Before covid, I would be sick with a cold or flu for a total of about two weeks every year. That means I spent 4% of my time sick; one out of every 25 days. Since covid appeared, I’ve been wearing an N95 in crowded indoor areas whenever I reasonably can. (Obviously I can’t if I’m eating something.) My main goal initially was to protect my elderly relatives, but during the last four years I have not gotten sick even once, except from my elderly relatives who didn’t wear masks, got sick, and then infected me when I was caring for them.
Why isn’t everyone wearing N95s? Sure, it’s uncomfortable, but being sick is much more uncomfortable. And then there’s the fact that wearing an N95 protects other people and not just the wearer…
fyi: a mask is not a respirator.
And some masks are.
N95 is not a respirator,
Was expecting a post about how people should be wearing sith masks everywhere and I am now sorely disappointed.
They’re frequently called “disposable respirators”. I do also own the non-disposable sort with rubber seals and screw-in filters, which is what I would wear if I worked in a hospital covid ward, but for everyday wear the disposable ones seem like a better compromise between efficacy and comfort.
“Disposable respirator” sounds like it was named by the same person who came up with “flushable wipes.”
I worked for a company that sold them and I’ve literally never heard them called that. That must be a regional thing.
Yes they are. They are called N95 respirators https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/publicppe/use.html
Masks help with covid but respirators help more. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/publicppe/community-ppe.html#:~:text=Respirators are more protective than,least effective at reducing exposures.
I rather like what the Japanese do, which is to mask up if you are sick, thereby preventing the spread to others. I would like to see statistics to know if it is effective. This could have the same net effect, but impact a smaller population.
Slightly tsngental, as a severe allergy sufferer, I appreciate how the pandemic somewhat normalized masking in public so I can just wear one without people asking me prying questions, assuming I’m a freak (I am, but don’t assume it until you get to know me), or moving to a different seat on the bus when I sit down.
Just cause you have the immune system of a sickly Victorian child, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.
Tbf, Victorian children had a lot to contend with.
Did you ever stop and think that maybe the problem with Gen Z was their lack of coal mining experience before the age of 12?
If this is your first time thinking about it, let me save you the trouble and assure you that yes, that is the problem.
So, long story short, we need to elect legislators that will finally allow young children back to working full-time in the mining industries.
Except for OP, it seems like they already have all the health benefits that come from spending an entire childhood breathing in coal dust.
Yes probably way stronger than OP in many ways
Covid will give you one of those if you don’t have one already. No mask is very dumb with covid.
I think most people don’t actually want organ and brain damage, even if they consider putting a cloth on their face to prevent that way too much effort.
If you’re keeping well thanks to a mask, you should keep wearing them. People getting used to the idea of wearing n95 masks is probably one of the few benefits of COVID.
I haven’t had that experience. I usually get sick once every few years. Elderly friends and relatives are similar. I haven’t found there to be many benefits to wearing a mask. I’d be fine with masking up the next time there are mask mandates.
Even if I would get sick for 2 weeks every year, that would be preferable to wearing a mask all the time.
Same. I drove Uber during the pandemic and wearing that thing all day was awful.
Not being sick occasionally is foolish.
Your immune system doesn’t go away when it’s unused. Instead, it goes haywire, resulting in allergies and autoimmune disorders.
It’s better to have the immune system responding to the sort of environment it evolved in (dirty) than trying to respond to the sort of environment it didn’t evolve in (clean), as if it were the one it evolved in.
Please not. There are other aspects to life besides sickness, and there are other methods to deal with (preventing) the latter, e.g., vaccinations and personal hygiene. Seeing other people’s faces is such an important part of human social interaction. A society where everyone needs to hide from the other, regardless of the reason, is a sad one and not one that we should aspire to.
Note that the OP specifically said crowded indoor locations. That still allows for face looking outdoors, and helps promote public health.
Who said the reason people wear face mask are hiding?
I read an article about a country/US state (I don’t remember) banning masks because facial recognition software can’t see see their faces. Is that what you want?
I’ll rather deal with fever once a year than with a mask every day
Why is that, tho? Genuinely just curious, not hostile
Once a year is about how often I get sick. Even if wearing a face mask would bring that to zero it still wouldn’t be worth it because dealing with the mask every day is a bigger inconvenience that being sick for a few days a year.
I feel the same way. The cost of getting sick for a week (however one measures that) is considerably less than that of getting a new batch of N95s or even just surgical masks every so often and wearing a new one every day.
I’ve gotten sick less often since masks & WFH, but when I do get sick now, it feels much, much worse. These days, if I think I might be sick, I stay home as much as possible, and wear a good mask when I do have to be near other people, but if I’m feeling well, haven’t knowingly been around anyone sick, and am going somewhere that masks aren’t expected, I just don’t want to wear a steam room on my face.
Also, I live in an area where masking is still very acceptable. I know there’s many other areas where masking is either illegal or just very frowned upon, so I’d probably be pretty hesitant to mask up there, even if I was sick.
Get vaccinated and boosted.
I work in disability support. I leave the house, drive to my client, then don my mask and wear it until I leave the client and get back into my car. If I have a client all day I can just wear the mask all day, eating before and after my shift. I have not gotten a cold, flu, or other disease for the last 4 years and I have worked with people who actively have covid, influenza, RSV, and other illnesses.
My mask is a pm 1.0, so a little better than pm 2.5 which is what n95 is, and it works very well. Honestly I can’t see me changing my behaviour around masking ever. I don’t get sick, I don’t carry illness to vulnerable clients, and I don’t have to change my behaviour day to day so habit is solid and easy to maintain.
While it didn’t help my endocarditis last year it has definitely protected against covid and even now I have not gotten it once. I think it is a good deal overall.
If youre looking for a good looking, protrctive, and comfortable mask/respirator my daily use is the black kn100. It has nose foam, threaded headstrap, and it comes in multiple sizes https://ppeo.com/goods/black-kn100-mask/
I used to wear KN95s every day as a cashier during the height of the pandemic. It was noticeably more difficult to breathe through them, especially when I was working carts duty in the dead of winter. It also doesn’t help that masks like this would need to be replaced pretty frequently for maximum effect because the moisture of my breaths will make them wet after a period of time. I could feel the condensation building in my mask throughout my 4-6 hour shifts.
Oh yeah, and if you want your mask to work properly, don’t have a beard. Those will impair the filtration because air will get through your beard instead of your mask.
Im often the only person I see still masked in the supermarket or even doctors office. It’s so fucking dumb, you’re in there for like 20 minutes just be considerate of others. The hilarious part is its mostly dinosaurs coughing unmasked 😂. Like imma be fine but y’all need all the help you can get and you can’t even wear a mask in high risk places, suit yourself 🤷♂️
