# How do we decide if not taking precautions against COVID is irresponsible and dangerous, generally as well as personally?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-decide-if-not-taking-precautions-against-covid-is-irresponsible-and-dangerous-generally-as-well-as-personally/962705>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [April 12, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-decide-if-not-taking-precautions-against-covid-is-irresponsible-and-dangerous-generally-as-well-as-personally/962705 "2022-04-12T06:31:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 109

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**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-decide-if-not-taking-precautions-against-covid-is-irresponsible-and-dangerous-generally-as-well-as-personally/962705/109 "2022-04-21T18:19:08Z")

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I believe masks still provide some protection for the wearer and more protection for those around the wearer. For example (gift link):

> **[Does My Mask Protect Me if Nobody Else Is Wearing One?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-masks-protection-stats.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxfs1nGP_JyyYDj1F0eUZRo2J4ETWILJ5YMc-1CiaQ9kEK6MmWOc0zvNaOwYlbTiUlaa-ucZPJTQp-8X0V3kq3pnJUPdirTazPzC0eKImmOOz-k-La2H1C6LY2GlwJw409ZRmIQ6p2SQY1-ySRL4Or9p02_grAZ1-QC5RJ3XZ-qm1VGgtfYmOfRre6QIpWuxGWjm1nd-U670IdQ86GkuRBTokoj56sIUATYtRaKXvLBcge978haERCgFrJYSqAJ43RevEhkR3F3jBt9vd8hXBRJKSDcE&smid=url-share)**
>
> Masks work best when everyone in the room has one on, but you’ll still benefit from masking up even when those around you aren’t.

I’m happy to believe that masks mandates were less necessary in relatively sparse states, without lots of public transportation and high rises, and more effective in densely packed cities with elevators and public transportation. Any study that isn’t trying to control for population density is a waste.

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