unspeakablehorrorSo in addition to knowing how to properly wear a mask, it's important to know a little about how covid-19 travels in the air. Covid is not exclusively confined to droplets that fall to the ground after six feet as was initially widely stated when the pandemic started. Instead it can travel via fans and other circulation methods.
This means that if you are inside a poorly ventilated space (ie, most buildings), covid is always a threat. If you are in close confines with a lot of people, even if you are outdoors and always standing at least 6 feet away from the nearest person (unlikely for most gatherings), covid is a threat.
What this means is that in order to avoid covid, you need to be masked in all these cases. This can be very inconvenient because this means you need to avoid removing your mask indoors or around people to talk, and even to eat, drink, or blow your nose. However, this is something I have done, and I suspect it is an important part of why I haven't caught covid once in the last 5 years.
Some ways I have changed my lifestyle to accomodate this:
I've gotten used to repeating myself a little more. Maybe I should keep a pencil and paper to write stuff down too if needed, but haven't felt the need for that yet.
I no longer eat inside public spaces--instead I go outside the building to eat. If you own a car, you could also eat in your car (I do not own a car).
I don't directly drink from indoor water fountains anymore. Instead, I keep a water bottle on me at all times which I can refill in the fountain if needed.
I go outside to blow my nose.
If the nature of your situation prevents you from doing these things (and I can think of certain situations where that might be the case), then unfortunately society is almost certainly putting you in active danger of catching covid. But if it's merely inconvenient and you can at all avoid doing these things, you should. If you can't avoid doing these things, then do whatever you can to put distance and physical barriers between you and other people in the building or public gatherings you attend.
One thing to keep in mind is you want to make adaptations as easy as possible, and just do the maximum that's reasonable for you. Covid protection isn't all or nothing: it's about doing the best you can. So don't make the perfect the enemy of the good--do what you can to avoid covid and long covid. Do what you can to keep yourself and others safe.
This means that if you are inside a poorly ventilated space (ie, most buildings), covid is always a threat. If you are in close confines with a lot of people, even if you are outdoors and always standing at least 6 feet away from the nearest person (unlikely for most gatherings), covid is a threat.
What this means is that in order to avoid covid, you need to be masked in all these cases. This can be very inconvenient because this means you need to avoid removing your mask indoors or around people to talk, and even to eat, drink, or blow your nose. However, this is something I have done, and I suspect it is an important part of why I haven't caught covid once in the last 5 years.
Some ways I have changed my lifestyle to accomodate this:
I've gotten used to repeating myself a little more. Maybe I should keep a pencil and paper to write stuff down too if needed, but haven't felt the need for that yet.
I no longer eat inside public spaces--instead I go outside the building to eat. If you own a car, you could also eat in your car (I do not own a car).
I don't directly drink from indoor water fountains anymore. Instead, I keep a water bottle on me at all times which I can refill in the fountain if needed.
I go outside to blow my nose.
If the nature of your situation prevents you from doing these things (and I can think of certain situations where that might be the case), then unfortunately society is almost certainly putting you in active danger of catching covid. But if it's merely inconvenient and you can at all avoid doing these things, you should. If you can't avoid doing these things, then do whatever you can to put distance and physical barriers between you and other people in the building or public gatherings you attend.
One thing to keep in mind is you want to make adaptations as easy as possible, and just do the maximum that's reasonable for you. Covid protection isn't all or nothing: it's about doing the best you can. So don't make the perfect the enemy of the good--do what you can to avoid covid and long covid. Do what you can to keep yourself and others safe.
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