I’ve read a significant amount of Americans plan on wearing masks a good amount of time even after mask mandates are dropped, East-Asian style.
Then I read articles like this, things I would have scoffed at pre-Covid but make me go hmmmm now.
I’d not call it germ freaks but people are being made much more germ aware. The cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces is a good thing as long as you don’t get overly freakish about it. And wearing mask when you are sick and a threat to others is a good thing.
I know someone who will not get vaccinated and will continue COVID protection measures for life. A mask all the time (instead of just when sick) and so forth.
I don’t think we will have a large number of germ freaks. I suspect the population of people who understand that COVID is serious but will not get vaccinated is pretty small.
I thought our culture was pretty over-the-top germophobic before COVID hit. I suppose COVID has reshaped some of my attitudes about all that. I was definitely in the camp of people thinking & saying “We’re so damn antiseptic that our bodies’ immune systems are attacking our own bodies because they can’t find enough bacteria and viruses to deal with”.
We’ve had threads here about “comfort level after vaccine” and “wearing masks for your own reasons” etc. People really do have vastly different reactions to this pandemic. Some are double masking and rarely go to the grocery store. I wear a ratty old cloth mask I haven’t washed in months. We go to the store exactly as often as we do in 2019. I’ll run in for one thing, or stock up, depending on what we need without a second thought. If my kids come home I’ll hug them. I don’t let my mail sit for three days, or wash my hands more than I used to. (honestly, I should wash my hands more.)
So, I do think some people will be much more germ aware than before, but my completely wild guess estimate is that it will be a small percentage. I believe the vast majority of Americans will return exactly to their 2019 habits pretty soon. (I was going to write “when this is over,” but I think they’ll do it before).
Co-sign what Procrustus wrote, especially about the vastly different reactions and about running into the grocery all the time. But our masks are washed regularly (the family has dozens) 
From the start of the pandemic I have not minded wearing a mask. I also haven’t had a single cold since the start of the pandemic and I like not having had a cold. For me, the math is simple.
The problem is, in order to not give someone a cold, you only have to wear a mask while you have a cold. In order to not get a cold, you have to wear a mask all the time.
Relying on others to not spread their germs to the rest of the population doesn’t seem to be a viable option.
I dislike colds as well – and have a hard time shaking them (for me, they’re typically a 10-14 day nuisance). Even so … I’m prepared to assume the 2019 risk of catching the common cold again.
But masks are not 100% effective even if everyone cooperated, so let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good. Even if only some proportion of us start wearing a mask when we have a cold/flu, everyone is better off with a quantitative reduction in the spread. That’s what I plan to do.
I get it, but @kayaker was indicating that he preferred wearing a mask to getting a cold. I agree, in principle, but don’t know that I would be willing to wear a mask all the time to prevent one.
And while wearing a mask when you have a cold would be extremely helpful, even if not 100%, it’s not something that you can rely on others to do.
Now, come flu season, I may well wear a mask whenever interacting with others. A cold is a slight annoyance, the flu is far more damaging.
For me the “wearing a mask” part is totally benign, so even if wearing a mask only made it 10% less likely I’d get a cold, I’d wear a mask happily.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of the masks. They are a bit uncomfortable, and I have to wear them for about 10 hours a day at work. Sometimes it gets rather hot, which makes it even more unpleasant.
I’m not saying that I object to wearing them if there is a good reason to do so, just that, all things being equal, I’d rather not.
SARS led to a lot more mask wearing amongst Chinese and Japanese citizens after the outbreak had disappeared. There is a university campus near my work in London with a large Asian population and I’ve seen a lot more mask-wearing amongst the students in the years since SARS. Yes we have a different culture in the US and UK etc but I would expect that to be some indicator of behaviour in the years ahead.
Personally I have no problem wearing a mask on public transport. And since that is easy for me and colds and flu are really really unpleasant I may well continue wearing my mask in these sort of situations.
And it’s not just the discomfort factor. I think the inability to see one another’s facial expressions is quite alienating. This was mentioned as a feature rather than a bug in the other thread, for people who don’t want unsolicited attention. But I think for most of us, most of the time, it’s undesirable.
I guess we’ll know Covid’s over when you can’t wear masks in banks again.
For me that’s only true in the store, or similar setting. 10 minutes of mask is no big deal. But I’m not going to want to sit through a 3 hour flight, baseball game, or court hearing with a mask on. I’ll do it now if I have to, but post COVID (or close enough) I’m done.
In the past year, I don’t think I’ve ever once had a mask on for more than 30 minutes at a time. Maybe I could get used to it, but I’d rather not.
I expect I’ll wear a mask when at any kind of medical facility or when traveling for a long time (maybe forever?). The first because you’re just more likely to encounter sick people there, and the second because who wants to get sick on vacation.
I remember a month or so into Covid when my kids were due for their annual checkup and the doctor’s office assured us that they had changed schedules so that all normal checkups were in the morning and all sick kids were in the afternoon to reduce the chances of cross contamination and I thought: why didn’t we always do it that way?
Agreed. I don’t have an extremely physical job (I do IT support for a living) but ever now and then I do have to carry heavy stuff around, or do something strenuous like install awkward and heavy ergonomic equipment on a desk, and when a mask inhibits my breathing it tires me out a lot more. And I get so freaking hot too. I don’t see mask-wearing becoming a permanent part of my routine.
I agree with this. How this increased germ awareness plays out will vary by person, but I do think there will be some long-lasting changes in behavior for many people.