I still wear a mask when going out to stores because I'm immunocompromised due to a kidney transplant. It's ultimately up to me to protect myself from others but what bothers me most lately are people who either laugh or think I'm stupid for still wearing a mask. Some even go as far as to call me out and shame me for it. Can people just mind their own business? I'm not trying to get them to wear a mask so why are they so fixated on me taking mine off?

I want to share my experience as a disabled person, because I think it's very easy to simply not notice our non-existance:

I don't exist anymore. I'm a hermit. It's been years since I've done anything in public. I go to the rheumatologist, I go to a lab to get blood tests, and once a year I get an x-ray to make sure I don't have TB. I don't do anything else. There's about a two week period where being outside isn't some unbearably high or low temperature that exacerbates my condition.

Please care about covid. Just, please. Do it for people like me if that helps you, but mostly do it for yourself. This virus can make you like me and it's miserable (I was sick before Covid, but Covid is known to trigger autoimmune conditions which are the primary cause of my suffering).

But fuck it, let's all just return to the office anyways. Amirite? SMH

Our track record dealing with covid shows us that our approach was largely unsuccessful. Masking must be enforced, not suggested. This is the only effective solution.

The lesson I'm learning is that we should have worn masks during "flu season" all along. In crowded and poorly ventilated spaces at least. It's a cheap and easy measure and I don't know what the BFD is with masks.

I didn't know lemmy was full of anti maskers. Wear a mask ffs. You should have kn95s or n95s. They work and prevent all sorts of illness. Even a regular mask works better than nothing. They did plenty of studies.

covid or no covid, its not the worse thing to wear masks and stay safe!

Wear a Mask. Get vaccinated. Stop spreading misinformation

Since the anti-mask/vax comments seem to be flooding in, figured I'd make my opinion known too... as obnoxiously as I can, because apparently that's how it's done

it’s interesting to see how common it is for people in NYC to still wear them sometimes, especially when on the subway (the air is shitty, so it makes sense).

I doubt it will be much of a problem here, except for those who always refused. yeah, it sucks, but it’s a lot better than getting sick— or dying.

Zero chance anyone does this

scientists warn

Fucking nothing will be done, then.

Wait, you all weren't wearing masks still?

Give a shit about your fellow humans and yourself.

There was a moment in my life where I was optimistic about masks. I pictured a cyberpunk future we didn't get sick as much and had a cool new fashion accessory we could have fun with. It is wild how capitlaism couldn't even resist the power of covid

Love being immunocompromised knowing I am just meat for the capitalist grinder

This post made me realize how completely ignorant to covid I’ve become lately… I had to check the date to see if it was current or years old.

I got a bunch of KN95 masks and P100 filters half off at a value store recently, its so cool being the only person not getting covid every 6 months

Unless the strain is killing a sizable amount of people getting it it'll be hard to get people to wear masks en masse again.

BuT wHaT aBoUt the ecoNoMy??!!

I mean, we didn't handle any of this well the first time. That goes for most places on the planet. I'm sure we won't handle it well if it really does go south again.

I keep wearing N95s. Haven't gotten COVID yet and not feeling like playing the Long COVID roulette. I don't work 9-5 in an office so I don't even have to wear a mask for very long periods of time. Buses, stores require it, but there's plenty to do outside anyway. Patios are fine. Need to take a leak? Put the mask on. No one from my circle has caught it yet. Honestly this protocol isn't that bad.

Haven't left my house without wearing a mask ever since the ride started. Also never caught the virus. At the rate we're going, I'm going to wear them for the rest of my life. I don't mind.

Cloth masks were always supposed to be a stopgap measure until vaccines or increased N95 production was available.

People will not mask up again, and quite frankly, shouldn't have to, especially if they're not going to use ones that are actually effective.

The pharma companies jacked up the price of the vaccines knowing future waves were coming and yearly boosters would be necessary.

My point is: whether you think people should mask up again or not, it's just not going to happen, but the actual paths forward, either mandatory vaccinations or at least cheap and readily accessed shots for the willing won't happen either without government intervention.

I saw a study a while back that claimed that good filtration and ventilation systems in indoor public places were more effective than masking. If that's the case, what I'd like to see is subsidies for businesses and public buildings to get.new systems installed, as well as new minimum air quality standards for public spaces with inspections for enforcement.

Yep, got it again this week and presently in isolation. On the upside, we know how to treat it way better than when I had it last time.

I saw on the CBC last night a story of a restaurant worker who was fired because she wore a mask. That's how bonkers we in Canada have become lately.

Hey, let's again make sure we don't listen to the scientists that come armed with facts and data. 7 million dead the last time? Probably a made-up statistic just to spread fear and panic...right?

sigh

Wear a mask! This round of covid still sucks. Ask me how I know

I hate scepticism over vaccines, but when it has just been announced that vaccines can be sold to the public for around £100 each, and then this comes along. They say ignore how many are being admitted to hospital as other consequences are more dangerous.

I have followed the hospital rates as a metric for over a year now. I don't see any other metric as valid. The death rate is reduced as the most vulnerable have been seen off. The reporting rate is non-existent because people are not interested anymore. People are under pressure to attend work with covid now, so why would they bother with the testing kits. Patients in hospital is the most sensible data point to me.

Why are we not being told of which areas are showing the most cases? Covid cases are drastically reduced now. Which hospitals are taking in large amounts of cases?

It would be stupid to take unnecessary risks, but this has a bad smell of fear mongering to sell vaccines around it for me.

Welp, time for me to buy a new mask cause I accidentally tossed my old one out when I replaced my old purse. :|

Time to buy some shares, I guess.

My wife and I wear them when we are in an uber or other enclosed space. Due to the new wave, we are being a bit more careful than usual.

The worst part about masks is how I also got the common cold way less often and didn't have to smell car exhaust when I walked places. How could I stand wearing this thing?!

Yeah nah

So just make sure you have N95s handy. There's no reason to panic, but just be prepared if a new strain takes off over the flu season.
I don't understand why the comments are so contentious.

I got a mess of boosters. I'm done with masks.

Oh no. Anyway..

Why are we still talking about Covid? Shouldn't we all have a good deal of immunity against it?

What a fucking joke

I bet you, that people arent using masks correctly

You have to use it only once. You cant touch it with your hand, etc etc

Everyone is gonna wear the same mask over and over

Its dumb and pointless. But the media mentions it like its the only solution.

Please no...

I came here because I was tired of seeing this garbage on reddit all the time. How long are you going to let yourself be scared?

Eh.... Nah. I don't think you're going to see a lot of mask wearing in the US again. If they want to roll out another vaccine I'll take it, but the masks are a pain in the ass and no one likes them.

surveillance

They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means.

What so they mean by "surveillance" here

Nooooo !

From the charts in the article, it looks like levels of infection are up to where they were in May/June 2023. Were you wearing a mask then? It really begs the question: What is the threshold level of infection in which the wearing of masks is critically important?

masks do NOT work. Not unless you are wearing at least an N-95 or better mask. More fear-mongering in an election year, surprise surprise. Do not forget to get your lovely vaccines.

Masks barely do anything for these flu germs. Wtf this community is on another planet. Stop watching cnn and go outside.

Wait hold on I've seen this one before

be me be in rocky marriage wife cheats on me I move to apartment for 6 months trial seperate hate life pandemic goddamnwtf.jpg

I don't have evidence she actually cheated on me this time, other than the nudes she sent the same dude she fucked. I learned my lesson this time. I'm not letting her have the house.

MoSt CuRsEd GeNeRaTiOn Ever

Ah shit, here we go again.

And this time the government isn't going to hand out vaccines with no strings attached. Now you have to agree to some website's grossly one-sided terms of service in order to get vaccinated. No, I do not agree to binding arbitration over something being put in my body; I'm not completely stupid.

Masking is not an effective solution. Anyone that propagates this shit is just doing it for clicks at this point.

Have you read the highly respected Cochrane Review? https://www.cochrane.org/CD006207/ARI_do-physical-measures-such-hand-washing-or-wearing-masks-stop-or-slow-down-spread-respiratory-viruses

Read the review. It’s the most comprehensive post pandemic study from a highly respected journal. They clearly state the following:

There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect. The pooled results of RCTs did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks. There were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection. Hand hygiene is likely to modestly reduce the burden of respiratory illness, and although this effect was also present when ILI and laboratory-confirmed influenza were analysed separately, it was not found to be a significant difference for the latter two outcomes. Harms associated with physical interventions were under-investigated.

If we can’t settle the issue after a 2 year pandemic, I highly doubt it will ever be settled by science.

Masking is political theater and is ultimately a matter of expressing your tribe at this point. Alternatively, we could think of people who wear masks today as leaning more heavily towards social humanism and hive mentality (society over the individual), where non masks proponents lean towards liberal humanism (in the sense of freedom of the individual, that is, personal liberty).

Given that the science is inconclusive about masks, and even suggests that they are not effective, it’s about time that news outlets drop the topic. If you want to wear a mask, then do it. But don’t force anyone else to or suggest that governments should regulate it.

COVID is over. New shit will come. Masks won’t be the solution.

Edit: downvotes without any proper rebuttal. Classic tribalism at all cost despite the truth.