I've thought about this a lot - especially the masking outdoors... I am encouraged by the amount of masking outside in Chicago, but realize it is mostly theater. It is inside where it counts and making sure a mask fits so all of the air goes through, not around the mask.

"Worldwide, scientists have not documented any instances of outdoor transmission unless people were in close conversation, Dr. Muge Cevik, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told me. “The small number of cases where outdoor transmission might have occurred,” she wrote on Twitter, “were associated with close interactions, particularly extended duration, or settings where people mixed indoors alongside an outdoor setting.”"


https://www.nytimespost.com/covid-absolutism/

DD has a friend who has been isolating in her home for the last year and only goes outside to walk the dog and she always wears a mask. She said she passes others on the sidewalk who are unmasked and refuse to step aside to ensure distance. But that is her only contact with anyone else.

She just tested positive.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
DD has a friend who has been isolating in her home for the last year and only goes outside to walk the dog and she always wears a mask. She said she passes others on the sidewalk who are unmasked and refuse to step aside to ensure distance. But that is her only contact with anyone else.

She just tested positive.

I heard an interesting story last week. The NFL did incredible contact tracing this year, down to the genetic level, to make sure they knew who was infected, how they got infected, who else might have come in contact with them, etc.

There were any number of positive cases in the NFL this year. However, there was not one single case of transmission on the field during a game.

I read that they had some kind of tracker on everyone and could review how close and how long each person came in contact with anyone else...

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
DD has a friend who has been isolating in her home for the last year and only goes outside to walk the dog and she always wears a mask. She said she passes others on the sidewalk who are unmasked and refuse to step aside to ensure distance. But that is her only contact with anyone else.

She just tested positive.

See, these are the kinds of stories that make me crazy.

Is this person 100% truthful? Do they live alone? Do they never step foot inside a grocery store?

If so, their case is scary.

But if not, then I can't help but wonder about the details.

Because that seems clear -- it's all in the details.

A FB acquaintance posted about getting covid and "but we wore masks" etc. Well, I've read that a lot of people are very casual with their masking (even sharing their *used* masks with others etc.) So since I don't really know this person, I can't help but wonder what kind of "human error" they committed that led to getting sick.

I don't say these things to blame anyone, but rather, I'm trying to make sure I do everything right and if someone can do everything I do, and still get sick, then I want to know about that. Because it means I have to change what I'm doing.

If, OTOH, someone got sick and they weren't as careful as I am, or were out and about etc., then I can keep doing what I'm doing.

Can you hear the panic creeping into my voice?