I would like everyone to wear them until the pandemic is over, at least. After that we can reassess the situation, and preferably during flu season. To me it seems cruel to not mask for that seeing as it would greatly reduce the number of preventable flu deaths.
I think if all, or more realistically enough, of us were masking, that would eliminate the social stigma surrounding it. Personally, I don’t receive much pushback about my mask aside from the occasional staring anyways. What’s far more ostracizing to her, I, and several other people I know, is the fact that all of the social gatherings and hobbies we used to participate in are no longer accessible to us because not a single one is taking any acceptable precautions. In fact, I can think of exactly two social events I wanted to participate in this year that still “required” masks, and neither actually enforced the rule. This is sadly not a new problem for disabled people either. Many, if not most, are alienated from society and forced away from any participation in social activities due to a blatant disregard towards making those activities actually accessible to them. I cannot stress enough how painful this is for those people on the receiving end of this ableism. So, frankly, I have little sympathy for those who fear ostracism from choosing to wear a mask. If they really care about people being ostracized, they should do what they can to make their social circles safe for everyone, not just those without disabilities.
At the hospital I worked at there were no transmissions of COVID from known infected patients to providers wearing N95 masks (at least in the first 2 years, I didn’t keep up with it after that). So if you are wearing N95s you should feel quite confident that you are protecting yourselves without requiring behavior modifications from anyone else.
I would like everyone to wear them until the pandemic is over, at least. After that we can reassess the situation, and preferably during flu season. To me it seems cruel to not mask for that seeing as it would greatly reduce the number of preventable flu deaths.
I think if all, or more realistically enough, of us were masking, that would eliminate the social stigma surrounding it. Personally, I don’t receive much pushback about my mask aside from the occasional staring anyways. What’s far more ostracizing to her, I, and several other people I know, is the fact that all of the social gatherings and hobbies we used to participate in are no longer accessible to us because not a single one is taking any acceptable precautions. In fact, I can think of exactly two social events I wanted to participate in this year that still “required” masks, and neither actually enforced the rule. This is sadly not a new problem for disabled people either. Many, if not most, are alienated from society and forced away from any participation in social activities due to a blatant disregard towards making those activities actually accessible to them. I cannot stress enough how painful this is for those people on the receiving end of this ableism. So, frankly, I have little sympathy for those who fear ostracism from choosing to wear a mask. If they really care about people being ostracized, they should do what they can to make their social circles safe for everyone, not just those without disabilities.
At the hospital I worked at there were no transmissions of COVID from known infected patients to providers wearing N95 masks (at least in the first 2 years, I didn’t keep up with it after that). So if you are wearing N95s you should feel quite confident that you are protecting yourselves without requiring behavior modifications from anyone else.