Someone asked earlier about wearing a KN95 mask for a whole flight. I found AireTrust KN95 masks designed by a Stanford prof that use nanotechnology to make them more breathable. They claim up to 99% filtration efficiency. We wear them when we fly. They feel a fair bit better than our other KN95 masks.
We talked to a friend (she and H are among the only staunch Republicans we know in our ultraliberal area) who wouldn’t take mRNA vaccines (experimental technology) and was convinced that the virus came from an intentional leak in China and … but did get J&J. Anyway, she told us all but 5 of her family (four kids all married and with maybe 8 or more grandchildren) have Covid. All minor symptoms, but their get-together plans are on hold. Another friend’s son in Brooklyn has Covid. No visit upcoming. [I’m guessing much of Brooklyn will have Omicron in short order].
Plus, several friends aren’t flying (including us). We canceled our tickets over New Year’s weekend already (actually just said we would use them later and banked the $$).
Don’t understand this. You can just use a rapid test (with certificate) for return to the US. I used Randox, you can do click and collect to pick up the test kits for GBP18.95 in most parts of the UK, and it’s incredibly simple, you just take a photo of the result in the app and they send back the certificate within an hour or two. We also used it for travel to the UK as it was simple and cheap. More annoying was isolating after the PCR test on arrival in the UK but we found a place that guaranteed a same day result for GBP89.
@Twoin18 The trouble they were having, was finding a reservation for the two year old; most places only would test for those 5 years old and older. I am not aware of the testing requirements, but I though a self test was not allowed. D did tell me today they have arranged for their return testing, so all is good.
We just rebooked our son’s return flight to Palo Alto. Now mid January to let things settle down and switched from southwest to American first class so he can board last and deplane first.
I think It’s riskier eating indoor than flying. When you are eating you have your mask off and are talking with people. When you are flying, everyone is required to have their mask on and most planes have good ventilators.
Generally I agree about the flight itself, though not the airport. When we changed planes in Charlotte, a bunch of people were not wearing masks. On the planes, we also saw a reasonable number of folks with masks either not covering their noses, not covering nose and mouth, or off for extended duration while nursing a drink.
We were thinking about whether to eat indoors with a couple of folks who basically seeing no one. Even then, one doesn’t know who they actually see.
Is it really riskier eating indoor than flying? I’m not so sure. I suppose it depends on where one sits on a plane and maybe how crowded a restaurant is. It’s one thing if a passenger sits in an enclosed/semi-enclosed suite with its separate aisle access in a premium cabin. It’s quite another if s/he sits in a main cabin on a full/nearly-full long haul flight (not to mention s/he may have to wait in line for 15 minutes or more each to board and to deplane, or sit adjacent to another passenger who is eating/drinking or pretend to be eating/drinking for the duration of the flight). A diner can avoid a crowded restaurant and choose another. An air passenger generally doesn’t have that choice. Some restaurants, and restaurants in some cities/countries, require diners to show proofs of vaccination. Very few countries/airlines require the same.
Except that there’re almost always some passengers who take their masks off for extended periods of time onboard (eating or pretending to be eating). Except for a few foreign airlines that have minimum standards on masks, there’re always passengers who wear substandard masks that are nothing more than a piece of cloth or a few layers of cloth. We also don’t know whether HEPA filters onboard airplanes work well enough against the Omicron variant, which apparently doesn’t take long to infect its victims.
I just came back from Cancun. On both flights the attendants were very strict about passengers wearing masks. The pilot gave us very strict warning if we didn’t adhere to their mask policy. They didn’t serve food or alcohol in the economy cabin.
We don’t know if HEpa filter works, but at least airplanes have them and the restaurants do not.
I don’t think there is anything that’s 100% safe. We just try to do risk and reward analysis before we do anything. Seeing the grand baby and my mom are important to me, getting together with colleagues for drinks not so much.
It’s all so personal for people. Everyone just needs to make decisions that are best for them.
You really can’t say one activity is more or less risky than another because there are just too many variables with each activity. Time, volume of air per person, masked/unmasked, and what are the people doing are the variables I assess
I am currently in Greensboro airport. I thought it would be crowded going home after Xmas before working Monday. But we were the only ones in line checking our bags and one other couple in security. We went through the regular line and they went through pre check. We got out first lol.
The gate area is pretty empty. We sat in a section all to ourselves but another family with two little kids just got here. The other end of the airport is completely empty so we could go down there if we wanted but we board in 40 min. I’m sure ORD will be a different story but I am pleasantly surprised today.m
Now crossing my fingers the plane actually leaves on time!! We are not lucky people in that department
We got HEPA filters for grandma’s mountain house before we went up there to visit her. We replaced all the air filters in the house with HEPA ones and partitioned the house off and tried to mainly visit with them on the deck.
I would still rather eat outside and would rather drive than fly.
My daughter left this morning on the first flight out around 6:30am. We got there about 1:45 mins ahead because she had to check a bag. She texted me to say there was no line at security, was able to get a seat in one of the first few rows (she flew SWA) and that no one was sitting in the middle seat. Her flight just landed so I don’t know yet whether her flight had a lot of empty seats but I’m guessing there must have been some last minute cancellations if she somehow managed to have a row at the front with an empty seat at takeoff. So glad she made it back to where she lives w/o any delay or cancellation.
My parents’ cruise should end tomorrow. I think it was two one week cruises on the same ship. They’ve been emailing pictures when they are at port. They’ve looked so happy. In between cruises they went on an America’s cup boat and were the crew “racing” another. My mom proudly reported they won. I wonder how much help two mid 70s year olds helped. Lol. But I’m sure my dad was over the moon.
She said they’ve had 8 tests so far while on board in addition to the required vax and negative PCR test prior to boarding and a rapid one as they boarded.
And their ship has only 200 people not thousands. They really needed this as they hardly left their house in 18 months. And since omicron will probably hit their area in the next few weeks, they’ll probably lock down again.
What did these people expect? Put a couple hundred or thousand people in an enclosed environment……what could go wrong? Makes me seriously question their intelligence regarding COVID and the current situation.
On the other hand, 1.1% of infected out total number of people on board hardly seems like a superspreader event.