Poll: To what extent are you (PwME) still shielding from Covid?

I no longer mask.

I’m not convinced that simple masks are that protective (though they might somewhat reduce spread FROM an infected individual). The effective masks are just not user-friendly enough to use in real life situations.

I’m not often out in crowded indoor spaces, and when I am the noise levels limit my duration in company anyway. That’s even with earbuds.

I have not yet had covid (hopefully that won’t jinx me lol) despite my husband getting it twice & us both living in the same house during his recoveries. Mind you he was banished to one room, used our second toilet, and had all his meals delivered to outside his closed door!

I read somewhere about an experiment with mice & iodine and how placing a drop on the noses of mice could protect them from a corona virus infection.

I had iodine in the house. This is probably my folly, but I use it when I’m somewhere crowded. (Before & after). I also used it when himself was ill.

I really don’t want to get covid. Friends & family are very good about keeping out of my way if they have any sort of a sniffle.

Masking just seems an incredibly socially intrusive method of only maybe slightly protecting oneself.

 

PS. I couldn’t answer the poll. I am still concerned about covid. I am careful, but I really can’t tick any of the boxes.

You might say I should tick “Not at all” but that is not true either.

 

I don't know if Breatheteq N95 type masks are available in the UK. The ones I buy are made in Canada and they're absolutely the most comfortable masks. They are breathable, light and formfitting with a high quality nose clip. I don't feel it on my face at all.



l plan to wear them forever during flu/covid season when I'm out. When I get visits I run my air purifier that I built because no one wants to wear a mask anymore.

 

Some PWME have reduced symptoms when they are fighting a viral infection. I'm not arguing that covid isn't seriously bad (even fatal) for some people. I'm arguing that it isn't seriously bad for some people, and possibly of some benefit for some people.

When I was deciding whether to get a covid vaccination, I considered it a coin flip as to whether it would protect me from having serious consequences from getting covid, or whether it would cause serious consequences due to ME's possible response. There was simply no data to help determine whether covid or the vaccine would be good or bad.

If the government mandates extreme measures, I'll comply. If the policy is "protect yourself from infection if you are worried about it", I won't bother at this point in time since I'm not worried about it. I consider it extremely unlikely that I would infect someone else, given how little I interact with others even in the unlikely case of me having an infectious asymptomatic infection.

 

Same here.

 

And me.

The poll asks about 'still shielding', and I never shielded in the way that some extremely vulnerable people did: not leaving the house, needing people to test for infection before visiting, and wearing a mask even when visitors test negative.

Before the vaccines came along, I reduced the number of times I went out and always wore a high protection mask. I'd describe that as taking precautions, not shielding.

I've reduced my precautions but not abandoned them. I always have vaccine boosters, I'm very concerned about Covid, and the way I feel about interacting with people changes depending on how prevalent it currently is.

 

I contracted Covid in December 2022 when I wore a triple cloth mask, at the time health officials were telling us it was still safe to wear a cloth mask. It was during the high peak season when waste water levels were quite high so my risk was high. I wore a cloth mask during that /spring/summer too but didn't contract Covid because levels were low.

I dunno. I don't want to get Covid again, it was quite bad for me and took 6 months to go back to baseline and I'm not taking any chances because I might not recover the next time.

 

We are still taking precautions.

I was surprised that the poll did not include an item for COVID testing. When we ask friends or family to come to our house for a visit we don't ask them to wear a mask, but we do ask them to take a rapid COVID test before they come (that same day).

I know the rapid at-home tests (not talking about the spendy PCR home tests) are not 100% accurate. But I do think testing helps reduce the risk of getting exposed to COVID by someone who is just starting to get an infection and has no symptoms yet (or is asymptomatic).

We both mask up (N95 masks - the Aura 9205 from 3M works well for us) whenever we go inside any building (store, doctor's office, etc). We don't wear masks outside unless we're going to be fairly close to a group of people and talking with them for longer than a few minutes. I know of one person who thinks their infection happened while having lunch at an outdoor cafe. So while outdoors is definitely lower risk than indoors, if I'm going to be in close quarters, for longer time period, and with more people then I'll mask up even when outside.

And then there is my niece's story. She came to visit us for a few days this summer with her husband. They tested negative the day they came. While they were with us we all masked whenever we went inside shops. We got take-out food only - no eating inside restaurants.

On the drive home she used a rest area (roadside bathroom stop) without wearing a mask. She thought there was plenty of ventilation and so she skipped putting on her mask. Then she started coming down with COVID about a day or two later. The rest of us all tested for a few of days just to make sure we hadn't also been exposed somehow. But she was the only one who got sick.

Stories like that are why I still wear a mask whenever I go inside a building even if it's only for a few minutes.

To me, wearing a mask when I go indoors is like wearing a seat belt in the car. I can't remember the last time I got in a car accident. And the few accidents I've had were quite minor. A seat belt was not needed to protect me from injury. What a waste, right?

And yet, I still wear a seat belt for every car trip. It's second nature. It does not feel like a hassle or a waste of time.

I feel the same way about masks. Maybe most of the time no one around me is contagious. Or even if I did get infected maybe it would be a very mild infection. But a friend of ours, who had avoided getting COVID for all these years, just got infected with COVID at a wedding in September. He then spent more than two weeks in the hospital.

So even though we are definitely in the minority we still wear masks. And one great benefit is that I have not gotten any cold or flu virus since the start of the pandemic.

 

Now that you mention it, I'm also surprised that I didn't include that question! I also ask family to do a lateral flow test on the same day before they visit. I think it's probably too late to add that question, because at this point, most people interested in the poll will have answered, so it would give a misleadingly low positive rate.

 

I understand what you mean.
I have had Covid definitely 3 times. Possibly 4. I am not saying it is a pleasant experience (it isn't!), but I have noticed a definite improvement in my ME since my last bout of covid in July. I am unvaccinated though. I didn't take any vaccines because I caught covid before the vaccines were introduced. Also my ME was triggered by a vaccine 25 years ago.
I did try and take precautions against catching Covid, but I just seem to be highly susceptible to it. It is almost as if my immune system is looking for something to do.

 

I live in a high-rise on the upper floor and hold my breath and wear an N95 mask on the elevator. It's hard and I feel a bit faint when I get the lobby but I'm not taking chances because no one wears a mask.

 

Holding your breath and also noting the direction of the wind when walking past somebody outside are such simple and unobtrusive precautions.

 

I've been doing that but have realised that I can't hold my breath for long enough! If I think about for how long I can smell someone's perfume or cigarette smoke after I've passed them, it's actually quite a distance...

 

Yes, the wind strength and direction can be against you at times. I cross my fingers and hope any particles still in the air by the time I start breathing are low enough in number or non-existent.
Crossing the road is easy too.

 

When I go power walking in the early evenings I'm exposed to groups of army runners either running towards me or passing me on the path I take. They are breathing heavily and talking at the same time. It makes me dizzy holding my breath or looking the opposite direction, but I do it. It only takes one breath.

 

Now the weather has turned cold I wear a scarf wrapped around my nose and mouth a couple of times............
well, if it worked for Wessely....

 

Oh really?

I think I remember him telling us all how he was out zipping about on the tube and strutting around various London institutions early 2020 a few days after his own life changing brush with C-19 and whilst his wife lay in bed having hers.

Did this involve a scarf?

 

I still use several techniques to try to reduce infection but I'm not sure that I'm being totally consistent.
I still like anyone who visits to test if possible so at Xmas, all family who gathered here did a covid test before arrival or in a different room before we mixed. We ask workmen inside the house to mask and provide a sealed N95 mask.

I will however now have a coffee or meal inside when visiting Wisley gardens, no longer masking obviously. I will mostly put on a mask if I go inside the shop to buy a birthday card. The food shopping is delivered but we don't wipe down. Other shopping is bought online but not wiped down.

We honestly haven't decided if we will go to choir this term. We didn't last term because of covid but have sung for one term since 2020.

This morning some new bottles of clinell hand sanitiser from Amazon
arrived, not wiped down, (also a Dew spray.) The small bottles have a feature I've not seen before nor was it advertised so it was a good surprise. They have a detachable clip attached which allows them to be clipped to clothing or a bag so as to remain easily accessible. I carry a bottle at the bottom of my bag but have to scrabble to find it so don't always use it. This should be an improvement. I know handwashing is better but there isn't always a sink around.

Then I went out on NYE locally just for an hour. Mr B went back after returning me home. I was so excited I completely forgot about covid. Two days later I felt ill. Negative covid tests for 3 days and now OK so presume it was one of the other bugs going round. I had a flu vaccine but not RSV. It just goes on doesn't it?

 

https://www.s4me.info/threads/coronavirus-worldwide-spread-and-control.13287/page-41#post-244033