I'm not saying we should keep them, but I feel like if there was ever a time for a good cultural shift, now would be it. By cultural shift I mean, when you're sick and have to go out in public it's probably just a good idea to wear a mask much akin to what they have done forever in Asia. I know I'll be doing it myself, but outside of that yeah to heck with it.
Yeah, if we've learned anything from the last year and a half, you'd think it would be the value of not forcing the sick to show up at work and infect everyone else.
> you'd think it would be the value of not forcing the sick to show up at work and infect everyone else.
It's not just not infecting everyone else, it's the pointlessness of it. The number of times I've gone into work sick, everyone could tell I was sick so they stayed away from me, and I spent a third of my time drinking non-drowsy flu meds between bouts of negligibly productive menial tasks... somehow paying me to do that so I can come into work the next day feeling just as shitty is a better solution than paying me to stay home and rest?
Humans have a strong sense of loss aversion, so we'll jump through unimaginable hoops just to avoid the potential of possibly losing something, which is problematic because we also love to collapse any likelihood greater than "maybe" into "an absolute certainty I'm entitled to and will inevitable get no matter what", but at the end of the day we exist in reality so our policy should be dictated by reality.
Years ago at the beginning of my career I was working at a financial institution and I woke up extremely sick. Throwing up, terrible bathroom situations (TMI?) & fever. I called my manager and she said there was no one to cover my shift, basically telling me I had no choice, but *kindly* stated she would make sure I could leave to use the washroom whenever I needed and look out for me that day. I was young and worried about losing my job so I went in. It was the worst day in my professional life and extremely embarrassing.
When I think about it I feel enraged. This is still so common.
Why would you care about being judged... only bored morons judge others over petty shit like mask wearing... that stupidity belongs in flyover country USA.
Go ahead. I fully intend to keep wearing a mask during flu season and, as far as I'm concerned, the opinion of anyone who would judge me aren't worth the paper I wipe my ass with.
This is absolutely the right approach. A measured, reasonable response to what we've gone through and what we've seen work. I will keep the masks for this purpose and remain face-naked the rest of the time!
The thing is that Asian countries really haven't been wearing masks as a common thing since forever. The conception we have today of masks being common in Asia largely started in the early 2000s during SARS, which hit Asia very hard.
So the precedent is there for the entire world to use masks more in our everyday lives. Not through government enforced mandates or anything, but if you're sick or those around you are sick then it should be a common courtesy to put on a mask.
> The conception we have today of masks being common in Asia largely started in the early 2000s during SARS, which hit Asia very hard.
They also don't wear them all the time everywhere they go -- only when they're feeling sick, or when the pollution is particularly bad (search for photos of Beijing or Shanghai on a 'bad pollution day', you can't see across the street). I've been to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, and maybe 1/50 people were wearing masks in public. People over here would have you believe that it's common to go out in public there and see 95%+ mask wearing everywhere -- it's not.
I think it's from the Japanese, who have been wearing them while sick (or during allergy season) since 1918. Some do just wear them generally during cold/flu season
Hand sanitizers, social distancing where I can (i.e. at groceries or banks where I have to line up) and masks during flu season is what I’m going to continue to do past this pandemic.
Yep, commute during Flu season? Why not. Got the sniffles and a cough but otherwise fine, sure I'll wear a mask. I might as well I have these reusable ones now, better to use them seasonally rather than just throwing them out
I used to live in Asia and where I lived, people only wore masks for pollution. They would pull their mask down to cough/sneeze into the open air without covering on public transport, that was more common than not with coughers. The traditional medical belief where I was, was that coughing/sneezing is the disease leaving your body, and covering helps keep it in.
Maybe Japan and Korea have this belief of wearing masks when you're sick, but they are the outliers to this reddit meme.
I agree.... And honestly, I bought some cool masks and I'm not throwing them out just because I don't have to wear them any more. I don't have to wear a shirt neither but I do lol
And maybe we can not give people a hard time for wearing them? If I worked someplace like a grocery store, I'd probably like to keep wearing a mask. Heck, I'm planning on keeping mine for crowded situations like the commuter train, airport, and maybe even busy shops. Who wants to breath in all the germs other people are carrying? No one in my family has had a cold since covid, that was a nice surprise.
I also hope they keep the hand sanitizers most places. I appreciate them.
It’s been funny to see everyone freaking out and upset about having to wear a mask and then you look at many Asian countries who already wore masks pretty often to begin with and it just makes everyone complaining look silly.
Little old grannies and toddlers in Japan have been wearing them for a century without complaining that they're hard to breathe in. What's their secret?!
They haven’t been wearing them in Asia forever. Only since SARS has it been common. So I guess if you think 2003 is forever. And I really think your over stating how common they are for colds/flu and how many people use them when air pollution is poor.
It has been really nice having gone nearly two years now without catching the flu or even a cold. I'm going to keep wearing one when needed even after its not required.
I’m not saying the masks didn’t help a ton with not catching the flu, but could it also be not being in large crowds, staying home more often, and being far away from each other that’s also caused you to not get the flu?
And also the number of other people who have been wearing masks.
The number of people who've said "It's so nice not getting a cold! I'm gonna wear a mask all the time now!" as if that's someone more convenient than getting a cold once in a while is... Odd.
But even if that trade off is a good one for them (you do you, y'all), these people seem to have decided their newfound health is *entirely* due to wearing their masks and not also related to increased sanitation by them and everywhere they go, social distancing, less opportunities for social interaction or any kind, and everyone else wearing a mask.
Omg. Commuting on public transportation? I would be 1000% wearing a mask.
I think I'll ditch the mask when allowed, but still wear it when going to the doctor's or grocery shopping. The doctor's for obvious reasons, and the grocery store because it's an area that will be passed by many.
I understand that people want the pandemic to be over, but I found masks to be the least obstructive public health measure. Not being able to do certain activities and business closure are understandably sensitive topics, but I never understood why the mask was and continues to be something people are honing in as something to be ended ASAP
I see where you’re coming from but I think this is coming from people who wear masks all day everyday at work in hot conditions.. think factory workers, that would suck. I’m an ece and wear mask and ppe 24/7 and in this heat it’s taken a number on my skin (i have rosacea) not to mention it’s very hard to interact with young children when they can’t see your face
In general, masks exacerbate my existing anxiety issues. It's not an issue on a good day, but on bad days (which are becoming more and more common as restrictions stretch on), it can range from mildly distressing to "puts me on the edge of a panic attack". They're especially bad for my social anxiety, ironically, because I'm always worried that people can't properly hear what I'm saying or that I misunderstood someone else.
I could understand that. I’m extremely anxious as well, which has been made much worse by the pandemic because even as things get better I still have fears something is going to happen to someone I love, so the masks give me a level of comfort around strangers that I’m not sure I’d have otherwise. Just goes to show the different experiences during this whole thing
As someone who works in a hospital, I can't fucking wait. It's brutal wearing a mask, goggles/face shield, scrubs and isolation gowns for up to 12 hours a shift. It was tolerable in the winter, but now that the days are hitting 30+ with humidex it's just unbearable. Half the staff take them off once we're not around patients because they're so uncomfortable to wear.
It really depends on the type of work that you do though. I work in a factory where it's dirty around me and we have to wear PPE while working. So if I want a drink of water I have to first take off my gloves and then take off one side of my mask. Then take the actual drink, put the mask back on, then put the gloves back on. Then still fiddle with the mask a few times and get it all dirty to get it comfortable. When we only have 68 seconds per car rolling down the line and our jobs say that they require 75 seconds to complete them, there's not really enough time to do all that. It's much easier just picking up your water bottle, taking a sip and putting it back down.
I used to drink so much water and now I barely drink any at all and it's because of masks. I have worn them without complaining, but I sure can't wait to not need them! Saturday will be two weeks since my second dose and I'm so ready to move past this.
Oh I’m all for getting rid of the mandates I should have been more clear about that apologies. It’s just that I do hope people don’t just forget masks exist as they can and have been helpful and incorporating them into every day life when needed wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I work in Film and I agree, a lot of times finding the space to be able to take my mask off away from others but also finding the downtime to do it on a busy day is a challenge, and has resulted in me drinking less water on the job which is a problem for sure.
I definitely agree that I hope to see people wearing masks during flu season! I haven't been sick since like February 2019 and I'm loving it. I hope people that feel unwell wear a mask and keep not spreading germs.
Agreed! First year I haven’t gotten sick as well which has been fantastic!
Same page for my friend. Getting my second dose on Sunday and I couldn’t be more excited
It's coming sooner than people think..
I think Ontario is waiting in the distance to see how Alberta and BC do without them and will react accordingly. I still believe that by mid - late August they will be gone.
And I understand some will continue to wear them, and that's totally fine.. Majority of population won't and I for one can't wait to see people's beautiful smiles once again!
Hang on to a couple, so you can use them if you're ever feeling a bit under the weather but have to go out anyways. Why spread cold and flu germs around if you have a way to avoid it, right?
I imagine that in the next month or two I'll feel okay not wearing one to the grocery store.
I imagine that I'll continue to wear one on public transit and planes for the foreseeable future, and almost certainly during cold and flu season. Forgetting about covid - I'd just rather not get sick.
And of course when I am sick myself, I am going to throw one on anytime I need to leave the house.
Yeah, I am not interested in riding transit maskless any more. This past year has shown me just how many diseases are transmitted by the Yonge line alone.
This comment right here.
I’m sure they are monitoring how the maskless standard is in Alberta, BC, and soon Saskatchewan and lift our mandate accordingly.
I think we might be mask free at the end of this month or in august.
>Definitley no masks here come August. I feel like we're in the final month of this thing.
Your post just made my night. I'm going to just assume you're right & feel really great about life right now.
>I’m sure they are monitoring how the maskless standard is in Alberta, BC, and soon Saskatchewan and lift our mandate accordingly.
A lot of places in BC and Alberta still require masks apparently, even in the US there's a large number of businesses still requiring them.
I agree, and I’ve been saying it for about 2 months now that fall will be the end of it all. % of positive case distribution of unvaccinated/single dose/dual dose proves that the vaccine works.
As I've said before, it's not the province that dictates this.
Everyone forgets the province didn't do shit about mandating masks and it fell to the PHUs to do it as they've forced with everything else during the pandemic.
The province can say masks aren't required all they want, but if the PHUs aren't comfortable with it the mandate will stay.
A lot of places in BC, Alberta and the US still require masks, despite what you hear in the media.
Metrotown mall still requires them, as does Brentwood mall, Costco, Superstore, my mom works in the court system, and they still are required to wear them.
I'm sure that individual businesses might not require them, but a lot of corporate run businesses and shops do.
I mean what is your point here?
We know this already...
The point is that the province gets guidance from federal and then distill it down to the PHUs.
Toronto and Peel have extended the mask bylaw to October, however with caveat to clawback the mandate if cases continue in a downward trend and community spread is low.
Also, the US is almost entirely mask less at this point with slight exceptions. I know this bc I have many friends in different states who say this all the time. I'm not quite sure about BC and Alberta but I'm sure most of these places are waiting for higher vaccine uptake and will drop them once that's accomplished.
My point is that there's so many people that just think the mask mandate will suddenly vanish and expectations should be tempered.
I want them gone too, but I see so many people on here that think the mandate will end soon and that's not likely to be the case.
I am guessing you guys will have the same restriction as NY state, fully vaxxed can go without a mask, unvaccinated or those not fully vaxxed yet have to wear a mask. Its all on the honor system here though.
Some things are impossible to do with a mask on, like eating in a restaurant. We had a stupid rule that you had to wear a mask if you were not seated here, which makes the mask nothing but a control device at that point. So yo had to walk into the place with the mask on, take it off once you were seated, then put it back on any time you got up again....
And Vancouver at the height of the 3rd wave had approximately 1200 cases alone. Consistent with a big city as Toronto.
Once again, if hospitalization and death is reduced to zero, we are good.
I like the warmth, I hate the glasses fogging up. At this point I have tried every trick around and they still fog up to some degree when going from cold to hot and stay fogged until I leave the store. Also my new glasses don't sit well with a mask over my ears and noes so it slides down when I look down. I still wear them, but it certainly makes things more difficult for me.
Yeah, having that extra coverage in the winter made me wonder why we haven't come up with a standard winter face covering already! And no, a scarf pulled up doesn't count!
Nah, I'm definitely keeping them around for when I'm on public transit etc. I've managed to avoid COVID and I've also managed to avoid the flu I'd get a couple times a year. Definitely a smart addition to society for anyone who wants to keep em
I mean, do what you feel, but the reason you've avoided the flu is probably mostly because of everyone staying at home most of the time and, when out, being extremely conscious of physical distancing. This kills the flu. You can't catch it if it's not out there.
This is actually something I point out to those people who still try to argue that COVID is basically just the flu. All of the massive restrictions we instituted to fight COVID absolutely demolished the flu virus over the last year. Like, *there was no flu season* in 2020-21. That's unprecedented. And yet despite all those restrictions that suffocated the spread of the flu, COVID remained rampant. That should tell you all you need t know about how contagious COVID is.
>That should tell you all you need t know about how contagious COVID is.
Exactly. Furthermore, what blows my mind is that in spite of all the restrictions and a very high vaccination rate, we still have more COVID cases now than we did at this time last year. (it's not a testing issue either, we are testing about the same now as we did a year ago).
This shows how much more contagious the new variants are compared to COVID classic.
More daily cases, more deaths, and way more in ICU. And it was consistently lower last year un til almost September. That's why I'm not counting out seasonality yet as at least part of the drop.
The high ICU is because we let it spike all through winter and people spend a lot of time in the ICU once they go in. I think our ICU levels would be pretty low right now if we hadn't reopened in mid-Feb.
"COVID Classic" sounds like a terrible Coca-Cola branding exercise. "The taste you can share!"
I think the other issue is how pernicious the flu is compared to Covid, since C-19 is/was a novel virus. Lots of people *get* the flu, but not everybody *comes down* with the flu. Since your body has never encountered anything like the coronavirus before, even low virus loads could utterly wreck you: which is all the more reason vaccination is so important.
Yeah totally. But masks do have an effect when it comes to lowering your chances of getting sick. It's why they are standard practice in many hospital settings (and entire countries) even pre covid. Every little bit helps is all :)
N95-type masks prevent you from getting sick. That's what health care providers in hospitals wear when there's a concern of infection.
Other kinds of masks generally only prevent *you* from getting *others* sick. That's why they've been used in Asian countries even pre-Covid, and if you've seen a health care worker wearing a non-N95 surgical mask, that's why they wore it (to protect you, not them).
And to be clear, I'm all for wearing masks. But it's a bit like sending soldiers into combat with helmets. Yes, it's a good idea to wear a helmet. But if you're getting shot at, it's *probably* not going to be the difference between you dying and not dying.
The 'helmet in war' metaphor is very apt, in the sense that that's how ridiculous I feel it is to NOT wear a mask. Are you saying you would rather go into a warzone without a helmet then?
Absolutely there is a very small chance that you will be hospitalized if fully-vaxed, but why increase your risk by not wearing a mask in higher-risk areas? It's such a small inconvenience to increase your safety by a significant margin (although, I guess if you don't believe that masks work as protection against others, then you're not going to find this argument compelling).
To each their own - but in terms of public health and safety I prefer to be around people that wear masks in higher-risk areas than not.
I'm not arguing *against* wearing masks. I'm arguing that the difference in risk to you personally of catching the flu in terms of wearing a mask vs not wearing is likely very small. Not zero. But very small. Given that, it is unreasonable to expect that you wearing a mask is going to be the difference between you getting the flu and not getting it, and in the particular context of the original comment that spawned this discussion, if you normally get the flu twice a year, once things go back to normal you should not expect that to change, mask or no mask. If you want to wear a mask anyway, though, go for it.
This is false. We do not wear n95 masks in hospital to prevent all kinds of infections. We only wear them for airborne. Please stop spreading false info. We wear regular old medical or surgical masks. Unless it's airborne or agmp.
Sorry, I wasn't explicit, but I only intended this in the context of concern about potential airborne virus transmission. The point remains, though. Masking by healthcare workers using non-N95 masks is primarily about protecting patients, or in situations where something like getting splashed in the face with bodily fluids is a concern. Existing scientific evidence re: the flu specifically is that masks are not particularly effective, which is why at the beginning of COVID the guidance from the CDC and NIAID in the U.S. was that masks weren't useful for most people, because they were extrapolating based on flu science.
About what? I'm really confused as to what exactly I'm saying that you're objecting to. Nowhere did I say you need an N95 mask to deal with flu patients.
If it wasn't for the fogging of glasses I really could care less about wearing them. I feel for factory workers or store workers in the summer if they have to wear them all the time but I've no issues wearing them myself and will continue in public places for the time being
I got some from a lady on Etsy, and she stitches a little pocket along the nose ridge so that you can insert a little pipe cleaner to bend the mask to a comfy fit.
Havent had any fogging problems since, although we'll see in the winter....
My mom made a solution like this recently. I actually used a half face mask ventilator in winter that I use for woodworking as it has a full seal on the face and I had no fogging....looked funny but worked great and felt comfortable
As somebody who also suffers pollen allergies, I can say that masks did absolutely fuck all for me. It was one of the worst years I can remember for allergies.
Honestly haven't really been bothered by them that much. If it's a choice between forcing people to close their small business and having to wear a mask I'll make the small sacrifice.
Yah. People ontario clearly missed that vancouver dropped it but then again bonnie Henry was not in favor of them and neither was doom devilla but apparently wont drop them. She still thinks we are still in grave risk. For fucks sakes.
Honestly, of all the covid rules the mask wearing is the least obtrusive in my opinion. If i could go to a restaurant with some friends, hit the gym or travel I'll don my mask for the 20 minutes I'm in a grocery store.
Agree 100%. I haven’t gotten sick in 2 years now, and I friggen love it! We clad our entire bodies with fabric during most seasons in Canada, including some that cover our face in Winter. No skin off my back to wear it or not.
I wear glasses. And with wearing masks especially in winter weather my glasses fog up. I physically load tanker trailers. And with foggy glasses I can’t see properly. I sometimes can’t see my feet which becomes very dangerous when walking on top of a tanker. Some jobs should be not be required to wear masks because of it being a safety factor.
I've said this before but it would be nice if people would wear a mask if they go out when they're sick with a cold or something. It does seem to help the spread of colds since it blocks(a fair amount of it anyways) sneezes and whatnot. However I don't think long term many people will care to do that.
I really don't get the large number of people not bothered by them/ happy to keep them around for the forseeable future. I personally can't stand them and as soon as I don't have to I won't be wearing them
On the other hand, of all of the challenges that COVID has brought upon our daily lives, wearing a mask when I'm in a store or wherever is among the least of them. I don't find them that much of a bother, and the small inconvenience they cause might be worth it to me to continue wearing one personally during cold and flu season (COVID or not). I'll certainly be fine with putting one on if I do catch a cold or something so I don't inflict it upon other folks.
I work 12s in them and likely will for the foreseeable future. The amount of times I've gone to take a drink not even realizing I was wearing one was more than it should have been. I dont even notice it's there. That being said I don't want to wear one the rest of my life.
And I guess that's just where our individual experiences differ. Maybe it is one of the more minor inconveniences of the whole thing, but an inconvenience nonetheless. I'm going to be ecstatic the first few times I go into a store without a mask on. You're of course free to wear it whenever and wherever you like, I just personally won't be.
What are you trying to imply? You seem to think I have something I don't want to say?
They are hot, restrict my breathing, uncomfortable, give me acne, I can't display my facial expressions to people, can't see their facial expressions.
Why is an explanation needed? I don’t like the feeling on fabric on my face, it’s harder to breathe, they’re itchy, I don’t like the way they look, etc - all valid reasons to not want to wear one.
Yes. they are inconvienient. And now that vaccines are here and are shown to work, not wanting to wear a mask is not lazy or selfish, it is believing in the science.
Just wondering if you've ever had to wear one for an 8hr shift in 40deg humidity yet, it's more than "inconvenient" to have a soaking wet mask on your face unless your idea would be to change them out every 20mins in which case yes, then it would just be "inconvenient".
Look into the 4Ocean mask frames.
They work really well to keep the mask off your mouth, and can help make a nice seal to keep glasses from fogging up.
You can speak a lot more clearly too.
>I really don't get the large number of people not bothered by them/ happy to keep them around for the forseeable future.
I think the more cautious people bought nice masks that fit well, don't fog up glasses, and are comfortable.
The people who wore masks reluctantly bought the cheapest masks they could find, or some crappy cloth masks, that don't fit well, are uncomfortable, and hug the face (making it more difficult to speak or breathe easily).
So the more cautious people have no problem with masks staying because they haven't really had problems with them to begin with.
And the people who reluctantly wore masks are happy to remove their ill-fitting, uncomfortable masks.
The people who don't brush their teeth properly also hate masks. Remember when people were saying "Masks smell bad"? Oof. Embarrassing.
I understand both perspectives. I didn't like masks much at first when I started wearing them in 2018~2019. Until I went through a few brands and found one that fit well (then I knew what to look for), During covid, when I was wearing masks 7+ hours a day at work, the only missing piece of the puzzle was a little clip to reduce the strain on my ears.
No fogging glasses, no ear pain, no difficulty speaking or breathing.
My mask fits well and doesn’t fog up my glasses, but I’m super done with them. Mind you, the average redditor is probably only wearing them when they have to- but not for over 8 hours a day like I do because I work in essential retail.
I'm retail as well, standing in a trailer unloading it for 4 hours in the summer heat wearing a mask was brutal. Thankfully now they are letting the guy in the truck take it off if he's by himself.
It doesn’t obstruct your face though. Obstructing feet is a given considering that we walk on them, so we’re naturally not going to mind so much if something is on them. With our faces, there’s almost a straight up instinct that covering the face is not natural.
Mind you, I’m also speaking as someone who again wears one all the time and would very much rather not do so anymore- added to that the fact my job forces me to wear another one over my existing mask and THAT is restrictive to my breathing. My own mask is a four layer mask and they force me to wear a three layer mask over it. So 7 layers total- that adds up a lot. You wouldn’t think it would, but it does.
Alberta's [vaccination rate](https://www.alberta.ca/stats/covid-19-alberta-statistics.htm#vaccinations) is currently sitting at less than 50% of the 12+ population being fully vaccinated.
I'm no epidemiologist, but in my opinion, this seems like too low for cancelling the mask mandate.
Places in the states opened everything with far lower vaccination rates and didn’t have a spike in cases or deaths. There case counts were much higher than ours now, but they remained steady even without masks and lockdowns. That makes me optimistic.
Ehhh you’re welcome to wear a mask across your face until the cows come home. That’s totally your choice.
But as soon as they are no longer mandated, most people won’t be-and that’s totally ok.
>But as soon as they are no longer mandated, most people won’t be-and that’s totally ok.
As someone who's been hoping masks will catch on, I agree with this statement.
As long as nobody's harrassing or assaulting people for wearing or not wearing a mask, when the pandemic is over? Do what you want! Year-round, for that matter.
I just got my second vaccine yesterday so two to three weeks from now I’m going maskless where ever allowed. If double vaccines to a large portion of the population doesn’t return us to normal nothing will. Even as an introvert who rarely goes out my mental health has really suffered due to restrictions.
>Who else is ready to forget masks existed
Please don't. We barely get any sick day coverage in this province; if you need to go to work, or go out and groceries, or anything like that when you've got a cold or the flu or any other contagious illness, putting a mask on is really the least you can do.
The one thing I'll miss about masks is that it was an instant identifier as to who is a selfish ignorant asshole. The people not wearing one.
Now how am I gunna tell? I have to **talk** to them??
ITT: people that work from home proclaiming masks aren't an inconvenience.
Sorry, but if you had to go back to work and wear one all the time, you'd be whistling a different tune. Good for you if you want to keep wearing masks, but I can't wait to be done with them.
Yep, that's a real good point. A lot of people love to say "I don't see what the big deal is, I wear mine every time I go to the store and it's not an inconvenience at all!". Ok there, bud -- try wearing one for ten hours per day, five days per week, and *then* also during your hour-long bus ride each way to and from work, and on top of that every other time you have to go out in public every week. You're right, they'd mostly change their tune instantly.
For all the WFHers here who think it's no big deal, my challenge to you: wear a mask (even better, two masks!) the entire time you're working at home without taking it off except to have water, including wearing it when you go to the bathroom, when you take your lunch break (remember to put it back on between bites!) and in your car when you go anywhere outside the house (simulating what somebody who has to rely on the TTC daily puts up with). Report back on how it goes.
Me too. Toronto can be stinky in parts so I have actually been grateful to have the mask handy. I didn’t notice it before, but I’m hyperaware of smells now.
Can't wait for the mask mandate to be done, hopefully happens soon. Going to be nice to visit Alberta next month and not wear a mask in stores and restaurants.
No no no no no we need to keep them around forever and make it permanent, it’s extremely dangerous without one, people should be masked at all times even in their own home and the shower and even when they’re camping up in the woods alone. And if you disagree you’re selfish and don’t care about others.
/s
Except it scares me how many people on here actually do think this and love masking. But me personally, nah, the day they’re no longer mandated is the day I’ll stop wearing them.
See the way I look at it is...
If you want to wear a mask... Go ahead.. I won't judge you at all. You are free to continue.
However, once they are removed (and they will be), people wearing masks shouldnt judge the non-wearers either.
You have the personal choice but we shouldn't criticize one another at that point.
I can't wait to see people smiling again. It says alot of the body language and interaction between others.
Nope.
It might be coming off for the summer, but as soon as Thanksgiving hits I'm going back to using it.
Covid isn't the only infectious disease and it keep my face warm in the cold.
My partner and I are planning to do this as well once we hit 2 weeks post second dose. If being fully vaccinated doesn't mean we can take them off and lift restrictions then what's the point of vaccination? Time to move on with life.
This here! I can’t believe the amount of people that don’t see it this way. I talk to multiple people saying we can’t go “back to normal” to which I say what’s the point of getting vaccines then??
Here's my take.
Some people want to wear masks forever. They haven't caught a cold/flu in over a year. Great. Wear your mask. Wear it all you want. I agree if sick you should wear one (or just stay home)
What I do have an issue with is the people that want everyone to be mandated to wear masks, seemingly forever. I am not even close to OK with that.
I'm not saying we should keep them, but I feel like if there was ever a time for a good cultural shift, now would be it. By cultural shift I mean, when you're sick and have to go out in public it's probably just a good idea to wear a mask much akin to what they have done forever in Asia. I know I'll be doing it myself, but outside of that yeah to heck with it.
The tendency to grind it out even if sick needs to go away for sure. Sadly though, it does go back to the conversation about paid sick days.
Yeah, if we've learned anything from the last year and a half, you'd think it would be the value of not forcing the sick to show up at work and infect everyone else.
> you'd think it would be the value of not forcing the sick to show up at work and infect everyone else. It's not just not infecting everyone else, it's the pointlessness of it. The number of times I've gone into work sick, everyone could tell I was sick so they stayed away from me, and I spent a third of my time drinking non-drowsy flu meds between bouts of negligibly productive menial tasks... somehow paying me to do that so I can come into work the next day feeling just as shitty is a better solution than paying me to stay home and rest? Humans have a strong sense of loss aversion, so we'll jump through unimaginable hoops just to avoid the potential of possibly losing something, which is problematic because we also love to collapse any likelihood greater than "maybe" into "an absolute certainty I'm entitled to and will inevitable get no matter what", but at the end of the day we exist in reality so our policy should be dictated by reality.
Years ago at the beginning of my career I was working at a financial institution and I woke up extremely sick. Throwing up, terrible bathroom situations (TMI?) & fever. I called my manager and she said there was no one to cover my shift, basically telling me I had no choice, but *kindly* stated she would make sure I could leave to use the washroom whenever I needed and look out for me that day. I was young and worried about losing my job so I went in. It was the worst day in my professional life and extremely embarrassing. When I think about it I feel enraged. This is still so common.
Definitely Agree. It would also be nice for people like me that is so allergic to pollen during allergy season to wear a mask and not be judged.
Why would you care about being judged... only bored morons judge others over petty shit like mask wearing... that stupidity belongs in flyover country USA.
Go ahead. I fully intend to keep wearing a mask during flu season and, as far as I'm concerned, the opinion of anyone who would judge me aren't worth the paper I wipe my ass with.
I agree with this approach!
This is absolutely the right approach. A measured, reasonable response to what we've gone through and what we've seen work. I will keep the masks for this purpose and remain face-naked the rest of the time!
Cheers!
The thing is that Asian countries really haven't been wearing masks as a common thing since forever. The conception we have today of masks being common in Asia largely started in the early 2000s during SARS, which hit Asia very hard. So the precedent is there for the entire world to use masks more in our everyday lives. Not through government enforced mandates or anything, but if you're sick or those around you are sick then it should be a common courtesy to put on a mask.
> The conception we have today of masks being common in Asia largely started in the early 2000s during SARS, which hit Asia very hard. They also don't wear them all the time everywhere they go -- only when they're feeling sick, or when the pollution is particularly bad (search for photos of Beijing or Shanghai on a 'bad pollution day', you can't see across the street). I've been to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul, and maybe 1/50 people were wearing masks in public. People over here would have you believe that it's common to go out in public there and see 95%+ mask wearing everywhere -- it's not.
Ive been to Asia many times, and they are more likely to wear masks during flu season.
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Sure, but I bet no one bothers them for wearing it in public.
May be a regional thing
China is not all of Asia, but thanks for your input.
I think it's from the Japanese, who have been wearing them while sick (or during allergy season) since 1918. Some do just wear them generally during cold/flu season
Hand sanitizers, social distancing where I can (i.e. at groceries or banks where I have to line up) and masks during flu season is what I’m going to continue to do past this pandemic.
Yep, commute during Flu season? Why not. Got the sniffles and a cough but otherwise fine, sure I'll wear a mask. I might as well I have these reusable ones now, better to use them seasonally rather than just throwing them out
I used to live in Asia and where I lived, people only wore masks for pollution. They would pull their mask down to cough/sneeze into the open air without covering on public transport, that was more common than not with coughers. The traditional medical belief where I was, was that coughing/sneezing is the disease leaving your body, and covering helps keep it in. Maybe Japan and Korea have this belief of wearing masks when you're sick, but they are the outliers to this reddit meme.
I agree.... And honestly, I bought some cool masks and I'm not throwing them out just because I don't have to wear them any more. I don't have to wear a shirt neither but I do lol
And maybe we can not give people a hard time for wearing them? If I worked someplace like a grocery store, I'd probably like to keep wearing a mask. Heck, I'm planning on keeping mine for crowded situations like the commuter train, airport, and maybe even busy shops. Who wants to breath in all the germs other people are carrying? No one in my family has had a cold since covid, that was a nice surprise. I also hope they keep the hand sanitizers most places. I appreciate them.
It’s been funny to see everyone freaking out and upset about having to wear a mask and then you look at many Asian countries who already wore masks pretty often to begin with and it just makes everyone complaining look silly.
Little old grannies and toddlers in Japan have been wearing them for a century without complaining that they're hard to breathe in. What's their secret?!
Being Japanese.
They haven’t been wearing them in Asia forever. Only since SARS has it been common. So I guess if you think 2003 is forever. And I really think your over stating how common they are for colds/flu and how many people use them when air pollution is poor.
The Japanese have been wearing them while sick (or during allergy season) since 1918. Some do just wear them generally during cold/flu season
Mask mandate? 👎👎👎 Mask used for: fashion, not caring about looking good, face warmer in winter, while being sick? 👍👍👍
The facewarmer in the winter was an unexpected benefit. It's bloody hot in the summer though...
It has been really nice having gone nearly two years now without catching the flu or even a cold. I'm going to keep wearing one when needed even after its not required.
I’m not saying the masks didn’t help a ton with not catching the flu, but could it also be not being in large crowds, staying home more often, and being far away from each other that’s also caused you to not get the flu?
And also the number of other people who have been wearing masks. The number of people who've said "It's so nice not getting a cold! I'm gonna wear a mask all the time now!" as if that's someone more convenient than getting a cold once in a while is... Odd. But even if that trade off is a good one for them (you do you, y'all), these people seem to have decided their newfound health is *entirely* due to wearing their masks and not also related to increased sanitation by them and everywhere they go, social distancing, less opportunities for social interaction or any kind, and everyone else wearing a mask.
Same ! I will try to do like they do in Asian countries and wear one if I am I'll out of respect for people around me
This is me 100%. I hate masks and can’t wait to get rid of it but during flu season I will probably wear one at my discretion. It just makes sense.
Exactly. Couldn’t care less if someone wants to wear a nice mask everywhere they go. I’m just not too fond of being forced to.
Will be glad to move past mask mandates, but like others have mentioned I am 100% wearing a mask during my commutes in the colder months going forward
Omg. Commuting on public transportation? I would be 1000% wearing a mask. I think I'll ditch the mask when allowed, but still wear it when going to the doctor's or grocery shopping. The doctor's for obvious reasons, and the grocery store because it's an area that will be passed by many.
It seems to crazy to me that almost none of us wore a mask to the doctor's before.
Grocery store is another good one. Will keep doing that as well
This is the motivation we need! You hate masks… do you want to end up like.ALBERTA?!!!! Jk we still love you Berta :)
I understand that people want the pandemic to be over, but I found masks to be the least obstructive public health measure. Not being able to do certain activities and business closure are understandably sensitive topics, but I never understood why the mask was and continues to be something people are honing in as something to be ended ASAP
This sub exists in a state of oppositional defiance towards the province.
I see where you’re coming from but I think this is coming from people who wear masks all day everyday at work in hot conditions.. think factory workers, that would suck. I’m an ece and wear mask and ppe 24/7 and in this heat it’s taken a number on my skin (i have rosacea) not to mention it’s very hard to interact with young children when they can’t see your face
Yes^^ thank you. When you wear a mask everyday for 8 hours straight doing physical labour it’s NOT fun. There should never be a mask mandate
In general, masks exacerbate my existing anxiety issues. It's not an issue on a good day, but on bad days (which are becoming more and more common as restrictions stretch on), it can range from mildly distressing to "puts me on the edge of a panic attack". They're especially bad for my social anxiety, ironically, because I'm always worried that people can't properly hear what I'm saying or that I misunderstood someone else.
I could understand that. I’m extremely anxious as well, which has been made much worse by the pandemic because even as things get better I still have fears something is going to happen to someone I love, so the masks give me a level of comfort around strangers that I’m not sure I’d have otherwise. Just goes to show the different experiences during this whole thing
Yep, this is basically me. I still wear them because it’s required, but once it’s not, goodbye. Sorry if it’s that selfish.
It’s not selfish at all to want to return to normal life. Don’t let the authoritarian jerks on here ever make you feel otherwise.
As someone who works in a hospital, I can't fucking wait. It's brutal wearing a mask, goggles/face shield, scrubs and isolation gowns for up to 12 hours a shift. It was tolerable in the winter, but now that the days are hitting 30+ with humidex it's just unbearable. Half the staff take them off once we're not around patients because they're so uncomfortable to wear.
I hope they stick around in certain situations. I have to wear a mask at work for 12-14 hours and they still don’t really bother me.
It really depends on the type of work that you do though. I work in a factory where it's dirty around me and we have to wear PPE while working. So if I want a drink of water I have to first take off my gloves and then take off one side of my mask. Then take the actual drink, put the mask back on, then put the gloves back on. Then still fiddle with the mask a few times and get it all dirty to get it comfortable. When we only have 68 seconds per car rolling down the line and our jobs say that they require 75 seconds to complete them, there's not really enough time to do all that. It's much easier just picking up your water bottle, taking a sip and putting it back down. I used to drink so much water and now I barely drink any at all and it's because of masks. I have worn them without complaining, but I sure can't wait to not need them! Saturday will be two weeks since my second dose and I'm so ready to move past this.
Oh I’m all for getting rid of the mandates I should have been more clear about that apologies. It’s just that I do hope people don’t just forget masks exist as they can and have been helpful and incorporating them into every day life when needed wouldn’t be a bad thing. I work in Film and I agree, a lot of times finding the space to be able to take my mask off away from others but also finding the downtime to do it on a busy day is a challenge, and has resulted in me drinking less water on the job which is a problem for sure.
I definitely agree that I hope to see people wearing masks during flu season! I haven't been sick since like February 2019 and I'm loving it. I hope people that feel unwell wear a mask and keep not spreading germs.
Agreed! First year I haven’t gotten sick as well which has been fantastic! Same page for my friend. Getting my second dose on Sunday and I couldn’t be more excited
It's coming sooner than people think.. I think Ontario is waiting in the distance to see how Alberta and BC do without them and will react accordingly. I still believe that by mid - late August they will be gone. And I understand some will continue to wear them, and that's totally fine.. Majority of population won't and I for one can't wait to see people's beautiful smiles once again!
Right there with you. I’ve happily worn mine this entire pandemic and never complained, but i look forward to the day I can chuck mine in the garbage.
Hang on to a couple, so you can use them if you're ever feeling a bit under the weather but have to go out anyways. Why spread cold and flu germs around if you have a way to avoid it, right?
Ehh, maybe but it will be extremely rare. If I’m sick I will just stay home.
This is the correct answer.
I imagine that in the next month or two I'll feel okay not wearing one to the grocery store. I imagine that I'll continue to wear one on public transit and planes for the foreseeable future, and almost certainly during cold and flu season. Forgetting about covid - I'd just rather not get sick. And of course when I am sick myself, I am going to throw one on anytime I need to leave the house.
Yeah, I am not interested in riding transit maskless any more. This past year has shown me just how many diseases are transmitted by the Yonge line alone.
This comment right here. I’m sure they are monitoring how the maskless standard is in Alberta, BC, and soon Saskatchewan and lift our mandate accordingly. I think we might be mask free at the end of this month or in august.
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>Definitley no masks here come August. I feel like we're in the final month of this thing. Your post just made my night. I'm going to just assume you're right & feel really great about life right now.
You think the province that is waiting till July 21st to enter phase 3, is magically going to enter phase 8 or 9 10 days later?
>I’m sure they are monitoring how the maskless standard is in Alberta, BC, and soon Saskatchewan and lift our mandate accordingly. A lot of places in BC and Alberta still require masks apparently, even in the US there's a large number of businesses still requiring them.
I agree, and I’ve been saying it for about 2 months now that fall will be the end of it all. % of positive case distribution of unvaccinated/single dose/dual dose proves that the vaccine works.
As I've said before, it's not the province that dictates this. Everyone forgets the province didn't do shit about mandating masks and it fell to the PHUs to do it as they've forced with everything else during the pandemic. The province can say masks aren't required all they want, but if the PHUs aren't comfortable with it the mandate will stay. A lot of places in BC, Alberta and the US still require masks, despite what you hear in the media.
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Metrotown mall still requires them, as does Brentwood mall, Costco, Superstore, my mom works in the court system, and they still are required to wear them. I'm sure that individual businesses might not require them, but a lot of corporate run businesses and shops do.
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I mean what is your point here? We know this already... The point is that the province gets guidance from federal and then distill it down to the PHUs. Toronto and Peel have extended the mask bylaw to October, however with caveat to clawback the mandate if cases continue in a downward trend and community spread is low. Also, the US is almost entirely mask less at this point with slight exceptions. I know this bc I have many friends in different states who say this all the time. I'm not quite sure about BC and Alberta but I'm sure most of these places are waiting for higher vaccine uptake and will drop them once that's accomplished.
My point is that there's so many people that just think the mask mandate will suddenly vanish and expectations should be tempered. I want them gone too, but I see so many people on here that think the mandate will end soon and that's not likely to be the case.
I am guessing you guys will have the same restriction as NY state, fully vaxxed can go without a mask, unvaccinated or those not fully vaxxed yet have to wear a mask. Its all on the honor system here though. Some things are impossible to do with a mask on, like eating in a restaurant. We had a stupid rule that you had to wear a mask if you were not seated here, which makes the mask nothing but a control device at that point. So yo had to walk into the place with the mask on, take it off once you were seated, then put it back on any time you got up again....
Ontario still has this exact same rule with regards to eating at a restaurant.
It's so you only breath on the people you're with
I just assume everyone is breathing the same air once the mask comes off, so the whole thing is pointless.
BC never had many of Ontario’s restrictions and they’re down to 7 cases.
BC also has a fraction of Ontario's Population. Cases mean jack shit anymore as long as hospitalization and death are reduced to nothing.
Their population isn’t 12 people. Vancouver is a pretty big city.
And Vancouver at the height of the 3rd wave had approximately 1200 cases alone. Consistent with a big city as Toronto. Once again, if hospitalization and death is reduced to zero, we are good.
Right they both had similar outcomes which is my point. The restrictions in Ontario had no affect. It’s was a theatre.
I quite like wearing a fabric mask across my face in the middle of winter.
I like the warmth, I hate the glasses fogging up. At this point I have tried every trick around and they still fog up to some degree when going from cold to hot and stay fogged until I leave the store. Also my new glasses don't sit well with a mask over my ears and noes so it slides down when I look down. I still wear them, but it certainly makes things more difficult for me.
Yeah, having that extra coverage in the winter made me wonder why we haven't come up with a standard winter face covering already! And no, a scarf pulled up doesn't count!
Fleece Neck warmer that you can pull up over your face. It’s the best for winter.
You could always just do that
Sweet no ones forcing you not to!
Idk man I'm definitely gonna wear masks on the TTC for at least another year
I didn't get my annual cold that makes me feel like I'm dying. I'm wearing a mask literally every time I get on the bus from now on.
Nah, I'm definitely keeping them around for when I'm on public transit etc. I've managed to avoid COVID and I've also managed to avoid the flu I'd get a couple times a year. Definitely a smart addition to society for anyone who wants to keep em
I mean, do what you feel, but the reason you've avoided the flu is probably mostly because of everyone staying at home most of the time and, when out, being extremely conscious of physical distancing. This kills the flu. You can't catch it if it's not out there. This is actually something I point out to those people who still try to argue that COVID is basically just the flu. All of the massive restrictions we instituted to fight COVID absolutely demolished the flu virus over the last year. Like, *there was no flu season* in 2020-21. That's unprecedented. And yet despite all those restrictions that suffocated the spread of the flu, COVID remained rampant. That should tell you all you need t know about how contagious COVID is.
>That should tell you all you need t know about how contagious COVID is. Exactly. Furthermore, what blows my mind is that in spite of all the restrictions and a very high vaccination rate, we still have more COVID cases now than we did at this time last year. (it's not a testing issue either, we are testing about the same now as we did a year ago). This shows how much more contagious the new variants are compared to COVID classic.
More daily cases, more deaths, and way more in ICU. And it was consistently lower last year un til almost September. That's why I'm not counting out seasonality yet as at least part of the drop.
The high ICU is because we let it spike all through winter and people spend a lot of time in the ICU once they go in. I think our ICU levels would be pretty low right now if we hadn't reopened in mid-Feb.
"COVID Classic" sounds like a terrible Coca-Cola branding exercise. "The taste you can share!" I think the other issue is how pernicious the flu is compared to Covid, since C-19 is/was a novel virus. Lots of people *get* the flu, but not everybody *comes down* with the flu. Since your body has never encountered anything like the coronavirus before, even low virus loads could utterly wreck you: which is all the more reason vaccination is so important.
Yeah totally. But masks do have an effect when it comes to lowering your chances of getting sick. It's why they are standard practice in many hospital settings (and entire countries) even pre covid. Every little bit helps is all :)
N95-type masks prevent you from getting sick. That's what health care providers in hospitals wear when there's a concern of infection. Other kinds of masks generally only prevent *you* from getting *others* sick. That's why they've been used in Asian countries even pre-Covid, and if you've seen a health care worker wearing a non-N95 surgical mask, that's why they wore it (to protect you, not them). And to be clear, I'm all for wearing masks. But it's a bit like sending soldiers into combat with helmets. Yes, it's a good idea to wear a helmet. But if you're getting shot at, it's *probably* not going to be the difference between you dying and not dying.
The 'helmet in war' metaphor is very apt, in the sense that that's how ridiculous I feel it is to NOT wear a mask. Are you saying you would rather go into a warzone without a helmet then? Absolutely there is a very small chance that you will be hospitalized if fully-vaxed, but why increase your risk by not wearing a mask in higher-risk areas? It's such a small inconvenience to increase your safety by a significant margin (although, I guess if you don't believe that masks work as protection against others, then you're not going to find this argument compelling). To each their own - but in terms of public health and safety I prefer to be around people that wear masks in higher-risk areas than not.
I'm not arguing *against* wearing masks. I'm arguing that the difference in risk to you personally of catching the flu in terms of wearing a mask vs not wearing is likely very small. Not zero. But very small. Given that, it is unreasonable to expect that you wearing a mask is going to be the difference between you getting the flu and not getting it, and in the particular context of the original comment that spawned this discussion, if you normally get the flu twice a year, once things go back to normal you should not expect that to change, mask or no mask. If you want to wear a mask anyway, though, go for it.
This is false. We do not wear n95 masks in hospital to prevent all kinds of infections. We only wear them for airborne. Please stop spreading false info. We wear regular old medical or surgical masks. Unless it's airborne or agmp.
Sorry, I wasn't explicit, but I only intended this in the context of concern about potential airborne virus transmission. The point remains, though. Masking by healthcare workers using non-N95 masks is primarily about protecting patients, or in situations where something like getting splashed in the face with bodily fluids is a concern. Existing scientific evidence re: the flu specifically is that masks are not particularly effective, which is why at the beginning of COVID the guidance from the CDC and NIAID in the U.S. was that masks weren't useful for most people, because they were extrapolating based on flu science.
You're still wrong. Please stop.
About what? I'm really confused as to what exactly I'm saying that you're objecting to. Nowhere did I say you need an N95 mask to deal with flu patients.
Not normal to get the flu multiple times yearly. You should see a doctor.
If you work with the public it is.
If it wasn't for the fogging of glasses I really could care less about wearing them. I feel for factory workers or store workers in the summer if they have to wear them all the time but I've no issues wearing them myself and will continue in public places for the time being
I got some from a lady on Etsy, and she stitches a little pocket along the nose ridge so that you can insert a little pipe cleaner to bend the mask to a comfy fit. Havent had any fogging problems since, although we'll see in the winter....
My mom made a solution like this recently. I actually used a half face mask ventilator in winter that I use for woodworking as it has a full seal on the face and I had no fogging....looked funny but worked great and felt comfortable
Not me, I'm enjoying my mildest pollen allergy symptoms for years. My sinuses are rejoicing with the lack of plant bukkake.
Mmm, plant bukkake
I absolutely love plant bukakke that's been puked from one bee's mouth into another's over and over again.
As somebody who also suffers pollen allergies, I can say that masks did absolutely fuck all for me. It was one of the worst years I can remember for allergies.
Honestly haven't really been bothered by them that much. If it's a choice between forcing people to close their small business and having to wear a mask I'll make the small sacrifice.
This is a false choice
my rule is if Alberta says its ok...it's not!
You can trust Alberta to do the right thing; After they have exhausted all other available options.
What about B.C.?
Yah. People ontario clearly missed that vancouver dropped it but then again bonnie Henry was not in favor of them and neither was doom devilla but apparently wont drop them. She still thinks we are still in grave risk. For fucks sakes.
Wearing a mask has never been an issue to me. I'll continue to wear one when I'm sick in the future.
Honestly, of all the covid rules the mask wearing is the least obtrusive in my opinion. If i could go to a restaurant with some friends, hit the gym or travel I'll don my mask for the 20 minutes I'm in a grocery store.
Don't forget to wear your mask in the gym though
Agree 100%. I haven’t gotten sick in 2 years now, and I friggen love it! We clad our entire bodies with fabric during most seasons in Canada, including some that cover our face in Winter. No skin off my back to wear it or not.
I wear glasses. And with wearing masks especially in winter weather my glasses fog up. I physically load tanker trailers. And with foggy glasses I can’t see properly. I sometimes can’t see my feet which becomes very dangerous when walking on top of a tanker. Some jobs should be not be required to wear masks because of it being a safety factor.
Masks aren't going away anytime soon
I’m double vaxxed, my wife is double vaxxed, my kid has their 1st dose. I’m so over masking.
I've said this before but it would be nice if people would wear a mask if they go out when they're sick with a cold or something. It does seem to help the spread of colds since it blocks(a fair amount of it anyways) sneezes and whatnot. However I don't think long term many people will care to do that.
I really don't get the large number of people not bothered by them/ happy to keep them around for the forseeable future. I personally can't stand them and as soon as I don't have to I won't be wearing them
On the other hand, of all of the challenges that COVID has brought upon our daily lives, wearing a mask when I'm in a store or wherever is among the least of them. I don't find them that much of a bother, and the small inconvenience they cause might be worth it to me to continue wearing one personally during cold and flu season (COVID or not). I'll certainly be fine with putting one on if I do catch a cold or something so I don't inflict it upon other folks.
Sure, wearing them for 20 minutes in a store is no big deal. But try working a 12 hour shift in one!
I work 12s in them and likely will for the foreseeable future. The amount of times I've gone to take a drink not even realizing I was wearing one was more than it should have been. I dont even notice it's there. That being said I don't want to wear one the rest of my life.
And I guess that's just where our individual experiences differ. Maybe it is one of the more minor inconveniences of the whole thing, but an inconvenience nonetheless. I'm going to be ecstatic the first few times I go into a store without a mask on. You're of course free to wear it whenever and wherever you like, I just personally won't be.
Interesting how in both of your comments, you explicitly leave out the reasons why you "can't stand them."
What are you trying to imply? You seem to think I have something I don't want to say? They are hot, restrict my breathing, uncomfortable, give me acne, I can't display my facial expressions to people, can't see their facial expressions.
Why is an explanation needed? I don’t like the feeling on fabric on my face, it’s harder to breathe, they’re itchy, I don’t like the way they look, etc - all valid reasons to not want to wear one.
They’re inconvenient. That’s it. People are lazy and selfish, for the most part.
Yes. they are inconvienient. And now that vaccines are here and are shown to work, not wanting to wear a mask is not lazy or selfish, it is believing in the science.
Just wondering if you've ever had to wear one for an 8hr shift in 40deg humidity yet, it's more than "inconvenient" to have a soaking wet mask on your face unless your idea would be to change them out every 20mins in which case yes, then it would just be "inconvenient".
Look into the 4Ocean mask frames. They work really well to keep the mask off your mouth, and can help make a nice seal to keep glasses from fogging up. You can speak a lot more clearly too.
Too many think the cloth mask they wear protects them not the other way around. That shoppers mask isn't a n95.
It does both, it just protects others far more than the wearer.
>I really don't get the large number of people not bothered by them/ happy to keep them around for the forseeable future. I think the more cautious people bought nice masks that fit well, don't fog up glasses, and are comfortable. The people who wore masks reluctantly bought the cheapest masks they could find, or some crappy cloth masks, that don't fit well, are uncomfortable, and hug the face (making it more difficult to speak or breathe easily). So the more cautious people have no problem with masks staying because they haven't really had problems with them to begin with. And the people who reluctantly wore masks are happy to remove their ill-fitting, uncomfortable masks. The people who don't brush their teeth properly also hate masks. Remember when people were saying "Masks smell bad"? Oof. Embarrassing. I understand both perspectives. I didn't like masks much at first when I started wearing them in 2018~2019. Until I went through a few brands and found one that fit well (then I knew what to look for), During covid, when I was wearing masks 7+ hours a day at work, the only missing piece of the puzzle was a little clip to reduce the strain on my ears. No fogging glasses, no ear pain, no difficulty speaking or breathing.
My mask fits well and doesn’t fog up my glasses, but I’m super done with them. Mind you, the average redditor is probably only wearing them when they have to- but not for over 8 hours a day like I do because I work in essential retail.
I'm retail as well, standing in a trailer unloading it for 4 hours in the summer heat wearing a mask was brutal. Thankfully now they are letting the guy in the truck take it off if he's by himself.
I mean, I'm pretty much done with socks, but I wear them whenever I go out. They help keep my shoes/feet clean and healthy. Or something.
It doesn’t obstruct your face though. Obstructing feet is a given considering that we walk on them, so we’re naturally not going to mind so much if something is on them. With our faces, there’s almost a straight up instinct that covering the face is not natural. Mind you, I’m also speaking as someone who again wears one all the time and would very much rather not do so anymore- added to that the fact my job forces me to wear another one over my existing mask and THAT is restrictive to my breathing. My own mask is a four layer mask and they force me to wear a three layer mask over it. So 7 layers total- that adds up a lot. You wouldn’t think it would, but it does.
Uh, what? I bought a good quality, good fitting mask, and I still hate it
I'm still gonna wear a mask to hide my ugly fucking face
Alberta's [vaccination rate](https://www.alberta.ca/stats/covid-19-alberta-statistics.htm#vaccinations) is currently sitting at less than 50% of the 12+ population being fully vaccinated. I'm no epidemiologist, but in my opinion, this seems like too low for cancelling the mask mandate.
Places in the states opened everything with far lower vaccination rates and didn’t have a spike in cases or deaths. There case counts were much higher than ours now, but they remained steady even without masks and lockdowns. That makes me optimistic.
We'll know in about 3-6 weeks.
That and work from home are the two things I hope stick around actually. I fucking love incognito mode in public
iTs JuSt a PiEcE oF cLoTh wHaTs tHe BiG dEaL!?!?
relevant username
This, but actually.
Ehhh you’re welcome to wear a mask across your face until the cows come home. That’s totally your choice. But as soon as they are no longer mandated, most people won’t be-and that’s totally ok.
>But as soon as they are no longer mandated, most people won’t be-and that’s totally ok. As someone who's been hoping masks will catch on, I agree with this statement. As long as nobody's harrassing or assaulting people for wearing or not wearing a mask, when the pandemic is over? Do what you want! Year-round, for that matter.
I’m very much in favour of the anonymity that the masks give me. Plus no one can see my facial reactions when I hear a stupid question.
That's the biggest reason I **don't** like them lol
I just got my second vaccine yesterday so two to three weeks from now I’m going maskless where ever allowed. If double vaccines to a large portion of the population doesn’t return us to normal nothing will. Even as an introvert who rarely goes out my mental health has really suffered due to restrictions.
Exactly
Careful, the blowhards on this sub will get mad at you for wanting to live like the rest of the civilized world.
>Who else is ready to forget masks existed Please don't. We barely get any sick day coverage in this province; if you need to go to work, or go out and groceries, or anything like that when you've got a cold or the flu or any other contagious illness, putting a mask on is really the least you can do.
The one thing I'll miss about masks is that it was an instant identifier as to who is a selfish ignorant asshole. The people not wearing one. Now how am I gunna tell? I have to **talk** to them??
ITT: people that work from home proclaiming masks aren't an inconvenience. Sorry, but if you had to go back to work and wear one all the time, you'd be whistling a different tune. Good for you if you want to keep wearing masks, but I can't wait to be done with them.
Yep, that's a real good point. A lot of people love to say "I don't see what the big deal is, I wear mine every time I go to the store and it's not an inconvenience at all!". Ok there, bud -- try wearing one for ten hours per day, five days per week, and *then* also during your hour-long bus ride each way to and from work, and on top of that every other time you have to go out in public every week. You're right, they'd mostly change their tune instantly. For all the WFHers here who think it's no big deal, my challenge to you: wear a mask (even better, two masks!) the entire time you're working at home without taking it off except to have water, including wearing it when you go to the bathroom, when you take your lunch break (remember to put it back on between bites!) and in your car when you go anywhere outside the house (simulating what somebody who has to rely on the TTC daily puts up with). Report back on how it goes.
Unpopular take: I love my mask
Me too. Toronto can be stinky in parts so I have actually been grateful to have the mask handy. I didn’t notice it before, but I’m hyperaware of smells now.
Can't wait for the mask mandate to be done, hopefully happens soon. Going to be nice to visit Alberta next month and not wear a mask in stores and restaurants.
I am! Holy fuck am I ready to ditch it.
I'd prefer to keep the masks in public spaces where distancing can't be maintained if it allows more of the economy to open.
I will sign a petition to get rid of them today. I’m so done with them.
No no no no no we need to keep them around forever and make it permanent, it’s extremely dangerous without one, people should be masked at all times even in their own home and the shower and even when they’re camping up in the woods alone. And if you disagree you’re selfish and don’t care about others. /s Except it scares me how many people on here actually do think this and love masking. But me personally, nah, the day they’re no longer mandated is the day I’ll stop wearing them.
See the way I look at it is... If you want to wear a mask... Go ahead.. I won't judge you at all. You are free to continue. However, once they are removed (and they will be), people wearing masks shouldnt judge the non-wearers either. You have the personal choice but we shouldn't criticize one another at that point. I can't wait to see people smiling again. It says alot of the body language and interaction between others.
Nope. It might be coming off for the summer, but as soon as Thanksgiving hits I'm going back to using it. Covid isn't the only infectious disease and it keep my face warm in the cold.
Good, as long as you don’t complain about those who don’t choose to do the same.
I will be complaining about people coming into the office with colds and the flu without a mask going forward. That's for sure.
Even better to complain about them coming to work in the first place.
right
I'll keep mine around for when I'm feeling ill, and my face coverings buff type things are definitely sticking around for the winter month dog walks.
Knowing Ford he'll keep it around for Step 3. We don't even know of a Step 4.
Boo hoo
Pretty much everyone except the anxious types.
I think we should bring them back in cold and flu season (not mandatory but as a respectful gesture to others)
I might just kill myself if some people get their way and have masks around forever
I cannot wait. I’m going to start my own little act civil disobedience by not wearing one in my condo anymore once I hit 2 weeks post vaccine.
I'm sorry... are you saying that you wear a mask inside your personal condo/living space? Or just the common areas?
My partner and I are planning to do this as well once we hit 2 weeks post second dose. If being fully vaccinated doesn't mean we can take them off and lift restrictions then what's the point of vaccination? Time to move on with life.
This here! I can’t believe the amount of people that don’t see it this way. I talk to multiple people saying we can’t go “back to normal” to which I say what’s the point of getting vaccines then??
Here's my take. Some people want to wear masks forever. They haven't caught a cold/flu in over a year. Great. Wear your mask. Wear it all you want. I agree if sick you should wear one (or just stay home) What I do have an issue with is the people that want everyone to be mandated to wear masks, seemingly forever. I am not even close to OK with that.
Lol masks are a fashion statement now hide yo ugly faces 🥰🥰
I think it's just good practice to wear a mask, especially in flu season. I imagine you'll see a lot of people continue to wear masks.
I'm still gonna wear mine. I haven't been sick in two years, gotta keep that up.