It’s 2024. Covid is no longer that much worse than the flu. Unless you have some condition, you don’t need to mask anymore. Covid is still a thing, yes, and masks still help, but it’s not going away, we’re better prepared for it, and it’s evolving to be more infectious and less lethal.
It’s really hard to find data by year, but the second graph on this page is close enough: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm
So yeah, wear a mask if you want, but don’t shame others for refusing to do so.
Masks help preventing spread, they help a little to stop you from catching it but it’s more about spread prevention, refusing to wear one because YOU’LL be okay is selfish.
I won’t shame you for it, but I am making you aware that you’re being selfish.
Well I assumed that wearing a mask and/or staying home if you actually have covid is a given, but I guess with some people’s jobs that’s not exactly the case.
Covid is no longer that much worse than the flu.
People bandy about that it’s no worse than flu as though that’s like saying it’s no worse than a bad cold. Flu still kills thousands each year and will knock you on your arse for a fortnight.
evolving to be more infectious and less lethal
It was already around 3 times more infectious than the flu. If it’s getting more infectious and is still just not that much worse than the flu we’re in for a rough time.
Covid is not entirely over, though. People can still die from it if unvaccinated
Yeah, and the death rate is still higher than the flu, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was in the first two years.
Covid is not over, but the pandemic is.
“Reasonably” is doing a lot of work here. The same exact reasons for masking and distancing apply now just as before. Infections and hospitalizations and deaths are still commonplace. Each variant makes the vaccines less and less effective, and each shared breath you draw in public could spell the end for some idiot fox-news-watching boomer who somehow still hasn’t bit it from covid.
If there was any point to masking before, then there’s still one now. Over 1 million people are dead and they’re still dying while we give up on masks for convenience.
As someone who has had all the shots and boosters but still suffering from long covid a year later, please wear a mask if you feel ill. It’s not just hospitalizations that matter. A ton of people are not well enough to return to their lives years later. I’m fortunate that I have basically a light version of it, but some people cannot even walk to the mailbox anymore, and no one knows if or when they will get better.
TIL some still use face masks
Edit: people have trouble understanding that the world is a big place. I haven’t seen a person wear a mask, where I live, for over a year now
I thought the mask was mainly for other people? I remember it being hotly debated but last I remember seeing anything I think that was what was said
Yeah, it catches (lots of but not all) aerosolized saliva from the wearer’s mouth, which means a carrier is putting less viruses into the air. It’s far less effective the other way: stopping viruses in the air getting into your lungs, but it’s slightly better than nothing.
So, if someone feels sick but cannot miss work, this allows them to lower the risk they pose to others near them.
Hey, get this: did you know people wore face masks before COVID? That’s right! Little known fact.
In fact, many people in Asian countries used to be seen wearing masks in enclosed spaces like subways when they are sick, purely out of consideration for the health of others. Wow!
The more you know…
Some people have never stopped masking where I am. I’ve asked my partner to mask up when going any place indoors where sick people can’t avoid (pharmacy, groceries, etc). We don’t mask at a bar, but we do mask at a concert. The difference is that a concert happens once and tickets spoil. A bar is available every night, and sick people are more likely to stay home.
Unless you’re immumodeficent or something, I can’t imagine living like this in 2023.
I can’t believe people still act like putting a tiny piece of fabric on your face is even an inconvenience. So fucking dramatic “I can’t imagine living like this” its like living a regular life except sometimes you go an public and you put a little piece of fabric on your face. It’s similar in concept in some ways to how when you go in public you use pieces of fabric to cover your genitals, etc. oh man what a crazy fucking bizarro world can’t even imagine if we had to put fabric on parts of us when interacting in public.
It’s mainly if you have contact with vulnerable people. COVID and flu both get upticks in the winter months, and hit the elderly and immunocompromised pretty hard.
I still use them if I am the one who is sick to prevent spreading, or if I’m going to be going on a trip soon to prevent me being sick and ruining the vacation, or if I’m around vulnerable people. The vacation one might sound silly, but I had a very close call this year where a family trip that couldn’t be canceled and had to be planned a year in advance was almost ruined by everyone getting sick a few days before. We lucked out and it was very mild, but it could have been something nasty that made us cancel the trip. So now I wear a mask when going out in public a couple weeks before a trip.
I’m absolutely masking before any vacations. I’m going on a trip I’ve wanted to do for decades this fall, and no way am I risking missing it. The last “vacation” I was supposed to have (in 2019) got ruined by some asshole coughing up a lung on the plane and I spent a week in Aruba miserable in bed, which was a great use of my limited time off and money. Not doing that again if I can help it.
If all my friends jumped off a bridge, there’s probably a good reason. I keep pretty intelligent friends. The bridge is probably collapsing or some shit. Wear a fuckin mask tho.
Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1170/
“So what, now I’m just supposed to do anything that Rosa does? What if she… jumped off a cliff?”
“If Rosa were to have jumped off a cliff, she would have done her due diligence regarding the height of the cliff, the depth of the water, the angle of entry… so, yes, if you see Rosa jump off a cliff, by all means, jump off a cliff.”
"You jump off a cliff."
“Gladly. Provided Rosa did first.”
I got banned from Lemmy.world for saying that the main purpose of the masks were to protect others from you instead of protecting you from others.
It’s like everyone forgot that masks were part of the “stop the spread” campaign.
Partially correct – cloth masks protect others, but an N95 actually protects the wearer.
Yup. A n95 with a proper fit is really the only mask that is going to actively protect you. Every other mask acts to mitigate spread from you.
And many people don’t wear their masks properly, so it still really only protects others from them.
