Anyone still wearing a face mask in all enclosed spaces?

[Newabodemode]

I'm just curious as I attend a regular meeting with work bringing together a range of people from other companies. There's one colleague who I've got to know a bit over the past couple of years. He wears a valved face mask whenever he is indoors or any enclosed space, other than in his own home. It's the heavier duty type with a valve, not the blue and white surgical kind, and he only drinks through a straw using the valve, and doesn't eat until he's outside or back at home. I've not met anyone else who still masks other than if they've a heavy cold but have to be around other people on public transport etc or are visiting older relatives.

His partner has CFS/ME/long COVID and he says he masks to protect her. I know they have a young toddler who the wife stays home to care for.

Even when my father in law was going through heavy chemotherapy recently he wasn't told to mask while he was immunocompromised nor for others around him to. My own father lived with a complex and rare immune system disorder for years and took immunosuppressants for years and no mask advice was given (albeit this was pre-pandemic).

I am genuinely trying to understand both the level of risk involved in this situation and how a baby and now toddler fits into this risk management.

Everyone is very accommodating and polite but a couple of people have commented privately that the mask makes communication hard and it can be difficult to hear what this person's saying at times. We work around it obviously but my mind just goes to 'will he have to do this forever?'.
Does everyone living with someone who has long COVID, ME or CFS mask like this? Is it medically advised? Or are some people more at risk than others?

I've got CFS and I inject methotrexate to dampen down my immune system so I'm immunocompromised. I work with 60 add kids every week, all of whom attend different schools etc. My closest friend works in a hospital and I'm the first person to look after her when she's ill. I've had a Covid numerous times and always end up with a bad chest for 6-10 weeks afterwards. I don't wear a mask. Illnesses are part of life.

Do you think his wife may have health anxiety due to picking up long Covid which can be so debilitating many end up in a wheelchair and can’t leave the house?

I do agree the toddler needs to lead a normal life but people are acting like this has come out of nowhere. The Mum has a serious, life impacting condition due to a Covid infection. The husband has seen the impact that has had on her. Of course their behaviour may be a little different to those who have had no impact from Covid.

Of course, but that's not sustainable or reasonable with a toddler. They will have to find other ways to manage her health.

I know someone who currently is walking around with a blue surgical mask not covering her nose, I tried to explain yesterday that there’s no point but she didn’t accept my reasoning

To be still wearing a mask shows that this person clearly has mental issues that need to be addressed -terribly sad to be so paranoid, but more importantly dangerous for the poor child to be excluded to that level of anxiety.

I guess and hope it’s just a case of risk reduction. So the toddler will hopefully lead a normal life and they accept the risk there. But it’s easy for the DH to wear a mask in meetings so that’s one less risk. Many people pick up things at work in meeting rooms which are small with zero fresh air.

We don’t actually know that they are being restrictive with the toddler. All we know is the DH wears masks in meetings. They are just hopefully shutting down one avenue of infection.

A friend’s mother insists that everyone visiting her does a Covid test… but she was always a controlling unpleasant woman.

All we know is that the DH wears a medical grade mask in meetings rooms when in close proximity to others due to his wife having long Covid. Which isn’t too dissimilar to Japanese and other SE Asian countries wearing masks on public transport and crowded places- we don’t claim they all have health anxiety and mental health problems do we?

We don’t know anything about their behaviour around the children. They could be leading a completely normal life.

It would be really lovely if we could stop spreading colds and another viruses around so readily in this country. We could learn a thing or two
from Japan and SE Asian countries.

I thought mask wearing in Japan and China was originally in response to high smog levels.

Yes I know someone whose husband is having treatment for stage 4 cancer. She doesn’t wear a mask, but their child’s nursery attendance is patchy - they keep him home for a week or so if there’s a bug (totally reasonable). He starts school in September though so will be harder to do then, and her wearing a mask while out would probably be fairly ineffective compared to what a young child might bring home.

I wouldn’t criticise her for wearing one though!

Everyone makes the most appropriate and sensible decision for their own family if they or someone at home is medically compromised in some way. I have a child who is immunosuppressed and who has been unable to attend school for an entirely separate reason. Because he has been exposed to viruses less than most children his age, I am much more careful when out and about to try and avoid indoor crowds and I always check whether anyone is ill in a household before I visit. I don’t wear a mask when out and about, but I see others who do and think good for them if that’s what it takes to participate in society, whether wearing a mask temporarily due to a virus or permanently due to chronic illness. I’m not working as I’m currently my son’s carer, so that situation isn’t relevant to me. But if I was working, I would certainly take precautions. Even in my current situation, I have to grit my teeth and put up with not very helpful comments from people due to the relatively unobtrusive measures I currently take. I can only imagine the judgement seeping out of others if I had to extend these to other environments. I just wish people would mind their own business and accept that life looks different for some people.

That could be to make you feel more secure. Unless you're wearing one of the high quality filtration ones, they're not going to be much use. I have a friend having chemo and she's never been advised to wear one.

Very well said @LetsMakeThisMomentLast

The judgement on here is awful and so many assumptions made. It has zero impact on anyone else if people choose to take infection control a little bit more seriously due to their personal circumstances.

I'm on immuno-suppressants. I was advised by my IBD nurse to wear a mask on planes and other enclosed spaces. I've had pneumonia twice, before I was on the drugs, so I'm careful when around somebody who is coughing and spluttering. I mostly wear one on planes & buses, although not always, and would mask up in a meeting if someone was obviously sick at work. I'm also very mindful of what my hands have touched and use antibacterial hand lotion. Other than that, I try to live my life normally and hope people aren't being judgey because of the precautions I take.

yes I wear a filtration one. It’s not that I need to feel secure, more than I am really at risk when my bloods drop

Pre-2020 no-one remotely sane would ever contemplate wearing a mask. I believe thats true post 2020. These mask wearers need psychiatric help to remove the government inflicted damage.

If those masks did any good, they wouldn't spend a fortune on the protective equipment in virus labs. Just strap a cheap mask to your face and step into the ebola lab.

There’s a woman in my local supermarket who supervises the self-service tills. She’s in her late 50s or 60s and still wears a blue disposable mask that looks filthy and clearly overused. It’s often slipping down her nose, and she’s constantly touching and readjusting it.
I don’t know anything about her health situation, but from the outside it comes across less as effective protection and more like a kind of safety blanket for her, despite how unhygienic and counterproductive it appears.

People in many Asian countries have always worn masks in all public spaces.

The OP has clearly said it is a heavy duty filtration mask and not the flimsy cotton or disposable ones. These have been shown to be effective.

There’s a few people in my town who still wear masks. Mostly the cloth kind but a couple of the disposable ones too. Some of them wear gloves as well.

I’m also wondering what’s the point of him wearing the mask when she’s already got Long Covid. He needs a tardis, not a mask.

They did. When I was diagnosed with my blood condition and called into hospital, they were all wearing masks, gloves and aprons and I was offered one
this was at least a decade ago

Hilarious. Perhaps he’s worried that his wife’s already (clearly) weakened immune system will be adversely affected by exposure to another virus. Perhaps he’s worried that she might die. Like I said, hilarious.

Can’t be that bad if she was able to get pregnant and look after a toddler. I do wonder how genuine some of these people’s ailments are, or if what they really need help with is anxiety.

And it wasn’t meant to be funny, so I’m flattered you find me so hilarious.

A repeat infection could set her back years. She may be making slow improvements. There is an astounding lack of knowledge on this thread!