Gang, at this point I’m too disillusioned to expect all of you to mask always (even though you should), but for the love of GOD, please at least mask at airports and on planes when you travel to events!!!
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It's unbelievable to me that people have experienced an airport bathroom and still make the conscious choice to breathe that raw air over covering their exposed airway with a piece of fabric.
Even before Covid airplanes were poorly ventilated fart tubes. Had a mask on for my last one but still needed like full respirator or a fruit scented mask cause PU 🤢
jesus christ, this is so much worse than I would have thought. Especially given that "96% of flights" means that it probably also includes the random offpeak commuter flights with 15 people on them. Out of a tiny number, at least one of them still has covid.
I don’t have the tweet on hand right now but one of the data tracking accounts I was following recently mentioned current trajectory is about “1 in 72 Americans infected”. Do the math I guess 🤷🏻♀️
Also this is wastewater which I'd assume far less than 100% of people on flights are using the bathroom during short hops, so it's likely undercounting
And I have serious doubts about any building that claims to have amped up their air filtration because even if the federal money didn't run out, a lot of places just don't change the filters even when they're subsidized.
Agree 100%. This is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit. Extremely high and extended risk, and it's hardly any additional inconvenience to mask up with an N95 while flying.
I'm no evangelist, but every time someone I know flies, I remind them of this.
Masking is so so so useful. I delivered pizzas in 2020 in northern Alabama to a LOT of unmasked people and did not catch it (to my knowledge) the entire time I worked there, because I made sure to wear a mask the entire time. pls guys a mask isn’t going to hurt you
"A good mask (think N95 or K95) that fits and is worn properly (don’t let your nostrils peek out) is the gold standard. You can’t always control the distance factor, says infectious disease professor Dr. Preeti Malani of the University of Michigan. 'But a mask is incredibly effective,' she says. 🧵
**
"And how far can an aerosol fly? 'The distance depends on their size and air currents,' she says. 'Their pathway could easily be hundreds of feet before they reach the ground.' ”
[Quote from Linsey Marr, aerosols expert, same article]
Hey gang, me again, before you mention this story was from 2023, I’d like to mention ~4M infections were reported *last week* with ~600K daily infections, so the data models predict 1 in 72 being infected. So maybe still mask on a goddamn plane mmkay? Cool.
It is an opportunity to talk about how this article is 2 years old and that it will likely get worse and we will have less data and reporting under current administration, though. Context is important!
And for the folks who think "oh maybe I'll be in that lucky 4% to not have covid on my flight!" the only reason it isn't flat 100% is because of equipment malfunction resulting in useless readings. if it wasn't for that it would've been a hundred percent.
The air on planes is circulated. And the change in atmosphere actually makes it easier for things to spread. The air is dry. Being dehydrated and tired made people more vulnerable.
On top of that some people’s respiratory systems get aggravated by ozone. All this to say planes are literally a safe haven for transmission of illnesses.
Yes, this exactly. I have clients who are like "oh, you don't need to wear that here". Let's get it right: I *want* to. I don't have PTO or sick pay, so I can't afford to be sick, and I just hate being sick. I don't want to be a petri dish, thanks.
No, the virus is in your whole body, you can't poop it out. It shows up in your waste because it's in all of you. It also shows up in your nose, in your blood. Either it has to be killed, or it will kill you.
I had moments on the flights I took in November/December, being one of the only people with a mask, where I wondered if this choice wasn't excessive or attention-seeking or something (my brain throws unhelpful dishonest thoughts at me under stress). Have to remember this one for next time.
Me three! Traveling for the holidays & on a fully booked ✈️ I counted 7 masked individuals including myself & half the flight staff 😳 I was mortified. People were hacking & sniffling the whole ride!😩 I still wipe my seats & stuff too. I know it looks excessive but I do not care!
Me, too! It felt excessive, but it stayed on, though, and I didn’t infect my family and friends. I saw one other person in a mask on each flight. Especially surprising during the holidays.
Same, never stopped masking because it’s always better to be safe than sorry with a virus like this and haven’t gotten sick after any travel. Also, it always delights me to make that commiserating eye contact with the few other masked people on flights lol
There are five employees behind the pharmacy counter. Three are unmasked, one with a mask hanging off her right ear. Of the masked, one has the mask below her nose. Only one is actually masked, and that is with a blue surgical.
*Anyplace* that people gather where there’s big penalties for taking a sick day (travel, concerts, holidays, life events) - there will be sick people present
I agree that the models I've seen lately have been around the 1 in 70 level, which points to some on the plane being infectious. On my latest trip, I think I was one of five or so on an Airbus wearing a mask.
I'm masking on all mass transit. In addition to Covid here in Germany we have a really bad cold and flu season. Thankfully because we masked in each other's company when he developed a cough, my friend got sick but I didn't. MASKS SLOW THE SPREAD OF DISEASE DRAMATICALLY. I wish people understood.
Airports/planes, cons/concerts, any event with multiple people, please mask up! Tryst me if you haven't gotten covid you do NOT want to get it! I got it from Holmat like 3 or 4 years ago and I'm still unable to jog like I used to because I can't fucking breathe and my memory is garbage.
I’ve masked in airplanes and at airports since 2020, flown domestically and internationally about ten times and haven’t gotten Covid, flu, or any other creeping crud. Cough on purpose near me, laugh at my mask, roll your eyes but I’m not the one getting sick after a flight.
went to get groceries a couple weeks back and every..single..restocker was coughing their heads off! I didn't have a mask on me. I got out of there so dang fast
There's a shortage of staff at my local grocery and CVS, which I think is less sickness related and more difficulty finding employees, though I expect the economy-wide labor shortages are after-effects of COVID.
Yeah I'm gonna start wearing masks in public in general again, nit risking it in RFK Jr's America. And will be flying for the first tike since 2018 in 2 weeks to see my bf for our anniversary, and I'm terrified of going to the airport and being on a plane now. But will mask the whole time for sure.
covid is still here. we should be masking. but this is what the article looks like when you don't crop out the date and the red warning that the article is >2 years dated
Again, I mention the publication date in the ALT caption of the initial post and in the reply adding current data. If you do mask on planes I don’t see the point of arguing this anymore.
no need to argue, but i think you made a deliberate choice to present on the surface as current news. most people just skim headlines, and from the comments and quotes, seems like 90% of people interpreted it as current data.
Unless you confirmed that the level is lower now than it was a year ago, it doesn't matter. If you confirmed that, you should share the current number.
in another thread i do in fact acknowledge that. i'm really not sure why so many people are angry at me pointing out that this is very old data. even if the numbers from today were exactly the same, you should use the current data, and you should not (mis) represent old data as current data.
Yes, however I don’t expect it’s different now. If you are wondering current PMC Forecasting Model data predicts 1 in 72 Americans are infected and transmission rates are now higher than they have been during 59.3% of the pandemic 🤷🏻♀️ Just mask on a plane.
Yeah, this - by wastewater treatment, we're in the same place we were the week this was published in 2023 (week ending 1-14-23), and if you're in the midwest right now it's *worse* than it was that week.
Ever since Covid was a thing my entire family always wore masks while flying. It feels gross sitting in an enclosed flying tube for hours sharing the same air with 100+ people. Plus getting sick while on vacation or returning is never fun.
Good god, no, I refuse to fly if I can help it, but if I HAVE TO then I will wear a mask anyway. Even before COVID was a thing, airplane air was full of crud. It's like breathing from a bag a hundred people just breathed into. Yuck!
I always do if I have to fly esp long haul flights and I'm usually one of the very few who does. But I'm also almost the only one who goes walking during the flight and that is imp to reduce the risk of a DVT.
Even if you’re overall points stands it’s still misinformation to post a headline like this as if it’s current and not two years old. Even if you add the correction in the replies most people will just see the first post
And to speak to the effectiveness of N95s:
I fly about 2-3 times per year, so between 4 and 10 individual flights depending on routes and pricing.
Even on planes where 3 or 4 near neighbors are coughing for 3+ hours, I have never picked up COVID, flu, etc. from travel
That’s great for you. I take 4 flights a month and gotten sick plenty of times. Was recommended to wear a mask 10 years ago while flying, and I have ever since. Not been sick since. But did forget to mask on a family flight and we all got sick.
Even with a full beard preventing actual perfect sealing to my face, wearing an N95 from when I get in the parking lot shuttle until I get out of the baggage claim, it's indisputably helped my health
ah, this may explain it: only ⅛ ‒ ⅜ of passengers actually, er, leave reliable evidence of infection in the wastewater, but infected and non-infected passengers are equally likely to do so (see link).
So, pesimistically, 96% × ⅜ × 2 = 69% which sounds a lot more like the number I remember
yes, I'm aware the two studies may not be comparable (what with one being done on UK residents only and the other being done on a random sample of planes landing in Kuala Lumpur) but it gives a good (if still chilling) ballpark
Consider wearing goggles, too. I masked up on a recent flight and thought I’d be safe enough from the woman coughing sneezing behind me. My eyes were shockingly red for a couple days, then I was very ill (flu most likely). Was mad at myself because I had goggles but didn’t wear them.
It's unbelievable to me. Walked into the airport bathroom masked today, and saw a bunch of people unmasked, who just really really really wanted to breathe the raw airport bathroom air
It’s gross, like even in an ideal world where we aren’t dealing with multiple pandemics I would keep masking on planes and airports! I know better now lol
✔
"You think viruses stop after 3 feet and drop to the ground?" Tang said of the classical notion of distance. "That is absurd."
"Airborne viruses travel much like cigarette smoke, he explained. The scent will be strongest beside a smoker, but those farther away will inhale more and more smoke 🧵
Airplane air is some of the cleanest, most finely filtered we normally encounter in everyday life, however the surfaces and bathrooms are a much more significant hazard.
Or you could do the equivalent of wearing your seatbelt in a car that is likely to be engaging in difficult/dangerous driving, and wear a mask for the flight?
I mean it isn't like you can't take steps to be safer in life without ruining all your fun
Oh well people are dumb anyways, so it doesn't matter.
Me on the other hand tho, will always take precautions if necessary, or there are rules from them, otherwise your life your choice I say, just be aware of the levels of consequences you might bring, or you just don't care, either way whatever.🤷♂️
Followed for this. Us immunecompromised people thank you for this advice (not that I'll be boarding a plane soon, possible never again, but those people who get Covid in the planes later distribute it all around.
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https://bsky.app/profile/michael-hoerger.bsky.social/post/3lie5mldkf223
I'm no evangelist, but every time someone I know flies, I remind them of this.
"There’s also something you can do for the good of humanity, too. And it involves distance.
'I can’t stress this enough,' says Malani. 'If you’re not feeling well don’t put others at risk." In other words, stay home!"
🧵
"And how far can an aerosol fly? 'The distance depends on their size and air currents,' she says. 'Their pathway could easily be hundreds of feet before they reach the ground.' ”
[Quote from Linsey Marr, aerosols expert, same article]
There are five employees behind the pharmacy counter. Three are unmasked, one with a mask hanging off her right ear. Of the masked, one has the mask below her nose. Only one is actually masked, and that is with a blue surgical.
@flomask.bsky.social
Continue to mask after.
This is reporting from January 2023.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/01/08/covid-19-coronavirus-found-in-samples-from-28-of-29-airplane-flights/
https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html
I fly about 2-3 times per year, so between 4 and 10 individual flights depending on routes and pricing.
Even on planes where 3 or 4 near neighbors are coughing for 3+ hours, I have never picked up COVID, flu, etc. from travel
So, pesimistically, 96% × ⅜ × 2 = 69% which sounds a lot more like the number I remember
"You think viruses stop after 3 feet and drop to the ground?" Tang said of the classical notion of distance. "That is absurd."
"Airborne viruses travel much like cigarette smoke, he explained. The scent will be strongest beside a smoker, but those farther away will inhale more and more smoke 🧵
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/who-airborne-disease-cdc-updated-guidelines-rcna149843
How aré people still infecting with covid?
I mean it isn't like you can't take steps to be safer in life without ruining all your fun
Me on the other hand tho, will always take precautions if necessary, or there are rules from them, otherwise your life your choice I say, just be aware of the levels of consequences you might bring, or you just don't care, either way whatever.🤷♂️
https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3limfnet6h22i