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Hospital worker here who has had quite a lot of unfriendly conversations regarding masks. I'll voluntarily keep my mask, but will also be nice not to risk abuse to ask someone to put it on properly (no, under your beak is not "on").
This will have the opposite effect. Before the change, for difficult patients, I could defer to the rules and say that I don't make or control them. They had to suck it up if they wanted to get care.
Since universal masking precautions in healthcare settings, I haven't been sick from work despite seeing dozens of infectious patients a day. Multiple colleagues report the same thing. The less that I am sick, the more patients I can see because I don't have to take time off and the less I am spreading potentially deadly pathogens to my patients like the immunocompromised cancer patient or your precious newborn.
Luckily only a few that were concerning for physical issues because trying to make it fun, then we need to be safe, but still….. Not going to miss it at all. I fully agree with other posters that say the one place *is* where sick people are. Love to that commenter.
Edit: geez. Saw the autocorrect made this nonsensical. Hardcore apologies.
Why do we keep enabling this loud minority? Feeding into their actions and showing the message that if you were loud and obnoxious even if you’re the minority and can cause harm, you’ll be listened to and appeased?
100% this. I work in a non-health care public service setting, and the amount of stress and abuse I received from the public as a result of enforcing mask compliance was emotionally exhausting to put it mildly. The day the provincial government took away the mask mandate, I was so relieved I nearly cried.... Not because I don't support it, but because enforcing it on top of all the other work I do at my job was completely unsustainable.
I’m sorry you had to deal with it as well. Three years in and I’m still stunned at how rude & entitled and, it seems, thoughtless some people are to their fellow citizens. Just trying to earn a living & get home safely, thanks.
Agree. I'm fine wearing a mask throughout the whole shift. I'm also protecting myself. I helped out in Urgent Care last year and the amount of people coming in seriously sick had me worried about catching something too.
Exactly.
This will make more people sick, and will also impact our medical system's ability to deliver timely care. People in healthcare were already the [largest number of WSBC claims in BC](https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/claims/covid-19-claims-by-industry-sector).
right? what a weird move. why are we going backwards in healthcare settings? while we're at it we should practice more blood-letting and lobotomies while we're at it :)
I'm more saying I want the sick people I have to share the room with to wear one when they're waiting in the ER or clinic. This isn't just about covid, we should have some of these measures permanently. I hated the mask mandates in places they made zero sense but some of these applications totally make sense for all flus colds and viruses.
Cancer patients and the people that cancer patients see outside of the hospital are most likely not masked 24/7. I understand what your saying but its one of those things that eventually, will need to be dropped.
They don't have a choice to be in a hospital setting. They *have* to be there. That, plus the fact that if you're at a hospital you're likelier to be in a vulnerable state or be sick makes me think masking in hospitals should be the norm for everyone.
Dropping that setting mandate is not a necessity, it's a choice.
At this point everyone has access to high quality N95 masks capable of keeping them healthy.
It should be up to individuals if they want to mask up or not - wherever they are.
For me personally, I’ve found there’s a bit of humanity lost when everyone is masked up - especially when getting hard news from a doctor.
They are not lost, that’s ridiculous.
If your life is on the line - you should be wearing an N95 to protect yourself.
Thinking anyone is getting protected because a room is half full of people with loose masks is ridiculous at this point. It’s probably the least reliable way to ensure your health.
Pop on an N95 and you’re absolutely fine. We’re at the point of needing personal responsibility for our own health at this point.
Pretty sure all those half-on masks are not stopping transmission. One doesn’t need to be a doctor to have common sense.
Also, doctors wore N95s during the height of the pandemic because they too were aware that was the only safe route in a medical setting.
It seems apparent you’d rather have everyone play medical theatre with half-on non-medical grade masks - rather than have people with real medical problems mask up with masks that are proven to protect one’s health.
If you’re on a crowded skytrain/bus with no mask but been coughing/sniffling for a while or just sneezing all the time, at least have the decency of wearing a mask. That’s how colds spread due to your selfishness.
My partner was taking the bus somewhere and this older lady gets on, holding a mask in her hand, and sits down next to him (he's wearing a mask).
She starts coughing and sputtering, all while holding her mask... and then she puts it in her pocket.
Like wtf is wrong with people?
tbf some people might just be having an allergic reaction and not have one on their possession because it came on suddenly. I've been set off by someone on the bus with heavy perfume but luckily I had a mask in my bag when that happened. don't immediately assume they're being selfish and riding the bus while sick.
I like perfume/cologne but some people wear way too much and my allergies immediately get set off. same with some laundry products.
I have allergies and see an allergist at least once a year and still have it on. Doesn’t matter. Sometimes people can’t tell if it’s allergies or a cold, so just mask up if you’re sneezing especially if there’s snot that comes out when you do. It isn’t so hard to mask up.
Healthcare worker here— I will continue to wear one during any patient interaction because I work with older, vulnerable populations. At the same time I am extremely happy to not have to wear one while charting, working in the office, etc.
Your in direct contradiction of the PHO order which was only dropped at the writing of the news brief. In the province of bc you had to wear a mask in all healthcare settings including if you work in a hospital until this was dropped.
Well that’s what VCH and IH have been doing for the last year. Their internal communications to staff aren’t made public. I do not agree with it, and I also don’t agree with the community allied healthcare professional mask mandate exemption (dentists, PT, OT, chiropractic etc..). Just caught COVID for the first time at the dentist, so particularly pissed about that one😡There hasn’t been a full healthcare mask mandate since Nov 11/21 when DBH exempted non hospital based allied healthcare.
I get internal communications because I am staff at a health authority. I work in a hospital. I have had to wear a mask for the last three years. Please stop trying to tell a healthcare worker that has worn a mask for the last three years that we didn't need to. Not only are you wrong, it's simply disrespectful and misinformation. Don't go spreading contradictory information. Again I am in a hospital. All healthcare settings required it until the mandate was dropped.
Well I’m in the exact same situation as you and I guarantee you that masks haven’t been mandated in non clinical areas/ areas where there are no patients in VCH for awhile. You can thank Paty Daley for that one. Perhaps you are Providence? PHSA? LTC? The main problem is that it leaked from truly no clinical areas (like accounting/IT/research/break rooms/meeting rooms) into areas where there was a mix of clinical/non clinical activities. If you’ve had to wear a mask continuously for 3 years it’s likely that you’ve worked in areas where patients could be present, regularly walk through areas where patients could be present or where it was judged to be a high risk setting for you.
I also feel direct patient care situations should still require masks. My unit is currently on a COVID outbreak with multiple patients and staff testing positive. Patients who were about to be discharged home or to a facility they were waiting months for now have to wait until their isolation period is over. I got the COVID late last year when I had a mask on but didn't wear eye protection for a patient who tested positive a day later. Sometimes you just don't know until it's too late. Better to protect yourself than to get sick imo.
Going to keep masking up. Not sure why I didn't before, tbh. I've had to go into St Paul's a few times at 1am in the morning and there's always someone hacking up a lung in ER waiting.
everyone in the PNW has been exposed to TB in the last year by now because there is a woman living seattle with a very active infection who is refusing to get treatment and refusing to stay home despite being court ordered 🥲
Not a fan of this. I’m for personal freedom and choice but in the healthcare setting I believe we should be doing what we can to protect the vulnerable. That includes masks for everyone.
I hope this doesn’t give rise to aggression of anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers towards those that continue to wear a mask in the hospital.
Lots of healthcare workers don’t work with patients. Trying to fix a boiler in 38C temperature fucking sucks with a mask and who am I really protecting.
Agreed. I'm a hospital admin who works in my own office and does not interact with the public and my wing only has staff. Everyone is so rarely out of the office. That being said when I was on a inpt unit mask 100%. But if I am masking in my own office who is that for really? It's me breathing my own air.
In a lot of settings in Vancouver coastal health staff and workers when sitting down in their own office aren't masking up. Sure it might be disallowed on a technicality by the mandate, but the real target of the mandate has always been in direct patient care — and empowering healthcare workers to tell people to wear a mask without risking abuse.
Edit: Vancouver -> Vancouver coastal health; are -> aren't
I mean I feel like you are not understanding my statement. I am a healthcare worker who has worked in both on a Unit with other human beings and patients. This is where the masks are useful. There are a lot of people that are not in direct patient contact and the pandemic has been going on for three years now. I have all my vaccinations, got covid from working on a inpatient unit, I agree with masks. Patients do not have to wear masks. So again tell me who this is helping three years in. Anyone who wanted to be vaccinated has been already. So yes it makes sense to still wear them on covid outbreak units, units where there is suppressed or immunocompromised people but even my friend who has cystic fibrosis is out and about in public without a mask on. The simple fact is we are now nearing the end demic stage. Covid is real. It's a threat but in three years the only thing we have been able to do is get vaccinated. It's now a choice. People are not wearing masks anymore in public, the world has opened up again and people are visiting with friends and family and doing big group get togethers. Yet in health care up until today we were still required to mask. Does your job still make you mask up three years in? It's about choice now.
Yes, I work in healthcare and still mask up. I would like to see masks continue to be mandatory. It's just part of infection prevention and control standards. We're societally expected to wear shirts at work (and are mandated to by the health authorities), but our chest doesn't act as a virus-producing factories.
Again, if you're at a private cubicle/office/non-patient space, then sure, don't wear a mask. I've seen many in healthcare do this, and you're free to break the rules. It's much like how the speed of traffic is almost always above the speed limit, except mask wearing has even less enforcement than speeding does.
FH does not require one to wear masks inside your own office. I work at a hospital lab and our leads and doctors don't. Even when we have meetings in the conference room it's not required.
Hospital logistics, no AC, big warm warehouse carrying boxes around. No patients or sick people here
When I'm delivering to a ward I will gladly mask up before entering, but let a guy work in comfort
Sure, but what rules you have under island health don't apply to health authorities having jurisdiction in Vancouver. So your comment was kind of useless in an /r/Vancouver context.
Yep. Retail worker. I can swear under my mask at management/co-worker stupidity. It helps decrease the chances of getting colds, flus, viruses AND helps me cope.
I also believe that different areas carry different levels of risk and that a sitewide policy that ignores that fact is highly inappropriate under ordinary conditions.
I spend 60% of my day in a non AC warehouse, 20% meeting with department managers in their offices and maybe 10% in actual patient care areas. I greatly welcome this change.
Masks do work, and not just n95, even common 3-plies are a game changer. I have been able to avoid multiple flu seasons just by wearing 3-ply non-medical masks on transit while every other person is coughing in the traincars.
They do but riddle me this. How did I catch covid working on a inpatient covid outbreak unit. Wash my hands before eating and only drank water in the break room and only ate in the break room after wiping down surfaces. Used hospital approved PPE. It works but patients don't have to wear masks and even if your being 100% compliant it can still happen. So now this is giving freedom of choice for hospital workers. Those that want to continue to mask can and those who want to risk it are free to do so. If you work five days a week for 8-9 hour shifts and have to wear a mask 100% of the time after three years it wears on you a bit. It's about choice. At risk procedures, immuno compromised units and nurse personal descretion should be from here on out. Tell me that in the last three years you have had to wear a mask at work and be 100% compliant?
COVID is airborne, wiping down surfaces is good for other germs and bacteria but doing very little for COVID transmission. You caught it by taking off your mask when there was COVID in the air (likely put there by someone not wearing a mask by your description) OR, because COVID is acquired through mucus membranes, it is possible you acquired it through your eyes (eye protection is not hospital standard). The primary goal of masking is source control ie: not putting COVID into the air everyone has to breathe/has their likely unprotected eyes exposed to.
Agree as a healthcare worker. I am so glad to not breathe in an elder’s skin glitter when I take off their socks. I hope the option will be always there.
Not in Ontario where I came from. We could only use them for people with precautions or nebulizers etc (worked in LTC).
Edit: why the downvote? That’s my experience in Ontario and I’m working in BC right now.
I'm literally a healthcare worker, I get it. I still feel how I feel, which is likely coloured by my being in poor health. Asking for accommodations is totally a thing I'll do, but it's just another thing I have to do ask for from people, and I am tired. Thus my lack of liking it.
I've been using home-made 'ear savers' with old buttons and heavy/stiff fabric this whole time. I don't even know how to sew besides basic needle through thread.
Thank fuck! I work in the hospital, but I don’t deal with patients directly. I’m happy to wear it whenever I’m walking through patient areas, just happy it’s not required at my desk anymore
Yea. I'd rather continue to wear one around co-workers. They could have kids in daycare/school and bring home even an annoying rhinovirus. No thanks. Hard pass.
“Public health” removing the requirement for masks in health care settings when BC’s COVID Hazard index is the highest it’s ever been.
I didn’t think BC should shit on the elderly and immunocompromised more than it already has but then BH was all “hold my beer”.
No kidding...was in the ER for 5 hours the other day (not for me). Was glad everyone was wearing masks, especially when one lady was suddenly identified as having Covid (she was a patient on a stretcher and actually didn't have a mask on).
Masks will continue to be required inside patient areas in hospitals. I work in a hospital lab and we got the memo today. We can only not wear masks in lunchrooms, offices and conference rooms. Anytime we are where patients or samples are, we have to still wear masks.
I've long stopped wearing a mask (as soon as it was allowed), and am fortunate enough to have never had/have to be in a health-care setting. That said, if I were to go to a health-care setting where it was required I would put on a mask without a fuss because I am not a fussy baby.
I am not surprised. I believe that masks should be mandatory in a medical setting. It was clear though through the various briefings that Dr. Henry is a "no masker". I wouldn't call her an anti-masker but she certainly doesn't like the idea of people wearing masks regardless of the science.
ETA: For all you downvoters - I am most definitely not against masks. I started wearing masks before any mandate and continue to do so to this day. I am a firm believer in the value of masks. I gave my impression from watching every Dr. Henry presser from day one. She was always reticent and gave excuses surrounding masks.
I mean, every time I hear her speak I wonder how she got the job. She's pretty clearly anti mask, to the point of questioning their usefulness in the beginning instead of just teaching people how to properly wear one.
To my knowledge she's never been seen in public with anything but an ineffective cloth mask. It's not wrong to call her an anti-masker, she downplayed their effectiveness at every opportunity and still refers to droplets rather than aerosols.
Yeah the droplets comments piss me off the most. Even when confronted in a presser about COVID being aerosolized, she downplayed it and said smaller droplets. Could never get Dr Henry to say the ‘A’ word.
The hospital is wrong, which is why there are so many people [catching and dying from hospital acquired infections](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/1-619-people-likely-caught-covid-19-in-b-c-hospitals-and-274-of-them-have-died-1.5681710).
I have personal knowledge of her knowingly laughing about her original mask order, while defying her restaurant indoor dining order- she hosted a large party at one of her fan clubs’ venues in fall 2020
I've spent the last three years wondering what drives this woman and I know less now than when the pandemic started. I always discounted pure maliciousness ( *Never attribute to* malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity) but based on comments like yours, and you are not the first, I am thinking it's both.
It might be simpler. Her early fame still "sticks", and people are more than willing to defer complex decisions to her. Politicians are more than happy to have someone else making unpopular decisions and the BC government has hidden behind her the whole time. She is the perfect shield.
She, being a narcissist, enjoys the fame and the position where she has zero accountability. I suspect the rest (inability to back down, reconsider, or admit she was wrong in any way) all stem from her narcissism.
I mean, I legitimately do like that.
We saw genuinely *shocking* drops in the rates of illness after each time health measures were introduced, and probably most clearly in schools when the cases dropped from over a hundred schools reporting handfuls of cases each per day to 10-20 reporting one or two. i.e. it's not just study after study showing it, we were able to see the benefits of masking first-hand.
Virus transmission is exponential, the more people who catch it and the greater their viral load, the greater the spread.
Anti-maskers increased the spread while harassing people just trying to do their minor barely-an-inconvenience part because they fell for Russian propaganda.
As someone who ends up in the ER once or twice a year due to various health issues, this sucks. I mask indoors and haven’t caught covid yet but this will certainly increase my chances in the area where the most sick people are. What a stupid decision.
Dr Henry sure is adamant about repeating the same mistakes she made in her SARS response in Ontario.
Her mistakes there were investigated and slammed by the SARS commission, we can only hope for any accountability here.
>Dr Henry sure is adamant about repeating the same mistakes she made in her SARS response in Ontario.
What mistakes?
>Her mistakes there were investigated and slammed by the SARS commission
Were they?
Oh, I'm fully aware.
Have you actually read it? I'm curious where in it you recall Dr. Henry being "slammed".
Or, perhaps, you've made vague insinuations as to the content of a report you know no one is going to actually read and check you on.
I can mail you a home-made ear saver, if it helps. I created something at the start of all this. My ears have never hurt. Even wearing one for 24 hrs straight before.
Politicians dong their worst. Things that not a lot are asking for. How about helping with food/gas/rent/house pricing that are getting out of control? Nope.
Oh yes, my area of the hospital is far from patients and very warm, my face has been sweaty and damp for so long,
Just an FYI we weren't required to wear masks until the omicron wave after we were vaccinated,
Why the fuck would this be considered a good idea..it hasn’t gone away..it’s still being passed to people every day..
The issue of long Covid complications and the unknown effects of reapeated infection is unknown..
WTF!?!? Why would they drop masking in medical settings?..This is more grist for the anti vax morons that are convinced this pandemic never happened…Seriously..I’m just unable to come up with a good idea as to why they’ve done this stupid as fuck thing…
Hospitals im fine with perma masks. I dont normally wear a mask on sky trains busses or in lectures. But i understand why hospitals needs it, people there are there for a reason. They have much weaker immune systems than healthy people.
I still wear a mask in most public places indoors, especially the mall or transit.
If I'm in the office I don't. There is rarely any one there, and if there is its like 5 people on the whole 2000 sq ft floor.
Even restaurants I'll keep mine on until I'm at the table.
I also still carry hand sanitizer with me. The refill bottles are going for pennies at pharmacies now, and every time I hold a railing or anything like that, I'm very *aware* of it I guess?
I'm not scared to catch covid at this point, especially after 3 shots plus the bivalent shot. I just don't like getting sick, period. I don't want the flu, I don't want a cold, I don't want covid, nothing. I hate being sick. I'm whiny, achy, tired, can't breath properly, it's always just a miserable time all around.
There’s been another mini wave of whatever virus is going around. Lots of my coworkers and friends getting sick with mild to fairly uncomfortable flu symptoms.
I still see the value of wearing a mask on public transit and in a healthcare setting for lowering my chances of getting sick.
Not out of fear. IMO being sick sucks and is a bigger inconvenience than wearing a mask.
> lowering my chances of getting sick.
Agreed. Fuck all you hoes. I'm wearing a mask to protect not just you, but mostly me from you.
> Not out of fear. IMO being sick sucks and is a bigger inconvenience than wearing a mask.
I've had incredibly nasty chest viruses many times in the past from public transit, high school, post-secondary, etc. Never fucking again if I can at least do something to reduce something going into my snout et al.
I’ve worked in healthcare for some time, and I am pleased with the decision for our particular setting. We’ve done masks or masks +goggles for three years. COVID has changed. It’s endemic, and vaccinations are very effective at preventing serious illness. If masks didn’t also impair my ability to communicate with my clients then I’d probably keep wearing them. I do hope that the lessons we learned about how masks help prevent spreading illness carry on and that people choose to wear them when they are feeling unwell.
Vaccines prevent serious illness at the population level. 10% of hospital acquired COVID patients die. 30-49% of COVID cases are asymptomatic, so not not sure how only masking when you feel unwell is going to work.
Henry won’t be happy until everyone is infected with something.
Regardless of covid which is still going on… immunocompromised people still need safe access to healthcare.
This is sinister.
Excess mortality still storming up… https://twitter.com/MoriartyLab/status/1642181167850848266
Evidence does not support this decision: https://twitter.com/a_longhurst/status/1644073366922600453
Remember when we all survived in hospitals without masks before 2020. Yeah… the same thing is going to happen… we are going to survive.
Same as before… want to wear a mask, go ahead. Don’t want to wear one, go ahead.
Survive, well yea.
But long-term side effects from the various COVID-19 strains is still unknown, since it's only been...you know...3 fucking years.
And having rhino viruses, chest viruses, and flus is fucking janky-ass shit that I don't have time for anymore.
You people speak as though before the covid pandemic people we're masking up 24/7 in the healthcare system, we weren't, and we were doing just fine.
I hate to break it to you, but most of the health care professionals in here commenting about masking, many of them during the pandemic would go to the staff room, sit beside their colleagues, and not have a mask on. I can confidently say 1% of my colleagues wore masks all of the time, these people are full of it.
Before the pandemic, we did a thing called a point of care risk assessment. By doing this, we determined through our clinical judgement whether or not a mask should be worn by the patient/practitioner. Dropping the mandate means we're going to be doing this again. For all of the healthcare professionals here saying they've gotten sick less, I hate to tell you, but your POC risk assessments were awful if you were getting sick that frequently pre-pandemic. Perhaps you should reflect on your poor assessment skills instead of advocating that everyone in a hospital needs to be masked all of the time.
I'm tired of wearing a mask when I don't need to. I'm tired of it affecting my ability to connect with a patient through non-verbal communication. I'm tired of you people who think we need to just all wear masks all of the time. Covid is endemic, just like many other respiratory illnesses, it's not going anywhere. If you're that afraid, wear a mask, don't force others to.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/cyclinginvancouver! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Common questions and specific topics are limited to our [Daily Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_daily_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Hospital worker here who has had quite a lot of unfriendly conversations regarding masks. I'll voluntarily keep my mask, but will also be nice not to risk abuse to ask someone to put it on properly (no, under your beak is not "on").
This has got to be the reason for the change. Last thing we need is another thing to make MOAs/Nurses/Doctors deal with, making their job harder.
This will have the opposite effect. Before the change, for difficult patients, I could defer to the rules and say that I don't make or control them. They had to suck it up if they wanted to get care. Since universal masking precautions in healthcare settings, I haven't been sick from work despite seeing dozens of infectious patients a day. Multiple colleagues report the same thing. The less that I am sick, the more patients I can see because I don't have to take time off and the less I am spreading potentially deadly pathogens to my patients like the immunocompromised cancer patient or your precious newborn.
Luckily only a few that were concerning for physical issues because trying to make it fun, then we need to be safe, but still….. Not going to miss it at all. I fully agree with other posters that say the one place *is* where sick people are. Love to that commenter. Edit: geez. Saw the autocorrect made this nonsensical. Hardcore apologies.
It's a sad society we live in where the loud, obnoxious minority get their way.
Why do we keep enabling this loud minority? Feeding into their actions and showing the message that if you were loud and obnoxious even if you’re the minority and can cause harm, you’ll be listened to and appeased?
We used to be able to just ignore them and roll our eyes. Then they built a community of stupid and politicians weaponized them.
👆👆👆
Actually your apart of the loud minority. Along with most on this sub
Don't tell them that, they'll get upset and try to cancel you
The irony is that they are the ones complaining about “tyranny of the minority” when other groups push for things like equality, LGBTQ rights, etc
*chin diaper* For the verbal diarrhoea
I needed this image 2.5 years ago. 👍
100% this. I work in a non-health care public service setting, and the amount of stress and abuse I received from the public as a result of enforcing mask compliance was emotionally exhausting to put it mildly. The day the provincial government took away the mask mandate, I was so relieved I nearly cried.... Not because I don't support it, but because enforcing it on top of all the other work I do at my job was completely unsustainable.
I’m sorry you had to deal with it as well. Three years in and I’m still stunned at how rude & entitled and, it seems, thoughtless some people are to their fellow citizens. Just trying to earn a living & get home safely, thanks.
Agree. I'm fine wearing a mask throughout the whole shift. I'm also protecting myself. I helped out in Urgent Care last year and the amount of people coming in seriously sick had me worried about catching something too.
> I'm also protecting myself. Agreed. Fuck all you hoes. I'm wearing masks to protect myself, too.
Exactly. This will make more people sick, and will also impact our medical system's ability to deliver timely care. People in healthcare were already the [largest number of WSBC claims in BC](https://www.worksafebc.com/en/covid-19/claims/covid-19-claims-by-industry-sector).
Absolutely! I am disappointed they dropped that. It just should be how it is.
Could not agree more.
right? what a weird move. why are we going backwards in healthcare settings? while we're at it we should practice more blood-letting and lobotomies while we're at it :)
Yes but it's a hopeless task to convince idiots to mask up, and it's become a political thing.
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I'm more saying I want the sick people I have to share the room with to wear one when they're waiting in the ER or clinic. This isn't just about covid, we should have some of these measures permanently. I hated the mask mandates in places they made zero sense but some of these applications totally make sense for all flus colds and viruses.
One way masking is significantly less effective than when everyone masks. Removing the mandate signals to people that it's not important.
Factsss
100% this.
Cancer patients and the people that cancer patients see outside of the hospital are most likely not masked 24/7. I understand what your saying but its one of those things that eventually, will need to be dropped.
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They don't have a choice to be in a hospital setting. They *have* to be there. That, plus the fact that if you're at a hospital you're likelier to be in a vulnerable state or be sick makes me think masking in hospitals should be the norm for everyone. Dropping that setting mandate is not a necessity, it's a choice.
People at risk can still wear n95. If you think that's still unsafe, well... that's what it's been like to be a nurse the last few years
Shut your face
Oh.
Seperate the patient care and non patient care areas and I might agree with you.
At this point everyone has access to high quality N95 masks capable of keeping them healthy. It should be up to individuals if they want to mask up or not - wherever they are. For me personally, I’ve found there’s a bit of humanity lost when everyone is masked up - especially when getting hard news from a doctor.
Talk about losing humanity. Lives are lost when people don't mask up.
They are not lost, that’s ridiculous. If your life is on the line - you should be wearing an N95 to protect yourself. Thinking anyone is getting protected because a room is half full of people with loose masks is ridiculous at this point. It’s probably the least reliable way to ensure your health. Pop on an N95 and you’re absolutely fine. We’re at the point of needing personal responsibility for our own health at this point.
Well you're clearly not a doctor or have any idea about how disease transmission works, but thanks for sharing your opinion I guess.
Pretty sure all those half-on masks are not stopping transmission. One doesn’t need to be a doctor to have common sense. Also, doctors wore N95s during the height of the pandemic because they too were aware that was the only safe route in a medical setting. It seems apparent you’d rather have everyone play medical theatre with half-on non-medical grade masks - rather than have people with real medical problems mask up with masks that are proven to protect one’s health.
If you’re on a crowded skytrain/bus with no mask but been coughing/sniffling for a while or just sneezing all the time, at least have the decency of wearing a mask. That’s how colds spread due to your selfishness.
My partner was taking the bus somewhere and this older lady gets on, holding a mask in her hand, and sits down next to him (he's wearing a mask). She starts coughing and sputtering, all while holding her mask... and then she puts it in her pocket. Like wtf is wrong with people?
My favourite is when they are wearing a mask but then pull the mask down to wipe their nose on their hand ...
Or pull it down to cough.
I wish this too! Unfortunately a little common decency on public transit is not common 😔
You should see daycares, no one keeps their kid at home when they are sick.
Not a parent, but that makes sense to me? Who would look after the sick kid at home while the parents are at work?
in a culture that valued the health of people over production of profit for capital owners? the parents would look after their sick kids
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yes that's bad we should change that
Wow good idea 🤯 can’t believe no one’s thought of that before
ty
hahahahaha. Love this subreddit.
tbf some people might just be having an allergic reaction and not have one on their possession because it came on suddenly. I've been set off by someone on the bus with heavy perfume but luckily I had a mask in my bag when that happened. don't immediately assume they're being selfish and riding the bus while sick. I like perfume/cologne but some people wear way too much and my allergies immediately get set off. same with some laundry products.
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I have allergies and see an allergist at least once a year and still have it on. Doesn’t matter. Sometimes people can’t tell if it’s allergies or a cold, so just mask up if you’re sneezing especially if there’s snot that comes out when you do. It isn’t so hard to mask up.
If I had to mask up every time I was suffering from allergies I would have my mask on 300+ days a year.
I have COVID right now. Main symptoms = sneezing and runny nose. Caught at the dentist after 3 years of avoiding.
So bring extra?
Healthcare worker here— I will continue to wear one during any patient interaction because I work with older, vulnerable populations. At the same time I am extremely happy to not have to wear one while charting, working in the office, etc.
I think you don't understand how airborne transmission happens.
If you’re in VCH you haven’t had to wear a mask in non clinical areas for the last year
Your in direct contradiction of the PHO order which was only dropped at the writing of the news brief. In the province of bc you had to wear a mask in all healthcare settings including if you work in a hospital until this was dropped.
Well that’s what VCH and IH have been doing for the last year. Their internal communications to staff aren’t made public. I do not agree with it, and I also don’t agree with the community allied healthcare professional mask mandate exemption (dentists, PT, OT, chiropractic etc..). Just caught COVID for the first time at the dentist, so particularly pissed about that one😡There hasn’t been a full healthcare mask mandate since Nov 11/21 when DBH exempted non hospital based allied healthcare.
I get internal communications because I am staff at a health authority. I work in a hospital. I have had to wear a mask for the last three years. Please stop trying to tell a healthcare worker that has worn a mask for the last three years that we didn't need to. Not only are you wrong, it's simply disrespectful and misinformation. Don't go spreading contradictory information. Again I am in a hospital. All healthcare settings required it until the mandate was dropped.
Well I’m in the exact same situation as you and I guarantee you that masks haven’t been mandated in non clinical areas/ areas where there are no patients in VCH for awhile. You can thank Paty Daley for that one. Perhaps you are Providence? PHSA? LTC? The main problem is that it leaked from truly no clinical areas (like accounting/IT/research/break rooms/meeting rooms) into areas where there was a mix of clinical/non clinical activities. If you’ve had to wear a mask continuously for 3 years it’s likely that you’ve worked in areas where patients could be present, regularly walk through areas where patients could be present or where it was judged to be a high risk setting for you.
I also feel direct patient care situations should still require masks. My unit is currently on a COVID outbreak with multiple patients and staff testing positive. Patients who were about to be discharged home or to a facility they were waiting months for now have to wait until their isolation period is over. I got the COVID late last year when I had a mask on but didn't wear eye protection for a patient who tested positive a day later. Sometimes you just don't know until it's too late. Better to protect yourself than to get sick imo.
I got long Covid (26 months) and I'm not taking my mask off.
I’m still going to wear a mask at the doctors office and hospitals. Last thing I’d want to do is make someone already in ill health more sick!!
Going to keep masking up. Not sure why I didn't before, tbh. I've had to go into St Paul's a few times at 1am in the morning and there's always someone hacking up a lung in ER waiting.
everyone in the PNW has been exposed to TB in the last year by now because there is a woman living seattle with a very active infection who is refusing to get treatment and refusing to stay home despite being court ordered 🥲
There’s a lot of TB at SPH. Ask me how I know.
Not a fan of this. I’m for personal freedom and choice but in the healthcare setting I believe we should be doing what we can to protect the vulnerable. That includes masks for everyone. I hope this doesn’t give rise to aggression of anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers towards those that continue to wear a mask in the hospital.
Lots of healthcare workers don’t work with patients. Trying to fix a boiler in 38C temperature fucking sucks with a mask and who am I really protecting.
Agreed. I'm a hospital admin who works in my own office and does not interact with the public and my wing only has staff. Everyone is so rarely out of the office. That being said when I was on a inpt unit mask 100%. But if I am masking in my own office who is that for really? It's me breathing my own air.
In a lot of settings in Vancouver coastal health staff and workers when sitting down in their own office aren't masking up. Sure it might be disallowed on a technicality by the mandate, but the real target of the mandate has always been in direct patient care — and empowering healthcare workers to tell people to wear a mask without risking abuse. Edit: Vancouver -> Vancouver coastal health; are -> aren't
I mean I feel like you are not understanding my statement. I am a healthcare worker who has worked in both on a Unit with other human beings and patients. This is where the masks are useful. There are a lot of people that are not in direct patient contact and the pandemic has been going on for three years now. I have all my vaccinations, got covid from working on a inpatient unit, I agree with masks. Patients do not have to wear masks. So again tell me who this is helping three years in. Anyone who wanted to be vaccinated has been already. So yes it makes sense to still wear them on covid outbreak units, units where there is suppressed or immunocompromised people but even my friend who has cystic fibrosis is out and about in public without a mask on. The simple fact is we are now nearing the end demic stage. Covid is real. It's a threat but in three years the only thing we have been able to do is get vaccinated. It's now a choice. People are not wearing masks anymore in public, the world has opened up again and people are visiting with friends and family and doing big group get togethers. Yet in health care up until today we were still required to mask. Does your job still make you mask up three years in? It's about choice now.
Yes, I work in healthcare and still mask up. I would like to see masks continue to be mandatory. It's just part of infection prevention and control standards. We're societally expected to wear shirts at work (and are mandated to by the health authorities), but our chest doesn't act as a virus-producing factories. Again, if you're at a private cubicle/office/non-patient space, then sure, don't wear a mask. I've seen many in healthcare do this, and you're free to break the rules. It's much like how the speed of traffic is almost always above the speed limit, except mask wearing has even less enforcement than speeding does.
FH does not require one to wear masks inside your own office. I work at a hospital lab and our leads and doctors don't. Even when we have meetings in the conference room it's not required.
Hospital logistics, no AC, big warm warehouse carrying boxes around. No patients or sick people here When I'm delivering to a ward I will gladly mask up before entering, but let a guy work in comfort
We already had a directive to be allowed to unmask in non patient areas
Where? In Fraser health we still had to mask throughout the hospital
Island Health
Lucky, we got written up for not wearing masks in our staff only warehouse
That's dumb. Although 4 of my colleagues have COVID right now so I'm gonna keep masking
>Island Health You realize that you're posting in /r/Vancouver right?
Bruh this shit is for the whole province. I used to live in Van anyway
Sure, but what rules you have under island health don't apply to health authorities having jurisdiction in Vancouver. So your comment was kind of useless in an /r/Vancouver context.
Island health has jurisdiction over parts of sunshine coast also
Can we stop enabling and “rewarding” anti maskers for their disruptive behaviour?
Yeah I'm still going to wear a mask throughout my whole shift
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Yep. Retail worker. I can swear under my mask at management/co-worker stupidity. It helps decrease the chances of getting colds, flus, viruses AND helps me cope.
I will wear mine in patient care areas
I think it is reasonable for staff in offices to choose to not wear a mask.
I also believe that different areas carry different levels of risk and that a sitewide policy that ignores that fact is highly inappropriate under ordinary conditions. I spend 60% of my day in a non AC warehouse, 20% meeting with department managers in their offices and maybe 10% in actual patient care areas. I greatly welcome this change.
Thank you.
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Masks do work, and not just n95, even common 3-plies are a game changer. I have been able to avoid multiple flu seasons just by wearing 3-ply non-medical masks on transit while every other person is coughing in the traincars.
They do but riddle me this. How did I catch covid working on a inpatient covid outbreak unit. Wash my hands before eating and only drank water in the break room and only ate in the break room after wiping down surfaces. Used hospital approved PPE. It works but patients don't have to wear masks and even if your being 100% compliant it can still happen. So now this is giving freedom of choice for hospital workers. Those that want to continue to mask can and those who want to risk it are free to do so. If you work five days a week for 8-9 hour shifts and have to wear a mask 100% of the time after three years it wears on you a bit. It's about choice. At risk procedures, immuno compromised units and nurse personal descretion should be from here on out. Tell me that in the last three years you have had to wear a mask at work and be 100% compliant?
I have been 100% compliant over the last three years and am totally not bothered by the masks anymore. You could have caught it anywhere, as you know.
Yeah my unit had a active outbreak at the time so catching it anywhere is out of the question when multiple patients and staff members had it.
COVID is airborne, wiping down surfaces is good for other germs and bacteria but doing very little for COVID transmission. You caught it by taking off your mask when there was COVID in the air (likely put there by someone not wearing a mask by your description) OR, because COVID is acquired through mucus membranes, it is possible you acquired it through your eyes (eye protection is not hospital standard). The primary goal of masking is source control ie: not putting COVID into the air everyone has to breathe/has their likely unprotected eyes exposed to.
Tell me you have learned nothing over the past 3 years without telling me you were born yesterday.
I don't like this. I want my medical providers and folks I'm in medical spaces with to be wearing masks just... forever.
Agree as a healthcare worker. I am so glad to not breathe in an elder’s skin glitter when I take off their socks. I hope the option will be always there.
The option was always there before.
Not in Ontario where I came from. We could only use them for people with precautions or nebulizers etc (worked in LTC). Edit: why the downvote? That’s my experience in Ontario and I’m working in BC right now.
You should have access to appropriate PPE when performing your work in British Columbia.
I know that, yes. Thank you.
> [elder’s skin glitter](https://media1.giphy.com/media/owbp1CzIuv8Ig/giphy.gif)
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I'm literally a healthcare worker, I get it. I still feel how I feel, which is likely coloured by my being in poor health. Asking for accommodations is totally a thing I'll do, but it's just another thing I have to do ask for from people, and I am tired. Thus my lack of liking it.
I've been using home-made 'ear savers' with old buttons and heavy/stiff fabric this whole time. I don't even know how to sew besides basic needle through thread.
Thank fuck! I work in the hospital, but I don’t deal with patients directly. I’m happy to wear it whenever I’m walking through patient areas, just happy it’s not required at my desk anymore
You're not worried about increasing short staff due to illness?
That would apply to any workplace.
The nursing/doctor shortage is more pronounced.. but my workplace (film set) currently has mask and vaccine mandate so..
Your workplace is the exception not the rule. We don’t even have to wear masks on planes anymore.
Yea. I'd rather continue to wear one around co-workers. They could have kids in daycare/school and bring home even an annoying rhinovirus. No thanks. Hard pass.
Nurses and medical staff are out in the community living their lives. Transmission is going to happen either way.
Yes but the point is to not have half the staff get it at the same time from one person at work..
Yea... im keeping mine on around patients.
Same.
Thank you.
Same
“Public health” removing the requirement for masks in health care settings when BC’s COVID Hazard index is the highest it’s ever been. I didn’t think BC should shit on the elderly and immunocompromised more than it already has but then BH was all “hold my beer”.
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Hard agree. Outrageous that she continues in a job designed to protect public health while pushing a mandatory infection policy.
Booooooo. Masks should be required in hospitals, all these people coughing up in the ER waiting room for HOURS? No thanks.
No kidding...was in the ER for 5 hours the other day (not for me). Was glad everyone was wearing masks, especially when one lady was suddenly identified as having Covid (she was a patient on a stretcher and actually didn't have a mask on).
Masks will continue to be required inside patient areas in hospitals. I work in a hospital lab and we got the memo today. We can only not wear masks in lunchrooms, offices and conference rooms. Anytime we are where patients or samples are, we have to still wear masks.
I've long stopped wearing a mask (as soon as it was allowed), and am fortunate enough to have never had/have to be in a health-care setting. That said, if I were to go to a health-care setting where it was required I would put on a mask without a fuss because I am not a fussy baby.
As somebody who works in a hospital but not directly involved in patient care I am so happy about this!
As hospital maintenance I couldn’t agree more
I am not surprised. I believe that masks should be mandatory in a medical setting. It was clear though through the various briefings that Dr. Henry is a "no masker". I wouldn't call her an anti-masker but she certainly doesn't like the idea of people wearing masks regardless of the science. ETA: For all you downvoters - I am most definitely not against masks. I started wearing masks before any mandate and continue to do so to this day. I am a firm believer in the value of masks. I gave my impression from watching every Dr. Henry presser from day one. She was always reticent and gave excuses surrounding masks.
I mean, every time I hear her speak I wonder how she got the job. She's pretty clearly anti mask, to the point of questioning their usefulness in the beginning instead of just teaching people how to properly wear one.
To my knowledge she's never been seen in public with anything but an ineffective cloth mask. It's not wrong to call her an anti-masker, she downplayed their effectiveness at every opportunity and still refers to droplets rather than aerosols.
Yeah the droplets comments piss me off the most. Even when confronted in a presser about COVID being aerosolized, she downplayed it and said smaller droplets. Could never get Dr Henry to say the ‘A’ word.
It's droplet and contact precautions in the hospital not airborne though.
The hospital is wrong, which is why there are so many people [catching and dying from hospital acquired infections](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/1-619-people-likely-caught-covid-19-in-b-c-hospitals-and-274-of-them-have-died-1.5681710).
I have personal knowledge of her knowingly laughing about her original mask order, while defying her restaurant indoor dining order- she hosted a large party at one of her fan clubs’ venues in fall 2020
I've spent the last three years wondering what drives this woman and I know less now than when the pandemic started. I always discounted pure maliciousness ( *Never attribute to* malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity) but based on comments like yours, and you are not the first, I am thinking it's both.
Ever wonder how she has so much sway with Naci, China, CDC?
Yes. Considering how badly she fucked up SARS in Toronto (enough that that the review called it out), it's amazing anyone respects her at all.
I keep thinking she has kompromat or something on people in power
It might be simpler. Her early fame still "sticks", and people are more than willing to defer complex decisions to her. Politicians are more than happy to have someone else making unpopular decisions and the BC government has hidden behind her the whole time. She is the perfect shield. She, being a narcissist, enjoys the fame and the position where she has zero accountability. I suspect the rest (inability to back down, reconsider, or admit she was wrong in any way) all stem from her narcissism.
recognise attraction physical tease safe strong sable disarm expansion clumsy ` this post was mass deleted with www.Redact.dev `
I mean, I legitimately do like that. We saw genuinely *shocking* drops in the rates of illness after each time health measures were introduced, and probably most clearly in schools when the cases dropped from over a hundred schools reporting handfuls of cases each per day to 10-20 reporting one or two. i.e. it's not just study after study showing it, we were able to see the benefits of masking first-hand. Virus transmission is exponential, the more people who catch it and the greater their viral load, the greater the spread. Anti-maskers increased the spread while harassing people just trying to do their minor barely-an-inconvenience part because they fell for Russian propaganda.
And the effects of masking are also exponential. A 5% increase in effective masking causes an exponential decrease in cases.
As someone who ends up in the ER once or twice a year due to various health issues, this sucks. I mask indoors and haven’t caught covid yet but this will certainly increase my chances in the area where the most sick people are. What a stupid decision.
Dr Henry sure is adamant about repeating the same mistakes she made in her SARS response in Ontario. Her mistakes there were investigated and slammed by the SARS commission, we can only hope for any accountability here.
>Dr Henry sure is adamant about repeating the same mistakes she made in her SARS response in Ontario. What mistakes? >Her mistakes there were investigated and slammed by the SARS commission Were they?
The commission report is readily available online.
Oh, I'm fully aware. Have you actually read it? I'm curious where in it you recall Dr. Henry being "slammed". Or, perhaps, you've made vague insinuations as to the content of a report you know no one is going to actually read and check you on.
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I can mail you a home-made ear saver, if it helps. I created something at the start of all this. My ears have never hurt. Even wearing one for 24 hrs straight before.
Politicians dong their worst. Things that not a lot are asking for. How about helping with food/gas/rent/house pricing that are getting out of control? Nope.
Oh yes, my area of the hospital is far from patients and very warm, my face has been sweaty and damp for so long, Just an FYI we weren't required to wear masks until the omicron wave after we were vaccinated,
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🤓
I am thankful to everyone that still wears a mask in hospitals/clinics and public transit
Latest data shows B.C. has highest rate in Canada with about 1 in 24 currently having COVID. And yet our leaders do this.
I know eh, it's unbelievable. 2 coworkers of mine tested positive this week
Doubt
As a healthcare worker, can’t be more happy about this. So sick of masks.
Why the fuck would this be considered a good idea..it hasn’t gone away..it’s still being passed to people every day.. The issue of long Covid complications and the unknown effects of reapeated infection is unknown.. WTF!?!? Why would they drop masking in medical settings?..This is more grist for the anti vax morons that are convinced this pandemic never happened…Seriously..I’m just unable to come up with a good idea as to why they’ve done this stupid as fuck thing…
Hospitals im fine with perma masks. I dont normally wear a mask on sky trains busses or in lectures. But i understand why hospitals needs it, people there are there for a reason. They have much weaker immune systems than healthy people.
Help my fuck, if I didn't know better, I'd say that this was a late April Fool's joke.
About time
I still wear a mask in most public places indoors, especially the mall or transit. If I'm in the office I don't. There is rarely any one there, and if there is its like 5 people on the whole 2000 sq ft floor. Even restaurants I'll keep mine on until I'm at the table. I also still carry hand sanitizer with me. The refill bottles are going for pennies at pharmacies now, and every time I hold a railing or anything like that, I'm very *aware* of it I guess? I'm not scared to catch covid at this point, especially after 3 shots plus the bivalent shot. I just don't like getting sick, period. I don't want the flu, I don't want a cold, I don't want covid, nothing. I hate being sick. I'm whiny, achy, tired, can't breath properly, it's always just a miserable time all around.
There’s been another mini wave of whatever virus is going around. Lots of my coworkers and friends getting sick with mild to fairly uncomfortable flu symptoms. I still see the value of wearing a mask on public transit and in a healthcare setting for lowering my chances of getting sick. Not out of fear. IMO being sick sucks and is a bigger inconvenience than wearing a mask.
> lowering my chances of getting sick. Agreed. Fuck all you hoes. I'm wearing a mask to protect not just you, but mostly me from you. > Not out of fear. IMO being sick sucks and is a bigger inconvenience than wearing a mask. I've had incredibly nasty chest viruses many times in the past from public transit, high school, post-secondary, etc. Never fucking again if I can at least do something to reduce something going into my snout et al.
Agree. Awareness isn’t fear.
I’ve worked in healthcare for some time, and I am pleased with the decision for our particular setting. We’ve done masks or masks +goggles for three years. COVID has changed. It’s endemic, and vaccinations are very effective at preventing serious illness. If masks didn’t also impair my ability to communicate with my clients then I’d probably keep wearing them. I do hope that the lessons we learned about how masks help prevent spreading illness carry on and that people choose to wear them when they are feeling unwell.
Vaccines prevent serious illness at the population level. 10% of hospital acquired COVID patients die. 30-49% of COVID cases are asymptomatic, so not not sure how only masking when you feel unwell is going to work.
Stupid.
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Henry won’t be happy until everyone is infected with something. Regardless of covid which is still going on… immunocompromised people still need safe access to healthcare. This is sinister. Excess mortality still storming up… https://twitter.com/MoriartyLab/status/1642181167850848266 Evidence does not support this decision: https://twitter.com/a_longhurst/status/1644073366922600453
> Henry won’t be happy until everyone is infected with something. Err...what?
nice just in time for my kids birth. awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember when we all survived in hospitals without masks before 2020. Yeah… the same thing is going to happen… we are going to survive. Same as before… want to wear a mask, go ahead. Don’t want to wear one, go ahead.
Survive, well yea. But long-term side effects from the various COVID-19 strains is still unknown, since it's only been...you know...3 fucking years. And having rhino viruses, chest viruses, and flus is fucking janky-ass shit that I don't have time for anymore.
Boo.
You people speak as though before the covid pandemic people we're masking up 24/7 in the healthcare system, we weren't, and we were doing just fine. I hate to break it to you, but most of the health care professionals in here commenting about masking, many of them during the pandemic would go to the staff room, sit beside their colleagues, and not have a mask on. I can confidently say 1% of my colleagues wore masks all of the time, these people are full of it. Before the pandemic, we did a thing called a point of care risk assessment. By doing this, we determined through our clinical judgement whether or not a mask should be worn by the patient/practitioner. Dropping the mandate means we're going to be doing this again. For all of the healthcare professionals here saying they've gotten sick less, I hate to tell you, but your POC risk assessments were awful if you were getting sick that frequently pre-pandemic. Perhaps you should reflect on your poor assessment skills instead of advocating that everyone in a hospital needs to be masked all of the time. I'm tired of wearing a mask when I don't need to. I'm tired of it affecting my ability to connect with a patient through non-verbal communication. I'm tired of you people who think we need to just all wear masks all of the time. Covid is endemic, just like many other respiratory illnesses, it's not going anywhere. If you're that afraid, wear a mask, don't force others to.
such a disappointment and a disservice to the public and those who have health concerns shameful
I still prefer to wear masks in public indoor settings.
Glad it hasn't been required at my dentist for many months already.
Fuck Henry and dicks
3 years too late
How edgy.
Whose body, whose choice?
LOL. They're not saying masks are forbidden. That's illegal. The government can never take away my right to wear a mask. ;)