• unabatedshagie
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    842 years ago

    IMO people should wear masks if they have to go out with any cold/flu type illness. Stops them spreading their germs to other people.

    • @solstice@lemmy.world
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      392 years ago

      I’m recovering from my first bout with Covid after dodging it for 3.5 years. Pretty mild, a couple shitty days of fever and congestion etc nbd. Wore a mask to the grocery store today in a red state and got stares. I seriously considered not wearing it at all because none of these mouth breathers would do the same for me during peak Covid pre vaccine, but ultimately decided to do the right thing. If only that were as contagious as the virus.

    • starlinguk
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      2 years ago

      Covid spreads easily because people who have it are often asymptomatic.

      For god’s, sake, it’s been 3.5 years. How do people still not know this?

      • @Gigasser@lemmy.world
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        92 years ago

        Sure, but still, if you’re visibly sick you should wear a mask. It’s respectful. I mean shit the Japanese have been doing that shit since forever and you don’t see their asses complaining.

        • @matter@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          To be fair, they also don’t complain about all sorts of stuff they probably should complain more about

    • SirStumps
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      112 years ago

      When I feel ill I wear a mask at work or when I have to get food but otherwise I try to stay home.

        • @scv@discuss.online
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          92 years ago

          In the US a lot of workers don’t get paid if they don’t show up to work because they have no paid time off.

          In the US they often combine sick days and vacation days, so if you miss work while sick, you are using your vacation days, which are very limited.

    • @Kahlenar@lemmy.world
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      102 years ago

      No, if your sick you stay home. If you might spread of dangerous disease of which people and their immune systems are largely unused to dealing with and you otherwise cannot tell if your sick, then you wear a mask.

  • Aesculapius
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    682 years ago

    Physician here. Masks absolutely reduce transmission and the chance of contracting COVID.

    Here is the definitive study on the subject.

    Here is a video of a presentation by one of the authors along with some demonstrations and explanations.

    TLDR: Here is the Abstract:
    There is ample evidence that masking and social distancing are effective in reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. However, due to the complexity of airborne disease transmission, it is difficult to quantify their effectiveness, especially in the case of one-to-one exposure. Here, we introduce the concept of an upper bound for one-to-one exposure to infectious human respiratory particles and apply it to SARS-CoV-2. To calculate exposure and infection risk, we use a comprehensive database on respiratory particle size distribution; exhalation flow physics; leakage from face masks of various types and fits measured on human subjects; consideration of ambient particle shrinkage due to evaporation; and rehydration, inhalability, and deposition in the susceptible airways. We find, for a typical SARS-CoV-2 viral load and infectious dose, that social distancing alone, even at 3.0 m between two speaking individuals, leads to an upper bound of 90% for risk of infection after a few minutes. If only the susceptible wears a face mask with infectious speaking at a distance of 1.5 m, the upper bound drops very significantly; that is, with a surgical mask, the upper bound reaches 90% after 30 min, and, with an FFP2 mask, it remains at about 20% even after 1 h. When both wear a surgical mask, while the infectious is speaking, the very conservative upper bound remains below 30% after 1 h, but, when both wear a well-fitting FFP2 mask, it is 0.4%. We conclude that wearing appropriate masks in the community provides excellent protection for others and oneself, and makes social distancing less important.

    • ForestOrca
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      192 years ago

      TY! Also a physician. So tired of this discussion. Everyone is masked in my clinic. Anecdotal, and my partner and I are still covid free, and hope to continue. Masking, distancing, hand washing, and isolation when sick, these simple, time tested, behavioral changes can significantly reduce risk of infection.

  • JungleGeorge
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    602 years ago

    Hey everybody! Lets all return to the office! Quick! Commercial real-estate landlords aren’t rich enough. We need to fill those buildings ASAP!

  • @xxkickassjackxx@lemmy.ml
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    512 years ago

    Honestly I’m sad for everyone that works manual labor. Wearing a mask absolutely lowers the chance of both transmitting covid and getting covid, but working in 90+ degree weather lifting heavy shit for 8 hours a day wearing a mask sucks. It gets moist as all hell and fogs your glasses.

    Source: I unloaded trucks outside all day 5 days a week for the entire summer of 2020 and 2021.

    • @Aux@lemmy.world
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      122 years ago

      A lot of people are doing manual labour in a mask even without COVID, but simply to protect their lungs from excessive pollution in a workplace. Don’t be sad, working in a mask is a norm.

      • @xxkickassjackxx@lemmy.ml
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        42 years ago

        I mean I understand why people do it, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t suck and doesn’t make work just a little less tolerable for those having to deal with it.

        Have you worked manual labor in a mask in the summer?

        • @canuckkat@lemmy.world
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          22 years ago

          I have. The one time I got COVID, it felt like 40-50C all week plus humidity, I was masking with an N95 the whole time when I was around people, but because I was working an outdoor music festival, 95% of the people I was around wasn’t.

          I especially could barely get out of bed, had to use my inhaler about 5-10 times a day cuz it kept triggering asthma attacks, my limbs hurt so fucking much, I was nauseous and light-headed and had insane brain fog. It got better after 2 weeks but I was only really ok for about 4 hours a day and could only be vertical for about 2 or I would get really sick.

          I had long COVID for about 2-3 months after that, which included severe brain fog, struggling to breathe, and easily got tired all the time.

          I also get COVID-like symptoms when I get the vaccine for 2 weeks all 3 times I got it.

          I really wish people would understand that masking is to protect other people by not spreading it to them, not yourself from getting sick.

        • @Skelectrician@lemmynsfw.com
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          22 years ago

          What do you do for a living? For many, wearing a mask while working is a recipe for guaranteed heat exhaustion. I’m not subjecting myself to that, and if the illness is anything at all like the last time I had it, it was a goddamn cold.

          Wearing a mask in a hospital full of people with compromised health and all sorts of contagions floating around is a really good idea.

          Wearing a mask outdoors in the summer time on a construction site full of other able-bodied people is just fucking silly.

          • @Aux@lemmy.world
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            12 years ago

            What kind of construction work are you talking about if you’re not wearing a mask? Anything that produces fine dust or requires working with volatile chemicals like paints and aerosols requires you to work in a mask at all times. Do you have any work safety regulations in your country?

      • starlinguk
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        42 years ago

        Who says you won’t be one of the 15 perfect who get long covid?

        • @Skelectrician@lemmynsfw.com
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          12 years ago

          What did they say like 76 percent of the population has had one strain or another of covid?

          Even if masks are totally effective, all you’re going to effectively do is delay the inevitable. You will catch this; it’s only a matter of time. I choose to get it over with.

    • SirStumps
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      82 years ago

      I was a cement truck driver during COVID. They do not wear masks. I also drove long haul and no wearhouse workers wear them either.

    • @Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      92 years ago

      Do you think the severity of infection is important? Meaning, if previous variants were wiped out and the only variants still spreading were less severe than a common cold, would you keep wearing masks?

      • @Zaktor@lemmy.world
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        62 years ago

        What’s the point of this hypothetical? It’s both not remotely close to where we are currently and has redefined the consequences to absurdity.

        “Would you still wear a mask if the consequence of infection was a single light sneeze?”

        “Would you wear a seat belt if the only consequence of car crashes was a small bruise?”

    • RaivoKulli
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      82 years ago

      It’s just that people don’t consider it that bad to get it and are under the impression that masks don’t do anything. Of course with a sentiment like that people moved on, in a way and stopped masking or caring.

  • VCTRN
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    412 years ago

    Fuck, I’m pro mask and all, but… that’s gonna be a hard sell. And tbh I fucking enjoy not wearing one anymore (unless I’m sick or something).

      • @skizzles@lemmy.ml
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        2 years ago

        😂

        Edit: maybe I should have noted that I agreed with “Maybe “something” = “at high risk of getting stick?”” But just thought it was funny that he had to point that out.

    • @Jff@lemmy.world
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      72 years ago

      I was just typing up the same thing. I the UK this would need to get really bad for any sort of compliance to take place

      • @Zacryon@feddit.de
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        142 years ago

        Ah a medical expert as I can see. Please go ahead and enlighten me: where is your systemic proof of the ineffectiveness of masks as a precaution to reduce the spread of Covid?

        If it’s not too much to ask, please be so kind to provide the statistics regarding the different severity levels and corresponding number of cases of Covid while comparing that to the common cold.

        • @vfonov@lemmy.world
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          22 years ago

          From “Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses” Jefferson Et Al 2023 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6Medical/surgical masks compared to no masks

          We included 12 trials (10 cluster‐RCTs) comparing medical/surgical masks versus no masks to prevent the spread of viral respiratory illness (two trials with healthcare workers and 10 in the community). Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID‐19 like illness compared to not wearing masks (risk ratio (RR) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.09; 9 trials, 276,917 participants; moderate‐certainty evidence. Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of laboratory‐confirmed influenza/SARS‐CoV‐2 compared to not wearing masks (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.42; 6 trials, 13,919 participants; moderate‐certainty evidence)

          • @Zacryon@feddit.de
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            2 years ago

            they didn’t do anything for Rona

            You’re wrong.

            Swedes were encouraged to work from home if possible and limit travel within the country. In addition, people aged 70 or older were asked to limit social contact, and people with COVID symptoms were asked to self-isolate. The goal was to protect the elderly and other high-risk groups while slowing down the spread of the virus so the healthcare system wouldn’t become overwhelmed.

            As the number of cases surged, some restrictions were imposed. Public events were limited to a maximum of 50 people in March 2020, and eight people in November 2020. Visits to nursing homes were banned and upper secondary schools closed. Primary schools did, however, remain open throughout the pandemic.

            Face masks were not recommended for the general public during the first wave, and only in certain situations later in the pandemic.

            https://theconversation.com/did-swedens-controversial-covid-strategy-pay-off-in-many-ways-it-did-but-it-let-the-elderly-down-188338

      • @holmesandhoatzin@slrpnk.net
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        142 years ago

        Even if they knew someone who died, they insisted it wasn’t covid, even to the point of keeping it off death certificates.

    • @Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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      62 years ago

      I wish we’d never forced masks to begin with. There wasn’t nearly enough natural selection from the whole thing. Let em kill themselves.

      • @CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world
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        332 years ago

        How at this point are there still so many people who don’t understand what masks are for? It’s not primarily to protect yourself, it’s to bolster the whole herd’s defenses by reducing spread.

        The mask isn’t for you, it’s for everyone else. It’s not that fucking hard to understand.

            • @grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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              42 years ago

              As my mother would say to me when I was a child and got bullied at school, we should feel sorry for this person, they are obviously deeply unhappy. They may think they are happy due to psychological issues that equate hurting others with keeping themselves safe. It’s pretty depressing

          • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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            82 years ago

            Putting aside your wanting disregard for human life, the virus not only killed people it also left people messed up for life. A close friend of mine was a fairly successful white collar worker, due to brain damage I have my doubts he will ever be able to work again. He was 37 in 2020. Also has two kids. Who I guess now get to see daddy struggle with driving a car and talking for over a few minutes.

                • @Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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                  2 years ago

                  Sorry that I don’t have the same groupthink opinion on a topic as the rest of the leftwing echo chamber. I believe in a utilitarian approach to society. That means socialism, but also you can go ahead and die if you’re allergic to peanuts and think everyone on a plane can’t eat them now. So, ya be mad at me for not giving a fuck what you think about that. Go cry for the statistical outliers to someone who cares.

        • @PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          32 years ago

          That’s simply not true. A good n95 or n99 mask will absolutely prevent you from catching it. I spent 2 weeks around people with COVID and I wore my mask, and I never caught anything.

          The problem is that everybody wears fucking cloth masks when we’ve had n95 masks available for 2 years and people complain that masks don’t work. Yet doctors use them, construction workers use them and people in labs do all the time.

          • @CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world
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            What you said and what I said are both true.

            N95 masks will protect you, but the reason good and well-adjusted people want others to also wear them is to protect everyone else, especially immune-compromised people for whom a COVID infection could well be life-threatening.

            And of course it’s also a numbers game. If even 10% fewer people get infected, across a large population that’s a quite significant number of people who aren’t clogging up hospitals and calling out sick from the work force.

      • @Zacryon@feddit.de
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        52 years ago

        Even though I share your morbid enthusiasm about humankind, you might possibly admit in some corner of your heart that there might be some people who don’t deserve to die or get long term health issues from Covid. Aren’t those, who might be worth saving from your point of view, important enough to try to participate in measures which might help to reduce the risks for them?

        • @Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          12 years ago

          The survival of humanity and keeping earth habitable for most species currently alive, requires a more utilitarian mindset. Making decision with our feelings got us where we’re at. People aren’t going to change in mass anytime soon. So, some people need to die. If that can skew the way that vote for abject failure and are less productive for society, it’s a bonus.

      • lazynooblet
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        42 years ago

        The flimsy masks are more beneficial to others than the wearer. Preventing moisture leaving your mouth/nose.

  • Polar
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    282 years ago

    Never stopped wearing them. COVID never went away.

    • @Zacryon@feddit.de
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      92 years ago

      Thank you. Being with someone who endured a hard cancer treatment and having a weak immune system since then, I really appreciate it if people wear masks where appropriate to protect themselves and others.

    • @crashoverride@lemmy.world
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      62 years ago

      COVID will never go away. What has happened and will continue to happen even further is the lethality and severity of symptoms will go down so it’s not as worrisome. Also we have defenses and medications for it now. But what I do hope that COVID has done for us is that if you’re sick or have symptoms, you’ll mask up, but masking all the time now is not necessary.

      • Gawanoh
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        122 years ago

        You need to do something about that policies, forcing you to work sick.

        • @jarfil@lemmy.world
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          92 years ago

          The problem will take care of itself: get sick and die, have kids starve… now they’re no longer hungry, problem solved! /s

      • @steltek@lemm.ee
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        42 years ago

        I raised this exact point to a relative on a similar issue (people on the road during a major blizzard).

        That said, there are many jobs where you don’t need to be there in person. Saying “if you feel sick stay home” (or similar) should be encouraged as it’s necessary to enforce this expectation that if you can stay home, you should.

    • Flying Squid
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      152 years ago

      Thanks to the COVID infection I already had and some other illness, I have no sick time left. So if I get it again, I have to take the entire time I’m sick unpaid.

      Now I’m lucky in that I can work from home and would do so while able but contagious, and we can afford me to take a few days off unpaid, but plenty of people are in my situation and can’t afford a single unpaid day.

      • @Zacryon@feddit.de
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        2 years ago

        Is this a US thing I’m too European to relate to?

        That’s horrible. Social darwinism at its finest.

      • @Jumi@lemmy.world
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        32 years ago

        A numbered amount of sick days is such a stupid concept. I’m glad I have as much as I need.

    • Polar
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      72 years ago

      The fact you have 8 downvotes is insane. People truly are piece of shit in this world.

  • @mill_city@lemmy.zip
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    192 years ago

    In the US, it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see more masks being required unless we see the Healthcare system getting overwhelmed with sick Covid patients again.

  • @Niggling__Niggard@lemmy.world
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    182 years ago

    I’ve stopped giving handshakes to almost anyone, favouring the ol’ terrorist fist jab instead. I get awkward reactions sometimes but some people seem to get why. Masking up again is gonna be fun, can’t wait to hear the vaxxosckeptics tell me all about how everything is a hoax again.

  • 🦄🦄🦄
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    122 years ago

    I’ve never stopped wearing a mask in public transport/while grocery shopping etc. and I don’t think I will =/

    • neoman4426
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      72 years ago

      I still do, though nearly zero of that is due to virus stuff. I’d say for me it’s 95% I’m too lazy to retrain myself to keeping a neutral expression, 4% because hiding my ugly mug seems polite, and 1% sickness reduction ( combination of allergies, flu, covid. Etc)

      • @Blademax@lemmy.one
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        12 years ago

        +Help mask my Bad Breath.

        Also I don’t smell others’ bad Breath/BO as much. Heavy perfume still gets through …“silent deadly” farts…not sure…

    • TwoGems
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      32 years ago

      Same. Never got it and I love not having long Covid. It takes me zero effort whatsoever.

      • 🦄🦄🦄
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        22 years ago

        Are you sure they weren’t just being recorded anymore? How many people continued to test themselves and informed the responsible people? I know at least in Germany we don’t have any accurate numbers anymore.

  • katy ✨
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    102 years ago

    I’ve never stopped but it’s made me depressed when I was seemingly the only one doing it :/

    • WideEyedStupid
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      32 years ago

      Oh definitely, it was really such a depressing eye-opener, to see so many people around just not give a fuck about anyone else.

  • @0ddysseus@infosec.pub
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    102 years ago

    I’m in Australia and half my kids class was sick last week. Me and the kid both tested positive today. It is pretty rough.

    Nobody here cares at all any more. This is my first but most people are on their 2nd or more go around. Its not even discussed, there are zero masks, and people are sending their kids to school sick.

    All our care and caution just in the bin because people just don’t give a shit

        • Turkey_Titty_city
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          22 years ago

          it’s not about science. it’s about public perception. masks didn’t stop covid. vaccines did.

          people will not wear masks again. they would probably get another vaccine though.

          ending covid = getting rid of mask mandates, in the publics viewpoint.

          • @illi@lemm.ee
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            12 years ago

            Ok, in this context you are right in spiritt. Masks are stoping tje spread, but in the grand scheme of things it is mostly about slowing it down.

            However I don’t think saying the masks do nothing is right at all. Masks are still useful.

            • @retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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              92 years ago

              Except he’s not right in any sense with that logic. “masks didn’t work because people feel like they didn’t work” is not a valid argument.

              • @illi@lemm.ee
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                32 years ago

                He is right in sense that vaccines “stopped” covid, while masks were mostly just slowing it down but not enough to “stop” it. That’s what I meant by being right in spirit. Otherwise I agree he is wrong.

                • snooggums
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                  42 years ago

                  No, vaccines slowed covid even more than masks, but covid is still around. “Stop the spread” is a more catchy slogan than “Slow the spread” would have been.

      • Unaware7013
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        82 years ago

        It’s funny, I didn’t get COVID while I was wearing a mask, but caught it after we were vaccinated and I stopped wearing them.

      • @0ddysseus@infosec.pub
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        12 years ago

        Yeah and dickheads without a clue or a sense of morality will continue to take other peoples lives to save themselves a minor inconvenience. Murica!