I love how something like this can reach the front page but if you take it just a little shuffle further and say that maybe, just maybe, it’s, ike, possible that some medical professionals are not infallible resources of knowledge and action, you’ll never hear the end about how much of a killer you are
The trouble is that it’s a slippery slope between “some are not infallible” and “all doctors can’t be trusted”…
Well, it’s not. It’s a dry, gentle gradient normal people can easily stand on, but then someone rolls out the slip n’ slide and we’ve been living with that for 4 years!
I mean random nurses aren’t setting COVID policy. I have a family member who is a nurse and she still doesn’t even believe COVID is real… in 2024.
Not to mention that the hospital might just not provide them to their workers for such a trivial thing as a pandemic.
Which IMO is the most likely situation given how some hospitals had nurses wear the same one-use mask for days during the pandemic
I got covid in December and had to go to the store to get some dayquil. They won’t deliver that stuff. I was wearing a mask, actively trying to avoid people, was super careful to disinfect my hands before going in and touch as little as possible. I went to the self checkout and the lady up front tried to spark up a conversation with me.
“Feeling under the weather huh?”
I just nodded and made it clear I wasn’t talking. I just couldn’t understand the logic of trying to interact with an obviously sick person when they’re going out of their way to not interact. People’s brains are broken.
Depending on the store you get yelled at if you don’t interact even with the customers who obviously don’t wanna talk to anyone 🙃
Noone wants to work 24h shifts in an ffp2 if you don’t really have to and also every colleague had like every possible infection during autumn already.
Yup. I’d rather get COVID than wear a mask all day every day. I will wear a mask if I know I’m sick, of hospitals are getting overwhelmed, or if I know I’ll be around vulnerable people, but that’s it. I took every precaution from 2020 on, and got sick anyway. It’s going to happen, so I’d prefer to at least be comfortable than just delay the inevitable.
I got COVID two months ago and it sucked, and I’d rather repeat that than live my life with a mask.
I’d rather get COVID than wear a mask all day every day.
You’re supposed to wear the mask so that you don’t expel covid (or anything else) onto other people. It’s not for your protection.
It does also protect masked uninfected people from unmasked infected people. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883189/ , especially section 4.
Exactly! If you’ve been exposed to the virus, it makes a ton of sense.
When I last got COVID, I:
- self-quarantined as much as possible, keeping as much distance as I could
- wore a surgical mask (best mask I had) until I was able to get an N95 mask (about a day)
- wore the N95 mask whenever I was anywhere near anyone until I was able to effectively quarantine
But that’s not an everyday thing. Once I had confirmed I was negative, I stopped wearing the mask in public. There’s no need, I’m healthy and I’m around other healthy people. I’m not going to wear a mask out of fear of what might be out there, I’ll wear it when I’m near people who are at-risk or when asked. I’m not going to wear it 24/7 though.
Nobody’s asking you to wear it 24/7. They’re just asking you to wear it when you’re around people. It really isn’t hard. I’ve been doing it for years.
They’re asking healthcare workers to wear it for the full shift, every shift. That’s fine for short time periods (say, during a COVID spike), but I don’t think that’s reasonable long term, especially since many healthcare workers work 12h shifts.
My expectation is they wear one when around at-risk individuals, such as in a cancer ward, ER, etc. If it’s just in the waiting room for a checkup or something, it’s up to them, though they should try to distance themselves from people who choose to wear masks.
Yes…? Isn’t that what healthcare workers did before COVID? Why would that be controversial?
If my doctor or nurse isn’t wearing a mask I get the same gut reaction as if they’re smoking a cigarette. They are, of course, free to do that on their own time, but when they’re at work I expect them to be professional and health-conscious. That includes wearing a mask.
My care providers didn’t and don’t wear a mask every time I visit, though they do maintain a reasonable distance. They do around sick people though.
The post makes it sound like healthcare providers are expected to always wear a mask, which is ridiculous. They should wear a mask about as often as they did pre-2020, more if there’s a COVID surge or something.
You’re part of the problem.
Thank you for reminding us all of the dangers of long COVID. It is truly disheartening to see the devastating effect prolonged inflammation has had to your higher reasoning capabilities.
My SIL actually got a pretty serious case of long COVID, so I’m extra careful around her. I’ll avoid visits if I’ve likely been exposed recently, and only go when I’m pretty sure I’m clean.
I’m happy to wear a mask upon request, but there’s no way I’m wearing a mask all day every day out of fear.
I got COVID two months ago and it sucked, and I’d rather repeat that than live my life with a mask.
Yeah and especially sucks when you die from it. Still better than wearing a mask eh?
The mask prevents the spread of covid because you might be asymptomatic. It’s not about you it’s about other people.
Yeah and especially sucks when you die from it.
Or when you get Long COVID and wish you were dead.
The mask doesn’t prevent the spread, it just slows it. Look at the data from the various states about the effectiveness of lockdowns and mask mandates, they had a number of total cases per capita, they just had a flatter curve.
Pushing for masks made a ton of sense in the first couple years of the pandemic when hospitals were getting overrun, but wearing a mask today doesn’t really prevent anything. COVID is already endemic, so the best you’re going to do is increase the time between infections a bit.
When I got COVID last, I was on vacation and had to get home, so I tested myself as soon as I was able, self-quarantined as best I could, wore an N95 mask when I couldn’t, and put off unnecessary trips to the store. Once I had recovered, I went back to not wearing a mask. That’s how we should treat it. I do the same for colds, the flu, etc. I’m not wearing a mask unless I’m either sick or likely to be directly in contact with those who are at risk.
it just slows it
what’s the mechanism by which masks slow the spread?
Really looking forward to this response if it ever comes.
We’ll you see the virus has just struggle through the fibers. It’s all very obvious you just have to engage in idiot thought processes.
You know, not to belittle anyone or anything. I would hate the moronic idiots to think I was making fun of them.
it’s exactly what you hope it is
Haha, thanks for the update.
Catching water particles, which carries the virus.
N95 masks do a really good job (something like 80% reduction in transmission), but most people wear those typical surgical masks (or worse, a single-layer cloth mask with almost no protection) that merely reduces transmission by something like half. If you’re wearing a mask the whole day, it’ll get saturated and become far less effective. So, 50% fewer particles best case (average for a full day is likely way worse) doesn’t sound like a good tradeoff to me.
That said, if I’m going to an area with at-risk people, I’ll use the best mask available while I’m there. But for all-day usage, no, it’s not going to be that effective on net.
something like 80% reduction in transmission
reduces transmission by something like half
so it slows the spread by…preventing transmission of the virus
fucking fabulous job, my dude
It doesn’t prevent transmission, it reduces transmission. You’ll have similar total numbers of infected people, it just flattens the curve so people get sick slower.
I totally agree that wearing masks has its place, but it’s not going to meaningfully reduce the spread, it’s already endemic so you’re likely going to get it regardless.
Did you know staying on your side of the road while driving doesn’t prevent accidents, it only delays them?
Did you know strawmen are fire hazards?
If you want a driving analogy, here you go. It’s like fast starts and stops between lights vs slower starts and stops, and everyone is going to the same place. Either way you’ll get to your destination in a similar amount of time, but the first can cause traffic bunching if enough people do it. The first is like not wearing a mask (people get sick all at once), and the second is like wearing a mask (smooth out the curve).
This analogy sucks in all kinds of ways, but there you go.
Flattening the curve was super important in the early stages of COVID because it reduced bunching at hospitals and gave researchers time to work on a vaccine. Now that it’s endemic, bunching is much less of a problem and symptoms are generally more mild anyway. If you’re sick or around those who are (or spend a lot of time with at-risk populations), wear a mask. If not, it’s basically a waste of time.
You’re part of the problem.
🤦♂️
you’re part of the problem.
Part of what problem?
Exactly. Thanks for illustrating my point.
I only wear a mask when I go out. That isn’t “living my life with a mask”. I also get quality, well-made masks that are comfortable. They also keep your face warm when it’s cold, and you aren’t going to get tagged by facial-recognition software.
This topic is about healthcare workers. My point is that I don’t expect healthcare workers to wear one every day during their full shift. I only expect them to wear a mask when around at-risk individuals (i.e. CDC guidelines for healthcare workers), or consistent with hospital/clinic guidelines, or ideally when asked to by a patient. If someone is wearing a mask, I expect them to distance themselves as much as is reasonable so that person feels comfortable (that’s just common decency imo).
That’s what I’m responding to. Feel free to wear a mask whenever you want, that’s fine. Don’t expect others to do so unreasonably.
That applies a thousand times more to healthcare workers.
I hope she’s wearing an N95? Otherwise the plastic disposable ones do really only work for preventing getting spittle on others, but does fuck all for your own health.
Don’t worry, none of that happened.
Right. Because you were there! The doctor, right?
Yep, I was the doctor the nurse was referring to. Who wasn’t present in the room. But yes, I was there.
Unbelievable. As in, I don’t believe this happened.
Believe what you want, but every doctor visit I’ve had in a rural area in the last year (severe car accident, so lots of visits) NO ONE has a mask on except for me.
Sure, but the play-by-play interactions are cringe af and absolutely did not go that way.
If the post simply said “I went to the hospital today and was the only person wearing a mask.” I’d be 10x more inclined to believe it versus this fanfiction-sounding recount of events.
