Covid-19 Is Back, but Not Many Want to Return to Masking

I think the point people are trying to make is that general masking behavior has not been guided by rational consideration of where it is likely to be beneficial. So, it's a warning to slow down and think about it.

Yeah, it's really disappointing how it has all played out. It's disappointing to encounter the persistent denial that COVID is a thing, or matters, day after day after day, for months and now years. If you're immune-compromised or just otherwise don't feel like rolling the dice with potentially being permanently crippled because of a ""cold"", you're just a total outcast from modern society and your sense of self-preservation is invalidated constantly.

I don’t see as much of that as I did back when the university required masks. The students wearing masks now seem to be a self-selected subset who are more worried about covid than average.

I do see a decent number of surgical masks (vs N-95s). For me personally I would either wear something with good filtration or not bother, but I guess others disagree.

That's just about true. The original experiment showing that cloth between hamster cages reduced transmission was pretty strong evidence that it ought to work. And there have been some retrospective studies finding that masking was effective. The Cochrane study just came up with a not- statistically-significant result on their metastudy that included a variety of different pathogens, including COVID-19. The only reason to think that masks are a bad idea is that a lot of people and groups of people of various beliefs, desires, fears, phobias, hopes, etc, can find ways to react that effectively put us on a planet where masks do more harm than good. That's entirely possible, given that most people might prefer to live without the masks if they had a choice.

You'd look for a proxy, control, etc.

I'll stick to my conspiracy theory if you take a second to look at the data for daily Covid cases, and admit to yourself that it shows no significant spike: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

> I just had COVID for the first time. It's been two weeks and I still feel like total garbage.

I'm confused how you open your comment with this statement, as if to express regret that you didn't get the vaccine and that's why you suffered from the symptoms of Covid. But from the rest of your comment, you don't sound like someone who's avoided Covid vaccines. In fact you go onto promote them.

So I feel it's worth asking: are you vaccinated against Covid? How many times have you been boosted? And if the answer to those questions is "yes" and "more than zero," then what is your basis for scolding others into "getting a vaccine?" I mean, did it work for you, or did you still get Covid and suffer from its symptoms?

For full disclosure, wary as I am of karmic retribution (from the universe, not HN users) for admitting it: I've not been vaccinated, I've not been boosted, and as far as I know I've not had Covid. I did have a sore throat and runny nose on a trip to NYC a few weeks ago, but if that was Covid, I hardly see the urgency to get vaccinated against it, and in fact I'm glad that I suffered from such a minor infirmity since it would mean I'm now immune to potentially deadlier variants, and likely to a degree more than anyone who's been vaccinated against earlier variants (research has consistently shown natural immunity from infection to be longer-lasting and more efficacious against a wider range of unknown variants than any vaccine).

I would recommend looking at your health

Ive had COVID several times and while I won't say it's pleasant, it's like 3 days of bad cold followed by a swift recovery.

My seventy year old parents have had similar trajectories.

If it's taking weeks, I'd be concerned about my overall health and immune system