We are a little perplexed about what to do. We attended a wedding where everyone had to show at least one booster and then a positive test that day. Although the wedding was outside, the reception was inside in a museum (big rooms with high ceilings). Per @bhs1978’s post, we did not hear of any Covid arising from this event. So, maybe not a superspreader.
Then we went to an art residency for my wife. There is a dorm hotel, a high-end institutional cafeteria, a gym, and restaurants in the surrounding town. I work on the top floor of a building that has had lots of meetings, but very few now. We see almost no one walking from our room to the cafeteria. People eat together at long tables in the cafeteria, obviously without masks. I see no one while working and my wife has her own studio. So, the only times we could wear masks are: a) waiting behind people to pick up our food from the buffet; and b) if we go out to dinner with relatives, friends or clients (it is a little chilly outdoors in the evening). The first seems silly as we are just going to transition to not wearing masks as soon as we sit down. The second probably isn’t silly but we are eating indoors at a few restaurants.
We haven’t heard about Covid arising from communal eating. I assumed they would have informed us as it is a government-sponsored facility.
I know several people who recently contracted Covid. I flew last week and wore an N95 all day including in the airport during plane changes. I got used to it and it is less bothersome than spending days sick with Covid. I was in the minority though. I really don’t understand the mindset of risking illness due to not masking.
Just found out DS’s MIL and FIL tested positive after attending their mostly outdoors college reunion last weekend. On Monday, a couple they spent time with tested positive. And they stayed with the kids while at reunion so now we wait and see whether DS and DIL get it. The FIL has diabetes so they are worried about him. MIL had it earlier this year but FIL never got it that time.
In the past week and a half, SIL went to a practice round at the US Open, a mostly outdoor wedding, and game 6 of the NBA finals. Has been testing and so far, so good. He did mask at the NBA game, which with all those people yelling I’m sure was a superspreader event.
My SisIL just tested positive for Covid after returning from travel. Travel I s still a frequent vector for Covid. If my relatives who traveled, 3 of 3 of the groups who came back to HI had someone test + for Covid. D fortunately appears to have stayed Covid-free. I gave her a 3m Aura n95 mask and she wore it for her flight. Normally she wears a KF94 mask.
Our extended family of 40+ has had over 6 people infected in the past 6 weeks. Only one case was not connected to travel.
I’ve been wearing this 3M mask with a vent. It doesn’t get as hot as other N95s I’ve tried. It protects me, but doesn’t protect others. Being I’m usually the only one wearing a mask, I no longer care about protecting others. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057511/
I’ve been thinking about this, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I agree! Back in the beginning it was considered rude for people to use the vented masks. We had some in our office from pre-pandemic days, and didn’t use them.
But now? I see very few masks where I am. No one seems to care about infecting anyone else, so why should I care what happens to my breath? Even with a mask with a vent, I’m far far far less likely to infect the careless maskless masses, because I’m very careful about my own exposure.
I have some good breathable N95s/KN94s that don’t have vents, but maybe next time we order more masks, I’ll suggest getting the vented ones again.
When my son was in the hospital for 5 1/2 weeks, ALL of the staff at his supported housing got COVID. I’m glad he wasn’t there! He hasn’t gotten it yet. People with schizophrenia are at high risk if they get it. Researchers aren’t sure why. When they studied it, they took out factors such as obesity and the risk was still there (however they figure out these things).