BA.5 Variant, the worst version of Omicron, is vaccine evasiive and surging across the country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was completely down with not masking. Now that we are hearing how much more infectious this variant is I’m putting the mask back on and ramping up the purell and hand washing. I’m no fool. I’ll take the mask off when it seems safer.

After the next elections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Agreed- of course it's hard for someone working in their PJs to wear a mask for an hour long plane ride- the horror!! Those of us who have to do this all the time, it's NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Honest question for the PPs. Do you wear N95s constantly throughout an 8-12 hour shift?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Honest question for the PPs. Do you wear N95s constantly throughout an 8-12 hour shift?

Yes. It's no big deal at this point,.I'm not even the pp..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Agreed- of course it's hard for someone working in their PJs to wear a mask for an hour long plane ride- the horror!! Those of us who have to do this all the time, it's NBD.

Sorry, but don’t most medical workers do their jobs wearing the equivalent of pajamas too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was completely down with not masking. Now that we are hearing how much more infectious this variant is I’m putting the mask back on and ramping up the purell and hand washing. I’m no fool. I’ll take the mask off when it seems safer.

Better stock up on the sanitizer when you find it, I've heard there is another shortage coming....

And the water bottles can't forget those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Honest question for the PPs. Do you wear N95s constantly throughout an 8-12 hour shift?

Yes. It's no big deal at this point,.I'm not even the pp..

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in NYC recently and I found the only place more obsessed with Covid than DMV. Covid testing places on every other corner. Which can make more sense with how much more crowded it is there. Makes it even funnier that people here are worried about getting it while walking their down alone on a sidewalk.

But I would say that most people there, even workers, weren’t masked. I think a good majority of the population in this country are done with the masking and living normally. It’s taking bigger cities longer to get there than smaller parts of the country.

It’s taking bigger cities longer because the population is more dense. The less you can social distance, the more you need to mask.

[Anonymous]

I just don’t care anymore. I did all the things they told me to do and still got Covid and it was a bunch of nothing. Sorry but nothing will get me to panic again.

I was one of those who stayed shut inside for 2020 and I now regret it because it was a bunch of fear and nothing more.

Not saying it’s not a bad disease, but I’m treating it like the flu and moving on with living. I took 3 shots, masked all 2020-2021, and I’m sick of being gaslit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was completely down with not masking. Now that we are hearing how much more infectious this variant is I’m putting the mask back on and ramping up the purell and hand washing. I’m no fool. I’ll take the mask off when it seems safer.

After the next elections.

I’m not political at all. But that’s honestly what it seems like. And I’m neither democrat nor Republican. Just leave me the bleep alone already!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

The real problem is just pulling fake facts out of your ass and then pretending that's the argument you're fighting. I work in a school. Kids whose parents send them to school even though they're sick and coughing crowd around me every day. I wear a mask even though really masks are meant to protect others, not me. But that's all I can do.

I am not at home all day. I am out there being coughed on. I wear a mask even though it sucks. If I can do it, so can everyone else. Not that big a deal, PP.

Yeah some of y'all are wimps. I wear masks for 12 hour shifts and don't understand the complaining.

They don’t wear them often enough to be used to it. It’s the difference of mostly working from home and not having that type of job. I was working in goggles, face shield, and mask for so long that a mask, any mask of worth especially- feels beyond easy.

Honest question for the PPs. Do you wear N95s constantly throughout an 8-12 hour shift?

Yes. It's no big deal at this point,.I'm not even the pp..

I don't disbelieve that wearing a mask is NBD for some people, even though wearing a (decent, well-fitted) mask gives me a panic attack.

Don't assume that just because you feel a certain way, everybody else does. At this point assume that nobody is or isn't masking as a political statement. You may be wrong, but it's a more pleasant and contented kind of wrong.

Sure, not everybody has a panic attack when their breathing is even mildly impaired (and certainly not for the psychological reasons I do), but for many people, it's just uncomfortable and unnecessary outside a medical setting for a virus that falls, at this point, somewhere between a mild flu and a nasty cold.

It doesn't bother me if you mask-- but "it doesn't bother me, so you'll get used to it," is a bad argument for forcing others to do so. I'd actually prefer someone to say, "I recognize that it's very uncomfortable for many people, but I think it should be required anyway." The people who talk about how you get used to wearing a face mask remind me of that time my friend tried to convince me I just had to get used to wearing a thong and they were really super comfortable. Maybe for you...

[Anonymous]

Here we go again…

[Anonymous]

I don't have problems wearing masks personally, but I find a masked society so depressing. Bothers me more than actually wearing the mask myself.

I did get the most recent variant after nearly 2.5 years of not getting Covid. (symptoms lined up with what they are describing - neck pain, back pain, fever, migraine, intense sinus pressure, not much coughing). It WAS unpleasant. Recovered and feel the same as before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s a big ask for masks on public transportation. It’s not a huge part of the day but it’s where many of us risk the most exposure.

If the earlier poster can’t comfortably do that they can find alternatives.

Both of the bolded above are ignorant statements based on your personal experience, and a lack of imagination about others.

I take a train to work every day and it is the only way to get there (I do not own a car). The train takes 40-60 minutes. I also have to mask at work. Wearing a mask on the train means wearing a mask for 10 hours a day, plus unlike at work, on the train it is hard to take a break if I need one. At work I can go outside for a few minutes. On the train I can maybe go in the bathroom, but if the issues is needing fresh air, this doesn't help!

What I do is look for the emptiest car I can and sit as far from other people as I can, so that I can sit without my mask. If this isn't possible, I will wear a mask. And of course if I have symptoms I wear a mask, even if my Covid test is negative. But especially during my commute at the end of the day, my mask fatigue is real and intense, and when they finally lifted the mandate for masking on the train, it was such a relief to finally be able to take it off when I wanted to, when I had no symptoms.

I also test weekly (PCR) for work, so it's not like I'm being cavalier. And the thing is, I'm not even that worried about getting Covid (triple vaxxed, young and healthy) but I don't want to give it to anyone I work with or my family. I'm very cautious in general, but I do take a calculated risk on the train because from a mental health standpoint, I am at my max and can't do it anymore.

This is part of the problem with people who mostly work from home in white collar jobs dictating what the precautions should be. You all don't HAVE to work in person, take public transportation or travel a lot, deal with the public. It is so easy to say "Wear a mask! It's not hard!" when you only have to do it occasionally for short periods of time! Some of us have born the brunt of these restrictions for two years while you were comfortable at home, and now you want to complain about us for wanting to be allowed to make our own choices about risks that we face and you don't. It's really frustrating. I don't want Covid but I also don't want to spend every waking minute masking up to prevent it either, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to. I'm a person and this is inhumane.

Thank you for sharing this perspective.

Thank you as well, PP.

[Anonymous]

Dems can’t do the mask thing pre-Midterms. Good luck out there.