Why do people think it’s ok to not wear a mask on a flight when they are clearly sick?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Covid hit our house, doctor said it was best that person who is sick mask.

Out in the ugly world, of course one can mask when others are obviously grossly sick. But the sick person is the dick.

The person with difficulty breathing should be the one that masks? What sense does that make?

If you're struggling to breathe with a mask, you should seek medical attention. Urgently.

It's not that hard to use a mask correctly, and the sense is obvious: the mask forms a barrier between the germs and the outside air others are breathing. Masking your own face offers some protection to what's in the air. Masking your face when you're sick keeps your germs out of the air.

This. It's why surgeons wear masks during procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Covid hit our house, doctor said it was best that person who is sick mask.

Out in the ugly world, of course one can mask when others are obviously grossly sick. But the sick person is the dick.

The person with difficulty breathing should be the one that masks? What sense does that make?

If you're struggling to breathe with a mask, you should seek medical attention. Urgently.

It's not that hard to use a mask correctly, and the sense is obvious: the mask forms a barrier between the germs and the outside air others are breathing. Masking your own face offers some protection to what's in the air. Masking your face when you're sick keeps your germs out of the air.

This. It's why surgeons wear masks during procedures.

They don't wear N95s though.

[Anonymous]

People suck and are selfish. My anecdote: we flew over the holidays and after noticing a sick person near us at the gate I moved and masked along with my kid. Spouse did not mask. Then on the plane there was more coughing and sniffles so this time we all masked. The spouse was ill about 24-48 hours later (fever, cough, headache) though COVID neg and recovered more or less within a day. Kid and I masked and stayed away. We got a slight cough for two days but otherwise were fine.

Just an anecdote but I will continue to keep a mask handy when I fly due to selfish and unkind people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you put a mask on you and your son? That’s the part you can control, or you can always choose not to fly. Also, hopefully you know that when you eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, you may not hear everything accurately.

DP:
We always wear masks when flying. No longer get sick, as we used to from flying pre-covid. However it is downright RUDE to fly with covid (or any illness) and not mask. You are in tight quarters.

If you are in the Day 0to Day 5 you should not be flying (should be isolating), unless absolutely necessary (and then should be masked---show that you care one iota for others in the world), day 6-10 you should be masked unless no fever, symptoms improving AND you are negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's annoying, but as others have said - you can't control it. I always mask when I fly because that is something I can control.

+1. That includes when we are lining up for the flight.

Yes, the plane itself has better filtration when flying than the terminal (though easier to distance there), jetbridge, or the plane when taxiing.

This is not true. The plane filtration being good is a myth

+1 Took the ARANET CO2 detector on a few flights. Sitting in row 3 (first class, near the open door) it was hovering at 800-1000 during boarding. Once the door shut, it never went below 1800. Most of flight it was between 3000-4500 (peak was 4500).
The pilots do have the option to provide "good filtered air" but apparently most do not do that (based on my limited tests).

[Anonymous]

OP, I saw this in Giant the other day. A girl was hacking her head off, near the exit/entrance, for about ten minutes, not covering her mouth. Clearly she had mental health issues, but no way should she have been doing what she was doing.

I was going to hand her a mask, but we know how that would have gone.

Just be aware that there are mentally ill people who do this sort of thing. The best you can do is protect yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fly fairly frequently for work. My strategy is to wear a mask as I board and am in my seat. If anyone near me seems sick, I keep it on. If not, I take it off. It’s not foolproof but I think it strikes a nice balance.

Right now you should assume there are 1-3+ people on every flight with Covid, flu, RSV or some other airborne contagious virus/illness. So we mask to keep ourselves safe and healthy.
Masks work---but work even better with clean air. Wish the airlines would actually filter the air and provide fresh air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Flying home to DC, my son was seated next to a lady who was clearly sick and complaining to her husband about how awful she felt. He was not entirely sympathetic and muttered something about having COVID himself. Neither husband nor wife were wearing a mask on the packed flight. I don’t get it.

Because masks are hot and uncomfortable. What's not to get?

[Anonymous]

Supposedly there are asymptomatic carriers everywhere, so what is the relevance of "clearly sick"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now maybe you had two people behaving badly.

But you also could have described me on my most recent flight. We had covid in early December. All four of us. All tested positive, 3/4 of us had fevers for a few days, all had symptoms (though of varying degrees). We isolated at home as we should have for 10 days. By the end of the ten days, we were all testing negative. But I had lingering headache, fatigue, sore throat, and cough for more than a week after that, and the cough is still on going (more than 4 weeks after my first positive test).

So yes, for both of our two Christmas flights, I was coughing and not feeling well. But by any definition, I was completely past the contagious phase.

Sure keep telling yourself you were not contagious as you were hacking away on the plane. I hope you wore a mask when you traveled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Supposedly there are asymptomatic carriers everywhere, so what is the relevance of "clearly sick"?

are you daft?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you put a mask on you and your son? That’s the part you can control, or you can always choose not to fly. Also, hopefully you know that when you eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, you may not hear everything accurately.

Yep, this. You are only in control of yourself. And most public spaces carry a risk of germs. They always have. Humans immune systems have always adapted.

except for the million ppl who died of Covid.

[Anonymous]

We don’t fly in winter usually for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t even have any masks.

They are hard to find again. Not because there is a run on masks but because stores don't seem to be carrying much stock.

[Anonymous]

The answer is because they are uncomfortable especially when sick with a runny nose or cough. You might not like that answer, you may find immoral, but that’s what it comes down to. If you want to protect yourself, mask yourself. You can’t control others.