So I live in a part of the US where I haven't seen more than 2 or 3 people wear a mask (outside of a protest I went to) in the past two years. Its genuinely just not done here. I will wear a mask if I feel a under the weather or my allergies are acting up but typically don't wear one. Should I? Would it help? Do y'all wear one everytime you go out?
As I understand it masks don't prevent you from getting sick as much as they prevent you from getting others sick. Is this correct?
I try to wear one every time I go out, but occasionally find myself without one. Even so, every percent you cut down your chance of transmission is good, especially with how little effort wearing a mask is. Plus there's cameras and pigs everywhere, so that's an added benefit. Not to mention all the other diseases that are often worse after having covid.
A mask lowers the likelihood of getting infected through your mouth and nose. How effective this is depends on a lot of things, including your other safety measures (washing hands, not touching your face, avoiding crowds) and the mask's seal and filtering effectiveness. But very generally speaking, decreasing the viral load itself lessens the severity of infections you may still get, and helps bring down the R number of diseases socially.
I bought a box of 3M Auras (from a verified source to ensure they aren't counterfeit, not Amazon), and they came out to ~$1 each. I reuse them until they don't work anymore, get too dirty, or something breaks. I have like 15 in rotation at any time, cycling through three bags so that each one sits for a week or two before reuse.