What's your current mask etiquette?

drummerboy said:

I'm going to be going up to northern Michigan for vacation in a week. 70% Trump country. I wonder what mask wearing will be like up there? Vax rates are about 55% though, which is not too bad.

 My guess is that mask usage will somewhere in the vicinity of ****.

mrincredible said:

drummerboy said:

I'm going to be going up to northern Michigan for vacation in a week. 70% Trump country. I wonder what mask wearing will be like up there? Vax rates are about 55% though, which is not too bad.

 My guess is that mask usage will somewhere in the vicinity of ****.

 whatever that word is, you're probably right.

**** Cheney

**** Cavett

**** Tracy

bub said:

Recent study out of Israel says the level of antibodies in the blood of those vaccinated was four times higher than the level in the blood of those recovering from the virus. 

 That's funny, this story out of Israel seems to imply that naturally immunity is more resistant to recent variants than acquired immunity. 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309762

Interesting and puzzling.  This is where I got my info:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-research-finds-covid-19-antibody-levels-differ-between-men-and-women/

bub said:

Interesting and puzzling.  This is where I got my info:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-research-finds-covid-19-antibody-levels-differ-between-men-and-women/

 I saw that as well. Very high level with not a lot of specificity.

Travel note:

We all still have to wear masks in public travel situations. I went to Newark airport Saturday to pick someone up and all persons have to wear a mask anywhere inside the terminal. 

I went to Amtrak station at Metropark yesterday and all persons still have to wear masks on the trains and inside the waiting room and (supposedly) even on the platforms. They have a mask vending machine inside the waiting room for those persons who may have arrived without one.

Just heard about a young adult I know who got a breakthrough case.  Mild but its still unsettling. 

I am pretty worried about the dropping of the mask mandate. I had to go back to the office and the rule is, no vaccine = must mask. OK, so far so good. But employees have to upload their vaccine card to an HR system, and then the supervisor is told who is OK to go maskless.

Problem is, I work in a suite that includes three totally different offices. The supervisors of most of the people in our suite don't work in this suite. So I have no way of being sure if anyone is unvaccinated but still going maskless.

Also it seems that the unspoken rule is that we'll all go maskless. We're not supposed to judge if people choose to mask - but when literally nobody else is doing it, it feels odd to be the only one doing it.

Also I think even if I wore a mask myself, it provides very limited protection to me. As I understand it, wearing a mask is to prevent spreading rather than catching the virus. 

I really wish the mask mandate would come back. I feel very uneasy being at work under the current circumstances. At least so far, not a lot of people are here so the density is low.

As for me and mine, I am somewhat comforted for our health safety by the statistic that apparently 99% of new cases are of persons not yet vaccinated.

It seems positively Darwinian.

I am mostly* wearing a mask in the few indoor public spaces i go to.  People's kids still haven't been vaccinated, and i could be an unwitting (and unlikely) carrier.  Also, this way the checkers don't have to wonder whether i'm vaccinated/exempt from masking, or just don't care.

*Occasionally, when just running in and out, if i forget the mask i don't go back to the car to get it.

More than 600 cases today per the NJ Data Hub (it reports results of both tests - some sites only report one).  We were down in the 200s not many days go.  Also, transmission rate up to 1.16.  It was below 1 for a long long stretch.

I'm suspending judgment on how concerned or unconcerned to be at this point.  This thing has been nothing but unpredictable.  I'm raising my personal caution level till a clearer picture emerges (though I have 2 weddings to go to this summer - ugh).  

I went to Home Depot today and am pleased to report that the protocol seems to be to still be wearing masks. I would say that over 90% of the customers had one on including myself. 

I always put one in my back pocket before I leave the house so I don't arrive at such a destination and realize I don't have one. 

Bad news good news.  Six Yankees have tested positive.  The majority (4 or 5?) of the 6 were vaccinated and remain asymptomatic.  It's great to hear they are asymptomatic but what does it say about the current breakthrough rate.   

"Among the six Yankees players currently with positive tests, the
majority had received a COVID-19 vaccine and were asymptomatic,
according to Cashman. Loaisiga went on the COVID-19 injured list
Saturday, when the Yankees were in Houston, and did not travel home with
the team Sunday."

LA has re-instituted a mask mandate.

bub said:

Bad news good news.  Six Yankees have tested positive.  The majority (4 or 5?) of the 6 were vaccinated and remain asymptomatic.  It's great to hear they are asymptomatic but what does it say about the current breakthrough rate.   

"Among the six Yankees players currently with positive tests, the
majority had received a COVID-19 vaccine and were asymptomatic,
according to Cashman. Loaisiga went on the COVID-19 injured list
Saturday, when the Yankees were in Houston, and did not travel home with
the team Sunday."

 I wish I knew more of the circumstances. Is it, for instance, like my own, where I'm out and about or in the office but it's not especially crowded, or is it sustained groups of people in close contact? If the latter, I'm not too worried -- my office doesn't feature a lot of group huddles in sweaty locker rooms, and the times that I effectively am in that situation -- ie the bowels of Penn Station -- everyone is masked, and it's not for long.

The players are close together in the dugout, and presumably the locker room, for extended periods.  They, like everyone else, have become more relaxed about things in recent weeks.  The ballparks have opened up and are crowded with fans.

Posted this in the CDC thread as well:

Three Texas Democrats on one of those charter flights, who were fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/17/politics/texas-house-democrats-covid-positive/index.html

Thought it would be good to revisit this thread.  I'm still wearing a mask indoors pretty much all of the time.  I was at Trader Joe's at Florham Park yesterday.  It felt like it was more 50/50 for mask wearing - including employees.

The % wearing wearing masks at Stop & Shop was much higher, I fell like the younger generation, like Seton Hall students are more often the ones who are maskless.

------------------------------------

Here's the current guidelines:

https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/nj-information/slowing-the-spread/should-i-wear-a-mask-to-stop-the-spread-of-covid-19

Face masks are strongly recommended for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in indoor settings where there is increased risk, including:

• Crowded indoor settings
• Indoor settings involving activities with close contact with others who may not be fully vaccinated
• Indoor settings where the vaccine status of other individuals in the setting is unknown
• Where an individual is immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease

------------------------------------

I guess the third bullet could apply to supermarkets.  Do we have a metric for when the mask wearing restrictions are relaxed even more?  It feels like we're getting closer.

Here's the post vax info from the CDC:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html

It recommends to wear one if you're in an area of substantial or high transmission.  When you click on that you can get the info for Essex County which is here:

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view|New%20Jersey|34013|Risk|community_transmission_level

Everyone in Essex County, New Jersey should wear a mask in public, indoor settings. Mask requirements might vary from place to place.

We wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings unless we are with a small (very small) group of trusted individuals.  

I wear a mask in supermarkets, stores, church....Outdoors, I usually have one with me if I need it, but don't typically wear it unless there are lots of people in the immediate area. We have a season's subscription to Paper Mill, but I wasn't comfortable going there last month just yet.  I've heard that they are spacing out the seating and requiring masks and proof of vaccination, so I may attend for the next show. When we're with friends who I know are vaccinated, I feel comfortable not wearing masks, but if there are young kids involved, I will wear one. FWIW, I am fully vaccinated and boostered.

we will wear a mask indoors if it is required by the store/venue etc.  not wearing them outdoors-but would consider if in a big group like a concert or similar.  otherwise-we are not wearing them

It frustrates me to see kids clearly under 12 (but over 2) without a mask (in stores).  no way they are fully vaccinated unless they were in the trial (and until recently they wouldn't know if they got the real or fake).....at least  about 5 weeks from now, some kids will be fully vaccinated...but from what parents are saying, that will likely only be about 25% of kids...

I'm fully vaxxed and boostered, too, and frankly, I feel very safe and immune. I don't think I'm going to catch or spread Covid. But I wear the mask in public indoor places as a courtesy as much as anything else. I wear the mask on the PATH and the subways because the PA announcements say it's policy. And again, courtesy. 

However, when I go into clubs and restaurants in the city - which I do - I'm seeing lots of live music these days - where they check my vax card and my ID at the door, and everyone else in the venue has had their card and ID checked, I take the mask off. 

I wear a mask indoors, for the most part, unless eating/drinking or where there are only one or two other people. I am rarely in a crowded outdoor space and do not feel the need to wear one outside in any case. 

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I'm fully vaxxed and boostered, too, and frankly, I feel very safe and immune. I don't think I'm going to catch or spread Covid. But I wear the mask in public indoor places as a courtesy as much as anything else. I wear the mask on the PATH and the subways because the PA announcements say it's policy. And again, courtesy. 

However, when I go into clubs and restaurants in the city - which I do - I'm seeing lots of live music these days - where they check my vax card and my ID at the door, and everyone else in the venue has had their card and ID checked, I take the mask off. 

 I was at City Winery Saturday night.  They check everyone for vax confirmation.  Most people once inside were unmasked however.   Little tables were packed very tight.  Shoulder to shoulder almost with people at other tables.  I stayed masked.   I feel pretty safe but I don't want to be the last soldier shot on armistice day.  I want to get through this whole thing without getting sick.  Outdoors, walking around I do not mask.

bub said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I'm fully vaxxed and boostered, too, and frankly, I feel very safe and immune. I don't think I'm going to catch or spread Covid. But I wear the mask in public indoor places as a courtesy as much as anything else. I wear the mask on the PATH and the subways because the PA announcements say it's policy. And again, courtesy. 

However, when I go into clubs and restaurants in the city - which I do - I'm seeing lots of live music these days - where they check my vax card and my ID at the door, and everyone else in the venue has had their card and ID checked, I take the mask off. 

 I was at City Winery Saturday night.  They check everyone for vax confirmation.  Most people once inside were unmasked however.   Little tables were packed very tight.  Shoulder to shoulder almost with people at other tables.  I stayed masked.   I feel pretty safe but I don't want to be the last soldier shot on armistice day.  I want to get through this whole thing without getting sick.  Outdoors, walking around I do not mask.

 Yeah, I hear ya, they pack 'em in at City Winery. I don't care for the place (nor their old location) but they have pretty good acts. (And for a place called a winery, the wine is real crapola.) Who did you see there? I saw Rodney Crowell there a few weeks ago. And I have tix to see the John Waters Christmas Extravaganza there on Dec. 12. 

I still wear one indoors at stores and such, and haven’t yet been eating out or going to events so haven’t had that as a concern. However, I would like to share a story about a maskless child that fits in with the person above saying it’s bothersome to see 2 to 12-year-olds without masks. A woman was in the grocery store with her child who was maybe five or six. Neither was masked. The child reached for something, and the mother slapped her hand away saying something about remembering not to touch things because of germs. Seriously.