Poll: Covid and masks, anonymous poll of opinions

[millefleur 5,046]

Just curious to see what the VJ consensus on mask wearing in 2021 and beyond is.

[SalishSea 17,819]

I work in healthcare.  Masking isn't going away anytime soon.

[Bill Hamze 89]

What really gets me is being required to wear masks OUTSIDE, which makes no sense to me.

 

As far as my understanding, respiratory viruses don't transmit outdoors... unless of course, one directly coughs and sneezes right into someone's face, in which case, albeit extreme, it becomes irrelevant whether this happened indoors or outdoors.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Bill Hamze

[millefleur 5,046]

10 hours ago, Bill Hamze said:

What really gets me is being required to wear masks OUTSIDE, which makes no sense to me.

I haven't seen that being enforced anywhere, not even in Washington, DC when I visited recently. Apparently some places do have outdoor mask requirements still, and I think a lot of people just chose to wear a mask outdoors on their own.

 

I remember when they put up those makeshift outdoor "pods" or "igloo" type things back when the indoor dining ban was a thing here. Ironically I feel dining in one of those, which lacks a HEPA air filter and any kind of fire safety requirements, was probably more potentially dangerous than just eating inside a restaurant with air filters going, lol.

 

[top_secret 2,417]

In Peru this April,  To ride offshore in a 30' open air speedboat, I was required to wear TWO masks AND a face shield, and of course a life preserver.   I did think that was a bit excessive.  I think the arrival of effective vaccines is the best solution anyone has put forward so far and to a large extent mitigates the need for masks.  However for many years I have also admired the common courtesy shown in Japan and some other parts of Asia where people are decent enough to mask up without being asked if they know they have a cold or flu or something.  If at least that courtesy could catch on in the west it would be nice.  I'm sympathetic to flight attendants and other workers that deal with the masses in tight quarters all day every day.  Myself?  I'm not wearing masks now.  But if I'm asked to or required to somewhere I'm not inclined to make a fuss about it.  I have less trivial concerns to worry about than mask politics.  I neither believe that it is a Nazi conspiracy to suffocate children, or that we will all drop instantly catch plague and drop dead in the streets if we don't wear them. I'm kind of more in the middle.

[millefleur 5,046]

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

In Peru this April,  To ride offshore in a 30' open air speedboat, I was required to wear TWO masks AND a face shield, and of course a life preserver.   I did think that was a bit excessive. 

That seems really excessive. I really doubt Covid is spreading because of speedboat rides.

 

I feel bad for small businesses who have to make decisions on this and/or work with local guidelines. I'm sure small business owners and workers have been yelled at by both sides (maskers and anti-maskers) since this whole thing began. Very rough times out there, not surprizing the workforce is also suffering, the morale is low.

[Redro 4,611]

I live in Korea. Before Korea, it was common for co-workers to wear a mask if they were sick. 

I always thought it was silly. Now, I love it. I haven't had a cold or the flu in the last 1.5 years- and I work with children, so getting sick was part of the job. 

I'm okay with wearing masks indoors- government buildings, private business etc. But, I'm not really fine with mandating masks in open spaces like parks and beaches. 

[Redro 4,611]

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

In Peru this April,  To ride offshore in a 30' open air speedboat, I was required to wear TWO masks AND a face shield, and of course a life preserver.   I did think that was a bit excessive.  I think the arrival of effective vaccines is the best solution anyone has put forward so far and to a large extent mitigates the need for masks.  However for many years I have also admired the common courtesy shown in Japan and some other parts of Asia where people are decent enough to mask up without being asked if they know they have a cold or flu or something.  If at least that courtesy could catch on in the west it would be nice.  I'm sympathetic to flight attendants and other workers that deal with the masses in tight quarters all day every day.  Myself?  I'm not wearing masks now.  But if I'm asked to or required to somewhere I'm not inclined to make a fuss about it.  I have less trivial concerns to worry about than mask politics.  I neither believe that it is a Nazi conspiracy to suffocate children, or that we will all drop instantly catch plague and drop dead in the streets if we don't wear them. I'm kind of more in the middle.

Here in Korea, we have to wear masks at the pool IN THE WATER. 🤨

[millefleur 5,046]

4 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

Here in Korea, we have to wear masks at the pool IN THE WATER. 🤨

Wait, what?! How does that not feel like being waterboarded?! Is it even possible to breathe?

[Redro 4,611]

6 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Wait, what?! How does that not feel like being waterboarded?! Is it even possible to breathe?

It was ridiculous and not possible to breathe after the mask got wet.  But, most people weren't swimming. Just lounging in the pool, so they were okay.

The nonsensical part though? They allowed people to take their masks off for photos. 

I'll be happy when COVID-19 is a thing of the past.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Kor2USA

[powerpuff 6,697]

7 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

Here in Korea, we have to wear masks at the pool IN THE WATER. 🤨

Now that is ridiculous. Make it make sense! 
 

I had 2 friends who went to PR and they were practically alone at the beach (it was pretty desolate)  and police made them wear masks. 

[millefleur 5,046]

2 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

The nonsensical part though? They allowed people to take their masks off for photos. 

This is the kind of stuff that just makes me facepalm. The gym here was not mandating people to wear masks in the pool but in the rest of the gym, they were, as per county guidelines. Half the people in the gym were not wearing masks but only a face shield. I did not see how this made any sense, as a face shield on its own doesn't seem to do anything, respiratory-wise. I ended up just quitting the gym because the expense plus the mask policy (and then it being weirdly enforced, i.e. face shields ok!) was too much. Thankfully my building here has a small exercise room on reserve and they intelligently put a HEPA air filter in it and basically encourage people to use that on full blast when exercising. I don't get why the HEPA filter thing is not more widespread since it's scientifically proven to filter out viruses. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

 

4 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

I'll be happy when COVID-19 is a thing of the past.

Hear, hear!