Masking Less Now

[canyonwalker]

I'm starting to give up on masking against the Coronavirus. I won't say "I am giving up" because I'm not totally giving up on masking— or other health precautions. I'm still wearing a mask in highest risk situations such as aboard airplanes and in airports. But I've basically given up masking in stores and restaurants.

I remained one of the last holdouts in masking. Even in the otherwise health-conscious area of Silicon Valley I live in I've noticed that voluntary masking in stores is down to about 5% now. Ditto at SJC airport, even.

The government has long since thrown in the towel. President Biden essentially announced the end of treating Covid like an emergency a year ago. Two weeks ago he signed a bipartisan congressional resolution (example coverage: NPR article, 14 Apr 2023) abruptly ending the official emergency just four weeks before it was set to expire already on May 11. And California state government, which was a leader nationally in having a well articulated, evidence based policy, dropped even its requirement for wearing masks in hospitals and clinics, leaving it up to individual hospitals to defend on their own.

In addition to having been one of the last mask-wearing holdouts I remain one of the last never-had-Covid holdouts among people I know. Many people I know have had it twice now.

Catching Covid has become accepted as the new normal. Early on in the Coronavirus pandemic, deniers scoffed, untruthfully, that "Covid is just like the flu". In terms of impact it's not. It's 4-5x more deadly. But it has become like the flu in the sense that getting sick with it has become normalized. The public considers it one of those things that just happens; nothing to be done about it other than seek care & tough it out when you get it. (Nevermind that the chance of getting the flu can also be greatly reduced by annual vaccination... which also most people don't bother to get....)

It's in this context that I'm dropping my mask in more places. There remains little value in trying so hard when virtually nobody else does.

Comments

[some_other_dave]

I'm still masking in stores, and will be at the airport and on the plane tomorrow, but not under most circumstances. I am still good about washing my hands every time I get home, though!

[khedron]

Similar. Still masking at the grocery store but not at the vet or other places where it's just me and a couple other people.

[khedron]

Though I do sometimes bring a mask with me still, so I can put it on if someone else is wearing one.

[canyonwalker]

I do a similar thing. I usually bring a mask with me and will put it on either if the place I go is crowded (most of my shopping trips are at off hours) or if the store employee who assists me is wearing a mask. I figure if they're careful enough to protect themselves and their customers, I'll mirror their energy.

[canyonwalker]

I've stopped masking at Safeway because it's rarely crowded. Trader Joe's— more crowded, I'll wear my mask. Costco— basically as crowded as an airport terminal, mask on as I enter.

[sorcyress]

Ouch.

I'm still masking pretty much anywhere, because any risk budget I would have is totally destroyed by my job ---4-5 hours indoors with unmasked and unvaccinated teenagers, five days a week. Given that I am the most likely vector for any of my friends and loved ones, I'm not remotely ready to start risking their health by not masking.

~Sor

[canyonwalker]

You're well ahead of most people in your thought process of considering the risk you pose to at-risk people because of your job conditions and masking up around them. 👍