Can we talk about unmasking?

[denarii]

It's hard to know what the actual numbers here are because only pcr tests are being counted and only a VERY limited number of people quality for PCR tests.

I know someone who was very high risk and qualified for antivirals but AHS required a PCR before they could be prescribed. Fine. But the local AHS testing center she was sent to said they do not do any PCR tests and hadn't for weeks. This resulted in a back and forth with AHS for 4 days over requiring a PCR and refusing to provide one 🤦

So I will still mask to protect high risk family members but I'd estimate about 90% of people are not masking. I'm not sure if it makes any difference at this point. 

[Pawz4me]

53 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?  Gosh I hate the parenting choice of this.   

There are still plenty of people masking around here, even w/o a mandate. I was at WM this morning in an area where the mandate was dropped a couple of weeks ago. I'd estimate that over half of the people (customers and staff) were masked. I do think the early morning shopping demographic maybe tends to be different than later in the day, though. Overall from what I've noticed right now in my area the split between masking and not masking is such that I think people are feeling comfortable either way.

[Loowit]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?  Gosh I hate the parenting choice of this.   

Even with a mask mandate in my area compliance was low, when it goes away tomorrow I don't think it will change anything for any practical purposes.  People who want to mask will continue to do so.  People who don't will continue not to (although hopefully now without out the 'I dare you to say something' angry stares).  We will continue to do things like we have at least for the time being, which is avoid going inside stores, restaurants, theatres, etc.

Our personal family goal at the moment is to not get sick before DS's graduation and then re-evaluate after that.  We will likely start to do a bit more going out.  Maybe if the weather is nice go to a restaurant with outdoor dining or something.  I very much hope we will do more visiting with family and friends, and of course as weather improves we can meet outdoors more which is more my comfort level.  But of course if a new variant or whatever comes through, that would change things.

My DD is very concerned about masking going to optional on campus and several students have put together a petition to ask the admin to reconsider.  Last I heard it had close to 200 signatures.  This is a small private college which has been very pro-vaccines and pro-masking.

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

I do think the early morning shopping demographic maybe tends to be different than later in the day, though. 

I found that to be the case. When I shop on Sunday morning at 8am, almost every shopper is masked. I am pretty sure the Covid-cautious people seek out these less busy times and are the ones wearing masks. Later in the day, almost nobody masks.

[Lady Florida.]

On 3/9/2022 at 6:11 AM, Pawz4me said:

We've never masked outside. We went back to dining inside restaurants a few weeks ago. It's fine. DH and I have both been vaxxed four times. DS23 lives here and his employer just dropped their mask requirement. We feel okay with that. He's triple vaxxed. I still mask when doing errands (which is mostly just grocery shopping or, now that it's almost spring, for gardening supplies) and probably will continue to mask until the temperature and humidity go up. Although I enjoy the added privacy of masking in public, it does get to me when it's hot and humid. I think DH won't continue to mask; he's really tired of it. The few errands we do are done early in the morning when things are less crowded. Even though we're eating in restaurants a couple of times a week our overall risk exposure is still probably much lower than most people.

This sounds a lot like us. We never had a mandate here but we and those close to us were strict maskers, especially when our community had high numbers. Our numbers have dropped significantly. Dh, ds24, and I are all triple vaxxed. The one person we truly worried about - our 3yo granddaughter with Down Syndrome actually had Covid and fortunately it was mild. 

I mostly mask when running errands. Ds and coworkers are still masking at work but he says hardly any of the customers do. I think dh is tired of it because he only masks now where it's required. 

It's hot and humid here most of the year so we got used to masking in the Florida heat. It wasn't comfortable but we're already used to the heat and humidity so it didn't really seem that bad. I suspect newer residents and visitors had more of a problem than long time Floridians.

[skimomma]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Ok if you are still someone that is masking, how are comfortable doing or going to places that now have no masking rules?  Gosh I hate the parenting choice of this.   

We have not had mandates since the very beginning.  Not even in schools.  And when we did, compliance was very low anyway.  I was one of the last holdouts. It started to get very uncomfortable.  I stopped wearing one about two weeks ago.  Not worth the stares, comments, and hostility.  Normally I am a stick-to-my-convictions kind of person but I am worn down.  I feel for all of the high risk people but me wearing a mask in a sea of people who don't isn't helping anyone.

[Lady Florida.]

4 minutes ago, skimomma said:

  Not worth the stares, comments, and hostility.  Normally I am a stick-to-my-convictions kind of person but I am worn down.  I feel for all of the high risk people but me wearing a mask in a sea of people who don't isn't helping anyone.

I worry about what those wearing masks think when they see me without one. Because of where I live I suspect they think I'm part of a certain group. Those of us who wore masks were a small but committed group and even though I don't know those people I don't want them making assumptions about me when they see me without a mask. Dumb yes, but that's where I am right now.

I agree with the bolded though. I'm not sure my mask is helping anyone anymore.

[happi duck]

I wish some public places especially grocery stores would have some masks required hours and/or a masks required check out line.  The checkout is the longest and closest I am to others.  In the aisles I don't need to be next to anyone.

[skimomma]

5 minutes ago, happi duck said:

I wish some public places especially grocery stores would have some masks required hours and/or a masks required check out line.  The checkout is the longest and closest I am to others.  In the aisles I don't need to be next to anyone.

Our food co-op has "high risk" hours daily first thing in the morning.  Masks, social distancing, and lower occupancy numbers are required during those hours.  I wish more places did that.

[Dianthus]

1 hour ago, sassenach said:

Here to share my unpopular (for this board) opinion but I'm thrilled that the mandates are dropping, especially in schools. I don't think we've even begun to quantify the impact of masked school days on kids. IMO it's not going to get any better than this transmission-wise (in my area). Vaccines are as good as they're going to be for awhile. Omicron blew through and between high vaccination rates/recovery rates, I don't think our community immunity is going to get much better than this. Infections and hospitalizations are in the basement. I'm maskless everywhere but work (healthcare). 

I would have been very unhappy to have my kids wear masks all day in schools. One son had speech issues when younger and I can imagine how difficult it would be. I'm really happy we were homeschooling through this.

[KSera]

39 minutes ago, happi duck said:

I wish some public places especially grocery stores would have some masks required hours and/or a masks required check out line. 

This would be such a good idea!

32 minutes ago, skimomma said:

Our food co-op has "high risk" hours daily first thing in the morning.  Masks, social distancing, and lower occupancy numbers are required during those hours.  I wish more places did that.

That’s great. I will have to see if we have anywhere doing that. Earlier in the pandemic there were senior hours, but there weren’t any different requirements during those hours because mass to require all the time anyway. I never went then because I’m not a senior and my risk isn’t visible in a way that made me comfortable feeling like I belonged there during that hour.

[ktgrok]

6 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

 

I agree with the bolded though. I'm not sure my mask is helping anyone anymore.

It still helps you. Last I saw, an N95 or KF94, etc type mask doubled the length of time you could be exposed  to someone with Covid without you being likely to catch it. 

I'm mostly worried for the little little kids, whose faces don't create great seals on their masks. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

6 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

I worry about what those wearing masks think when they see me without one. Because of where I live I suspect they think I'm part of a certain group. Those of us who wore masks were a small but committed group and even though I don't know those people I don't want them making assumptions about me when they see me without a mask. Dumb yes, but that's where I am right now.

I agree with the bolded though. I'm not sure my mask is helping anyone anymore.

I am no longer primarily masking for others. I am masking to protect myself. It’s not 100% but with rates being lower overall I am ok with that. That said, if I had a specific friend or their family who needed me to mask I would also be masking for them.   
 

But I am done trying to protect people who don’t want me to protect them. (Not referring to you, Lady Florida . Just my thinking process.). 

[ktgrok]

Just now, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am no longer primarily masking for others. I am masking to protect myself. It’s not 100% but with rates being lower overall I am ok with that. That said, if I had a specific friend or their family who needed me to mask I would also be masking for them.   
 

But I am done trying to protect people who don’t want me to protect them. (Not referring to you, Lady Florida . Just my thinking process.). 

I wish those that didn't want a vaccine could miraculously give them to the little kids who can't have one yet. Sigh. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

23 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I wish those that didn't want a vaccine could miraculously give them to the little kids who can't have one yet. Sigh. 

Yes. And that’s why I would wear a mask around those who I know have small children. (Though since I wear my mask pretty much everywhere, it ends up being even for those I don’t know as well). 

[Hilltopmom]

Well, it’s been one week since masks went away at my school (I’m still wearing one but only a few other people are) and I’m now sick. Aches, runny nose, sore throat.

No testing on weekends here yet plus expecting a blizzard tomorrow so I’ll wait till Monday and get a sub until my results come back.

Might just be a different crud- who knows?!

But it’s the first time I’ve been sick since before covid started. So annoyed.

[mom2scouts]

Our schools have dropped their mask mandates and I only see a few people wearing masks now. Most people still masking are elderly. Businesses and restaurants have dropped their mask mandates for guests and employees. Our church was very full last week and only a few elderly people and people I know have health issues are wearing masks there. The playground at the park was extemely busy last weekend and there wasn't a single person with a mask. The University is still requiring masks in classrooms, but have removed mask mandates for the rest of campus. They felt those who signed up for class this semester were told masks would be required in class and they must honor that until the end of the semester. A group on campus tried to have a protest about the loosening of the mask mandate and the two organizers were the only people who showed up.

[Syllieann]

We stopped masking a few weeks ago when my kids started public school.  They also take the bus.  Neither the school nor the bus requires masking and very few kids wear them by choice.  Everyone in my home is fully vaxed/boosted and we aren't in close contact with any high risk unvaccinated people since moving.  We would definitely mask if going to a medical facility or something like that, but nobody in my house is in any appreciable danger and numbers here are low.

I do think the special hours idea is a good one that would help to protect people who are at risk and/or not eligible for vaccine.  I wish that would catch on.  I also would like the signs to really mean what they say so people who are at risk can go into a store that says "masks required" and know that masks are actually required.  It drives me nuts when they say it's required but nobody wears them.  I recently went to a store that said they were required.  I wasn't intending to wear one, but when I got to the door it said they were required for everyone so I went back out to the car to get mine.  When I got inside I was the only person wearing a mask.

[Tenaj]

39 minutes ago, Syllieann said:

 

 When I got inside I was the only person wearing a mask.

This is what is beginning to annoy me a lot.  We received paperwork for a volleyball league my dd is in that masks were required in the gym.  So, I have my mask on as we walk in to practices and I'm the only one with a mask on.  Either they are required or not - there's no point in putting up the signs if they aren't really required.  It's deceitful for those who are being cautious about Covid or at higher risk and it's confusing for everyone else, including the kids involved in the league.  

[Ting Tang]

Our state ended the mandate 2/28. Sadly, I just received an email from the dance studio saying it is now mask optional. We have only been masking at Tae Kwon Do and dance class.  I believe my daughter will be the last masker at dance? I have just heard stories of how quickly germs spread at dance. Dance is not her main thing, so I don’t want germs from there to ruin her other thing.  ETA we don't do very much, and what we do do, there is enough social distancing to make me feel mostly comfortable.  

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Ting Tang

[AnneGG]

We will continue masking. I mostly use grocery pickup but with so many things out of stock and prices soaring I have to go in and hunt.
 

 I’ve just accepted it at this point. I’m a crazy Covid conscious lady. Whatever. Get me a sweater with vaxs and masks on it. 

[Hilltopmom]

I just tested positive on a home test- one week of my students not wearing masks at school.

[PronghornD]

I am glad masks are still require at my child's college. One of the choir kids was symptomatic and still went to choir. The choir sang for an hour and twenty minutes together. Then, of course, the symptomatic student tested positive. Now we have to worry about our kid getting covid over spring break. But at least they were all masked so the viral load was reduced. We live in an area with nice low numbers, and the college numbers are very low. But it still happened.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Hilltopmom said:

I just tested positive on a home test- one week of my students not wearing masks at school.

I am so sorry.  That is so upsetting and disappointing.  I am just mad for you.   I am sending feel good vibes your way.  I hope you have a mild course of illness. 

[KSera]

15 hours ago, mom2scouts said:

Our church was very full last week and only a few elderly people and people I know have health issues are wearing masks there.

I have to admit, this gives me a sad feeling. Those are people who are real risk and are trying to protect themselves and it makes me sad that those around them won’t help out in keeping them safe by keeping their masks on as well.  One way masking is helpful, but nowhere near as protective as two way masking.  Will be interesting to see what happens at our church. We have a couple more weeks where they’re asking people to continue to mask, and then they will no longer require it, but they strongly urge people to consider continuing to help keep those at risk safe.

4 hours ago, Hilltopmom said:

I just tested positive on a home test- one week of my students not wearing masks at school.

I’m sorry. That’s so frustrating. I hope it’s very mild and resolves quickly for you.

[Kanin]

6 hours ago, Hilltopmom said:

I just tested positive on a home test- one week of my students not wearing masks at school.

Oh no. Were you masked? This makes me nervous for my school's probably mask-optional decision next week. How are you feeling?

[MEmama]

On 3/11/2022 at 12:06 PM, skimomma said:

Our food co-op has "high risk" hours daily first thing in the morning.  Masks, social distancing, and lower occupancy numbers are required during those hours.  I wish more places did that.

This would be the most popular place in my town, for sure. I haven’t been in public in 6 weeks so I have no idea what the grocery stores look like, but I'll keep my eye out for similar provisions. What a terrific idea—and I’ll bet it helps rather than hurts their business. I would shop at a higher priced store just to support such good management. 
 

We live in a tourist area and last summer despite no local mask mandate many/most shops downtown required masks for entry (even the coffee shop for ordering takeout). I hope they do it again this year; my town is generally very pro mask, but tourists…who knows. I felt much more comfortable knowing they were being asked to help keep the entire community safe.

[catz]

6 hours ago, PronghornD said:

I am glad masks are still require at my child's college. One of the choir kids was symptomatic and still went to choir. The choir sang for an hour and twenty minutes together. Then, of course, the symptomatic student tested positive. Now we have to worry about our kid getting covid over spring break. But at least they were all masked so the viral load was reduced. We live in an area with nice low numbers, and the college numbers are very low. But it still happened.

This happened in my son's college choir in the fall.  1 student got covid and the director got covid (she was patient zero).  All were masked and no one else got it, so crossing fingers.  

[Hilltopmom]

1 hour ago, Kanin said:

Oh no. Were you masked? This makes me nervous for my school's probably mask-optional decision next week. How are you feeling?

Yes I’ve been masked in a kf94 or surgical mask (a few days).

The only other place I’ve been was the grocery store one night last week (also masked).

I have a few students “with colds” or “have allergies”.

[Kanin]

1 hour ago, Hilltopmom said:

Yes I’ve been masked in a kf94 or surgical mask (a few days).

The only other place I’ve been was the grocery store one night last week (also masked).

I have a few students “with colds” or “have allergies”.

Oh geez 😞  I'm so sorry! Wish we could have just waited the few months till summer to unmask in school. 

[Loowit]

DD college sent out an announcement yesterday evening that they have decided to extend the mask mandate after all campus.  There has been a recent uptick in cases on campus.  The mandate will now remain until at least next Saturday, which is when students will be off for spring break.  DD is very relieved and hopes they will decide to leave it until the end of the semester which is in early May.

[Mom_to3]

1 hour ago, Hilltopmom said:

Yes I’ve been masked in a kf94 or surgical mask (a few days).

The only other place I’ve been was the grocery store one night last week (also masked).

I have a few students “with colds” or “have allergies”.

I am so sorry (and pissed at the policy change!). With the way things are going in Europe, we are just asking for trouble. My local high profile university just stopped masking and testing at the same time (last week, I posted that Harvard stopped masking but increased testing...I thought that was bad). I am sure soon the pressure will start for teachers and faculty to come work while sick, especially if or when cases shoot back up like in Europe.

[SeaConquest]

I wear an N95 in the ICU and may at some point switch back to a surgical mask (except when treating Covid patients), but I still don't feel comfortable doing that. My DH wears a KN95/94 when indoors (he prefers earloops, which N95s do not have). My kids wear the same to school and when doing indoor extracurriculars, like Parkour or Civil Air Patrol. We go out to restaurants, but only eat outdoors. We do indoor things, like a play, but will wear a mask. I recently started getting facials and massages (without a mask), but the spa has air filters running in every room and the therapists are fully vaccinated/masked. We do see vaccinated friends indoors without masks, and have even allowed one unvaccinated friend and her son inside because making a drama would have been unhealthy for my younger son, who has already suffered quite a bit emotionally from the pandemic. But, we still have a lot of people dying of Covid in San Diego, and we've gone this long (knock wood) without any of us getting it, and this level of risk/reward has been tolerable for us, so none of us sees the point in letting our guard down completely now. The kids are totally on board.

[TexasProud]

Well, I gave up masking this week. They reported 2 cases last week. 7 day average is 3 and 2 percent positivity.  Plus, I honestly could not stand to be the only one masking anywhere I went. None of the girls who are visiting are vaccinated. 3 out of the 4 have had Covid at some point.  One probably from my daughter. But none of them have been sick. All of them only knew they had it because a parent or someone they knew had it and they tested. All tested negative before they came here with a PCR test the day before they came. 

But can we talk about how this 2 years of isolation has affected our social skills. I just feel so incredibly awkward. I no longer fit in anywhere. Even with the girls here laughing and having a great time. I am faking it.  I just don't know how to interact or talk anymore. I used to be out among people probably 12 hours or more a day... Now, I just want to run and hide.

Edited March 15, 2022 by TexasProud

[Kanin]

Welp, my school is mask-optional starting tomorrow. Feeling nervous. A lot of my students are not vaccinated and I know they can't wait to get those masks off. 

[TexasProud]

57 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Welp, my school is mask-optional starting tomorrow. Feeling nervous. A lot of my students are not vaccinated and I know they can't wait to get those masks off. 

The schools in my district have never mandated masks, even in 2020. Never. 

Like I said, I have been an outlier in my community.

[Laura Corin]

 

[rebcoola]

We've gotten comments like you can take that off you know but nothing hostile.    The children's theatre is quite conservative about covid we definitely saw angry people during this weekends performances. They were quite clear about needing Vax or test and masks. The woman who at doors who dealt with it all weekend is a saint.

[KSera]

9 minutes ago, rebcoola said:

We've gotten comments like you can take that off you know but nothing hostile. 

I saw a good thread recently of responses to that, but I’m never good responding on my feet like that. And while there were some hilarious responses, I’m one of those “cannot tell a lie” people, so I have to come up with something that’s actually true. I need to come up with a go to response to that, because I know I’m going to be hearing it. My favorite was the person who said it was a condition of their bail 😂. 

[regentrude]

I went unmasked to a small indoor reception last night (work related)- the first time in two years that I was socializing indoors with more than two close friends. I had forgotten how much I love being among people. (I am a raging extrovert and used to host lots of gatherings). 

I felt okay unmasked - because I know I could trust that people would not show up  knowingly sick or after being exposed to somebody ill. I find that this is the main deciding factor for me. There is still some risk, but I will attend events where I can trust folks to be considerate.

I will continue to mask in public and among crowds; I have no reason to trust that people at the grocery store or on campus stay home when they are ill or when they have been in contact with somebody who is. 

[regentrude]

4 minutes ago, KSera said:

I saw a good thread recently of responses to that, but I’m never good responding on my feet like that. And while there were some hilarious responses, I’m one of those “cannot tell a lie” people, so I have to come up with something that’s actually true. I need to come up with a go to response to that, because I know I’m going to be hearing it. My favorite was the person who said it was a condition of their bail 😂. 

"Just because one can doesn't mean one should".

[Corraleno]

I was in Trader Joe's this morning and was disappointed that only about 30% of customers and staff were masked. I will definitely be masking in public for the foreseeable future, even if I'm the only one. I was glad that at least the cashiers were masked.

DD just started working at a clothing store at the mall, and I was surprised that she was adamant about continuing to mask even though most of the staff, and nearly all of the customers, have dropped them. I hope the peer pressure doesn't get to her, she's usually not the type who likes to stand out or be different. She's fully vaxed and boosted and would likely be fine, but I'd also prefer that she not bring it home to me!

[mommyoffive]

How Families Can Approach ‘The Great Unmasking’ | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (jhu.edu)

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 hour ago, KSera said:

I saw a good thread recently of responses to that, but I’m never good responding on my feet like that. And while there were some hilarious responses, I’m one of those “cannot tell a lie” people, so I have to come up with something that’s actually true. I need to come up with a go to response to that, because I know I’m going to be hearing it. My favorite was the person who said it was a condition of their bail 😂. 

What's wrong with a simple "I know" as a reply? 

[KSera]

2 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

What's wrong with a simple "I know" as a reply? 

Yeah, that’s what I’m most likely to say. People really can be condescending about it, though. But I’m not likely to say anything more than “yeah, I know.” I think sometimes I feel I need to explain myself, but that is definitely a good reminder that I don’t owe anyone an explanation.