Yeah, we’ve been told all along that the masks are to prevent us from infecting other people (because you can be infectious and not know it), but there has also been some evidence that mask-wearing protects the wearer as well. Still, I sometimes see people say things that sound like they think masks are only to protect the wearer, which is ignorant.
I work for a Japanese company that adheres very closely to local laws, mandates and has an ingrained culture when it comes to mask wearing. Looks like I will be required to wear one when I go into the office until at least October. It still hasn’t been decided when we will be asked to return to the office on a regular basis, but I’m thinking that now it may not be required until October. Still I need to go in and do things in the office between now and then, so while there I will definitely be wearing a mask. I got no problem with that.
I think we just didn’t know, just didn’t have data. I became a believer in masks after I started seeing differences between Asian and Western countries, particularly (IIRC) as places like Hong Kong and Taiwan had very low influenza transmission as well (Spring 2020 anyway, though I’ve read/heard cold season was rough toward the latter half of last year and in early 2021).
I generally trust Western medicine and science, but COVID-19 might have been an example of how we sometimes over-rely on our tendency to hesitate on important decisions or make important statements until we have firm data in hand. Asian countries did a much better job in responding to this pandemic than Western ones, and we need to be humble enough to consider why.
Even for those people who are knowledgable in the field of immunology and try to keep read up on the latest research, it is just not possible to stay on top of everything. And for the layperson, getting their information from the press that often does not distinguish between preliminary conclusions from pre-print papers (of which they have only read a summary or press release) and peer-reviewed studies with some degree of replication or metastudies validated by independent review, trying to make an informed decision is like trying to hit a piñata blindfolded. “The experts” may not always be right, but they are generally providing a consensus view of knowledgable people using the best information currently available, and are generally conservative in their view of personal and societal risk.
Dr. Fauci is very cautious to note the difference between what is known, what is assumed but not verified, and what is just not known, and he has been a leading figure in the field of infectious disease for three and a half decades. Anyone who thinks that their personal knowledge is better than that of Dr. Fauci and the medical scientists of the NIAID has a very high bar to clear.
Stranger
I expect to continue wearing a mask in public until/unless ALL the following conditions are met:
– I’m two weeks past my second inoculation.
– Dr. Fauci says it’s OK not to.
– New York State says it’s OK not to. (This would be an entirely different sort of answer if I were in, say, Texas. But note in any case the other three.)
– Whoever’s in charge of the particular piece of ground – municipality, private owner, business, whatever – that I’m on says it’s OK not to.
Whether I’ll keep wearing one even after all those conditions are met if/when I’m in particularly crowded circumstances, and/or enclosed places that I suspect of having poor circulation, depends on a batch of factors and is probably going to be a case by case decision.
I always wear a mask in public and when required, but I am surprised by the people in here that say it doesn’t bother them at all.
I think it is a royal PITA. Glasses fog is always a fight (yes, I’ve seen the tips), as I talk my short beard hairs are always pulling it farther down so it won’t cover my nose, and it doesn’t matter how much I brush my teeth or use mouthwash it just doesn’t smell good (especially if have to wear it for hours at a time and talk).
I personally can’t wait to be done with them!
I’m not surprised that they don’t bother some people, but they do bother me.
– The glasses are a problem. Keeping them and the mask in the right relationship so they don’t fog, especially in cold weather, humid weather, and/or while active, isn’t easy and doesn’t always work.
– I have a heart condition causing shortness of breath when active. I know, logically, that the mask isn’t making it significantly harder to get enough air; but when I’m out of breath if I’m wearing a mask it always feels like part of the problem.
– Even aside from the above, it can be hard to keep a mask in proper position when I’m working and/or adjusting other headgear.
So, yeah, the thing is unpleasant. Nowhere near as unpleasant as it would be to be on a ventilator, though; or suspecting I’d put somebody else there.
Pretty much this- only with British instead of American. I’ll probably be in one of the last groups of people to be offered it anyway, as my local area hasn’t got the fastest rollout and I’m in my 30s with no underlying conditions.
Obviously this does not apply if there is any credible medical advice to the contrary, and I’ll probably keep wearing one inside for a few weeks after any requirement is dropped, not least because I’ll need to wean myself off visibly talking to myself so much in shops…
I agree. I’m going to stop wearing one as soon it’s reasonable to do so and also hope broader society goes back to normal in this regard. I haven’t adjusted to not being able to see people’s faces and miss seeing smiles. A future where most people are perpetually wearing a mask whenever around strangers seems extremely undesirable and borderline dystopian to me.
To be clear, at least in my case, that’s in the context of wearing them for the hour it takes me to do my shopping every week or so. 12 hours every day would be a different story. I don’t wear glasses and say little more than the occasional grunt while masked.
I’ll continue wearing a mask until the CDC and other authorities stop recommending it, and until everyone has at least had the opportunity to get vaccinated (yes, I know a lot are refusing the vaccine for one reason or another, but there’s nothing I can do about that). And I will also wear one, after this pandemic is over, any time I think I’m coming down with anything respiratory (yeah, it’s probably “just a cold”, but nobody wants to spread “just a cold”, either).
Some other precautions, I’ll be ending sooner, but a mask is really low on the inconvenience scale.
Until the doctors and scientist (mainly the CDC) give the OK.
Given the lack of cold and flu season this winter, I think we should mask up every winter.
Yeah, the hacking and coughing during a “normal” flu season has become unacceptable to me–saw a cite somewhere that flu cases were down 99% due to masking and social distancing and quite frankly that suits me juuuuust fine. I will probably continue even after vaxxing is widespread and mandates are dropped (albeit probably a bit more casual about it because, well, I’m human) because the vax refusers will always be with us and they will be busily incubating the next iteration of COVID that might not be covered by current vaxxes, not to mention whatever other nasty bugs they’ve been picking up through their window licking habits. I don’t find masking onerous while out in public and will likely continue indefinitely any time I need to be out in areas where randos are wandering around with their unknown petri dish status. I don’t LIKE getting sick, not even colds, and since masking helps to make that much less likely I’ll just keep right on with it, thanks. Plus it hides resting bitch face a treat. 
We’re missing the point about masks versus colds/flu.
If people with symptoms stayed home from work / school / shopping for a couple days, instead of taking Dayquil and showing up in full blast contagion mode, we wouldn’t have problems with colds and flu.
Yes, some folks under today’s economic system can’t avoid the need to go out. But one hell of a lot more can afford to stay home than actually stay home. And to their credit, the Ds in charge this year are working towards fixing the “I need to work sick or be fired or not eat” problem.
As Randal Munro of xkcd.com fame so eloquently put it
… and turn my face into a disgusting plague fountain …
I’d love it if we as a society decided that people wandering around unnecessarily being plague fountains were ostracized, not tolerated or lionized.
I will stop wearing my mask shortly after everyone who wants a vaccine has gotten one. Needless to say, it’s a very vague date. At some point, only the vaccine hesitant will be left and they won’t be getting vaccines. The pace of shots will drop dramatically at that point.
Presumably this would happen after I’ve gotten my second shot and had a two week waiting period. Then I will doff the mask. I won’t care about spreading the disease at that point because everyone who wanted to be immune to the disease would be immune by then.
(I am leaving out those with compromised immune systems. That’s not really a curable condition, and I’m not wearing a mask and social distancing for the rest of my life.)
Some countries will reach that point a lot later than Canada. (For that matter, some countries, such as the UK and Israel, will quickly outpace Canada.) If I travelled to a poor country with a serious problem because they can’t get access to the vaccines, I would… not travel there.
As long as it is considered a social courtesy to do so.
As long as they will let me. I like the anonymity. I wear a gaiter, sometimes two of different colors, less often gaiter+ disposable mask or cloth mask depending on time/people density of where I am going. I almost always wear a stocking cap or backwards baseball/trucker hat so I have a small sliver of exposed eyes and flesh. I will need prescription glasses soon so eyeball protection will be upgraded. Two years ago, Security would be sent to “engage” me almost immediately for dressing like that.
I haven’t heard about a lack of cold season, only flu.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03519-3
Personally, my mask comes off when there’s no law about it. Might have to keep it on for work, hopefully not permanently as some coworkers fear.
That can make quite a difference. Wear a mask to go into the store and spend twenty minutes doing errands? Not a problem. Wear a mask to set up the stall at farmers’ market, deal with customers, restock the stand as needed from the van, walk a block to the nearest bathroom and back, take the stand back down again, temperatures may be in 30’s or 90’s F, total time maybe six hours with errands (masked) added on after that? Not so easy.
(I’ll admit to having it pulled down some of the time during setup and takedown, and say to get a drink or a snack, when nobody else is closer than maybe 10’ from me. It’s outdoors.)
I’ve been vaccinated since January. No, I haven’t stopped wearing masks because, 1) my employer requires it, 2) it’s expected in public, and 3) other people can’t tell from looking at you that you’re immunized.
When the collective decision is made that masks are unnecessary I’ll quit wearing them.