I mask indoors, though I am rarely out and about.
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I stopped wearing a mask for a little while when cases in my area went down, but cases are going up and I’m back to wearing a mask indoors.
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I still mask indoors and mostly outdoors depending on where I’m at or what’s going on, but gotta be honest about it… when nobody else is, or such few numbers that it doesn’t really affect transmission OUT of someone’s mouth/nose, it’s kind of an ineffective prophylactic compared to not going to places where people are no longer masking. I fully expect to get COVID despite masking, and lately the vast majority of my friends who have gotten covid have gotten it masking at outdoor events with what they thought was enough space. So… shrugs … I certainly don’t make light of it, but at this point the only way to avoid getting this for certain is to not be in contact with others when it’s highly transmitting through your neighborhood.
I’m still, personally, upset that the CDC and the current administration changed the metrics to make people think it’s safer.
This is the COVID community levels that were introduced earlier this year.
These are the COVID transmission levels that were used at the beginning. Note that the guidance has completely changed
Also, people will state that cases went down… but cases didn’t generally go down (I mean obviously after Omicron they did) , and the amount of cases per week at the beginning of May was higher than it was during any other part of the pandemic (save , of course, Omicron.) Cases have been largely steady at above most of the rest of the pandemic rates (again, not counting Omicron) including the fall / christmas bump that hurt so many.
So yeah. COVID’s not gone away, it’s not even slowed down really, it’s just affecting less and less people with serious hospital time. But it is as virulent, transmitted, and present in communities as it ever was, if not more so.
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Here in DC masking has been pretty good. Almost everyone masks in the metro, and about 50% are fully masked even outdoors.
I don’t go to restaurants all that much (I work in DC and usually bring my lunch with me) but masking seems to be about 75 - 50% until people are seated at a table, then masks off.
I’m fully masked from the moment I leave my car for the metro until I get back to my car after work. Around home where it’s less crowded I’ll go outside without a mask, but I keep one in a pocket in case I need it. Mask in all stores and restaurants until. We reach our table. Kits are also masking at school, which is great.
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some experts estimate that 1 in 5 people who catch COVID will go on to develop long COVID
Given a 1 in 5 chance (even if vaccinated?) of having long-term health problems if they catch Covid, what kind of idiot wouldn’t mask up at every opportunity?
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Still masking? Hell naw! I’m not just masking I bought mask fit testing equipment to make sure my masks actually work and aren’t just leaking like a sieve - and, yes, even N95s can leak like a sieve if they don’t fit you well, performing about the same as a surgical mask. But if they fit you well? They can block 99.8 percent of all ambient particles. N95s can perform considerably better than just 95% filtration if they have great filtration and great fit.
Staying the hell away from other people is even better than wearing a mask, but since you can catch covid in an empty room from the aerosols still lingering from people who left the room, N95s or better can be a vital tool even if you are avoiding other people.
If you can’t get fit tested (you can Google for fit testing near you to see if fit testing providers will test individuals without an OSHA medical authorization) then consider an elastomeric P100 respirator such as a 3M 6200 or a Dentec NxMD. Or a Flo Mask. Chances are the filtering facepiece mask you are wearing doesn’t fit as well as you think.
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My immediate family and I are still masking. We live in the California foothills and are pretty much the only ones masking around town.
We’ve been on vacation for the past 20ish days and spent the 1st half in Aptos/Santa Cruz where about 50% masked. We’re spent the last half in Nayarit Mexico and 90% of the locals mask and like 30% of the tourists mask. On the plane from San Jose to Puerto Vallarta, maybe 20 of us wore masks and of those, few wore them correctly (some even going as far as to store their masks in the seatback pocket in front of them (super yuck)).
My wife and I caught the OG covid and have been fully vaccinated and boosted. Our daughter is still too young for the 5+ vaccine, unfortunately, but got sick alongside us so I hope she has some degree of protection. We haven’t had the discussion about when we’ll be comfortable with no longer masking (and I don’t think dropping masking will be soon). We still don’t eat in restaurants or go to indoor gatherings and my wife wears an n95 while at work.
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For the most part, yes we do indoors.
We were traveling last week and masked in the airport - as were a lot of people. I only wore it on the plane before take off and after landing.
We were in Kauai for a week and WAY more people are wearing masks there, particularly indoors, compared to here in Southern CA.
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I just went to the grocery store today and was disturbed to see about half the customers not wearing masks - and, bafflingly, most of the staff not wearing them. This is in the SF bay area, where cases have (more than) doubled in the last month, and you’d think people would be more likely to wear masks… looks like I’ll be wearing mine for the foreseeable future. I don’t understand how anyone is treating this like it’s over. With this attitude, it’ll never be over.
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Not in the US here, but the situation’s the same (if not worse) in the UK.
Politicians and society in general have settled into “Business as usual” mode, mostly choosing to ignore COVID and treat it as a seasonal thing like the flu.
I’m still masking myself, but almost everyone I see around London now is not.
I’m masking because:
1: I’m in the “At risk” category.
2: I caught it 3 months ago, and while I don’t think I have “Long COVID”, I do still have a cough, so don’t want to potentially spread anything to anyone else.
Those first couple of days when I had it, I’m sure if I hadn’t been triple-vaxxed, I would have been in hospital.
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How about we make Covid non-fungible? I don’t really know how that works, but it might not survive that.
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I’m still masking when in shops or on public transport, though I see very few others wearing a mask. I just don’t see the point in not wearing one. It’s really not an inconvenience.
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I’ve been wearing a cloth mask outside and it has been fabulous to be able to breathe and not carry tissues with me all spring. Still not doing casual shopping or going anywhere with lots of people. I have many N95 masks for anytime I go inside a public place.
I’m a bit nervous about voting this week. I would have liked to go to an advance poll or mail in but both involve going in public transit (which masks are recommended but not enforced) and my on election day I can walk to my polling station, in a highschool, where they no longer have to mask. Sigh.
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…although if I’m wearing a cloth mask which helps protect other people from my germs, and other people aren’t wearing masks to protect me from their germs, I do kinda wonder why I bother.
I think I need to get an N95 mask or two.
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When I see people like this, I want to shake them and ask them what they think they’re accomplishing, but I don’t want to get that close.
I mask up when I go inside anywhere, or if I find myself in a crowd.
My usual form of exercise is walking or jogging, but I don’t mask up, and rely on social distancing. I cross the street rather than walk too close if I can help it, but I don’t freak out if it happens occasionally. (Though I do hold my breath. Not sure how effective that is.)
I’m vaxxed and double boosted.
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This is kinda how I feel as well. I’m somewhat resigned to catching it sooner or later. I still mask indoors in most places, but I also won’t be the only person in the room doing it, because there’s no point at that point. I also don’t tend to go places where it will be crowded. I always mask if the staff in the establishment are masked, out of respect for them.
But as you say, this thing is part of life now. It’s never going away. Best thing I figure I can do is stay up to date on boosters to ensure it’s a mild case when I inevitably get it, but I’ll continue to take basic high-percentage precautions. Luckily around here masking is still about 50% in grocery stores and restaurants so that’s something.
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Not masking but I do live the hermit lifestyle and avoid people when at all possible. Because people.
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I am masking, and will continue to do so, partly because the last two years have been the most bareable hayfever seasons I have had in my life.
Any random person who objects will be told to stop telling me what to do.
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If you’re still masking
I never stopped.
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As I live in a city in the bluest of the blue states I see people masking all the time. I still mask whenever I’m in an enclosed public space-- I went to a show last night and masked, and about 30% of the people there were masked, including the bartenders. Businesses will usually say “masks strongly encouraged” but they don’t require it.
Thing is, it’s not difficult for most situations (restaurants and bars being the big problem)-- we wore masks for months in the worst parts of the pandemic, basically a year, and whatever freedom not wearing a mask gives is minor compared to the benefits.
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