Basically, wanted to know where people are at with mask wearing (as it relates to containing covid and all), I know it's been a while since it started. And I've seen people who say covid can still be threatening, like through long covid and such, even if the initial impact doesn't tend to be as bad. Being in the US, it's especially hard to tell what makes sense because the gov sorta gave up on containment a while back and only ever half-assed pushing mask wearing. And wearing a mask alone was a controversial thing in some places, even in the very beginning. Then there's vaccines, which of course help, but seems to be a thing like the flu where you have to get boosters to be fully covered for variant strains.
So in general, I'm wondering stuff like:
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Do you still wear a mask or not and why? And do you have distinctions like large crowds or anything like that?
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How does mask wearing compare by country, from what you know? For example, I'm sure China has a more pro-mask-wearing culture and policy overall, but I'm not clear on where they're at this late into it.
Partly asking cause I want to re-assess my own position on it, see if it makes sense to change it at all by now. I've still been doing it, in part out of inertia, but the US management of it is such a mess, in gov and culture, it's hard to tell when it makes sense to stop vs. just caving to peer pressure of people who were never acting responsibly to begin with.
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It depends on what kind of mask. If you're wearing an N95/KN94 mask then you're protecting yourself (and if it doesn't have a valve also others if you happen to have it) by filtering 95/94% of viral particles.
Though I agree it could attract unwanted attention and hassle in some areas. Even in a place like California I've been followed around stores for a minute or so for still masking by employees who I guess thought I was there to shoplift but I've never been seriously confronted about it. I've had a cowardly guy shout from a dozen feet away how I should take it off and some rambling nonsense but I just stared at him and he stormed off, I've had a handful of guys tell me it's a shame I'm wearing it because they'd like to see my "pretty face" (ugh), but most people don't say anything. I'm sure many anti-maskers resent me but given most of the public has joined them in giving up I think they're content to just feel smugly superior and say shit behind my back which I can live with.
And here I thought California would at least be a little better about maskers.
I don't want to beat up a fellow Marxist, but who cares what conservatives and libs think? Mask to protect you and your family. Those people who you're worried about judging won't give a fuck when you or your loved ones are disabled.
It's sort of a "nobody says anything but almost nobody else is doing it" thing here. I don't seem to be in an area where people will actively pushback about it, but there's few still doing it. If you're actually getting tirades about it, I can understand not wanting to risk drawing the attention.