Mask-wearing also leads to less mouth-breathing, and that change alone, I’m guessing, accounts for some of the plausible benefits people have been mentioning here, such as reduced incidents of allergies.
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The number of people who think that their lack of illness of because of masks rather than the extreme social distancing that has happened is pretty goofy. Not seeing people and extreme restrictions on movement is the reason why only an extremely virulent virus like COVID-19 are still spreading. The flu is just as dead in places with no masking mandate. Masks are great, but they are not magical force fields. Not seeing people on the other hand is a magical force field.
Personally, I’m going to wear a mask until it isn’t mandated, and then I’m done except in places where it is required. I’m fully vaccinated, which means my chances of getting sick or me getting sometime else sick, much less seriously sick from COVID-19, is vanishingly small. While I did enjoy a year of no illness due to pandemic measures, I’ll happily take the occasional illness if it means I can be a normal social human again. I don’t like being sick, but I don’t hate it so much that I’m willing to live in a bubble for the rest of my life. I fully intented to find a hot sweaty crowd of humans and throw myself in it, viruses be damned, as soon as restrictions lift. You can’t make life risk free; you’ve got to take your risks. Once vaccinated, the risks are pretty damn low.
Oh, so that’s why the mask creator said it made her feel like an album cover…
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Oho! Even better! An artificial insemination joke!
(this is why I love you all!)
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What about that layer of alcohol gel we keep getting slathered with? That probably helped with the other illnesses. The social distancing is great but I am not sure I get to make people stay away from me when/if this all ends.
I have not flown in a few years but the next time I do; I am going to mask up for as much of it as I can. A proper mask too.
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Poe’s law. Almost impossible to tell authentic crazy from parody crazy.
I don’t know about the alcohol gel (I’ve read mixed reviews on the overall efficacy) but I think the improved mindfulness about not touching the face with dirty hands might play a big role.
Anecdotally, I used to think nothing if I was grocery shopping and had to scratch my nose or rub an eye (my own, of course!), but now I will endure all kinds of temporary discomfort rather than touch any part of my face until after I’ve been able to wash my hands.
And like others, I used to get colds several times each winter but this winter, nothing.
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Have had the eye watering chili/ garlic burps in a mask.
As I understand it it is common practice in Japan to wear a mask if you ‘have’ a cold so as not to spread it to others i.e. more a social courtesy than a prophylactic.
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Wildfires were sure a wake-up call for me! We live inside the city limits of Portland OR and a fire got within 60 miles of us. With forced-air heating, we now have an ultra-super-ultimate-cosmic furnace filter reserved (it was on back-order for 3 months), and a separte set of masks. The horse is definitely going to break thru that barn door again.
About the time of the fires was my birthday and I was required to go on Medicare. Another reminder of my vulnerability, oh joy.
Yep, enclosed public spaces will see me masked for the rest of my life.
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Waiting for the cheap Chinese iteration of the anti-AI mask.
We have a solid month of Toxic Yellow Air with pollen counts which have gone as high as 7000+. Cloth masks only filter out the big stuff. Next year, I’m buying and using a case of contractor N95s and the neocons can whine all they want to.
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Some jurisdictions do have anti-mask laws. No one sane would stretch them to apply to filter masks, but when law enforcement is looking for an excuse to hassle people, it’s there.
Usually it’s an add-on offense, like when wearing a disguise while committing a crime, but not a crime by itself. Some places have direct anti-mask laws. It always pays to check your local laws, especially for protests.
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The local pharmacy has some 2.5 micron filter inserts with a charcoal layer. I have no idea how well those work for COVID, or allergies but they do a really good job on cigarette smoke.
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Yeah, here in California a recent survey showed the driest, most flammable conditions for the landscape in recorded history (significantly worse than any previous conditions), and that’s coming after the orange-sky apocalypse of last year. Whatever’s going on with the climate, it’s not going to get better, so it’s looking like masks will be mandatory outdoor wear for the foreseeable future in summer, fall and possibly part of winter, too…
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