@Knowsstuff I go out so infrequently that I wouldn’t bother buying shields. My kids made some so I had some to try.
Honestly, if face masks were 95% effective and obtainable, I’d wear one. But given the cloth masks most people are wearing, I do it just to be polite. I sure do wish we all could have purchased N95 masks and sanitizer when things were bad here. Still not readily available to non-medical folks.
In New Orleans very few do not wear masks, and it has been that way for a while. New Orleans, like NYC, had an early spike and so people have generally taken it seriously. In the suburbs and rural parishes of LA, they thought it was a big city problem and ignored it. Now those are the areas of the state exploding with new cases. Personally, I’ve been wearing a mask to stores, etc… but not when outside or in my own small office.
In light of the case of two actively ill but masked hair stylists infecting NONE of the masked clients they exposed, I find it puzzling how someone can maintain that they “don’t believe in masks.” I don’t insist that the Missouri case is definitely proof of anything, but the fact that this is a very contagious disease, they were actually sick, and no clients subsequently tested positive should at least make the doubters have a more open mind about it. “Hmm, maybe there is something to this mask thing, maybe I was wrong about it. I’ll be paying more attention to the information as it develops…”
I don’t get it.
It’s also puzzling to me that I have friends who have had Covid and lived with their family members (no masks and no social distancing until after symptoms) and yet the family members did not get the virus. And a friend who lives in Brooklyn in a tiny apartment whose roommate got Covid but she didn’t. So many things we just don’t know about this virus. Every medical person I know still says the best advice is wash your hands and don’t touch your face. My husband has worked through the whole thing and rarely wears a mask. He does social distance at work and he does wash his hands and sanitize a LOT.
Well, we’ve always known that infectious people don’t infect everyone with whom they come into contact. But this virus is very contagious-I’m not buying that many if any actively sick people **don’t infect anyone **with whom they come into contact-unless maybe they and the people they interact with are wearing masks when it’s not possible to social distance.
I’m not sure what you mean, that my friends are lying to me that they didn’t infect their family members? My point was that we still have a long way to go in understanding this virus. Is it contagious? ABSOLUTELY! Is wearing a mask a good idea? Again, ABSOLUTELY! So, if you are trying to make a point to me about something, I’m not really sure what it is.
I’ll also say that while I understand that it is highly contagious , I know probably 6 people who have gotten the virus and none of them have infected other family members. I was surprised.
Thank heavens it’s not infectious like chicken pox. Years ago I went and measured a house where the kids had chicken pox. I was never in the same room with them, but two weeks later I was sick as a dog and two weeks after that my son came down with them. I ended up missing a month of work. I’m pretty sure my boss who poo pooed my concern regretted that decision!
I heard today that they are rethinking again the whole droplets vs aerosol debate.
Wasn’t there some research suggesting that many people with COVID-19 infect few or no others, but some infect lots of others (“superspreaders”)? If true, contagiousness, like severity, of COVID-19 is highly variable, and the occasional worst case is very bad, even though it is common for it not to be bad. For example, suppose there were 10 infected people, 9 of whom infect no one else, but 1 of whom infects 20 other people.
Of course I’m not saying you are lying-why would I do that? I’m saying that in spite of your friends’ experiences, it’s pretty likely that a symptomatic infectious person who comes into contact with dozens and dozens of people in close proximity will infect at least one or two of them-unless we consider that it was the masks that protected the clients from two actively sick individuals. That story should give all the mask doubters at least some moments of pause that maybe there actually is a very valuable protective benefit from mask wearing.
I don’t know-was it a peer reviewed study that has been replicated, an article, a pre-print?
The Missouri incident was none of those, so it is proof of nothing, But it seems it should at least be food for thought for “nonbelievers” imo. We would certainly be hearing a lot about it if many of the customers became sick even with 100% compliance with mask wearing.
Coastal California- I wear a mask when I’m inside public places. I also wear a mask when I’m waiting in line to go inside.(both required by county and state). I put my mask on before I get out of the car and leave it on till I’m inside the car. I keep several masks in my car. I have cloth masks and I also have some disposable blue masks. I have several N95 masks from fire season that I’m saving for if I have to fly. I walk and jog in my neighborhood and I come across few people. I don’t even bring a mask with me. When I walk with my D in her neighborhood I bring a mask just in case. I also wear a mask in addition to staying outside around 10 ft apart.when I go visit my sister who takes an immune suppressing medication. I work one half day a week at a place that requires me to mask for about 4 hours. I find the more I wear a mask the easier it is. I’ve had several recent experiences where I forgot I had it on.
I’m the most mask compliant member of my family. My H and D work together and do not wear masks at work. They both wear masks when they go inside public places but don’t wear them for exercising. My H plays volleyball at the beach 4 days a week. He doesn’t wear a mask When walking from car, across the grass and onto the sand to get to the court. He said he hasn’t seen anyone wearing masks at volleyball nor on the beach. They no longer high five. This is 4 man game. For tennis they don’t wear masks.
My other D works in a two person office. No masks. Until the governor ordered mask wearing in public she didn’t wear a mask when she went to the courthouse. She also doesn’t wear a mask when she is at her horse barn but does where one at another barn she trailers to for lessons. At that barn everyone masks until they are mounted. She does wear a mask where it is required.
My DIL wears a mask whenever she is around other people.
I’ve found in my community that 100% compliance at stores, waiting in line, food for pick up. Where I’ve seen less masks is in areas frequented by tourists. Tourists seem to think the masks rules don’t apply when your on vacation.
Since Dallas County mandated that all businesses require masks, compliance is way up here. Not as much in nearby Plano, which has no such mandate.
I wear masks everywhere AND try to maintain distance. I don’t wear a mask when outside because it’s easy to maintain 20 feet or more most of the time. It’s not mandated to wear masks outside where I live, but if I couldn’t maintain the distance, I definitely would do so.
Of course I wear a mask. I’m not selfish enough to believe that a small bit of extra comfort is worth putting everyone else at risk.
I’m still not frequenting stores but the few times I’ve had to go out, yes there have been masks all the way. I refuse to shop anywhere (even with pick-up) that doesn’t strictly enforce a mask policy for customers and employees.
Were all these non-symptomatic people tested? Because if not, you have NO idea whether or not they got the virus. You just know they weren’t symptomatic.
@romanigypsyeyes of course they were tested.
I would like to see the framing not that of “YOU are locking PEOPLE down.” But rather “WE are acting to protect the members of OUR community.” Less adversarial, more acknowledging the unfortunate reality, and joining together to oppose it.
I wear masks in any indoor situation (though I’m rarely in one), when picking up curbside or at a window (fairly rare), or getting gas (we don’t pump in NJ, so there’s proximity with worker.)
I carry it when walking and use if near others, though first choice is turn another way or cross street. Keep it on if it’s a busy area. Don’t wear when biking. Don’t wear on the beach, where folks have been pretty good about distancing.
Wear if having an outdoor visit with a friend or relative, unless mutual agreement we are apart enough and have a handle on what that person’s habits are (rare; haven’t done any “social” occasions except one friend in the park and an aunt we need to check in with.)
Store compliance as far as I’ve seen has been 100% with correct wearing, but I’ve only been in grocery once and Walgreens once, so can’t generalize.
I also read somewhere 80% of the infected do not infect others while a few infect very many people. On the surface, it doesn’t make any sense. Is it because the few attend big events talking a lot, i.e., partying? Or is it that the few produce a great viral load?
We have been wearing masks from day 1 and will continue to do so, though only indoors. Our state requires it but we would wear them anyway. Ours are N95s purchased before CV, but when out we do wear a cheap mask over it to protect others as well.