I still wear a mask when going out to stores because I’m immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant. It’s ultimately up to me to protect myself from others but what bothers me most lately are people who either laugh or think I’m stupid for still wearing a mask. Some even go as far as to call me out and shame me for it. Can people just mind their own business? I’m not trying to get them to wear a mask so why are they so fixated on me taking mine off?
I still wear a mask because I stand in soldiartiy with folks like you.
Not only do I want to prevent the spread of the disease that could kill immune compromised folks like yourself, but it also helps normalize mask wearing.
Thank you. I genuinely appreciate you and others who do this. ❤️
Genuinely, I think it’s probably because they feel a little guilty when they see you wearing one, and that’s uncomfortable for people, so they respond by taking it out on you.
Yeah, you’re probably right. They see someone wearing a mask, they feel bad, they decide the person wearing the mask made them feel bad.
Same. I never stopped wearing a mask because I’m immunocompromised from my lung transplant. People call me names all the time. Even here on Lemmy.
Protect yourself first, never apologize.
People that call you names are also telling you they don’t have your back and do not care if they give you covid or if you die from it.
I find this hard to believe. Especially considering that your post history shows you calling others names like ‘simp’.
Wonder why these comments replying to me were removed…
To distract themselves from their own problems.
This is why I started exclusively wearing kn95s because it became clear after a time that people simply don’t give a shit about anyone except themselves, they don’t care if you or I get covid and die.
So I stopped pretending like I’m doing my part since we all know surgicals and cloth masks are only truly effective if everyone else is wearing them. They know too but choose to fuck us anyway. So fuck them too and protect yourself first. Wear your p100 respirator with the exhaust vents that filter nothing for extra vindictive points
P100 is the best. Ain’t no fart going around that filter.
I was refused service at my bank the other day for not taking off my mask when they asked. They never had a problem with me being masked up before, even when I opened the account. I went and used mobile deposit instead, but it was a really disturbing precedent. I wrote in asking about their policy and instead of a straight answer I was dodged by management.
I don’t want to sue them or anything, I just want them to come to their senses and not prohibit me from making a deposit to my account because I don’t want to get sick.
I wrote in asking about their policy and instead of a straight answer I was dodged by management.
I feel like over the last few years organisations in general have become far more likely to try to just brush off an issues someone raises than just cleanly and easily address them.
Not just the last few years, that’s just how the system is set up in general; companies are rewarded for reaching over a wider population, not for the quality of the established coverage. They need to keep growing or die.
It’s more financially incentivized to put time to get at least a handful of new customers onboard than it is to address the grievances of a single customer, so the quality of marketing gets boosted while customer support gets shafted. Any public negative feedback can be drowned out by the larger pool of customers that aren’t involved in any direct interactions with the company, and there’s also the classic astroturfing + plausible deniability combo for good measure to maintain that public trust.
Honestly, I am not immunocompromised and I still wear a mask because I haven’t gotten sick since the pandemic started, and it even helps my sinus’ when I’m cleaning the house. I’ve never been one to worry about what someone thinks of me, so I’m sorry if this comes off as tone deaf, but fuck ‘em. Why should you care about what they think about you? When was the last time you thought about that person who was doing something you thought was strange in the local mart? I will assume not until I just made you think about them. Live your life as safely as you want. For every moron out there trying to make fun of you (they can try, but ultimately they themselves just look foolish and stupid) there are more like me and the others who wear masks alongside you. Stay safe and have a good rest of your day!
For every moron out there trying to make fun of you (they can try, but ultimately they themselves just look foolish and stupid) there are more like me and the others who wear masks alongside you.
That does not match my experiences. Assuming you’re happy saying so, where in the world are you that this is true? Are they accepting new residents?
This is the same issue the LGBT community suffers from, as well as people of color, people with accents, etc. People always find ways to make themselves feel superior to others by pointing out something different. You choosing to wear a mask just makes those kinds of people laugh because they either 1. Feel better than you for not wearing masks or 2. They are uneducated/ignorant and follow others’ opinions without question.
I suppose the only way to turn it back around on them would be to try scaring them by saying you have something contagious like strep throat, or worse, so they’ll shut up and leave you alone. Otherwise my only other advice would be to just do your best to not engage with these types of people.
I suppose the only way to turn it back around on them would be to try scaring them by saying you have something contagious like strep throat, or worse, so they’ll shut up and leave you alone.
I do find that I suddenly feel like I need to clear my throat when this happens.
The thing that bothers me more is when they seem actively annoyed to see someone in a mask. Like somehow me wearing a mask in a shared public space in order to prevent someone from dieing horribly is unfair to this rando but this rando doesn’t think that them hacking and coughing everywhere in a shared public space without a mask on is unfair to anybody.
I really hoped that the mask stigma would change, but it’s sad to see it go this way. I might just start wearing a mask again to do my part to normalize it.
If people are sick, they should feel like it’s the right thing to do to wear a mask. It needs to be a normal thing and people that make fun of it are pieces of shit .
Someone called me a libtard under his breath, but loudly enough to make sure I heard…in a CANCER center, where many of us were having our immune systems weakened by chemo.
You can’t fix stupid so I don’t even try. I’ve been in remission for almost two years, I’m healthy and he’s out there sucking in viruses. We both have ticking clocks, but mine is ticking much more slowly than his is.
The lesson I’m learning is that we should have worn masks during “flu season” all along. In crowded and poorly ventilated spaces at least. It’s a cheap and easy measure and I don’t know what the BFD is with masks.
That’s the damn truth lol. I wish I would’ve known and used masks more appropriately before; could have avoided a bunch of little respiratory infections. The most I would have had to deal with is people asking “are you sick?” because I’m wearing a mask
Masks just aren’t inherently a big deal. It’s just been made one by people seeking to politicise what should be a universally accepted good (trying to stop the spread and harm of a pandemic/epidemic disease.) People have reframed it as “they” are trying to control you! So vote for me/buy my tat/give me attention and I will protect “us” from “them”! and just about everyone has been influenced in their response to this simple practical health issue in some way as a result. Some entirely buying into the message and insisting there’s some insidious reason we’re being asked to take simple actions to prevent infection, others simply being a little more lax in their action than they would be if there wasn’t a fairly large vocal minority insisting that no action should be taken at all.
They are a big deal. Acting like it’s not affecting your life is just as stupid as people saying the bill gates is creating a new world order it whatever. It affects our immune systems, it affects our social life’s and it’s more than annoying in certain climate conditions, if you have a runny nose etc.
I will always wear a mask if it’s necessary but not just out of pure precaution
Reusable masks I would suggest. We don’t want a huge pile of plastic waste.
Reusable masks only go so far. Any mask will reduce your risk of spreading the virus to others. But a good mask will do so far better, and only a good mask will protect you from infection from others.
For reusable masks, the only good ones either are either only good for a limited number of washes or require replacing a disposable filter the provides the actual protection (and so are mostly just holders for the disposable masks. It’s possible that the extra material saved using disposable filters vs disposable masks is not equal to the additional resources required to make the mask they fit into.)
Most reusable masks people wear tend to only provide ok protection for others and none for themselves. Often the ones I see provide very little protection for others and are really just a concession to following the word but not spirit of the rules.
I’d rather encourage people to use disposables that are usually far more effective than the reusables they would otherwise use personally.
The disposable masks are reusable until they’re dirty, worn or damaged. They shouldn’t be reused if you think you’ve been in a high exposure area but if you wear it while in the corner store for 2 minutes, you can safely reuse it.
- froghorse ( @froghorse@lemm.ee ) English2•1 year ago
They’re implanting masks in newborns now.
The lesson I leaned is that as long as it’s not a COVID everyone is dying, we need to save our healthcare system from collapsing situation we shouldn’t wear masks because we need to be able to fend off common colds with our body or we are artificially creating a pandemic. For example we almost had a new collapse of infant care because way to many babies for a certain flu type after everything opened up again which would normally spread out over longer periods.
But fuck it, let’s all just return to the office anyways. Amirite? SMH
Well yeah. If we don’t the landowners will lose money on all their ugly and useless office buildings and that would be sooo awful :(
I wonder how much of the wave is due to return to office
How many people haven’t returned? My company, and nearly everyone I know has been back for 2 years.
Here in Norway there was a marked shift to acceptance for more home office post-Corona. We did have stricter and longer restrictions than you guys though, and basically things didn’t go back to normal until winter 2022. At my work I’d say 80% do home office at least 1 day per week, and 30% do home office 4/5 days in the week (we have one mandatory office day per week). I’d also say that a few percent have taken that opportunity to do “quiet quitting” and essentially do nothing (joining meetings from the car in the middle of the day on their way to IKEA and stuff like that, never engaging in or starting initiatives by themselves etc.), but that’s on management for not getting rid of them.
Personally I still go 5/5 days by own choice, because I live right next by, prefer the ritual of switching into job/focus mode that it is to walk to the office, and like sitting in a separate place that has no distractions (compared to home, where I would take 5 minutes to do the dishes, take an extended trip to the grocery at lunch, etc) and that my brain only associates with working.
Just in time with school starting back up too for kids. A lot have already gone back, hence where I think the spike patterns originate.
- Chipthemonk ( @Chipthemonk@lemm.ee ) English3•1 year ago
Get over it. COVID is a lot more minor than anyone made out to be. Have you not had it yet? You will if you haven’t. And then you will get over it like a cold. COVID is over for good.
Covid put my healthy 26 yo friend in hospital when he caught it last year, and I have friends who took several years of suffering before they recovered from long covid. It’s definitely not as harmless as you’re implying.
Our track record dealing with covid shows us that our approach was largely unsuccessful. Masking must be enforced, not suggested. This is the only effective solution.
People were such dimwits about it though. Even if you had a security guard at the entrance to every shop challenging people to wear properly fitted n95s, I’m certain heaps of people would remove it after they walked past just on principle.
Yeah it was a shitshow, all because of how politicized it became. No one in 2018 would have thought that asking people to wear a face mask would become such an embarrassing ordeal.
But trust me, it’s easy to catch a mask less person in a store. It shouldn’t take more than a couple incidents before they learn their lesson and make an example for others.
“Police are bad unless it is to arrest people over a mask”
Thanks for coming over from reddit
Police are bad because they don’t serve the interests of the community
- socsa ( @socsa@lemmy.ml ) 15•1 year ago
I tend to agree, but realistically who is going to enforce it? You’ve got to take into consideration the impact the constant stream of conflict has on low level employees who end up responsible for this enforcement. For those who want to protect themselves, N95 masks are highly effective when used properly.
You also need to wear eye protection. Even just regular, prescription glasses showed a 30% reduction in infection rates. Masks don’t protect if other people wont also wear them.
- AnarchoYeasty ( @AnarchoYeasty@beehaw.org ) 6•1 year ago
Make good paying security jobs whose sole purpose is covid enforcement (joking) (maybe) (people who refuse to mask make me angry as fuck. It’s such a low effort way to save lives)
You mean like in China?
who is going to enforce it?
In an ideal world, the community. In our current world, the government must require businesses to require customers to wear masks and social distance, and threaten them with suspending their business if they do not comply.
the impact the constant stream of conflict has on low level employees who end up responsible for this enforcement
It will not be constant. Places where this was enforced strictly did not have that trouble. It is the wishy-washy enforcement that empowered people to do this. It will be a short lived protest that dies out quickly, and the suffering will be far easier than that of covid deaths.
For those who want to protect themselves, N95 masks are highly effective when used properly
From my understanding, it is not enough. A person sharing a public space with you and not wearing a mask poses a threat, and this threat is massive if they are carrying the virus (even if non-symptomatic).
People must not have the freedom to cause the death or others by spreading respiratory viruses due to childish irresponsibility because their favorite youtuber said so.
- Chipthemonk ( @Chipthemonk@lemm.ee ) English3•1 year ago
Read it. Then read it again.
You need to reread it more carefully.
You people need to be stopped, you are insane autoritarians. The crisis is over, we are but fin to wear mask forever. You had your time in the lime light, now it’s back to normal. Continue to abuse this position and you will not get the population to mobilise again to alleviate the situation.
Once again we see the abled throwing tantrums over the idea of having to suffer a mild discomfort so as to protect the lives of the disabled, especially the immunocompromised.
I have an aunt whose immune system has to be medicated into nonexistence at all times so it doesn’t wreck her body, and she is still fucked up from covid, months after “getting over” it and with multiple vaccine shots beforehand. How many people have you killed or left permanently ill, and never realised, in your selfish ignorance?
If there were any divine justice in this world, idiots like you would be smote with horrible autoimmune diseases or total organ failure, forced to go on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your lives, and live with the same fear you force on others, the fear that any “harmless” disease could be the death of you.
Stop bringing up imaginary malingerers to make your point, it’s as ridiculous as your magical man in the sky delivering justice
Your aunt would have to protect herself covid or no covid. Do you think microorganisms only appeared in the last 5 years?
Your last paragraph shows your true self and how “caring” you truly are.
- Chipthemonk ( @Chipthemonk@lemm.ee ) English4•1 year ago
You are very, very wrong.
Read this review. https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses
People like you shouldn’t live in the west. Fuck forcing people to wear a face rag when the science is far from clear on its effectiveness.
Curb your pseudo science. Use a real source.
Cochrane is a real source.
The report is being entirely misinterpreted. It does not make the claims regarding masks being ineffective that people think it does.
Here’s a statement from them to that effect: https://www.cochrane.org/news/statement-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses-review
- Chipthemonk ( @Chipthemonk@lemm.ee ) English1•1 year ago
Look at the date you dumb fuck. Then recognize that the Cochrane review is highly respected when it comes to public health science.
You people are ridiculous.
You ever gonna respond to people telling you your posts are a misrepresentation or are you just gonna call people dumb fucks? Kinda hard to trust someone posting like this.
And we can concentrate those who refuse in special camps!
We can tell them to make a real argument or expect no acknowledgement
Wear a Mask. Get vaccinated. Stop spreading misinformation
Since the anti-mask/vax comments seem to be flooding in, figured I’d make my opinion known too… as obnoxiously as I can, because apparently that’s how it’s done
- Whiskey Pickle ( @whiskeypickle@lemmy.ml ) English50•1 year ago
it’s interesting to see how common it is for people in NYC to still wear them sometimes, especially when on the subway (the air is shitty, so it makes sense).
I doubt it will be much of a problem here, except for those who always refused. yeah, it sucks, but it’s a lot better than getting sick— or dying.
especially when on the subway (the air is shitty, so it makes sense).
Man, having had easy access to some sort of mask for a long time now, I keep finding little situations where historically I’d be like “man, I wish I didn’t have to breath this shit, it can’t be good for me” where I just don’t breath those things anymore…
I’m trying to think of good examples but the only one that comes to mind is that in the rare instance I need to use bug spray I’m always glad I have a mask I can wear in case it floats my way.
- Whiskey Pickle ( @whiskeypickle@lemmy.ml ) English2•1 year ago
funny you say this… I often think, “have I been breathing this shit this whole time?” when I pull off a mask I’ve been wearing in the subway to wash it, and all this grime washes out
Public spaces often smell reaaal bad when you do have to take your mask off.
- Whiskey Pickle ( @whiskeypickle@lemmy.ml ) English2•1 year ago
what, you don’t like the smell of garbage and rat pee?
tourists… :P
covid or no covid, its not the worse thing to wear masks and stay safe!
It’s not the worst, but certainly not a pleasant experience at least in summer or winter. In summer your face gets all sweaty and disgusting and in winter I get a runny nose and the mask gets disgusting. If it’s not really necessary I’d rather don’t wear it.
- eskimofry ( @eskimofry@lemmy.ml ) 4•1 year ago
So it’s an inconvenience you would rather not put up with and let some old coot die.
I hope you also don’t drive a car since it’s just for your convenience and kills people
Ngl I kind of liked having a mask in the winter here in Canada. Never had to actually bring out a scarf
I saw a study a while back that claimed that good filtration and ventilation systems in indoor public places were more effective than masking. If that’s the case, what I’d like to see is subsidies for businesses and public buildings to get.new systems installed, as well as new minimum air quality standards for public spaces with inspections for enforcement.
Schools, get the schools some serious ventilation upgrades. Petri dishes full of cootie factories…
If we couldn’t achieve this when everyone was scared of covid, what makes you think we’ll pull it off now? This fight is lost. We’re just going to keep getting exposed to this shit, and take cardiac damage every time.
Politicians occasionally like to throw money at things (PPP loans and forgiveness), so maybe we could convince them to throw it this way.
Or we could do both and have even more protection.
Well so there’s the question: how much more effective is good ventilation than masking? I was under the impression that it’s, like, a lot. Orders of magnitude. Like if good ventilation was equivalent to seatbelts in cars, then masking would be wearing a helmet while driving.
But perhaps someone who is better at reading scientific results could find the study and come up with a better analogy for us laymen, in case my understanding is way off base. If it’s actually that masking is more like airbags, then I think people would be a lot more amenable to doing both.
Let me help you out.
Wearing a mask is like wearing a mask. It helps prevent spit and other large particulate matter from escaping your personal space. Some work better than others, some work almost not at all.
All are, at least, somewhat helpful in containing the spread of illness.
You can work with that information.
And despite masking, COVID spread all over the globe and killed a fuckload of people.
Would more people have died if there was no masking? Yes, absolutely.
But the question of interest is: how many fewer people would have died if we made a concentrated effort to improve ventilation in public spaces?
Maybe I’m completely missing your point, or maybe you’re just being snarky/contrarian and don’t really have a point, but it sounds like you are basically saying (reusing the above analogy) “Why are we talking about adding seatbelts to cars when we already have helmets?”
Maybe I’m completely missing your point, or maybe you’re just being snarky/contrarian and don’t really have a point, but it sounds like you are basically saying (reusing the above analogy) “Why are we talking about adding seatbelts to cars when we already have helmets?”
I can promise you the latter is not the case. It’s possible I misinterpreted your post. I am 100% for layers of preventative measures.
This is a good start, but even if this all was enacted I’d still mask up during COVID surges. There’s no way in hell I would trust any business to do what’s best for the general public.
Hence inspections. Like we have health inspections for restaurants, we could have HVAC inspections.
My girlfriend brought Covid home like three times last year I didn’t get sick once I just have decent. HVAC and I get the high quality Vairo filters that put extra strain on the HVAC.
Yes, and I’ve always worn a mask when needed, but filtration and ventilation require planning and funding, mask policies allow for the individualization and moralization of health crises.
Just like when they stopped smoking on planes and everyone caught a cold.
Why should they need subsidies?
If they can’t afford to keep their places sanitary in line with what the law requires, they should go out of business.
Not sure why we think taxpayers should pick up the slack of business owners.
Well taxpayers have been subsidizing Walmart for years, but sure, let’s kill more small businesses in the country. That’ll be great for the economy.
I believe once industries become so big and necessary for life, they should just be nationalized.
That way we can get the same services but don’t have to funnel money to ‘owners’ profiting from doing nothing.
Sounds reasonable.
I’d also accept actually enforcing anti-trust laws and breaking up these big companies.
I mean, that just makes it so different rich people can start profiting at everyone else’s expense.
Now businesses are trying to do the same thing in slightly different ways instead of one entity doing it the best way.
I keep wearing N95s. Haven’t gotten COVID yet and not feeling like playing the Long COVID roulette. I don’t work 9-5 in an office so I don’t even have to wear a mask for very long periods of time. Buses, stores require it, but there’s plenty to do outside anyway. Patios are fine. Need to take a leak? Put the mask on. No one from my circle has caught it yet. Honestly this protocol isn’t that bad.
It’s like once “their guy” gave them the ok, everyone started licking doorknobs again. Why couldn’t we keep this “social distancing” thing going? I liked my personal space.
- EremesZorn ( @EremesZorn@beehaw.org ) 8•1 year ago
I find myself still standing a moderate distance away from people while in line at stores etc.
yeah I always did this even before COVID and I hate being around people who seem to be spatially unaware.
In a way he saved us from fascism. In the very first months of the pandemic there were several instances of police overstepping and enforcing isolation rules like it was martial law. I know it wasn’t a good response, but we could have been under martial law for years instead.
Who do you think I’m talking about? Trump was all around terrible. He wanted the virus to spread while he and his party thought it was killing black people more then white people.
My original comment was about my Biden friends who all flocked back to theaters then he signaled the “end” to the pandemic.
It was amazing watching the Republicans/Trump’s response change when they realised that they were mostly encouraging their own voters to catch Covid.
And by then, it was too late to their voters behavior. Hell, Trump didn’t really change his public stance either. Him and his voters made anti-masking a point of pride. Whenever the press asked him about vaccines, he never out rite said that they should get vaccines for the health and safety of the county they supposed love. It’s so simple. Love the county? Love the economy? Get vaccinated and stay up to date. Trust the American™ researchers.
Everyone in my immediate circles either masks up like I do or hasn’t seen me in a few years lol. I didn’t quarantine and mask all this time to get COVID now goddammit I refuse. Funny thing is my life hasn’t been any worse without those people now that I think about it… Huh.
We got it several times due to having a toddler and other people being selfish and not keeping their kids home when they got sick.
I’ve been doing this and still somehow managed to catch it about a year ago. One of the few people at that event that was wearing a mask and somehow I’m the one that gets it…
Don’t know if I’m ever going to stop wearing a mask.
Cause masks prevent others from getting your diseases.
If everyone else wasn’t wearing a mask, then you were prone to getting their diseases.
It happens. Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve caught something exactly once, a couple of months ago. I did a PCR test however while symptomatic and it came out negative. So did my wife when she got it a couple of days later. My point is that something got through the defense protocol and could easily have been SARS-CoV-2. I only know it wasn’t because I tested for it.
Just remember to try not to touch anything after handling your mask until you’ve had a chance to wash or sanitise your hands again. It’s designed to gather up any Covid you’d breath in or out so ironically is one of the worst things you can touch in terms of risk of spreading infection. (Personally, since I work at home, I tend to just leave my mask on fulltime when I’m out, unless I actively need to take it off for food or water or something, just so I don’t have to mess around with the administration of keeping my hands clean while taking it on and off and making sure it’s properly seated after I put it back on. Wearing a mask for hours on end isn’t my favourite thing but I don’t find it too unpleasant, so I can see why people who really hate it would want to deal with faffing around putting it on and off.)
Unless the strain is killing a sizable amount of people getting it it’ll be hard to get people to wear masks en masse again.
Even if it kills (which it likely will), our track record shows that didn’t care enough about that, and in a decreasing manner. So it’ll only be worse.
Pretty sure every virus has killed people, from the cold, to flu, and of course covid. It feels like now the death rate for the latest variants of covid are pretty comparable to the flu, the virus has lost a lot of its killing power over time.
Death rates aren’t a feeling. I want some hard numbers.
I feel like we just don’t care if we live or die anymore.
I know I’ve read reports about the latest variants being much less deadly. I did see one study recently which for patients presenting to hospital covid was a few percentage points more likely to result in death compared to hospitalized flu patients. There were a lot more covid patients though.
Found it:
death rates among people hospitalized for COVID-19 were 17% to 21% in 2020 vs 6% in this study, while death rates for those hospitalized for influenza were 3.8% in 2020 vs 3.7% in this study
So there is some data backing up the feelings I’ve gotten from everything I’ve been hearing and seeing.
So that’s almost twice as bad as the flu.
I mean, that’s one way to look at it. I looked at it as only a couple percent higher death rate than the flu. Either way, a little less than 2x is way better than like 5x worse.
Obviously it’s better than before, but it’s also worth keeping in mind these deaths are in addition to the flu.
Also, there are good and bad flu seasons. I see no reason for COVID to not be the same.
That’s the same shit that businesses were pushing last time because they didn’t want to close for a few months, ended up making everything worse.
Yup. More effective action faster would have had a higher same-day-you-make-the-decision cost but would have been tremendously less harmful economically to all the entities blocking it for fear of the economic impact to them. They were digging a mass grave and then leaping into it.
I know I am a bit biased here because I didn’t get sick and didn’t really try that hard to avoid it either. I only wore a mask when I had to, I went to bars with friends, really didn’t take any extra precautions, and I washed my hands normally. If I got covid I didn’t notice it.
Personally I would hate if we went into lockdown again, but again, I didn’t get sick, the worst I felt was when I got the vaccine.
The issue is that it happens out of sight out of mind so it’s just an abstract statistic that it’s easy to ignore or pretend away. If Covid-19 killed you by making your head spontaneously fall off we’d have eliminated it or reduced it to a few tiny isolated pockets simply by the change in the public’s attitude to it. But because it kills you “quietly” out of sight in a hospital bed or at home, people were able to just convince themselves everything is basically normal.
get people to wear masks en masse again
The time when people wore masks en masse must be something that I’m too American and lung-scarred to remember
I’m too American and lung-scarred to remember
Due to a history of smoking and multiple bouts of pneumonia I was already fairly sure that my “dying of old age” (which noone truly does) would consist of drowning on fluids from my own damaged lungs one day. Then the drowning on fluids from your own damaged lungs plague came and people decided they’d rather other people die by drowning on fluids from their own damaged lungs than follow simple enhanced hygiene practices for a bit.
Mostly I try to just block that out but it’s come back into sharp focus today…
If you put about 15 minutes between an action and it’s consequences there’s a strong subset of our population that will just completely lose the connection between the two. That, to me, was the primary problem. Well, that and the fact that it’s impossible to measure how many times you didn’t get COVID due to masking or vaxxing
BuT wHaT aBoUt the ecoNoMy??!!
I mean, we didn’t handle any of this well the first time. That goes for most places on the planet. I’m sure we won’t handle it well if it really does go south again.
Hey, let’s again make sure we don’t listen to the scientists that come armed with facts and data. 7 million dead the last time? Probably a made-up statistic just to spread fear and panic…right?
sigh
It’s a conspiracy by the Big Pipette cartel to sell more tips to labs.
That’s pretty damn funny.
Do yOu EveN kNOw aNYoNe tHaT dIEd oF cOViD?
Pretty sure the latest variants of covid are much less deadly than the beginning of the pandemic.
I googled about it and this is not only news site talking about it last month, and there is little pump in cases - idc anymore about it anyway
My wife and I wear them when we are in an uber or other enclosed space. Due to the new wave, we are being a bit more careful than usual.
- EremesZorn ( @EremesZorn@beehaw.org ) English15•1 year ago
So just make sure you have N95s handy. There’s no reason to panic, but just be prepared if a new strain takes off over the flu season.
I don’t understand why the comments are so contentious.Where does one get actually trustworthy N95s?
- EremesZorn ( @EremesZorn@beehaw.org ) 6•1 year ago
Home Depot carries NIOSH-certified N95s. Looks like they’re in stock online.
Today, any hardware store. The counterfeits were a bigger problem when demand spiked and manufacturing couldn’t keep up. That being said, even a shitty counterfeit should block the spit droplets that the virus rides on.
any hardware store
Face masks are most effective at reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 when the infected persons wear them. They may reduce incidence of infection when donned by healthy persons, but they are much less effective at doing so versus the former case.
The N95 respirators one would likely find at a hardware store are not the proper masks. The 3M Cool Flow Valve Particulate Respirator 8511, for example, which I picked up recently at a hardware store, only filters the incoming air but not the outgoing air. The contagions flow straight out.
They were absolutely great for better tolerating the highly dusty environment that prompted me to purchase them. But I wouldn’t trust them if contagions were the concern at hand.
If they are your only choice? Sure. But if you have a better option? Go for it. Help protect your neighbors.
- EremesZorn ( @EremesZorn@beehaw.org ) English3•1 year ago
And where do you get N95s that filter outgoing air effectively? Besides, even these N95s are leagues better than the Chinese mass-produced KN95 junk you see on something like Amazon.
Edit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/free-masks.html
Here the CDC lists brands and models of masks that are effective in protecting yourself and others. As you say, the 8511 just happens to be one with an exhalation valve. I do remember the CDC explicitly saying exhalation valves were a no-go during the pandemic, so I don’t think anyone looking for N95s for COVID protection would buy masks with valves anyway. There are other options available from hardware stores.I had a box of 3m n95 without valve at the start of the pandemic. Felt a little weird masking up before everyone else was for our pregnancy appointments at the hospital. Had to argue with my wife just to wear the damn things since a hospital was the most likely place to get infected and nobody knew how it might affect pregnant women and babies yet.
Kid was born into a pandemic and mass protesting going on. Of course by the time we went in for the birth they had increased their covid protocols and we weren’t allowed to leave our little hospital room and I wasn’t allowed to come back if I left. We spent 5 days in that cramped room.
I don’t think anyone looking for N95s for COVID protection would buy masks with valves anyway.
I remember seeing some people wearing the vented ones. One news anchor that was interviewing people going to the beach was wearing a vented mask asking people if they thought it was safe. I hate people.
- EremesZorn ( @EremesZorn@beehaw.org ) 1•1 year ago
Then they’re not properly educated, they have no better option, or in the case of the news anchor, they’re a parasite feeding on fear.
The thing specifically to avoid are ones with valves. Anything else with reasonable filtration will protect others.
Face masks are most effective at reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 when the infected persons wear them.
I’ve made this comment elsewhere, but I do recommend wearing eye protection.
Also, the N95 and KN95 designators doesn’t specify if there’s a vent valve or not. Just get the ones without one. Any mask will still catch spit from coughs. If you’re in a space that gets saturated, the room has ventilation issues and masks are unlikely to do much anyway. CO2 monitors can indirectly measure the saturated level. It’s unhealthly to be in spaces like that, covid or not.
I saw on the CBC last night a story of a restaurant worker who was fired because she wore a mask. That’s how bonkers we in Canada have become lately.
Remember to vote.
For whom? I don’t know about Canada, but there is no major party in the US that’s pro-mask.
- LeFantome ( @LeFantome@programming.dev ) 3•1 year ago
I do not think any of the three main Canadian parties are anti-mask.
Only the fringe, far right parties are against masking. Liberal and NDP are both pro masking. CPC jump each side of the fence, whenever it benefits them.
