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.
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 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:
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.
You’re part of the problem.
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.