it’s not just the population they took it from and what would happen if everyone did it.
They went from a space with active community transmission, and travelled to a place with exceptionally poor housing (basically impossible to quarantine because of the number of people per house), poor medical support, and with relatively little transmission. They put a lot of people at an incredible level of risk.
There is a reason they’re [eta; govt] prioritizing getting everyone in the north all at once.
The local county school system is starting to see a little bit of pressure to require masks in the schools. Teachers have been pushing for it all along, but the news outlets in the nearest city picked up the story over the weekend. Don’t know if it will make any difference or not, but maybe?
And no, none of the school systems in a ~50 mile radius require masks of anyone at any time. That’s a good dozen school systems, I think.
I get an email newsletter from the medical system that my gyno is in… it says that single cloth masks are effective and double masking or better masks are not necessary. WTF. I mean, I’m more inclined to believe Fauci?
Saying double masks are not necessary for visits to their clinics isn’t the same thing as saying not effective.
No, they said double masks are never necessary anywhere when going about one’s life.
That’s… wow. There seems to be a lot of consensus that even if you are wearing a single mask, it should be at least double layer. I had to ride on an elevator earlier with someone wearing only a gaiter and it gave me the willies. IMO gaiters are for passing people on trails, not wearing in a goddamn elevator.
I mean, he asked if he could ride down with me and I guess I could have said no, but then I might have found myself trapped on an elevator anyway with an angry dude, so I guess I did the best I could.
I still see gaiters and bandannas now and then, here. Our previous landlords were avid bandanna-wearers. Ugh.
Now that I’ve read more about mask quality, I’m realizing that there is a HUGE variance in how my various masks fit me. Especially the pleated ones, those are 2 or 3 layers depending on the maker but they don’t fit me as snugly as they should so those are pretty much now for outdoor use only.
Email newsletter could have had a long lead time. I think that a month ago three layers we’re suggested, controversial at the time. Last week or ten days I’d heard about a few countries suggesting or requiring kn95 for the new variations and just a few days ago double masking hit my radar.
Last week I started wearing surgical masks more places and brought some for my parents. Today I tried double masking the first time. Luckily it failed before I entered the station, or I’d have b en unmasked
Things are really changing fast. I’m feeling less and less crazy about my respirator, that’s for sure.
I don’t feel any of the paranoia these days. Should I feel more paranoid? I’m still just using my normal filter cloth mask when I walk to the mailbox or swing by the drugstore. I do essential errands, tho SSO is still going to the grocery store instead of me.
Maybe I’ve just exhausted my feelings of panic?
I feel like we’re almost at the end with vaccines being distributed. Case loads are dropping in my county.
I’m also not feeling paranoid. I use an N95 (I switch out between 2, I’ve had them for several years, bought for painting) and a washable cloth mask on top. I’ve been doing this for a few weeks, maybe a month. I wash my hands when I get home, and I use hand sanitizer both before and after I go into a store. (The grocery stores here are not am packed, and I was favoring a fancy smaller one that was enforcing strict rules since April.) I was going out usually at most once a week (to the grocery store) until I had to move to this hotel. Mask compliance is quite high here though, I feel. I do feel uncomfortable if I see someone without a mask, but it is pretty rare. Even though I am probably at the end of the line when it comes to getting a vaccine, I feel a lot less anxiety about catching it. Even staying at this hotel I feel WAY less anxiety than I did when I had to move across the country in April and stay in hotels. 
Fine with it. New variants, new mask strategy, same same. But also assuming that we’re only half way to vax
I’m also feeling way less “oh no we won’t even have functioning hospitals” paranoia now. One of the scary things last year wasn’t just covid, it was worrying about having a medical emergency and not being able to go to an ER. Here at least our hospitals are doing…okay…and seem on track to stay that way, so I feel less paranoid now about things like standing on ladders.
But also just. So exhausted.
Maybe it’s just crisis fatigue, but I don’t feel as alarmed, more just resigned. We know how it’s transmitted and who suffers worst and what it looks like. The scariest unknowns are now known, but it’s still fucking here and won’t fucking leave.
I’ve just ordered some n95s and started using them for errands. I figure it’s the best way to start doing some of the things I’ve been procrastinating for a while, and keep me safe while I do things like go to the grocery store.
I mean, I keep reading stuff on, like, CNN, and Fauci interviews (so, not just crackpots on the Internet) that is saying pretty bluntly that it’s now less safe to do every day things like go to the grocery store and that better masks are necessary because of the new strains (at least one of which is here).
They just flung indoor dining wide open here, so I am assuming our trending-downward cases are going to be trending upward again. Vaccination here is slow and the mayor said that she’s going to be prioritizing POC who live on the south and west sides - as she should! Those communities are hard hit! More likely to be essential workers in living situations where social distancing isn’t possible. But this puts white people on the north side like me and Boyfriend further down the list. So I am feeling the need to be more careful.
I would really like to believe that under Biden’s leadership vaccine rollout will speed up and become more efficient. Hopefully McConnell and crew will not completely torpedo that.
My N95s just arrived! I admit I feel relieved to have them for whenever we cannot avoid being around people.
For the third consecutive day, Ontario’s daily COVID-19 case count has dropped below 2,000, with fewer than 1,700 new cases confirmed in the province today.
This is a trend that I can get on board with.
Agree. I feel slightly less scared of “What if I get into a car accident on the way to daycare and break my neck again? There are no ICU spaces” anymore.
I’m still quite worried about covid though. It’s still pretty bad around here.
Lord. Your province is officially doing at least 4 times better that my county. We have in person school, open bars and restaurants and no real consequences to ignoring the mask mandate.
Our state is doing about 3 times worse than y’all.
Frack.