Posted by: shoreboy
Posted by: Couch_Surfer
I don’t see any KN95s or N95s in the wild, fitted or not. I also don’t see a lot of 3 layer surgical masks. I see cloth masks, lots of them. So then my take away is then that a masks value is largely symbolic at this point? That doesn’t seem to be a good enough reason to continue with it.
As for the pandemic, well it’s now endemic and here to stay. Good news is that the dominant variant is significantly less lethal (especially if one is vaccinated), we have safe and effective vaccines and a pretty highly vaccinated population, we even have anti-viral pills available very soon (in BC). We lost the battle for a Zero Covid strategy, so what’s the end game?
Its not technically endemic until the hospitalizations start to go down and the transmission starts to wane. It is still in the acute phase. I do agree that it will be endemic in the future, we aren't quite there yet.
I don't think masks are purely symbolic, they do help lower the chance of transmission and they are an indication that we are still in the acute phase of this disease. If you take them away, I think it will be a quick transition to people treating this as it is over and done with, which it is not. While that may lead to reaching the endemic phase quicker, it would be at the cost of a pretty big spike on our already near maxed out healthcare system and cause much more inconvenience to everyone than the inconvenience it is too keep wearing the mask.
I don't think we have to wait until it is endemic in the overall population, just the unvaccinated. Once that 15-20% have all had it, we can get on with life. I am curious what the covid stats represent, how many of the daily +tests is vaxed vs not. I assume the virus is spreading much faster in the unvaxed community than the vaxed (for a variety of reasons) so I'm hoping for summer.
I'm curious how long people will wear masks for after Bonnie announces the end of the pandemic. Personally, I have enjoyed not getting a single viral illness for 2 years but not sure I would continue wearing a mask to avoid the odd cold.