Good advice for coping with changing Covid regulations

[Morgana]

As Covid changes, so do the rules for coping with it. Right now, the biggest change is in the direction of fewer and less strict mask mandates.

For some people, including those with underlying risk factors and those who just disagree with the changes or the way they’re being rolled out, this may be challenging.

This article offers some great advice for that group — both biological/medical tips on ways to protect yourself and social/emotional tips on how to stay calm and avoid conflict.

NPR: I'm a one-way masker. What strategy will give me optimal protection?

If you love the new changes, go for it! celebrate and have fun. There's nothing in this article to disrespect you.
If not so much, the article might help.

Please don’t take this in a political direction. If the article didn’t have useful, actionable advice that’s difficult to find elsewhere, I wouldn’t be posting it. Please take it in the spirit it was offered and don’t make more work for the moderators
Thank you.

PS Here's where you can check your local community risk level (which is what the new masking advice is based on): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html

 

[Tony's Dream]

This will be a difficult topic to keep from becoming political and I truly hope you can succeed at keeping it non-political. In the years prior to covid you often saw people wearing individual masks to protect themselves in some countries. I have waivered back and forth on wearing a mask and try to follow the local guidelines.

In the article you posted, you see where the professional spoke of preventing the spread versus protecting yourself from covid. This seems to be at the heart of the issue. Is wearing a mask about protecting yourself or working together as a group to reduce the spread. I feel that mask wearing should be about protecting yourself, just like you do when you wear a condom to avoid getting VD....as opposed to stopping people from having sex to reduce VD.

 

[user 423]

I feel that mask wearing should be about protecting yourself, just like you do when you wear a condom to avoid getting VD....as opposed to stopping people from having sex to reduce VD.

That is a false equivalency. STDs aren't wide spread contagious diseases like COVID that are mostly transmitted by airborne means and attack through the lungs. So a person infected with COVID who doesn't wear a mask puts others at risk. That is the main reason it's been spreading for the past 2 years. There have been numerous cases where one sick person has infected dozens of people at gatherings.

BTW: People have been prosecuted for not wearing condoms and knowingly spreading AIDS or other serious STDs.

 

[scaredycat72]

Personally I would ask a mod to close comments. The article speaks for itself.

 

[Morgana]

I truly hope you can succeed at keeping it non-political.

No, I really hope YOU can succeed at keeping it non-political.
I did my part by working very hard to keep my post neutrally, civilly worded and to keep my personal feeligs and opinions out of it. Now it's your turn.
Please, people. It's not rocket science.

 

[CobbtownAcres]

As Covid changes, so do the rules for coping with it. Right now, the biggest change is in the direction of fewer and less strict mask mandates.

For some people, including those with underlying risk factors and those who just disagree with the changes or the way they’re being rolled out, this may be challenging.

This article offers some great advice for that group — both biological/medical tips on ways to protect yourself and social/emotional tips on how to stay calm and avoid conflict.

NPR: I'm a one-way masker. What strategy will give me optimal protection?

If you love the new changes, go for it! celebrate and have fun. There's nothing in this article to disrespect you.
If not so much, the article might help.

Please don’t take this in a political direction. If the article didn’t have useful, actionable advice that’s difficult to find elsewhere, I wouldn’t be posting it. Please take it in the spirit it was offered and don’t make more work for the moderators
Thank you.

PS Here's where you can check your local community risk level (which is what the new masking advice is based on): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html

Thank you for posting for those people who want to know.

 

[Ripper238]

Not political at all. Just personal. I don't think anyone has a problem if you want to wear a mask. You got to take care of you.

Good tips in that article for those who need to take extra precautions.

 

[wanderlust]

I did some research about masks and tried a few.
Both masks have exhale valve, which makes it more comfortable than other masks. All that wet air you exhaled just goes away. As a courtesy, consider keeping a plain surgical or plain textile mask on top, to filter your exhalations.

Simple almost-pro level is a genuine 3M 8511 mask - filters 95%:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057511/Cheap, $2 a piece on a box of 20, lasts several days, especially if covered as above.

Real-pro is 3M 6200, used in a covid ward and research
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057395/with 100% filter 7093
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057584/
6200 will last MONTHS of daily use, is more comfortable (designed to be worn for hours), and is easier to quickly remove for a second (drink) and put back. More expensive to start ($30) but lasts much longer and gives a better protection. Also takes more space (does not fit in a pocket) . After few months, you replace filter and keep the mask.

Yes, I know I look like a Darth Vader but why would I care - I protect myself 100%. And I am ready for any new variants or new covid season next winter.

I am not paranoid and use 6200 only inside, with many unvaccinated people present, but if I consider flying, only in a 3M 6200 mask.

 

[RonDean]

For what it's worth, I think it would be a better world if we considered our impact on other people a lot more often than we do. That applies to masking as well as a multitude of other behaviors. We simply have no way to know the risk factors of other people and they might not be able to stay home or protect themselves as well as they should.

I don't want to get you sick any more than I want to get sick myself. Or that stranger I might pass on the street that, unbeknownst to me, is just a hair's breadth away from death's door. It's not politics, just basic morality.

Will I happily toss the mask in a bin the moment the medical establishment tells me it is safe? You can bet your bippy, I will.