10 ms·

I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else

by awb 5y ago

I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else are still wearing masks. No doubt they’re fully vaccinated by now as well. And multiple times a day you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. Just the other week, we overheard a young girl commenting on a woman not wearing a mask, “she’s a bad person, isn’t she mommy?” “No, she’s not a bad person, just inconsiderate”, the mother replied. This was in response to a fully vaccinated adult walking in a state park alone, in broad daylight, 3-4x father away than social distancing guidelines require. I’m glad we took COVID seriously here earlier and longer than most states, but now that several states are reporting 0 deaths and vaccination rates are climbing the fear of an explosion of cases should hopefully be subsiding. In the beginning comparing mental health to a potentially uncontrolled global pandemic I think was a serious misunderstanding of how exponential growth works, but now that the pandemic is getting under control it makes sense to weigh mental health more heavily.

Mauricebranagh 5y ago
Even last year if I was out in the open air I didn't wear a mask only when say queuing for public transport. And I am an immunosuppressed solid organ transplant patient.
ianlevesque 5y ago
So how do we get the rest of the country to do this?
- preordained 5y ago
  Be irrational?
- mdoms 5y ago
  Why would you want that?
- rpunkfu 5y ago
  Blindly follow orders, which make no sense? I do wear a mask at all times when in public, but come on, I'm not going to the forest to walk my dogs with my mask on. People got too comfortable with not doing any thinking on their own, instead went fully autopilot based on news and government.
  - ben0x539 5y ago
    People have been wearing masks before it was government guidance. People I'm talking to will keep wearing masks when it stops being government guidance. It sounds like they're doing thinking on their own rather than going autopilot based on news and government.
    - rpunkfu 5y ago
      Obviously what I wrote doesn't apply to 100% of people.
viraptor 5y ago
When the mask enforcement was lowered in Australia I found myself wearing a mask where I didn't have to. It's such a small thing it wasn't worth taking it off while driving for a few minutes alone, or sitting somewhere away from people. I don't find people going further than necessary weird. > a fully vaccinated adult Being vaccinated isn't a perfect protection. I'd probably opt to wear a mask anyway if unvaccinated people around were forced to wear one. Wouldn't describe people not doing that as inconsiderate though.
zpeti 5y ago
This is what you get when things like mask wearing start to become more of a social display than a rational decision. Most of the actual evidence shows outdoor infection to be close to zero, unless you’re close up at a concert or bus stop. But now mask wearing is some sort of way of displaying that you are a good person. It’s also a way for frustrated people who want to control others and be outraged to be able to vent their frustration at other people, in a socially acceptable way. It’s not good. And I say this as someone who’s worn a mask for a year now. I’m not against them. But they’re not being worn for rational reasons any more.
- iaHN 5y ago
  I had people on here saying some pretty nasty things to me for suggesting that while social distancing is good, having a mask on when outside and more than 6 ft apart is unnecessary. I wonder if they realize how they're proving all the "virtue signaling" critics right.
  - gsk22 5y ago
    I don't think virtue signalling explains the phenomenon fully. There seems to be another large group: people who are just over-cautious and not willing to take any amount of risk. I have several friends/family members who struggle with anxiety and COVID has been overwhelming for them. One of them (fully vaccinated) said they know the chance of infection after vaccination is less than 0.1%, but it's not a risk they're willing to take. I know their viewpoint isn't rational, but I empathize with it much more than the virtue signalers.
    - zpeti 5y ago
      I agree, but as an indirect consequence it’s allowed highly paranoid people to be able to blame and outrage vent at others. Which isn’t exactly healthy.
    - nerdponx 5y ago
      It's also just a damn mask. Not like they are waking you up at night or kicking you in the shin.
vidoc 5y ago
> I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. I live there too, and I share your feeling big time. Just to give you a little idea of the local mentality with regards to covid: https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101883465/vaccinated-dont-need-to-wear-masks-or-social-distance-in-most-settings-cdc-says https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101883465/vaccinated-dont-nee...
2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
Singapore had an outbreak originating with a fully vaccinated (2 doses) nurse. Your examples are extreme but I’m not sure how to get people to act sanely. Restrictions are eased in Sydney and everyone just stopped doing anything even in crowded spaces. And we had a case that was traced to a person in quarantine, but we can’t find all the links back to the source.
- refurb 5y ago
  Not sure why you’re downvoted - your comment about Singapore is correct. In fact, 9 fully vaccinated people were a part of that outbreak. What that tells you is the vaccine will only protect the vaccinated. Unvaccinated people are still at risk and could be infected by someone vaccinated. So keeping restrictions in place until everyone has had an opportunity to get vaccinated makes sense.
drusepth 5y ago
>And multiple times a day you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. I don't live in SF but I drive alone with a mask (and I'm fully vaccinated!). I generally put it on before leaving the house and keep it on until I get home so I don't risk contaminating the inside when taking it off, putting it back on, taking it off, putting it back on, etc. It's just a zero-effort bonus to mask efficacy and extra peace of mind, IMO.
- radicalbyte 5y ago
  I do the same, and I usually have hands full / a small child with me, so it's way easier to put the mask on before you go outside.
- mnw21cam 5y ago
  Agreed. Once you have put the mask on and entered a contamination-risk zone, you need to wait until you have access to hand-washing facilities before you take it off again. Constantly taking it off and putting it on again is a great way to spread the virus all over your face. When I'm out, I carry hand sanitiser for this reason, but even so I don't want to be shifting my mask around and sanitising all the time.
- prepend 5y ago
  > don't risk contaminating the inside when taking it off, putting it back on Unless you’re using a respirator (N95, etc) the point of the mask isn’t to prevent you from contracting covid, but from spreading through exhalation. So the concerns about contaminating the mask aren’t very relevant to covid as, since I’m the potential source, the inside of the mask is already contaminated through my breathing and using my hands to put it on. Lots of people get confused as to the hygiene procedures needed for using masks. One thing that helps me remember is that I’m trying to put a barrier between me and the world, not between the world and me. When using PPE to prevent self-infection, the protocol is totally different and requires a clean chain that I think is something like: disinfect hands, goggles/eye shield, open respirator, apply without touching inside. Doffing is the reverse.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
> but now that the pandemic is getting under control it makes sense to weigh mental health more heavily. I don't quite understand where is the link between wearing masks and mental health? I lived many years in Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, have a Japanese wife and in many of these places wearing a mask is just a sign of being considerate towards others. Coming from the country myself it looks maybe odd at first but this makes sense in dense urban places where you need some rules for how to share this public space.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  People who are most averse to wearing them tend to have mental health issues, including paranoia. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33469574/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33469574/ Anti-maskers are often also anti-vaxers, and they have issues understanding the difference between a consistent statistical trend and a single emotionally negative event. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/ttu-pra040920.php https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/ttu-pra04092...
refurb 5y ago
Wearing a mask has become another way to identify yourself as the “in group”. Health benefits are a far second to the signaling that you “follow the science” and “are willing to sacrifice for the greater good” - your one of the good people. My buddy told me his Bay Area company did a story about “the story behind people’s masks”. They literally interviewed people and asked them to share “what their mask represents”. It’s really bizarre how much people’s egos and identity are wrapped up in it now. (And that applies to people willing to make a public stand against masks as well - it’s become a core part of who they are).
- awb 5y ago
  That’s a sweeping generalization that I doubt you have any data on about why people wear masks. It sounds like you’re bashing the good kid at school for trying to be good. Maybe it’s OK to try to be good.
  - refurb 5y ago
    Reading the comments here it’s pretty clear I’m not far off the Mark.
kelnos 5y ago
> No doubt they’re fully vaccinated by now as well. Why would you assume that? Statewide, it looks like CA is just shy of 50% vaccinated, and in SF it looks like (eyeballing the by-age graph) around 60% of adults are fully vaccinated (and 30% of kids)[0]. So around 40% of the adults (and 70% of the kids) you run into in SF are not fully vaccinated. You might think it's not a big deal, and we don't need to wait out the full two weeks past the final dose, but many of us don't think wearing a mask in public for a couple more weeks is a big deal after we've been doing it for a year already. Even if the risk is low, why take that risk just to take the mask off a couple weeks early? > ... but now that the pandemic is getting under control it makes sense to weigh mental health more heavily. And that's exactly what the state has done (whether intentionally or otherwise). If people still choose to wear a mask, that's up to them, and we should respect their choices. But I agree that out-loud recriminations directed toward random people who are distancing but maskless, and may even be fully vaccinated is ridiculous and goes too far. > you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. Sometimes I do this by accident, just forgetting to take it off when I get in the car. Maybe that's common? [0] https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/ https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/
- fingerlocks 5y ago
  >* around 40% of the adults (and 70% of the kids) you run into in SF are not fully vaccinated* Vaccination rates are not uniformly distributed across the state. It’s a big, diverse state and SF has a much higher rate relative to the average.
- amanaplanacanal 5y ago
  > Sometimes I do this by accident, just forgetting to take it off when I get in the car. Maybe that's common? I’ve done that. If I plan to make several stops, I might put on my mask at the first stop and then leave it on until I’ve finished my business at the last stop.
  - AstralStorm 5y ago
    Touching the mask could be a potential vector for spreading the infection to surfaces, and could also compromise the seal. It's typically best to fit it well once and not touch it afterwards if possible. It's kind of related to touching face or eyes in terms of spreading diseases.
dshpala 5y ago
People are weak - and if they see more examples that masks are not necessary, they'll follow. So I'm trying to not wear mask unless absolutely necessary, but it's hard, the pressure is real. Not to mention kids - masked kids on playgrounds break my heart.
ralusek 5y ago
I think that the amount of political/social information that people seem to divine from observing maskers/non-maskers, as well as the signal that people think that they are sending by being one or the other, is one of the strangest things I've ever been made aware of. When I leave my house, I grab a mask, and I wear it basically the whole time I'm out and about. I don't notice it, it's just a non-entity to me. I genuinely barely notice whether other people are wearing masks or not, and therefore obviously don't make any judgements about them. If I'm walking alone outside during the day with a mask on, I'm not saying "I believe that this outdoor environment poses a legitimate risk to me, and based off of my 99.99+% survival chance from COVID, I'm still terrified that I'm going to catch it from some long distance passerby." When I wear a mask, my thought process is "I don't notice this thing, and if it helps mitigate the chance that I'll get sick or make someone else sick, I'll mostly wear it when I'm not in my home." I'm not constantly putting it on or taking it off based off of my immediate surroundings; I find that to be far more of a nuisance than just wearing it.
kleiba 5y ago
you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks Off-topic fun fact: in Germany, that is verboten.
- alibarber 5y ago
  In Finland - the police frown upon it because it's gotten a few people out of speeding tickets apparently...
  - waterhouse 5y ago
    How does that work? Surely license plates, and driver's licenses, suffice for fallback identification methods?
    - alibarber 5y ago
      I think it's the case that they need clear conclusive proof of who was driving the car, and some cameras are probably crappy anyway. Although I think for a lot of people if they were to pull up the driving licence of who the car's registered to, and masked-photo, it'd be pretty obvious - but I'm not sure how the law really works. Maybe for fleet-cars you might have some additional challenges. Here's the article about it: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/face_masks_fool_finlands_speed_cameras/11605332 https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/face_masks_fool_finlands_... Edit: I'm British and the standard there is that the car is photographed from the rear and the owner has the legal liability to identify who was driving or face equivalent or worse sanctions. There seem to be both social and technical differences between the two (UK is almost exclusively radar based - and the evidence the police show must have the car crossing painted lines to show the speed. Some privacy concerns about who you might have been pictured in the car 'with'. In Finland they seem to be triggered by inductive coils in the road? I don't know, but I've never ever seen the painted lines)
      - koodijaba 5y ago
        The newer speed cameras in Finland, like pictured in the article use a tracking radar to detect speed. Older speed cameras (most cameras on the road still) use two induction coils built into the road.
anarazel 5y ago
Many, if not most, people in that age group actually aren't yet fully vaccinated - the general availability was April 14th in SF. 21 days between vaccines plus two weeks of waiting. Plus a few days to find a slot maybe. So a few more days... I think it's fine to still not wear a mask in the scenario you describe, but... Fwiw, around here (inner Richmond), there's plenty people without masks. The cafe I can see from my office (if I peek above the screen at least :() has unmasked people eating outside without conflicts for months. Golden gate park is full of unmasked people lounging around.
dguaraglia 5y ago
The only people whose mental health I'm really concerned about are those who are obsessed with trying to get rid of masks. If you are vaccinated and feel comfortable not using a mask, don't wear one. If you don't feel comfortable, then wear one. I literally have yet to hear someone complaining about someone not wearing a mask outside, but all you need to do is read this thread to see tons of comments complaining about people wearing masks. Let people make their own decisions. They aren't cattle.
cameldrv 5y ago
733 people died yesterday in the U.S. from COVID. On an annualized basis, that would be 267,545 deaths per year. On the other hand, 36,120 people die in car accidents per year. If you saw someone wearing a seatbelt when they were stopped at a red light, would you make fun of them due to the relative safety of that situation? If you had a friend that refused to drive after drinking any alcohol at all, would you make fun of him? Perhaps some people do more to protect themselves and others against COVID than is necessary, but perhaps we should appreciate their conscientiousness by contrast with the very large number of people who took unnecessary risks, downplayed the problem, got infected, infected others, and ultimately led to 33 million people getting sick and 600,000 dying.
- JimBeans2131 5y ago
  That 733 number is fake. It's all extremely exaggerated. Someone dies from a heart attack and they will flag it as a COVID death if any trace was detected with test equipment that is ridiculously overtuned to detect even non-infectious trace particles of the virus.
  - cameldrv 5y ago
    No, that's just something you tell yourself to still feel like you're a decent human being.
    - JimBeans2131 5y ago
      No, I'm just older and wiser, more informed, and not extremely gullible. That is a childlike naivety to take the numbers at face value.
      - selestify 5y ago
        The numbers are indeed wrong... but in the other direction. Covid deaths counted as pneumonia deaths. Excess death way more than official counts. Who's gullible here? Everyone sees what they want to see.
trainsplanes 5y ago
> 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else are still wearing masks. This is how it's been in East Asia and spread has been fairly limited compared to the west. Mask wearing and not clustering in tight groups here isn't really a mental health issue. It's just a hygiene issue, like washing hands. I think most people here grimace when we see someone walk out of a stall and leave without even wetting their hands.
watwut 5y ago
> I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. And multiple times a day you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. I drove car with mask, because I did not bothered to put it down when I entered. That was all there was to it. I always assumed other people are like that too. There is a lot of judgement and reading on people who leave their masks on. > This was in response to a fully vaccinated adult walking in a state park alone, in broad daylight, 3-4x father away than social distancing guidelines require. Out of curiosity, how do you know woman was fully vaccinated? I mean, inconsiderate is quite mild qualification? I dont know why mom thought it is inconsiderate, but it is not like she would go on full on bashing vent or something. Like, I dont find the whole discussion horrifying and I pretty often dont wear mask when I am alone.
- awb 5y ago
  I knew the woman walking alone. People are free to insult each other and name call all they want. I just thought it was odd that the mother name called the woman and that the child was conditioned to do so as well, especially in the scenario where science says there’s a near 0 benefit to staying masked outdoors alone in sunlight while socially distanced. I find it curious why they thought it was inconsiderate, but didn’t get the chance to ask them.
74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago
> 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else are still wearing masks. No doubt they’re fully vaccinated by now as well. It's virtue signalling, I'd say. It means you're one of the good people.
wkrsz 5y ago
When I'm going from one shared indoor space to another, I don't remove my mask unless the walk is more than 10 minutes. I suppose the mask doesn't bother me that much and I don't want to touch it too much. Going for a walk outside - that's another story.

by awb 5y ago

Mauricebranagh 5y ago

Even last year if I was out in the open air I didn't wear a mask only when say queuing for public transport. And I am an immunosuppressed solid organ transplant patient.

ianlevesque 5y ago

So how do we get the rest of the country to do this?

preordained 5y ago
Be irrational?
mdoms 5y ago
Why would you want that?
rpunkfu 5y ago
Blindly follow orders, which make no sense? I do wear a mask at all times when in public, but come on, I'm not going to the forest to walk my dogs with my mask on. People got too comfortable with not doing any thinking on their own, instead went fully autopilot based on news and government.
- ben0x539 5y ago
  People have been wearing masks before it was government guidance. People I'm talking to will keep wearing masks when it stops being government guidance. It sounds like they're doing thinking on their own rather than going autopilot based on news and government.
  - rpunkfu 5y ago
    Obviously what I wrote doesn't apply to 100% of people.

viraptor 5y ago

When the mask enforcement was lowered in Australia I found myself wearing a mask where I didn't have to. It's such a small thing it wasn't worth taking it off while driving for a few minutes alone, or sitting somewhere away from people. I don't find people going further than necessary weird. > a fully vaccinated adult Being vaccinated isn't a perfect protection. I'd probably opt to wear a mask anyway if unvaccinated people around were forced to wear one. Wouldn't describe people not doing that as inconsiderate though.

zpeti 5y ago

This is what you get when things like mask wearing start to become more of a social display than a rational decision. Most of the actual evidence shows outdoor infection to be close to zero, unless you’re close up at a concert or bus stop. But now mask wearing is some sort of way of displaying that you are a good person. It’s also a way for frustrated people who want to control others and be outraged to be able to vent their frustration at other people, in a socially acceptable way. It’s not good. And I say this as someone who’s worn a mask for a year now. I’m not against them. But they’re not being worn for rational reasons any more.

iaHN 5y ago
I had people on here saying some pretty nasty things to me for suggesting that while social distancing is good, having a mask on when outside and more than 6 ft apart is unnecessary. I wonder if they realize how they're proving all the "virtue signaling" critics right.
- gsk22 5y ago
  I don't think virtue signalling explains the phenomenon fully. There seems to be another large group: people who are just over-cautious and not willing to take any amount of risk. I have several friends/family members who struggle with anxiety and COVID has been overwhelming for them. One of them (fully vaccinated) said they know the chance of infection after vaccination is less than 0.1%, but it's not a risk they're willing to take. I know their viewpoint isn't rational, but I empathize with it much more than the virtue signalers.
  - zpeti 5y ago
    I agree, but as an indirect consequence it’s allowed highly paranoid people to be able to blame and outrage vent at others. Which isn’t exactly healthy.
  - nerdponx 5y ago
    It's also just a damn mask. Not like they are waking you up at night or kicking you in the shin.

vidoc 5y ago

> I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. I live there too, and I share your feeling big time. Just to give you a little idea of the local mentality with regards to covid: https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101883465/vaccinated-dont-need-to-wear-masks-or-social-distance-in-most-settings-cdc-says https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101883465/vaccinated-dont-nee...

2muchcoffeeman 5y ago

Singapore had an outbreak originating with a fully vaccinated (2 doses) nurse. Your examples are extreme but I’m not sure how to get people to act sanely. Restrictions are eased in Sydney and everyone just stopped doing anything even in crowded spaces. And we had a case that was traced to a person in quarantine, but we can’t find all the links back to the source.

refurb 5y ago
Not sure why you’re downvoted - your comment about Singapore is correct. In fact, 9 fully vaccinated people were a part of that outbreak. What that tells you is the vaccine will only protect the vaccinated. Unvaccinated people are still at risk and could be infected by someone vaccinated. So keeping restrictions in place until everyone has had an opportunity to get vaccinated makes sense.

drusepth 5y ago

>And multiple times a day you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. I don't live in SF but I drive alone with a mask (and I'm fully vaccinated!). I generally put it on before leaving the house and keep it on until I get home so I don't risk contaminating the inside when taking it off, putting it back on, taking it off, putting it back on, etc. It's just a zero-effort bonus to mask efficacy and extra peace of mind, IMO.

radicalbyte 5y ago
I do the same, and I usually have hands full / a small child with me, so it's way easier to put the mask on before you go outside.
mnw21cam 5y ago
Agreed. Once you have put the mask on and entered a contamination-risk zone, you need to wait until you have access to hand-washing facilities before you take it off again. Constantly taking it off and putting it on again is a great way to spread the virus all over your face. When I'm out, I carry hand sanitiser for this reason, but even so I don't want to be shifting my mask around and sanitising all the time.
prepend 5y ago
> don't risk contaminating the inside when taking it off, putting it back on Unless you’re using a respirator (N95, etc) the point of the mask isn’t to prevent you from contracting covid, but from spreading through exhalation. So the concerns about contaminating the mask aren’t very relevant to covid as, since I’m the potential source, the inside of the mask is already contaminated through my breathing and using my hands to put it on. Lots of people get confused as to the hygiene procedures needed for using masks. One thing that helps me remember is that I’m trying to put a barrier between me and the world, not between the world and me. When using PPE to prevent self-infection, the protocol is totally different and requires a clean chain that I think is something like: disinfect hands, goggles/eye shield, open respirator, apply without touching inside. Doffing is the reverse.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago

> but now that the pandemic is getting under control it makes sense to weigh mental health more heavily. I don't quite understand where is the link between wearing masks and mental health? I lived many years in Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, have a Japanese wife and in many of these places wearing a mask is just a sign of being considerate towards others. Coming from the country myself it looks maybe odd at first but this makes sense in dense urban places where you need some rules for how to share this public space.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
People who are most averse to wearing them tend to have mental health issues, including paranoia. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33469574/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33469574/ Anti-maskers are often also anti-vaxers, and they have issues understanding the difference between a consistent statistical trend and a single emotionally negative event. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/ttu-pra040920.php https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/ttu-pra04092...

refurb 5y ago

Wearing a mask has become another way to identify yourself as the “in group”. Health benefits are a far second to the signaling that you “follow the science” and “are willing to sacrifice for the greater good” - your one of the good people. My buddy told me his Bay Area company did a story about “the story behind people’s masks”. They literally interviewed people and asked them to share “what their mask represents”. It’s really bizarre how much people’s egos and identity are wrapped up in it now. (And that applies to people willing to make a public stand against masks as well - it’s become a core part of who they are).

awb 5y ago
That’s a sweeping generalization that I doubt you have any data on about why people wear masks. It sounds like you’re bashing the good kid at school for trying to be good. Maybe it’s OK to try to be good.
- refurb 5y ago
  Reading the comments here it’s pretty clear I’m not far off the Mark.

kelnos 5y ago

> No doubt they’re fully vaccinated by now as well. Why would you assume that? Statewide, it looks like CA is just shy of 50% vaccinated, and in SF it looks like (eyeballing the by-age graph) around 60% of adults are fully vaccinated (and 30% of kids)[0]. So around 40% of the adults (and 70% of the kids) you run into in SF are not fully vaccinated. You might think it's not a big deal, and we don't need to wait out the full two weeks past the final dose, but many of us don't think wearing a mask in public for a couple more weeks is a big deal after we've been doing it for a year already. Even if the risk is low, why take that risk just to take the mask off a couple weeks early? > ... but now that the pandemic is getting under control it makes sense to weigh mental health more heavily. And that's exactly what the state has done (whether intentionally or otherwise). If people still choose to wear a mask, that's up to them, and we should respect their choices. But I agree that out-loud recriminations directed toward random people who are distancing but maskless, and may even be fully vaccinated is ridiculous and goes too far. > you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. Sometimes I do this by accident, just forgetting to take it off when I get in the car. Maybe that's common? [0] https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/ https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccination-progress-data/

fingerlocks 5y ago
>* around 40% of the adults (and 70% of the kids) you run into in SF are not fully vaccinated* Vaccination rates are not uniformly distributed across the state. It’s a big, diverse state and SF has a much higher rate relative to the average.
amanaplanacanal 5y ago
> Sometimes I do this by accident, just forgetting to take it off when I get in the car. Maybe that's common? I’ve done that. If I plan to make several stops, I might put on my mask at the first stop and then leave it on until I’ve finished my business at the last stop.
- AstralStorm 5y ago
  Touching the mask could be a potential vector for spreading the infection to surfaces, and could also compromise the seal. It's typically best to fit it well once and not touch it afterwards if possible. It's kind of related to touching face or eyes in terms of spreading diseases.

dshpala 5y ago

People are weak - and if they see more examples that masks are not necessary, they'll follow. So I'm trying to not wear mask unless absolutely necessary, but it's hard, the pressure is real. Not to mention kids - masked kids on playgrounds break my heart.

ralusek 5y ago

I think that the amount of political/social information that people seem to divine from observing maskers/non-maskers, as well as the signal that people think that they are sending by being one or the other, is one of the strangest things I've ever been made aware of. When I leave my house, I grab a mask, and I wear it basically the whole time I'm out and about. I don't notice it, it's just a non-entity to me. I genuinely barely notice whether other people are wearing masks or not, and therefore obviously don't make any judgements about them. If I'm walking alone outside during the day with a mask on, I'm not saying "I believe that this outdoor environment poses a legitimate risk to me, and based off of my 99.99+% survival chance from COVID, I'm still terrified that I'm going to catch it from some long distance passerby." When I wear a mask, my thought process is "I don't notice this thing, and if it helps mitigate the chance that I'll get sick or make someone else sick, I'll mostly wear it when I'm not in my home." I'm not constantly putting it on or taking it off based off of my immediate surroundings; I find that to be far more of a nuisance than just wearing it.

kleiba 5y ago

you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks Off-topic fun fact: in Germany, that is verboten.

alibarber 5y ago
In Finland - the police frown upon it because it's gotten a few people out of speeding tickets apparently...
- waterhouse 5y ago
  How does that work? Surely license plates, and driver's licenses, suffice for fallback identification methods?
  - alibarber 5y ago
    I think it's the case that they need clear conclusive proof of who was driving the car, and some cameras are probably crappy anyway. Although I think for a lot of people if they were to pull up the driving licence of who the car's registered to, and masked-photo, it'd be pretty obvious - but I'm not sure how the law really works. Maybe for fleet-cars you might have some additional challenges. Here's the article about it: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/face_masks_fool_finlands_speed_cameras/11605332 https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/face_masks_fool_finlands_... Edit: I'm British and the standard there is that the car is photographed from the rear and the owner has the legal liability to identify who was driving or face equivalent or worse sanctions. There seem to be both social and technical differences between the two (UK is almost exclusively radar based - and the evidence the police show must have the car crossing painted lines to show the speed. Some privacy concerns about who you might have been pictured in the car 'with'. In Finland they seem to be triggered by inductive coils in the road? I don't know, but I've never ever seen the painted lines)
    - koodijaba 5y ago
      The newer speed cameras in Finland, like pictured in the article use a tracking radar to detect speed. Older speed cameras (most cameras on the road still) use two induction coils built into the road.

anarazel 5y ago

Many, if not most, people in that age group actually aren't yet fully vaccinated - the general availability was April 14th in SF. 21 days between vaccines plus two weeks of waiting. Plus a few days to find a slot maybe. So a few more days... I think it's fine to still not wear a mask in the scenario you describe, but... Fwiw, around here (inner Richmond), there's plenty people without masks. The cafe I can see from my office (if I peek above the screen at least :() has unmasked people eating outside without conflicts for months. Golden gate park is full of unmasked people lounging around.

dguaraglia 5y ago

The only people whose mental health I'm really concerned about are those who are obsessed with trying to get rid of masks. If you are vaccinated and feel comfortable not using a mask, don't wear one. If you don't feel comfortable, then wear one. I literally have yet to hear someone complaining about someone not wearing a mask outside, but all you need to do is read this thread to see tons of comments complaining about people wearing masks. Let people make their own decisions. They aren't cattle.

cameldrv 5y ago

733 people died yesterday in the U.S. from COVID. On an annualized basis, that would be 267,545 deaths per year. On the other hand, 36,120 people die in car accidents per year. If you saw someone wearing a seatbelt when they were stopped at a red light, would you make fun of them due to the relative safety of that situation? If you had a friend that refused to drive after drinking any alcohol at all, would you make fun of him? Perhaps some people do more to protect themselves and others against COVID than is necessary, but perhaps we should appreciate their conscientiousness by contrast with the very large number of people who took unnecessary risks, downplayed the problem, got infected, infected others, and ultimately led to 33 million people getting sick and 600,000 dying.

JimBeans2131 5y ago
That 733 number is fake. It's all extremely exaggerated. Someone dies from a heart attack and they will flag it as a COVID death if any trace was detected with test equipment that is ridiculously overtuned to detect even non-infectious trace particles of the virus.
- cameldrv 5y ago
  No, that's just something you tell yourself to still feel like you're a decent human being.
  - JimBeans2131 5y ago
    No, I'm just older and wiser, more informed, and not extremely gullible. That is a childlike naivety to take the numbers at face value.
    - selestify 5y ago
      The numbers are indeed wrong... but in the other direction. Covid deaths counted as pneumonia deaths. Excess death way more than official counts. Who's gullible here? Everyone sees what they want to see.

trainsplanes 5y ago

> 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else are still wearing masks. This is how it's been in East Asia and spread has been fairly limited compared to the west. Mask wearing and not clustering in tight groups here isn't really a mental health issue. It's just a hygiene issue, like washing hands. I think most people here grimace when we see someone walk out of a stall and leave without even wetting their hands.

watwut 5y ago

> I don’t know what’s going on here either with masks. And multiple times a day you see people driving alone in cars wearing masks. I drove car with mask, because I did not bothered to put it down when I entered. That was all there was to it. I always assumed other people are like that too. There is a lot of judgement and reading on people who leave their masks on. > This was in response to a fully vaccinated adult walking in a state park alone, in broad daylight, 3-4x father away than social distancing guidelines require. Out of curiosity, how do you know woman was fully vaccinated? I mean, inconsiderate is quite mild qualification? I dont know why mom thought it is inconsiderate, but it is not like she would go on full on bashing vent or something. Like, I dont find the whole discussion horrifying and I pretty often dont wear mask when I am alone.

awb 5y ago
I knew the woman walking alone. People are free to insult each other and name call all they want. I just thought it was odd that the mother name called the woman and that the child was conditioned to do so as well, especially in the scenario where science says there’s a near 0 benefit to staying masked outdoors alone in sunlight while socially distanced. I find it curious why they thought it was inconsiderate, but didn’t get the chance to ask them.

74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago

> 30-50 year old adults outside, alone, in direct sunlight, exercising, dozens of feet away from anyone else are still wearing masks. No doubt they’re fully vaccinated by now as well. It's virtue signalling, I'd say. It means you're one of the good people.

wkrsz 5y ago

When I'm going from one shared indoor space to another, I don't remove my mask unless the walk is more than 10 minutes. I suppose the mask doesn't bother me that much and I don't want to touch it too much. Going for a walk outside - that's another story.