Follow up: Where I mask, and don't mask, September 2023 edition.
Yesterday, I posted about my recent trip to New York and the US Open. I discussed why I wear a mask (almost exclusively N95) in some places but not others, and why that’s not a contradiction.
Last night, writer Hilary Brueck of Insider reached out with some good follow-up questions about where I do and do not typically mask, as of now. (Yes, Insider not to be confused with Inside Medicine!) She then wrote a really nice piece that covers some of yesterday’s Inside Medicine, and adds some quotes from our email exchange.
A lot of what I do is in flux, and changes with the circumstances. How careful I am depends on virus levels (for that, check out the Inside Medicine Covid metrics dashboard) and other factors such as who I’m visiting (or vice versa) and what events I have coming up. If I really can’t afford to miss something upcoming, I’m extra careful. I’d say it’s common sense, but I think that’s in short supply these days.
It boils down to this: I mask in crowded settings (think: subways and airports), high-risk settings (think: hospitals and pharmacies), and small spaces with lots of turnover and poor air quality/ventilation (think: public restrooms, elevators).
The Insider article is a nice distillation of where things stand for me now, vis-a-vis masks.
You can check out the full story in Insider here. Hope it’s helpful, especially as we exit summer and enter the fall!
Have your practices changed over time? If so, how? Leave a comment below!
Thanks for this. It's almost exactly the same for me (I've also never been infected to my knowledge), except that on an airplane I'll actually pull my mask down to take a sip or a bite and pull it back up before the next bite. Maybe that's crazy but it's easy for me to do so I do.
To be honest, though, the other place that we differ is that while I principally wear my N95 because I'm confident it makes a difference, there is a little bit of virtue signaling. But it's sort of inverse signaling.
I'm a 6'2" 235lb white guy, and as a general matter, people very rarely make a fuss with me in person, and never about my mask. I like to think that my being in a grocery store maybe makes someone else feel more comfortable about wearing their mask and deters others from making comments. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but it makes me feel good.
Thank you for sharing your own practices with us. I mask in the places you mentioned. Often I’m the only one, like waiting to board my flight today. It just makes sense, especially since I long-ago found an N95 I’m comfortable in. Also, I still do most my restaurant dining outdoors