Don’t let other people’s politics influence you into making bad decisions.
If your political enemy said, “Wear a seatbelt.”, would you say, “Forget that! I’m never going to wear a seatbelt!”, or would you say, “The idiot actually said something that makes sense.”
Wearing a mask during COVID makes sense.
Masks work.
Masks are non political EVEN IF some people are using them politically.
The COVID virus is tiny, and theoretically it can fit through the pores of most masks. But the virus moves in and out of a persons lungs and mouth on respiratory droplets... small particles of water (basically) that we breathe in and out. These respiratory droplets are huge compared to the pores in masks... even most cloth masks. It’s not 100%, but you will greatly reduce the transmission of COVID by wearing a mask... especially if you have COVID.
And many people are contagious for a day or two before they develop symptoms. So wearing a mask at all appropriate times will reduce the spread of COVID if you have symptoms or even if you don’t.
I’ve spent 8 months working in the Emergency Department seeing COVID patients every single shift. I have easily seen multiple hundreds of patients who are known COVID positive.
I am physically touching these patients. I use my stethoscope to listen to their hearts and lungs. I remove their mask to look in their mouths. I am occasionally intubating COVID positive patients... standing with my face literally inches away from their mouth while I insert a tube through their vocal cords and into their trachea (which leads to their lungs).
I wore a mask every day, all day, at work for 8 months without catching COVID.
And then, almost 9 months into this, I finally got sick.
I am 95% sure that I caught COVID from a patient with very atypical symptoms... shortness of breath was the only complaint. No fevers. No chills. No body aches. No nausea or vomiting or diarrhea. No cough or sore throat or runny nose or sinus pressure. I mistakenly thought this patient probably had heart failure or a blood clot in the lungs, and so I spent a lot of time physically with this patient evaluating and discussing/explaining what we were doing and why as we were searching for the cause. But this patient repeatedly removed their mask while I was with them. Because I really didn’t think this was COVID, I wasn’t insistent about them putting their mask back on while I was with them.
I was going to admit this patient because they needed supplemental oxygen (through the plastic tubes that blow oxygen into the nose) in order to keep their oxygen levels in the safe range (ideally above 90%). Even though it was very low on the list, I still tested for COVID. After a few hours of being in the ER, the results finally came back. It was not a blood clot or heart failure or anything else; it was COVID. The patient had a non-typical case of COVID... their only symptom was severe shortness of breath.
Unfortunately, even knowing they needed supplemental oxygen, the patient refused to stay in the hospital.
I remember joking and telling my nurses that if I didn’t get COVID that day, then I was immune. Unfortunately, I was not.
Within a few days, I developed COVID symptoms. As did my wife and kids.
The patient came back the following day in even worse condition. They ended up being admitted and then intubated and then dying from complications due directly to COVID.
On the other hand, my family and I have recovered. I am back at work. My wife and I still have very little stamina and are easily fatigued with minimal exertion/exercise. We both still cannot smell. But these are minor complaints compared to what it could have been.
As I have said from the beginning, if you don’t have significant risk factors (older age, obesity, heart or lung problems, autoimmune problems, etc.) then you will probably recover without any lasting issues. But there are exceptions. We do not know all the reasons why seemingly healthy people do poorly sometimes with COVID.
If you have a choice, than you should do what you can to avoid catching COVID.
Social distancing and masks actually work.
Don’t let incorrect scientific information or other people’s political ideas influence you into making poor choices for yourself, your loved ones, or your community.
And even though you are tired of it, please don’t let your guard down.
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