Less, but yes.
With the Omicron wave subsiding, and infection rates declining, mask mandates could vanish soon.
The virus certainly hasn’t vanished, and is unlikely to anytime soon, if ever. But many Americans are weary of caution, and want to pretend life is normal, even if it can’t be. You’ll still have the option to mask up; even if it’s not mandated, there’s no rule against it.
Does it do any good, if nobody else is doing it?
“Though most health experts agree universal masking, along with vaccinations, remains the best public health strategy against the spread of the virus, people can still benefit from wearing a mask even if no one else around them is,” NBC News reports in a story here.
“You’re certainly much better protected than you would be if you’re not wearing a mask,” a Johns Hopkins professor says. And that protection is greater by using the right type of mask and wearing it properly.
Covid-19 is a highly contagious airborne illness that can readily pass from person to person, especially in crowds and enclosed indoor spaces. Properly made, fitted, and worn masks keep virus-bearing aerosol particles from getting into your lungs. It obviously makes sense to keep those particles from getting into the air, and keeping them away from you if they do.
If others won’t do their part, half a loaf is still better than nothing.
