I went to my one-year-post-knee-replacement-surgery follow-up at the hospital building today, first for knee x-rays and then to the knee surgeon’s PA for a check-up. I’d estimate 90% of the people working at the hospital (info desk, receptionists, volunteers, medical professionals) were wearing masks. Approximately a third of patients were wearing masks. This was not in areas where many sick patients would be seen, such as emergency intake or regular primary care; this was x-ray and orthopedics. Nevertheless: significantly wider-spread mask usage than I’ve seen since early in the pandemic.
I went to the grocery store afterward, and saw four employees and approximately the same number of customers, all wearing masks. This is up from seeing, like, zero or one mask per grocery trip.
I know multiple people (one coworker, one coworker’s spouse, one relative) who have been sick with one of the worst viruses they’ve ever experienced. I have heard there is an unexpected flu strain going around, a mutation that appeared after the vaccines had been formulated. The local news has started reporting deaths from flu, and also mentioning that hospitals are near capacity, so please stay home unless you are experiencing life-threatening illness. This too is reminding me of earlier on in the pandemic.
My coworker with a sick husband said he was fine when he went to work that morning; mid-afternoon he texted her that he wasn’t feeling great; by the time he got home, he had a 103-degree fever, went straight to the couch, and she wasn’t sure he’d moved since then. This was the next day.
My sick coworker had a similar report: she said one evening she had a mildly sore throat and she sneezed twice; by the next morning she had a fever and could only get out of bed to use the bathroom. She came into work after being out for a few days, but was still very visibly/audibly sick. She wore a mask—and, for the first time in quite awhile, I wore one too, because some of my work had to be done in her vicinity. One of the upsides of not being very good at decluttering is that I still had several masks with me: in my lunch bag, in my coat pockets.
I also wore a mask to my appointments at the hospital. I didn’t wear one to the grocery store, but the hospital felt more clear-cut. As I was checking in, an elderly woman was checking in at the next desk over; both our receptionists were masked, as was a nurse behind them, as was I, but the elderly lady was not. The elderly lady asked in a jocular way if everyone was sick, and her receptionist said no, and the unmasked elderly woman said “Oh good! Because I don’t want to catch anything!”
I do like that mask-wearing, while still catching some unwanted attention/reactions, now exists as a thing in the United States. It did not exist in my area of the country before the Covid-19 pandemic; now it does. My coworkers frequently came into work when they were sick, but now some of them wear masks when they do; and now I can wear a mask when people around me are clearly sick, and people know what it is and why I’m wearing it. They might think I am the sick one, but they don’t wonder WHAT I am wearing on my FACE.
I’ve been visiting my mom in the hospital and there is a huge sign at the door that says there is an extremely high rate of respiratory infection and that masks are required. There’s a security guard handing out masks. It’s a bit nervous making!!
I heard/saw/read/absorbed recently that one reason the 1918 flu was so virulent was there had been a particularly severe measles outbreak prior. Measles wipes the immune system. As does Covid. Ergo: we will have a virulent flu season not necessarily because this flu is so bad but because it’s occurring on the heels of everyone having had covid.
Idk. Fascinating. The measles connection was something I had not heard before.
I never stipped (leaving this should be stopped but autocorrect is stymied and this is why AI sucks and shouldn’t be anywhere. It CANNOT come up with stopped as an alternative to stipped) masking. I shall keep right on doing so.
I don’t know what healthcare settings are doing around me. It will be interesting to find out. I am glad someone, somewhere is moving the needle again since we have been actively getting worse at disease mitigation and prevention since 2019. So much worse. I have stellar resting bitch face, even in a mask, and never get harassed. Never got bothered nursing in public either.
I live in a college town with a significant Asian international student population, and I clearly remember maybe ten years ago watching a woman with a mask on board a bus and thinking how strange it seemed. But Saturday I myself wore a mask to the grocery store, and I was far from the only one. Flu A is off and popping in my city, and I would like to avoid it if I can. Might be wishful thinking with small kids, but still I’m glad it’s a normal tool in our collective arsenal now!
I never really stopped masking since COVID. My reasoning is that people are going to people and go out and about while sick (having learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the pandemic) and I don’t want their nasty germs.
Same. I’m severely immune-compromised and wear a mask whenever I leave the house.
Masking is mandatory for everyone entering a hospital where I live due to the huge amount of flu circulating.
We got it 2 weeks before Christmas (and we were glad of the timing as it meant we were mostly okay again by the time Christmas arrived, though this strain has lingering mild symptoms for weeks) and for a couple of weeks about a third of my work unit was home sick with it on any given day. Worse still, post-Christmas there’s been a second round of contagious respiratory virus, often hitting the same people who had it before Christmas. We’ve only had it the once in my household so far but I’m not sure we’ll be lucky enough to escape round 2. I don’t leave the house sick unless it’s to pick up a no-contact grocery/food order but I think I’m in the small minority these days.
For the indoor places I have been recently, almost nobody in our area has been wearing a mask to protect against the spread of illness. I carry a mask in my pocket and if I sense the room I am in is kind of crowded I will put the mask on. Good to hear the people around you are taking it seriously.
North’s afraid of long covid so they never stopped masking and over the winter break they asked the rest of the family to do in public when they’re home and two weeks before, so we’ve been doing that.
My daughter and I both got the flu (I assume) and were worried our flu shots wouldn’t be effective. It was unpleasant, but much shorter and less severe than the other two times I’ve had the flu. There was a weird neck swelling that freaked me the hell out, and if I hadn’t had it and then Eve had mentioned it I think I would have driven five hours worried that she was dying. I wore a mask the day I could go out and needed groceries, because I get an alarming-sounding cough more than because I thought I was still contagious. I agree that it’s nice that it’t an option now.
I never stopped masking and am in a wellbefore 3d kn95 at basically all times indoors including nannying (except when I’m at gymnastics class, when I rock a wellbefore n99 with a sip valve). It’s a very very efficient way to care for your community, and it isn’t actually that hard. The government clearly wants us dead. Don’t make it easier for them.
Also if you look at the long term effects of Covid….they are very very bad!
I hadn’t heard that the flu was bad in my community, but my daughter said that a lot of kids at her high school have been sick. Our family all came down with an cold-like illness right around Christmas, but fortunately it was pretty short. Wow, a year out from the knee replacement! Would you do an update of the healing process and how you’re feeling now?
I am doing some masking, not as diligently as I should, but some. My husband is convinced that for him, wearing a mask is the most uncomfortable thing imaginable (!) and largely refuses to do so, so he mostly brings viruses home and then I … catch them from him (the only good thing is that he is retired and pretty antisocial, so not as exposed as one might be, but still). Last year I caught the flu from him after he reported a “man cold,” and I tell you what, this year if he shows the slightest symptoms of anything I am moving into the guest bedroom (and masking when elsewhere in our house).
I did learn last year (too late) that at least some of the antivirals used to treat flu can also be used to reduce the risk of catching it after a known exposure (I like “your local epidemiologist” which has information about this — https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/flu-antivirals-what-to-know-and-when ), and we have both Tamiflu (prescribed pro-actively before I took a trip and not used) and flu tests in the house to check for exposure if one of us gets symptoms. I will definitely use if needed.
I never stopped masking in the grocery store (although if I’m being honest, I like the anonymity of it even more than concern for being sick) but I did mostly stop bothering for other, shorter visits like running into grab a coffee. I’ve since started wearing one again for anything indoors, even a quick trip. There were always several other people at the grocery wearing one whenever I went, but I’ve definitely seen an uptick, and also more people wearing them out and about in general. I’ve never explicitly been harassed for wearing one, but there are also usually a few suspiciously loud coughs in my general direction when I’m shopping- I’ve learned to ignore those.
I am glad people are masking where you are, but sorry for the reason. We are in Red Country and masks are still not a thing people do, except for us, but I think the flu is also less-bad locally than it is in your area at least so far. (lower population density and bigger air spaces helps; not necessarily enough to counter People Being Stupid, if something is *extra* transmissible by air like covid, or worse, measles; but it does help and we can use all the help we can get)
Now wondering if nasal spray helps protect against catching the flu, since Spouse has a dentist appointment coming up…
I caught this flu strain in November at a family wedding. The wedding was the Monday, on Wednesday morning I was feeling a little throat tickle. I woke up the next morning with no voice, a fever and intense body aches. I was in bed for 3 days. The next week I masked for work, still coughing a LOT.
I was coughing for weeks, eventually it cleared up after a few days of taking Mucinex. (I had my flu shot in October)
We have a family member in the hospital with pneumonia that developed after he had the flu.
I wouldn’t recommend it. Masking is great.
No-one here is wearing a mask (I live in a place that has a lot of reality-deniers), even though we have both a measles and flu problem. I’m staying home a lot.
We got our flu shots as soon as we could, although they’re not a good match for the circulating virus. But we did not get a C19 shot this year, because our government has made it harder to get. Our region has a low C19 prevalence right now, luckily.
I think we might move to a less reality-denying area within a couple of years, because the govt is making me loopy.
I live in Germany and the situation here is exactly the same as you describe!
Off topic but – how are you feeling about your knee replacement?
I live in Texas and cedar pollen allergies are bad here for many people this time of year. I see some people outside wearing a mask to reduce the pollen intake, myself included. Also, in cold weather I find it’s more comfortable to wear a mask outside than not, as long as my glasses don’t get too foggy.