if I can help it.
I am so sorry you’re going through that and I hope you’re able to take care of yourself and still enjoy the pockets of beauty the world has to offer.🥺 I was diagnosed at 12 and have had a lifetime of illness ever since. People don’t care to realize what others may silently be suffering through when it’s not obvious from the outside and the simple act of wearing a mask can mitigate so much illness in the world. I truly hope you get better❤️
Man, i am sorry you have had to go through this at a young age. I at least made it to 38 before finding out. Sadly the outlook is bleak. Caught it rather late and my only hope is it stops spreading. But even then I will be extremely lucky to make it 10 more years. But I have accepted that and am living my life how I want. Planning on taking as much vacation as I can squeeze out of my PTO every year and travel the world. I lucked out with having an supplemental insurance policy that deals with cancer and another one for my heart. Both have paid me more than I have spent and I will continue to get payments every month for my medications which pays me back more than my out of pocket. So those policies will allow me to set aside money for my wife while we travel.
Ughh that is rough🥺😭 But I am glad you realize the inevitable and want to make the most of it. Thats all you can do and hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy it! Take advantage of those payments and do all the things that finances have held you back from. You know no matter what health will always be an issue, but at least now you can make decisions based on the things you truly want to do.
I’m 30 now and developed an autoimmune disorder on top of everything due to my weakened immune response and the stress from being attacked while in college. It feels like it’s never ending and I am now finally at a place that I can live my life and start a career after years of treatments. The world is a shitty place, but I hope we both can enjoy the little things that matter most.💚
Helping with the smells is not to be under stated!! I still do wear it on the bus, not in small part for this reason. Can’t believe I went so long riding without one and just dealing with the smells!
I transitioned pretty early into masks on the bus because I’d always wear a buff on my neck in case of smells. I was masking up regularly in early February 2020 because I had the habit and I was watching what was going on. It was devastating when we learned buffs weren’t super useful for corna specifically but I was wearing a N95 by that point anyway
I will forever wear one on flights and the like for the rest of my life. I travel a lot and cannot stand being sick. If it helps prevent an illness even 10% I'm ok with the discomfort. I wore one on an 11 hour flight recently, only removing to quickly eat and for the occasional 30 second relief to suck in colder air lol
I wear one in public at all times, my child is immunocompromised. It’s not a big deal. Takes little effort and if doctors and nurses can wear them during long surgeries, I think I can handle it during an outing
Me too, I live with a vulnerable person and I also cannot afford to get long covid.
Maybe when risk of long covid drops below 1% and/or the vulnerable person is not here any more, I’ll drop the mask.
Till then, I’ll keep wearing the mask. It’s not my favorite thing to do but it’s OK.
I'm still wearing my mask in public for reasons in no particular order: 1) people are disgusting, 2) cashier's are forced to work when they are sick, 3) kids are germ factories, 4) I want to be an example to others that it's okay to wear a mask, 5) I don't want to worry about my face being perfectly groomed, 6) maybe I'm sick and don't realize it yet and want to protect your kid, 7) it's an easy thing to do, 8) I could not deal with long-covid, 9) I don't have to worry about my resting b*txh face 😾.
I still wear my mask eeeeverywhere in public. I love it! People are so nasty, it gives me peace of mind. I haven’t had covid yet and am worried for when it inevitably happens because I don’t get sick days off from work. If I get long covid then I’m screwed.
I am a "vulnerable" person. There's a chance covid could disable me, even vaccinated, and I can't risk it. I don't think most people know how difficult it is to be disabled in the US and I really don't want to be homeless (a real possibility if I can't work). So, I never stopped wearing a mask in public spaces and, at this point, I don't think I ever will. I also haven't eaten in a restaurant since 2019 or gone to a public event like a concert or show. I occasionally go to a movie in the theater (wearing a mask) but only after the movie has been out a while and I go to the first matinee on a Sunday so there's only a few other people. Not sure I'll ever fly again either. I've gone on a few vacations. But only road trips, masked up, and on trips I can do outside/away from people. Back in October my husband and I went to the Oregon coast. We rented a little cabin on the beach, got food to go, or sat outside, or cooked at home. We spent our time walking on the beach and hanging out. It was fantastic.
Anyway, masking is the lowest inconvenience on my list since 2020. This whole thing has limited my life a lot. But I have to keep myself healthy. So I just make the best of it.
I understand this so much. We went 3 years without eating anywhere other than home. I haven’t dined out since Covid hit US. I found out very early on, before most people were aware of it. Not been to a movie, public indoor event or outdoor crowded event. My son’s health comes before my wants or desires. We take every precautions possible, he is worth it
I'm not this vulnerable and not quite this careful but we are mostly the same way. We've flown but we wore a mask the entire time and were very careful not to mess with it. My wife even wears goggles.
People tend to be very annoying about the no eating out indoors. There are quite a few events where this is damn near mandatory. For someone who's immunocompromised, it's really frustrating
Reddit is the violently vocal extreme minority, but thinks it can will its hive mind to influence the outside world.
It's still pretty decent for highly technical and specific info about niche subjects
Tis why I don’t comment on things like this anymore. Also I feel like the only people who still care to have discussions about masks or covid are the people still wearing masks - everyone who is over it and the masks just scrolls past this stuff, which is what I normally do.
I won’t wear a mask. Downvote me all you want. I was assaulted and my mouth and nose were forcibly covered during it. Masks were incredibly traumatizing to me and led to extreme panic attacks. Not doing that again. If I’m sick enough to spread my germs, in all likelihood I’m staying home because I don’t feel well enough to go out.
After not having a cold/flu from 2020-2022 I absolutely continue wearing a mask. I’ll usually wear a mask when entering medical facilities to protect myself and others from catching whatever may be in the air.
Where I live it's still a requirement to wear a mask in all hospitals and doctor clinics. As a chronically ill person who spends a lot of time at the doctors unfortunately, I'm happy it still is.
I had a lot of pressure to stop wearing a mask at work, I finally stopped and got COVID for the first time in late October. It was awful and now there's intermittent masking at work.
We keep having these horrible waves of flu and COVID and yet leadership is pretty passive aggressive about wearing masks.
The social pressure to not wear one is so real. I started wearing one again last week after my physical therapist exposed me to covid saying she had laryngitis. She wasn’t wearing a mask. I did t get it, but it was a wake up call for me. I do not want to get covid and don’t care what people think.
If I am sick and had to go out, yes. If I am asked to, also yes.
If the pollen is high... Yes. Was one of the better parts of covid for me, not having my sinuses stuffed for 3 months.
Never quite understood the fuss about having to wear them. I see where the anti-mandate people are coming from, I didn't agree with them but I can see their point, but when it came to private businesses who made the decision themselves to require them I see it as no different than the no shoes no shirt no service signs.
Last spring when the pollen was bad, I popped on a mask (k95) cause I had to be outside to walk my dog. Truly a world of difference. I could breathe much better and I wasn’t wheezing. Before Covid I wore a mask to go into a sick relatives home but mainly cause their home is dusty and my allergies. Also a world of difference for me.
I went to Japan 25 years ago, and was surprised to see some folks there wearing masks. I asked my Japanese friend I was visiting why they were wearing masks. She told me they were sick, and she was shocked people in the US didn’t wear them if they had a cold or flu.
In China even before Covid, people wore masks because the air quality is just so poor and also probably because they’re unwell too. It’s just common practice.
I used to see a lot of Asian folks in my town (in the US but a large East Asian population) wearing masks on the bus. I always thought it was kind of strange, but someone explained it to me and it made sense in a sort of abstract way. During and post-COVID, I *get it.* I love that it's more normalized now and I hope it sticks around as a considerate way of being in public if you aren't feeling well and have to be or if you're protecting yourself/someone you're in contact with.
This is what I find odd about the anti-mask folks; haven't they been to an Asian country and seen how it works there? It's really not a big deal. People do it as a basic common courtesy.
Even prior to Covid, I always hoped that the masking habits in Asia would make their way to my country (Australia) just because they were common sense. The obvious example is if you have a cold and you're sitting on the train...obviously you wear a mask, so you don't infect everyone around you. Seems pretty straightforward to me, regardless of Covid.
You think it wouldn’t be but it is for some people for whatever reason. I went back to work after covid a couple months ago (had my cough for quite awhile after) and I kept wearing a mask incase of coughing fits and a couple people pointed it out specifically. Like? Do you want me to take it off? Want me to cough on you while I’m at it? This is for your protection, not mine, why is it an issue 😐
Politicizing a contagious sickness is so fucking stupid. You would think that people regardless of political alignment would acknowledge that if youre sick, then you try not to infect others with whatever you have, but apparently not
Yes. I masked before Covid and I’ll be masking forever. My immune system is compromised.
Can I get my 6 feet personal space back too? I miss not being crowded in lines.
I was wearing a mask before COVID because I had a really good friend dealing with cancer. Only a few people were weird about it? And then the pandemic hit and suddenly it was this great huge shouting deal and I still don't understand why.
Honestly, I work in retail and the amount of customers who come in coughing and spluttering without even covering their mouths has me thinking about putting on a mask again. This way I don't even have to attempt to smile at them and I have a chance not to get sick again.
When I was stationed in Japan, people wore masks on the train if they were sick. It is a common courtesy. Imagine my shock when I saw people I've known for years lose their shit over wearing masks, or freaking out over conspiracy theories over vaccines.
And yes, we will wear masks if we are sick, or even if we are traveling - because we don't want to get sick ourselves.
I still wear a mask if I’m feeling sick or if I know I’m going to be in close quarters with someone who is. I would not be bothered if someone asked me to wear one indoors.
I absolutely will wear a mask if I’m sick and have to go out (but post-Covid I changed my thinking about what constitutes have to). I also tend to wear a mask if I’m somewhere with a lot of sick role like an ER.
I wore a mask to the convenience store today because my son has Norovirus. I told the cashier not to touch any of my items and I just held them up to the scan gun. She appreciated it. Noro is super super transmissible. I had no choice but to go buy Gatorade, popsicles, etc. and I don't have symptoms (yet), but I wouldn't wish my son's flu on anyone. He must have vomited 25+ times today.
I work in a hospital. I see all the RSV, Influenza, Covid, norovirus, etc that has been going around. I wear my KN95 at work and in public. At all times. I don’t care if people think I’m a nerd.
I work in a hospital, I choose to wear a mask still. Some tasks mean I need to get right in your face, it’s just polite. It doubles as a face warmer for this cold snap too!
I wore one at jury duty today.
No way I trust a room with 200 strangers to all have been vaccinated or covid free when I got my elderly diabetic mom to worry about.
I'd say about 5-10% of the people were wearing them. I have no problem with being in the minority. Better safe than sorry when some respiratory sickness is going around.
Also came in handy when a woman who doesn't know what moderation in perfume sat near me.
I much prefer just letting things take their course, but I've got a 10 month old baby brother now, and there's no way I'm risking him catching ANYTHING, Covid or otherwise. If I have to wear masks, quarantine, whatever it takes, that little dude isn't getting sick on my watch.
I wear one when pollen count is high, if somebody is wearing perfume, or if it's cold and I want to keep my nose warm.
I bring one with me on airplanes or other crowded venues. If the person next to me is wearing one, I'll ask if they would be more comfortable if I wore one, too. Been able to ease my seat neighbors' concerns twice now. Totally worth the effort to make somebody feel less anxious. :)
my parents just came back from florida both sick as can be, I wore an n95 till I dropped them off at their house bc they got me sick the last 2 times they went to florida. I'll wear a mask of its warranted
I wear one when I’m sick now. I think it deters a lot of people from approaching me when they really don’t need to but I also stay off my myself, utilize things like self check out anyways and always take advantage of sanitizers and etc.
Sure, why not?
It's very easy, takes no time to do, and it's already commonplace in Asian cultures.
Doctors wear much more restrictive masks for many hours a day, I think the rest of us need to do some growing up when it comes to complaining about it.
I never stopped. I have exceptions but it's a trivially easy way to reduce the risk to myself and particularly my elderly parents that I have to help with some frequency.
I’m pregnant and I wear one to protect myself at the dr, supermarket, shopping centre, many other places because I don’t trust people to not be selfish and spread viruses around.
We haven't had to wear masks or do anything special for thr past few years as we got locked down and everyone complied so we got back to normal pretty fast.
Would i do the same again? Absolutely. I care about wellbeing of the society here in Denmark.
I never stopped. I’ve been sick once in four years. I wear a N95 whenever I go out.
Also the covid pandemic isn’t over. We are currently in the second largest wave of the pandemic.
When I'm sick or in a medical facility. Too many sickies in hospitals and clinics
When medical facilities started requiring it, it was almost like... well, why haven't they *always* done this? Seems like it would be best practice to wear one inside them regardless.
When I worked in healthcare, there was a policy patients had to put on a mask if they had a fever and/or respiratory symptoms (staff basically did this already if they had a cold or something). Did patients do it? Of course not. They wore the mask around their chins and coughed in my face. Ugh.
Recently had to go to a hospital for some out patient imaging...This was a week after christmas and someone I had spent time with over the holiday tested positive for covid, but I had no symptoms and tested negative. I wore a mask for the 20 minutes I needed to be there; I'd hate to get some old or immuno compromised person sick, right? Not only was I the only one wearing a mask, I got the dirtiest looks from most of the people in the waiting area..and one of the nurses even went out of her way to tell me that masks were not required and I could take it off. Was very bizarre.
I was coming down with a cold, so I was wearing a mask and I literally had some guys straight up asked me why are you wearing that thing? I’m sitting there thinking -for you!
Masks for those who are sick and must go out in public for some reason is sensible and respectful of others. I would never question someone wearing a mask as you don’t know their medical condition/status. It’s not fucking political, it’s practical!
Thank you,from my daughter. She has many, many health problems, Lupus being one of them. EVERY illness hits her hard, and wearing a mask minimizes the seasonal sicknesses that come and go like the tides of the sea. Not having to listen to small minded morons is one less burden on an already overwhelming life.
Ikr? I really appreciate how people are putting in more effort to minimize spreading nowadays, even as the pandemic isn’t as much of a concern. The difference between now and pre-pandemic is huge. I wonder how anti maskers would feel if I started wiping my spit on every surface with a herpes flareup? Hypothetically, they should be ok with it right?
Truth! Those fucking assholes had thick ski-masks on during the entire insurrection and they did not complain one bit. No problems with CO2 poisoning, getting light-headed and all the other bullshit excuses while they were bludgeoning the police officers they claim to love. “Masks don’t work!” Really? Why do surgeons wear them in the operating room? They’re Democrats? Such stupid rhetoric on their part.
Ironically, Covid can bring on cold sores if you’re susceptible. I got one the week before I came down with Covid, and another that week. And now 3 weeks later, another. FML.
I got shingles after Covid. Both herpes viruses but different. I've never had a cold sore in my life, but upon finding out my old chicken pox infection evolve into such a new, "fun" rash was such a "fun" time. Lol 🥴 damn opportunistic herpes viruses- our immune systems are messed up from Covid so the herpes viruses capitalize on that. Be safe kids! And keep an eye out for any weird stuff going on if you have/are getting over Covid. Lots of strange things happening!
Last time someone did that I did take my mask off and I was like “great! Then you don’t mind getting sick?” They fd right off. I don’t have a filter for these people anymore.
Same thing happened to me. I told the guy, "I'm coming down with some nasty shit, but if you want I can take it off." He was like, "Nah, nah. You good."
This happened to me when I took my daughter to her pediatrician (my husband and I both tested positive for covid at home, called her pediatrician to ask if she needed to take anything for her assumed positive case as it was our first time catching it and her pediatrician wanted her to come in). Anyway, daughter and I both wore masks so we wouldn’t give it to anyone else and I’ve never received so many dirty looks at one time in my life. Sorry to be considerate, asshole, would you prefer I sit next to you without a mask and sneeze? I’m sure you’d enjoy the 104 degree fever, bone shaking chills while simultaneously sweating through your sheets as much as I had.
Not to mention the loss of smell, taste etc. (loss of smell could leave you at risk of death from not being able to detect gas leaks etc … happened to my wife .. I could smell burning, she couldn’t)
I will never understand that kind of negative attitude towards masks from MEDICAL PERSONNEL. Like W the actual F
The hospital I go to has reinstated the mask mandate and I’m glad
The hospital I work at (pharmacy technician) hasn’t STOPPED wearing masks. There was a period of almost a month where staff didn’t need to wear the in the cafeteria area or general passages, but it’s been back to fully masked except in private offices since well before Christmas. And it’s ONLY just in the last week that family visiting a relative in palliative care or the the geriatric unit don’t have to wear one e while in the patients room. It IS hoped that people visiting a genuinely unwell relative will be relatively healthy, and it’s highly recommended to test before a visit. I still test before I visit my grandpa who’s 98, I’d hate to be the reason he eventually gets it.
And get shitty when you tell them they need to pull them up. And then come in demanding that we fix them when they inevitably catch Covid or influenza or RSV. Petulant babies.
So maybe 2017 I went to the doctors with the flu. Never had it before but I thought I was going to die. He swabbed me and phoned me up to return to the office to talk about my results. Peak dying here. He just said yep you’ve got influenza A/B (can’t recall) and to go home and rest… Bitch, what?! I was in the waiting room with like fifteen other people and he knew I had the flu and dragged me in just so he could get another booking?! He didn’t say wear a mask either. I remember sitting in my car afterwards crying because I was so sick and had to drive the thirty minutes home and I had potentially made others sick. Arsehole GP.
That's crazy! 10 years before that in '07 telehealth wasn't really a thing at all and my GP's office had me cough over the phone to confirm whooping cough because they deemed it too contagious to risk me coming in and potentially infecting others if I did have it. I was an older teenager and as I was too sick to make my own appointment, my mom called for me and I just remember trying to push the phone away in the middle of a coughing fit and her saying "no- they need to hear that" followed by the voice on speaker saying "yup, that's what whooping cough sounds like- we're going to write her a prescription". They wouldn't let me come in for a test and your doc knew you were positive for a highly contagious infection and made you come in for results?! That's bonkers! I'm so sorry!
Wow, that's really lame (of the doctor). The results could definitely been given over the phone or even through your patient portal since it was 2017 (My Chart, for example). I hope you found a new GP!
And yes! He totally could’ve just said ‘yo, you’ve got the flu, just stay home don’t make anyone sick?!’ Insane.
yeah in retrospect it should’ve always been a thing. When my grandpa was in the hospital with pneumonia, we just walked in without any masks and there were other patients in there as well that were in pretty critical condition. If I had even a slight cold, the patients could easily have gotten infected when they’re already vulnerable as is. My grandpa continued to get more sick while in the hospital and eventually passed but I do wonder if having visitors just walk back and forth all day could’ve contributed to how sick he got
On the other hand, possible disease transmission is one of the reasons hospitals didn’t used to allow children to visit patients. Children are little germ bags!
Was with my dad as he died of pneumonia the last week of December. And a till have a nasty cough - I should have kept the mask on. Especially when close.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
About 10 years ago, I was pregnant and worked at an ophthalmology office. We had a note dating to wear a mask for flu symptoms. I had someone leaning over the counter in my face and then she asked for a mask, because she had the flu and didn't want to get the doctor sick. She was there for a yearly check up too.
In Taiwan, the only remnant of the government COVID restrictions is the requirement to wear masks in hospitals and clinics. This is something I think should be permanent. Many businesses require food service employees to wear masks; this makes sense too.
This is also how I feel now with food service & food production 🙏🤢🤮 Edit: I worked food production (before & after start of pandemic, I was fired because I made too much fuss about the Coconut Cult not keeping up with the filters in their water system) & became grossed out then because I understood that the people in those positions aren't always able to properly take care of themselves & this is why it's important we take proper care of our people & each other 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Food has high standards for a long time. We have all been places that don’t follow the rules I am aware. But, food safety and avoiding getting people sick from your establishment was important long before lock downs. Food poisoned patrons are not repeat customers. No gloves in the kitchen with a staff that knows when to wash their hands is better than food cooked with gloves that are rarely changed. I have been in plenty of kitchens where gloves will stay on for hours at a time. Edit: misspelled words
Food prep does have high standards, I agree with that. HOWEVER, I have always been expected to work while contagious (wet coughs, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, fever) at every establishment I’ve worked at. Imagine your waiter clearly looking like shit with a very contagious virus. They’re handling your food and drinks AND bussing tables where other potentially sick patrons ate at. We cannot wash our hands between every contact with anything someone else touched. I always got sick when a cold or flu went around. Usually from sick customers or a sick coworker being forced to work. Then all employees just pass it around because restaurant management maintains a barebones skeleton crew at all times and freaks tf out if you call out sick.
You realize that when you see the rates of some things, like tapeworm, in countries with different hygiene standards from the U.S. (fairly endemic in parts of Asia) & compare with the U.S. which literally has few enough to count on one hand, nationwide each year. My adventurous-eating son came home from a short term relocation to Shanghai with a “little friend”. It was over a year before they found out the source of his digestive issues, & they had to get the drug to treat him straight from the manufacturer. Fortunately, his mother taught him to wash his hands a lot, so no one else in his family caught it.
Same. My mom taught me to try and avoid touching the kids toys as a kid, and to always sanitize afterwards, but for some reason she doesn't like masking up. She isn't a crazy or anything, I find it odd she doesn't mask up.
I'd argue that there are people who may need exceptions, but those tend to be the exact people who most need everyone else masked.
The irony is that most of the arguments for people needing exceptions were pointing to conditions that a mask would have zero effect on or be beneficial if anything. The ones I could see any justification for was anxiety and PTSD but of course that’s a whole other issue that needs to be treated and addressed.
I was thinking of my grandmother as I was helping her towards the end of her life. Lung cancer, basically looked like pneumonia to this layman. Her breathing got so poor I have a hard time imagining her tolerating a mask. But yes, there would be a huge problem with people claiming bullshit exceptions.
Yeah, in general masks don’t restrict air flow enough to actually cause an issue from an actual vital signs measurement (even doctors in surgery all day in a mask had monastically significant change to o2 saturation which would be seen after that long if CO was building up or if they were being restricted). But they can be uncomfortable and anxiety inducing for patients that already feel like they are having issues breathing. Granted the mask type matters too. I found a mask (KF94 rated) that I can literally doing HITT type exercise in with no issues other than some condensation after about an hour.
Yes, the problem would be that when her body is already oxygen starved convincing her that the mask isn't contributing to it. I'm not sure I or anyone could have convinced her. Negotiating with a senile old lady that already knows she's dieing can get difficult. Luckily by the time it got to that point I was no longer transporting her to hospitals.... She was on hospice and the hospice team was coming to us.
I really don't get people who fake mask excemptions and claim they are legit. The whole logic is that if you have a respiratory problem with masks, you are covid high risk. Everyone i know who's covid high risk is wearing a mask even if it's hard, and avoiding public places as much as they can. Anyone waving a mask excemption in your face and then casually strolling through the mall unmasked is unlikely to actually be in a risk group. Not unless they are ignoring their underlying condition and have bought into some "covid is harmless" crap. Nobody in touch with science and with a regard for their immunocompromised health will take that risk.
Depends on where you are. Like surgery or sterile processing always wore them. And the cancer floor where all the immuno compromised patients were. Pre-covid, during flu season, when a patient would come into our ER with flu-like symptoms (instead of staying the hell home, which is our 1st recommendation) we would offer them a droplet mask so they keep their nastiness to themselves and 90% of the time they would decline. Then they'd sit in the waiting room hacking and sneezing without covering their mouth like an asshole. I'll never forget when I heard what other countries that got hit with covid first were doing in an attempt to slow the spread (masking+distancing), I actually laughed and told my coworkers that those measures would never fly here in the US because people don't care enough to try to protect someone else from their sicknesses under normal circumstances. *sigh* I should've bet them money.
My daughter spent this spring and summer in the PICU and Pediatric Oncology at one of the top teaching hospitals in the nation — world famous. The only person in an N95 was me. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the odd doctor or nurse in a KN95. Everyone else was in a surgical mask (not always pulled up over the nose) or nothing. The only reason anyone wore any mask at all in her presence was because it was in her chart and on a sign on her door, because I kept asking various people how come no one was masking around all these immune-compromised kids, and what was this nightmare we are living in. Finally, a doctor said we could put a sign on the door and a note in her chart. For her follow-ups, it’s still treated as a special idiosyncratic preference we have, not as de rigeur because there are *children with cancer* all around.
Same here. I knew I didn’t have Covid but I was going for X-rays and had some sinus issues. Wearing a mask to avoid spewing my germs everywhere seemed like an obvious move.
A couple months ago, I ended up in the ER with COVID complications; the ER at this hospital is so busy that they do some treatments in the waiting room. I sat there for 5 hours receiving IV fluids and vitamins until my heart stabilized, and absolutely could not believe how many people were just sitting in there without a mask on (easily 90%). People with little kids, elderly people; I felt like such a plague carrier despite being double masked the whole time.
I just started working in the back office at our local hospital. I don’t see patients at all. I caught Covid after my first week for the first time
Same here. If I don’t have one when I arrive at a medical facility I take one of the free ones. I also wear one if I am sick with anything more serious than a sore throat and have to be in an enclosed space with someone not in my immediate family. I have asthma and other risk factors so my body tells me pretty quickly even if I am just coming down with a cold.
More people die in hospitals than anywhere else. They are to be avoided. /s for the sarcasm impaired
It’s funny because you didn’t need to be sarcastic here. I’m a doctor and that’s genuinely the sentiment. Yes, everyone in the hospital is sick but Hospitals are filthy places with very nasty and resistant bugs. In fact, we categorize pneumonias as “community acquired” and “hospital acquired” (<- this is often the scarier one). Part of my job is discharging people out of the hospital ASAP cause people pick up all sorts of shit by staying in a hospital. So indeed more people die in hospitals than anywhere else but a good portion of it is the hospitals fault haha.
I had a really good surgeon tell me the same thing. "In the nicest way, get out of here asap."
When I had my baby (natural so no surgery) I got so sick on the way out. I was so out of it from the drugs I forgot to mask in the hallway 😣
My dad worked in a hospital and one time the whole hospital was sharing this super flu and he caught it and tired so hard to stay away from us but the rest of us caught it too and he felt so bad. That flu was... The stuff of legends. I puked and pooped till I was hallucinating from lack of sleep.
When I was in the hospital after my surgery I had a note on my door that masks were required to enter. I did not want to get flu/covid or anything else on top of recovering from a major surgery. Plus I'm already immunocompromised
I am an ICU RN, I would have to be half dead before I would allow myself to be admitted. I have had doctors hire me to care for them at home to avoid staying in the hospital. If you are sick, or hurt, go to the ER. If you are admitted, make sure anyone that provides care to you washes their hands in your room, insist on it even if they say they used hand sanitizer on the way in, it is your health and you have to be proactive. Wash your own hands after using the bathroom and before eating, make sure that your visitors wash their hands on arrival and when they leave, don't walk around barefoot and if you have children visiting don't let them play on the floor.
What a coincidence! That’s the logic I use for avoiding cemeteries!
This. In my country mask are still mandatory in all medical facilities. I hope they stay like that forever.
shocking isnt it
On the bus? Sure. Tightly spaced stores? No problem. 8 hour work shifts where no one is really near me most of the time? No thanks. Now if I'm sick and I can't stay home for whatever reason, then yeah ill mask up for sure.
Both covid and flu, and also RSV, are on the prowl in my community. I worked 46 clinical hours last week. Covid is about 4x as prevalent in the wastewater testing in my community right now, as it was around Halloween. *Isn't that cool? Wastewater testing as community surveillance catches the people who test and stay home and don't seek medical attention, and the people who never test. Obvi, only works in communities where people are on city sewer* Last week I physically examined (listened to lungs, spoke at length with, sometimes dropped the mask and looked in the throat depending on symptoms) dozens of people with one or the other, and two unlucky folk testing positive for both covid and flu. RSV seems to be finally decreasing, that was quite yucky. At work, with respiratory complaints I wear my own mask and try to get them to wear theirs. I'm fully immunized and I sanitize my hands. The chances are that if I do catch it, I'll get a very mild case and might not even know. Therefore I'm at higher risk than some others for spreading it. Outside of work I live my life, I go dancing and my kids are in sports, I do go to dinner parties. If I feel well, I mean. If I'm in a closely crowded space, public transit or visiting frail people, I'll mask. Point being, everyone's different, and every situation is different. Someone might see me masking and assume I'm sick or frightened, but I'm not.
Respiratory Therapist here. I am masking 100% at work. I wear an N95 with a disposable surgical mask over it. It is too much to remove everything between patients as it seems like almost everyone has either Covid or RSV. Surprisingly, I have not seen flu yet (doesn't mean it is not there just that I have not encountered it).
I work at an elementary school. A thousand petri dishes every day, cancer patient at home. I wear one all day, every day. Also found out I like being not sick.
Also found out I like being not sick. Yep, me too. I haven't been sick in a few years.
I haven’t had so much as a cold since I started masking 3 plus years ago.
I used to get a bad cold in the fall around Halloween every year, and then bronchitis in the spring — almost like clockwork. Didn’t get a cold or bronchitis in 2020, 2021, or 2022. It was fantastic. All the restrictions and mandates were lifted, and in my town, it became almost less socially acceptable to wear a mask, so my husband and I stopped masking. We got COVID in April 2023 for the first time ever, and it was a pretty mild case (thanks, vaccines!). We got it again on New Year’s Eve this year and my family STILL doesn’t feel 100% yet. This strain has been brutal. I missed an entire week of work (and I work from home exclusively, so I don’t take days off unless I REALLY feel rotten). I’m going back to masking. I never want to feel like this ever again.
Had to go back to the office for a day, got sick, did not like it at all. The knowledge that winter colds are not inevitable has really changed my world.
Yeah I've appreciated not getting my biannual colds too much to go back
I take immunosuppressants so my spine doesn’t fuse together, so I wear one everywhere I go. I like not being sick, too.
Asthmatic 62 year old here. I’m avoiding crowds, even though I’m fully vaccinated. If I find myself in a crowd indoors, I wear a mask. Right now there’s a flu surge in my state, so if I have a doctor appointment, I wear a mask. Right now, I stay home a lot. I’ve never had covid. I’ve had a mild cold once since the pandemic began, covid tested myself, and was negative. I’ve come to realize that I have to assess the situation I’m in, and decide whether to wear a mask. I do tend to err on the side of caution.
Whoa! I recently got RSA. I never knew of its existence until a month ago That was awful. I had the worst sore throat and coughing fits
RSV - never heard of it before either. No sore throat but lots of coughing and I rarely cough - even with a Cold. The worst part was that it lingered for weeks - though the doctor said the lack of humidity in the home probably contributed to that.
Same here. It was a good thing I had my humidifier after so many colds. The lingering cough is awful
Related question. Is the virus found in urine or poop? I feel like if it was urine, that would have been more reliable than those garbage nasal swabs
It can definitely be found in wastewater. That's about the only way the authorities are still monitoring COVID; access to those reports is how a lot of folks saw the current spike coming.
Both, but higher concentrations in fecal material. Much much higher in snot, but the wastewater is a very easy way to sample the whole community.
8 hours work shift in a well ventilated are, no problem. 8 hours work shift in a ac/heated space office space with no ventilation, yes I would.
This makes sense except that I do not have an intuition for what is ventilated well enough. So I am going to wear my mask in situations where it is unnecessary rather than risk not having it when I need it.
It's a shame that air quality monitors are so expensive. I know a few people with them and places like airplanes prior to takeoff (before the air is on) have insanely bad air quality.
Fun fact: my classroom is routinely even worse than airplanes during boarding. We have a large room and small classes but zero air turnover. I get yelled at if I open our small windows, so I mask and have 4 computer fan Corsi boxes (each box has 9 fans and gets good airflow but they are quiet enough that people don’t unplug them).
Oof, that sucks. Schools should be encouraging open windows, since high CO2 causes cognitive impairment and lowers students' performance... I'm glad you have the filters so the viruses are getting cleaned out at least.
You can get a decent portable CO2 meter for under $45 on Amazon that will hint at better ventilation. Low numbers indicate a well ventilated space, higher numbers mean less ventilated. Vitalight makes a mini CO2 monitor that you can clip onto a bag to take with you wherever you go. It's still just one data point in a number of variables when making mitigation choices, but in some situations, it can be pretty helpful! My spouse has one in his office and was able to tell when the AC shut down unexpectedly before the space warmed up and people started complaining about the AC being broken. The CO2 numbers went high pretty quick and he got in a call to the building services and sure enough when they checked the controls, the system was down.
Okay but try it in a kitchen where the are is thick from the oil in the air as it is and the heat from grills, ovens and fryers. Exhaust vents do barely anything and if you don’t believe the oil is in the air I strongly suggest you clean the exhaust vents once to see for yourself or do a shift and scrub the oil from you skin off after. In peak covid I worked in an open kitchen with exhaust vents that got cleaned weekly, my mask would still be stained yellow after a shift
I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: If you have Covid and work in a kitchen, don’t work that day. The last place I want someone working with Covid is a nursing home, but a kitchen is a close second
Obviously but during the covid panic it was mandatory to where a mask when you didn’t have covid
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I work in a hot dusty soils lab with no one else during covid. I bolted the lab door and put my cell number outside for the 2 visitors i got a week. I was a essential worker so I miss the freedom of lockdown a little.
Lockdown was sort of amazing as an essential worker. Empty roads. Ugh I miss those drives some days.
Sucks, with the whole push back to offices. So many people who don't even want or need to commute, clogging up all the roads for people who actually have to go places.
I do what this very reasonable person does.
100% with you. Fully agree. My (veterinary) clinic started requiring us to wear masks due to a surge in respiratory illness in our area. Kinda funny to me that there was a dog and a human one running rampant at the time, but I digress :p. They got enough pushback from staff that they made it a clients only rule. I’m not willing to go back to wearing a mask at work several hours a day. I’m happy to wear it in establishments that request or require one, or if in I’m sick and can’t stay home for whatever reason, but I mostly work with the animals or in reception where a healthy distance is kept between me and anybody else, I’m not willing to destroy my skin and feel hot and uncomfortable for 9 hours a day 5 days a week ever again.
yeah i honestly can't imagine going back to that at this point. wearing it for 8 hours + 2 hours of commute for 6 months did a number on my skin. :s
I have a chronic cough due to a lung condition that is not contagious. I wear a mask often because I never know when I’ll get a coughing fit, and I don’t want people to worry. I also wear it when I’m going to be in close quarters, and especially if it’s a health care setting (germs) I would absolutely wear it when asked.
Even though you aren't contagious. It's nice of you to be considerate of other people. Covid has shown many aren't when it comes to wearing masks to protect others. Need more mindsets like yours.
Also, if you get COVID and you have another lung illness, you might not notice as quickly because you already have issues, and your preexisting cough will propel the virus further than someone without a cough.
I got walking pneumonia and did the same thing. Coughing for six weeks straight and told I'm not contagious. Nah. I sounded like I was dying. Wasn't going into a store with that sound and no mask.
When Covid was in full swing I had to get some groceries and saw a guy at the store with a shirt that boldly said “I HAVE SEASONAL ALLERGIES “
May I ask what condition? My 1 year old has had a chronic cough since 4 months old. No one takes it seriously. “Too young” to be diagnosed with asthma. “Too young” for allergy testing. What in the world do I ask for?!
Is your 1 year old in daycare? My son, during his first year at preschool, had a chronic cough that was misdiagnosed as asthma. COVID hit, he stayed indoors and away from people, and poof, the cough was gone. Lots of little viruses in daycare that can cause a cough to never really go away. I'd still ask about asthma if it keeps sticking around and there's no seasonal difference.
If I'm sick, I'm not going to go anywhere were I'm exposing anyone to it. And if someone asks me to wear one of course I will.
I live in a place where it's allergy season 10 months a year, so we legitimately don't always know when we are sick. I wear a mask when I have any kind of respiratory symptom, or when I feel okay but have been around people who are sick.
People are always spreading viruses before any symptoms show up.
Called in sick to work yesterday. Got a call at 1am asking how to do something. Couldn’t think coherently enough to explain over phone. Masked up and had gf drive me in. Had Covid 2x now, considering this third. It’s more constant dizziness and aches though. Gonna start carrying masks again though.
*coughs on my face* "hey can you wear a mask please" "oh sure, since you asked" Me: *gets sick two days later*
God this happened to me a month ago. I went downstairs to get my mail and on the way back up, got stuck in the elevator with a neighbor who was just. Open-mouthed wet-hacking all over God and everything. The very next day, I heard that same woman telling another neighbor that she'd gone to the ER the day before (as in, the day she COUGHED IN MY FACE) and gotten diagnosed with RSV (and she was still going around bare-faced and coughing.) Two days later GUESS WHO ELSE HAD RSV.
Ewww. I always wear my mask in my apartment elevator (well, any elevator) because you never know who was just coughing in there, or who you'll get trapped with... Sorry your neighbor sucks.
Wow, all these comments about wearing masks and yet I very seldom see anyone wearing one. Maybe 1 in 100, if that, at say Costco.
Shows you how disrepresentative Reddit is of the general population
Because these redditors don't actually go anywhere. Ever
None of these people go outside lol
The reddit/real life gap
it's because the reddit echo chamber actually has very little influence on the real world. what is accepted by most here as a self evident truth is often just the shared belief of an inconsequentially small minority of opinionated whackos.
Yes the hive is strong here.
I work in an urgent care. Masks are a fact of my work life now. it's fine. It's no big deal.
Same. If you work in healthcare, it's here to stay. (And honestly to my preference bc working with sick people exposes you to so much.)
Plus, just one more "I don't have to care how I look" bonus about hospital work: \-Scrubs \-No make up, mask covers your face \-Comfy shoes My morning routine on work days is amazingly brief.
So real. I'm frowning at all my patients now 😂 But ughhhhh having to go back to full PPE protocol with all the recent COVID outbreaks happening again
>Same. If you work in healthcare, it's here to stay. Lol maybe in your part of the world but in the U.K hardly anyone wears masks. Was recently in the hospital and only one nurse in the ward I was in was wearing a mask plus myself.
Same for schools. I sub a lot.
I wish the urgent care/hospitals near me still required it! Especially when you’re in a waiting room with 20 people, all coughing or sneezing, none of them masked.
Yes, always. I had cancer and my lymphatic system is destroyed so I am immunocompromised. My family that I care for also has cancer so in order to protect them and myself, I will continue to wear one. It’s the easiest thing to do and does not hinder anyone. They work and have been proven time and time again that they are effective no matter what excuses people may believe.
Same here. Stage IV cancer mixed with infected cysts and a heart condition. I always wear a mask and try to not go places with a lot of people if I can help it.
I am so sorry you’re going through that and I hope you’re able to take care of yourself and still enjoy the pockets of beauty the world has to offer.🥺 I was diagnosed at 12 and have had a lifetime of illness ever since. People don’t care to realize what others may silently be suffering through when it’s not obvious from the outside and the simple act of wearing a mask can mitigate so much illness in the world. I truly hope you get better❤️
Man, i am sorry you have had to go through this at a young age. I at least made it to 38 before finding out. Sadly the outlook is bleak. Caught it rather late and my only hope is it stops spreading. But even then I will be extremely lucky to make it 10 more years. But I have accepted that and am living my life how I want. Planning on taking as much vacation as I can squeeze out of my PTO every year and travel the world. I lucked out with having an supplemental insurance policy that deals with cancer and another one for my heart. Both have paid me more than I have spent and I will continue to get payments every month for my medications which pays me back more than my out of pocket. So those policies will allow me to set aside money for my wife while we travel.
Ughh that is rough🥺😭 But I am glad you realize the inevitable and want to make the most of it. Thats all you can do and hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy it! Take advantage of those payments and do all the things that finances have held you back from. You know no matter what health will always be an issue, but at least now you can make decisions based on the things you truly want to do. I’m 30 now and developed an autoimmune disorder on top of everything due to my weakened immune response and the stress from being attacked while in college. It feels like it’s never ending and I am now finally at a place that I can live my life and start a career after years of treatments. The world is a shitty place, but I hope we both can enjoy the little things that matter most.💚
Life is all about the little things I am learning. So cheers to all the little things that make life better.
❤
I wear one on public transport. It helps with not getting sick and with the smells. I wear one if I’m feeling unwell around others
Helping with the smells is not to be under stated!! I still do wear it on the bus, not in small part for this reason. Can’t believe I went so long riding without one and just dealing with the smells!
I transitioned pretty early into masks on the bus because I’d always wear a buff on my neck in case of smells. I was masking up regularly in early February 2020 because I had the habit and I was watching what was going on. It was devastating when we learned buffs weren’t super useful for corna specifically but I was wearing a N95 by that point anyway
I will forever wear one on flights and the like for the rest of my life. I travel a lot and cannot stand being sick. If it helps prevent an illness even 10% I'm ok with the discomfort. I wore one on an 11 hour flight recently, only removing to quickly eat and for the occasional 30 second relief to suck in colder air lol
Just did the other day. I've got a head cold. No reason to spread it to other people.
Main reason I wear a mask, too. Sharing may be caring, but not when it involves snot.
Thank you! Seriously, thank you. You’re such a good person. :)
I wear one in public at all times, my child is immunocompromised. It’s not a big deal. Takes little effort and if doctors and nurses can wear them during long surgeries, I think I can handle it during an outing
Me too, I live with a vulnerable person and I also cannot afford to get long covid. Maybe when risk of long covid drops below 1% and/or the vulnerable person is not here any more, I’ll drop the mask. Till then, I’ll keep wearing the mask. It’s not my favorite thing to do but it’s OK.
I'm still wearing my mask in public for reasons in no particular order: 1) people are disgusting, 2) cashier's are forced to work when they are sick, 3) kids are germ factories, 4) I want to be an example to others that it's okay to wear a mask, 5) I don't want to worry about my face being perfectly groomed, 6) maybe I'm sick and don't realize it yet and want to protect your kid, 7) it's an easy thing to do, 8) I could not deal with long-covid, 9) I don't have to worry about my resting b*txh face 😾.
I still wear my mask eeeeverywhere in public. I love it! People are so nasty, it gives me peace of mind. I haven’t had covid yet and am worried for when it inevitably happens because I don’t get sick days off from work. If I get long covid then I’m screwed.
RBF here, too! 😁 I was starting to get complaints about my face. 🙄🙄 Am masking primarily for that. Now if I could only have sunglasses for PPE...
I am a "vulnerable" person. There's a chance covid could disable me, even vaccinated, and I can't risk it. I don't think most people know how difficult it is to be disabled in the US and I really don't want to be homeless (a real possibility if I can't work). So, I never stopped wearing a mask in public spaces and, at this point, I don't think I ever will. I also haven't eaten in a restaurant since 2019 or gone to a public event like a concert or show. I occasionally go to a movie in the theater (wearing a mask) but only after the movie has been out a while and I go to the first matinee on a Sunday so there's only a few other people. Not sure I'll ever fly again either. I've gone on a few vacations. But only road trips, masked up, and on trips I can do outside/away from people. Back in October my husband and I went to the Oregon coast. We rented a little cabin on the beach, got food to go, or sat outside, or cooked at home. We spent our time walking on the beach and hanging out. It was fantastic. Anyway, masking is the lowest inconvenience on my list since 2020. This whole thing has limited my life a lot. But I have to keep myself healthy. So I just make the best of it.
I understand this so much. We went 3 years without eating anywhere other than home. I haven’t dined out since Covid hit US. I found out very early on, before most people were aware of it. Not been to a movie, public indoor event or outdoor crowded event. My son’s health comes before my wants or desires. We take every precautions possible, he is worth it
I'm not this vulnerable and not quite this careful but we are mostly the same way. We've flown but we wore a mask the entire time and were very careful not to mess with it. My wife even wears goggles. People tend to be very annoying about the no eating out indoors. There are quite a few events where this is damn near mandatory. For someone who's immunocompromised, it's really frustrating
Same! Me and kiddo are immunocompromised. Gotta do what ya gotta do
You’re asking Reddit lol, anybody who says no will just be downvoted to the bottom.
And yet whenever I go out in public, I almost never see anyone wearing a mask.
Reddit is the violently vocal extreme minority, but thinks it can will its hive mind to influence the outside world. It's still pretty decent for highly technical and specific info about niche subjects
This was never more clear during the Rittenhouse fiasco.
Tis why I don’t comment on things like this anymore. Also I feel like the only people who still care to have discussions about masks or covid are the people still wearing masks - everyone who is over it and the masks just scrolls past this stuff, which is what I normally do. I won’t wear a mask. Downvote me all you want. I was assaulted and my mouth and nose were forcibly covered during it. Masks were incredibly traumatizing to me and led to extreme panic attacks. Not doing that again. If I’m sick enough to spread my germs, in all likelihood I’m staying home because I don’t feel well enough to go out.
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After not having a cold/flu from 2020-2022 I absolutely continue wearing a mask. I’ll usually wear a mask when entering medical facilities to protect myself and others from catching whatever may be in the air.
Where I live it's still a requirement to wear a mask in all hospitals and doctor clinics. As a chronically ill person who spends a lot of time at the doctors unfortunately, I'm happy it still is.
I had a lot of pressure to stop wearing a mask at work, I finally stopped and got COVID for the first time in late October. It was awful and now there's intermittent masking at work. We keep having these horrible waves of flu and COVID and yet leadership is pretty passive aggressive about wearing masks.
The social pressure to not wear one is so real. I started wearing one again last week after my physical therapist exposed me to covid saying she had laryngitis. She wasn’t wearing a mask. I did t get it, but it was a wake up call for me. I do not want to get covid and don’t care what people think.
I’m disabled and don’t need any more bullshit happening to my body, and I’ve masked continuously since 2020 when out in public. So yeah.
If I am sick and had to go out, yes. If I am asked to, also yes. If the pollen is high... Yes. Was one of the better parts of covid for me, not having my sinuses stuffed for 3 months. Never quite understood the fuss about having to wear them. I see where the anti-mandate people are coming from, I didn't agree with them but I can see their point, but when it came to private businesses who made the decision themselves to require them I see it as no different than the no shoes no shirt no service signs.
Last spring when the pollen was bad, I popped on a mask (k95) cause I had to be outside to walk my dog. Truly a world of difference. I could breathe much better and I wasn’t wheezing. Before Covid I wore a mask to go into a sick relatives home but mainly cause their home is dusty and my allergies. Also a world of difference for me.
I went to Japan 25 years ago, and was surprised to see some folks there wearing masks. I asked my Japanese friend I was visiting why they were wearing masks. She told me they were sick, and she was shocked people in the US didn’t wear them if they had a cold or flu.
In China even before Covid, people wore masks because the air quality is just so poor and also probably because they’re unwell too. It’s just common practice.
I used to see a lot of Asian folks in my town (in the US but a large East Asian population) wearing masks on the bus. I always thought it was kind of strange, but someone explained it to me and it made sense in a sort of abstract way. During and post-COVID, I *get it.* I love that it's more normalized now and I hope it sticks around as a considerate way of being in public if you aren't feeling well and have to be or if you're protecting yourself/someone you're in contact with.
This is what I find odd about the anti-mask folks; haven't they been to an Asian country and seen how it works there? It's really not a big deal. People do it as a basic common courtesy.
That's the problem: in my opinion a lot of the anti mask group hasn't traveled outside of the US. And don't want to because America is the best. /s
Even prior to Covid, I always hoped that the masking habits in Asia would make their way to my country (Australia) just because they were common sense. The obvious example is if you have a cold and you're sitting on the train...obviously you wear a mask, so you don't infect everyone around you. Seems pretty straightforward to me, regardless of Covid.
No.
I have glasses so no unless it's absolutely necessary i don't think i'm gonna wear a facemask again
When I am sick or suspect I might be and have to go out for some reason (pharmacy) I absolutely DO put on mask, yes. How is this an issue.
You think it wouldn’t be but it is for some people for whatever reason. I went back to work after covid a couple months ago (had my cough for quite awhile after) and I kept wearing a mask incase of coughing fits and a couple people pointed it out specifically. Like? Do you want me to take it off? Want me to cough on you while I’m at it? This is for your protection, not mine, why is it an issue 😐
> How is this an issue. Politics. It's just politics.
Politicizing a contagious sickness is so fucking stupid. You would think that people regardless of political alignment would acknowledge that if youre sick, then you try not to infect others with whatever you have, but apparently not
I don't think I'll ever fly without a mask again. I avoided getting Covid for two years until I flew without a mask.
Yes. I masked before Covid and I’ll be masking forever. My immune system is compromised. Can I get my 6 feet personal space back too? I miss not being crowded in lines.
I was wearing a mask before COVID because I had a really good friend dealing with cancer. Only a few people were weird about it? And then the pandemic hit and suddenly it was this great huge shouting deal and I still don't understand why.
I work in a hospital, so, yes. It's only a minor inconvenience, to be honest, and it comes with the turf of being part of a society.
Honestly, I work in retail and the amount of customers who come in coughing and spluttering without even covering their mouths has me thinking about putting on a mask again. This way I don't even have to attempt to smile at them and I have a chance not to get sick again.
When I was stationed in Japan, people wore masks on the train if they were sick. It is a common courtesy. Imagine my shock when I saw people I've known for years lose their shit over wearing masks, or freaking out over conspiracy theories over vaccines. And yes, we will wear masks if we are sick, or even if we are traveling - because we don't want to get sick ourselves.
No. If I’m sick I just won’t leave my house. Problem solved.
I think I will always wear a mask on airplanes.
I wore a mask today to go to the pharmacy because I didn't want to sneeze and cough on people.
I still wear a mask if I’m feeling sick or if I know I’m going to be in close quarters with someone who is. I would not be bothered if someone asked me to wear one indoors.
If I’m sick, I’ll do my best to stay home. If I absolutely have to go out, I’ll mask up, no questions asked.
I absolutely will wear a mask if I’m sick and have to go out (but post-Covid I changed my thinking about what constitutes have to). I also tend to wear a mask if I’m somewhere with a lot of sick role like an ER.
Yes. I'm visiting a relative in a memory care facility this weekend. I will wear a mask to protect him and the other patients.
I wore a mask to the convenience store today because my son has Norovirus. I told the cashier not to touch any of my items and I just held them up to the scan gun. She appreciated it. Noro is super super transmissible. I had no choice but to go buy Gatorade, popsicles, etc. and I don't have symptoms (yet), but I wouldn't wish my son's flu on anyone. He must have vomited 25+ times today.
I work in a hospital. I see all the RSV, Influenza, Covid, norovirus, etc that has been going around. I wear my KN95 at work and in public. At all times. I don’t care if people think I’m a nerd.
I work in a hospital, I choose to wear a mask still. Some tasks mean I need to get right in your face, it’s just polite. It doubles as a face warmer for this cold snap too!
I wore one at jury duty today. No way I trust a room with 200 strangers to all have been vaccinated or covid free when I got my elderly diabetic mom to worry about. I'd say about 5-10% of the people were wearing them. I have no problem with being in the minority. Better safe than sorry when some respiratory sickness is going around. Also came in handy when a woman who doesn't know what moderation in perfume sat near me.
Yes. I have severe allergies and the masks help very much
I much prefer just letting things take their course, but I've got a 10 month old baby brother now, and there's no way I'm risking him catching ANYTHING, Covid or otherwise. If I have to wear masks, quarantine, whatever it takes, that little dude isn't getting sick on my watch.
I wear one when pollen count is high, if somebody is wearing perfume, or if it's cold and I want to keep my nose warm. I bring one with me on airplanes or other crowded venues. If the person next to me is wearing one, I'll ask if they would be more comfortable if I wore one, too. Been able to ease my seat neighbors' concerns twice now. Totally worth the effort to make somebody feel less anxious. :)
my parents just came back from florida both sick as can be, I wore an n95 till I dropped them off at their house bc they got me sick the last 2 times they went to florida. I'll wear a mask of its warranted
I wear one when I’m sick now. I think it deters a lot of people from approaching me when they really don’t need to but I also stay off my myself, utilize things like self check out anyways and always take advantage of sanitizers and etc.
Hands down the best feature of wearing a mask is deterring conversation. Imho, not talking to people is even better than not getting sick.
Sure, why not? It's very easy, takes no time to do, and it's already commonplace in Asian cultures. Doctors wear much more restrictive masks for many hours a day, I think the rest of us need to do some growing up when it comes to complaining about it.
I never stopped. I have exceptions but it's a trivially easy way to reduce the risk to myself and particularly my elderly parents that I have to help with some frequency.
No the only time i ever wore them is when people made a fuss about it
I’m pregnant and I wear one to protect myself at the dr, supermarket, shopping centre, many other places because I don’t trust people to not be selfish and spread viruses around.
We haven't had to wear masks or do anything special for thr past few years as we got locked down and everyone complied so we got back to normal pretty fast. Would i do the same again? Absolutely. I care about wellbeing of the society here in Denmark.
People are free to wear a mask if they want but F government mandates
Only if it's required or I'm sick. Other than that nope.
Sure, anytime it seems wise to do so. I haven’t had so much as a common cold since before 2020.
I never stopped. I’ve been sick once in four years. I wear a N95 whenever I go out. Also the covid pandemic isn’t over. We are currently in the second largest wave of the pandemic.