4 ms·

Until when do you think mask wearing should be mandatory? My biggest problem with covid interventions, including masks, is not the cost itself, but a lack of o

Until when do you think mask wearing should be mandatory? My biggest problem with covid interventions, including masks, is not the cost itself, but a lack of objective/quantitative criteria for deciding when to lift them, rather than “when it doesn’t feel scary anymore”. (As for the direct costs of masks, well, they are uncomfortable, prevent me from seeing people’s faces which I enjoy doing, and make me feel depressed because they make the world look like a dystopia. Yes, the costs are relatively low, but IMO the difference in probability of death or maiming from covid with and without a mask is also quite low.)

allenp 6y ago
Although not a direct answer to 'when would you not wear a mask anymore' there are objective criteria guiding some of the decision making around phased re-openings (of which some phase would be "no more masks"). Example Criteria: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/C19/indicators-dashboard-key-metrics.ashx https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/~/media/de... Example Dashboard: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/key-indicators.aspx https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/key-indica...
cvhashim 6y ago
> and make me feel depressed because they make the world look like a dystopia Personally don’t care about people’s feelings. Normalize masks already.
- umanwizard 6y ago
  That's a silly attitude. The entire movement to wear masks is predicated on caring about other people's feelings. Otherwise, people at low COVID risk (or even high risk but willing to accept it) wouldn't need to bother.
  - pnutjam 6y ago
    No, it's about caring about other people's health and quality of life (there are long term effects from covid-19). Feelings aren't really figured into it.
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    To be clear, there's not much evidence that masks _protect_ you from covid. The point is to prevent you from giving it to other people when you have it but don't know about it.
jbob2000 6y ago
This is what I don't hear anyone talking about. Right now, my company is saying "we're going back to the office 2 weeks after the province fully reopens". This is great! It's tied to the progression of the virus and gives me expectations about the post-covid world. I am OK wearing a mask right now. I don't want to be wearing one in 10 years. I want an expectation similar to above, something like "mask wearing will end 2 weeks after the last known case". I went to the dentist the other day and it was less stress than ordering from my local Thai food place. It really seems like masks are people's way of externalizing their fears, I want to see proper leadership in this area so we don't let these fears get out of hand.
me_me_me 6y ago
In Asian countries a lot of people wear mask when they feel sick. This is to protect other around you from getting sick. I wish this could become a new norm in the western countries.
mcculley 6y ago
I will stop wearing a mask outside of my home when the all cause death count falls back below the threshold for excess deaths: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm Ideally, we would have better metrics.
rsynnott 6y ago
> and make me feel depressed because they make the world look like a dystopia How do you feel about refrigerated trucks handling morgue overflow of dead grandparents, in terms of dystopia appearance? > but IMO the difference in probability of death or maiming from covid with and without a mask is also quite low The probability of death for _you_ is likely quite low, but it's not about you. If masks slow transmission even slightly (and evidence is mounting that they do), that will save lives. Possibly a lot of lives.

allenp 6y ago

Although not a direct answer to 'when would you not wear a mask anymore' there are objective criteria guiding some of the decision making around phased re-openings (of which some phase would be "no more masks"). Example Criteria: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/C19/indicators-dashboard-key-metrics.ashx https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/~/media/de... Example Dashboard: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/key-indicators.aspx https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/key-indica...

cvhashim 6y ago

> and make me feel depressed because they make the world look like a dystopia Personally don’t care about people’s feelings. Normalize masks already.

umanwizard 6y ago
That's a silly attitude. The entire movement to wear masks is predicated on caring about other people's feelings. Otherwise, people at low COVID risk (or even high risk but willing to accept it) wouldn't need to bother.
- pnutjam 6y ago
  No, it's about caring about other people's health and quality of life (there are long term effects from covid-19). Feelings aren't really figured into it.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  To be clear, there's not much evidence that masks _protect_ you from covid. The point is to prevent you from giving it to other people when you have it but don't know about it.

jbob2000 6y ago

This is what I don't hear anyone talking about. Right now, my company is saying "we're going back to the office 2 weeks after the province fully reopens". This is great! It's tied to the progression of the virus and gives me expectations about the post-covid world. I am OK wearing a mask right now. I don't want to be wearing one in 10 years. I want an expectation similar to above, something like "mask wearing will end 2 weeks after the last known case". I went to the dentist the other day and it was less stress than ordering from my local Thai food place. It really seems like masks are people's way of externalizing their fears, I want to see proper leadership in this area so we don't let these fears get out of hand.

me_me_me 6y ago

In Asian countries a lot of people wear mask when they feel sick. This is to protect other around you from getting sick. I wish this could become a new norm in the western countries.

mcculley 6y ago

I will stop wearing a mask outside of my home when the all cause death count falls back below the threshold for excess deaths: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm Ideally, we would have better metrics.

rsynnott 6y ago

> and make me feel depressed because they make the world look like a dystopia How do you feel about refrigerated trucks handling morgue overflow of dead grandparents, in terms of dystopia appearance? > but IMO the difference in probability of death or maiming from covid with and without a mask is also quite low The probability of death for _you_ is likely quite low, but it's not about you. If masks slow transmission even slightly (and evidence is mounting that they do), that will save lives. Possibly a lot of lives.