Remember mask mandates? Back about four years ago we were all required to wear a mask everywhere we went in public. Mask mandates were unpopular. Some people were emphatic they were not willing to wear a mask, while others were self-appointed enforcers of the mask mandate. One friend talked about riding on public transportation and getting yelled at when he lowered his mask to get a breath of fresh air. Someone else claimed he witnessed a female jogger knocked to the ground and yelled at by a man because she was not wearing a mask while jogging.
Whether or not they work, requiring people to wear masks is controversial. When flying back from Costa Rica several years ago masks were still required on airplanes. Although uncomfortable, I didn’t really mind since I’ve caught numerous respiratory ailments on airplanes. Think about it: I’m sitting with nearly 200 other people in a 12-foot-wide pressurized aluminum tube with an interior that’s roughly 100 feet long. All the air inside is being recirculated but not filtered. Ok, I’ll wear a mask there, but I don’t want to wear a mask elsewhere in public. I recall seeing numerous people driving alone in their cars wearing a mask. Someone explained that using your hands to take off and put back on a mask was risky, since your hands could have been contaminated elsewhere. That sounds like pseudo-science to me. Maybe if I’m a health care worker but not a casual shopper at Aldi’s. I feel pretty safe in claiming that wearing a mask inside your car while driving alone did not save a single life.
About this time last year and in the past few days I began to see a few people venture into retail stores wearing masks. In many cases they were seniors heading to the pharmacy. Also a few store employees have masks on or at least a mask around their necks. It’s not clear whether it’s a store policy or an employee taking precautions (since they’re rarely actually wearing them).
Are we likely to see mask mandates in the future? One Covid doctor warns that the XEC variant of Covid-19 could lead health officials to reinstate mask mandates.
The healthcare expert from Glowbar LDN warned about the risks: “Unlike previous variants, XEC’s immune-evasive properties could increase the risk of co-infections, posing a serious threat, particularly to individuals whose immunity has already been weakened post-Covid.”He said: “This could lead to not just overlapping infections but more severe illness in vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.”
Indeed, San Francisco Bay Area cities have mandated masks in health care facilities:
The mandate was put into effect to limit the spread of flu and other viruses during late fall to early spring, with some counties opting to end the requirement in March and others in April 2025.The order applies only to health care workers, with exception of San Mateo and Santa Clar counties, which also requires visitors to wear masks. In Santa Clara, patients must use a mask.
It makes you wonder whether other respiratory conditions will be an excuse to require masks in the future. Private facilities were free to require any kind of precautions, but state or city agencies should leave it to the people running health care facilities to decide what is best for their patients, their employees and visitors.
Why do you say the air in commercial aircraft is not filtered? All commercial carriers have HEPA filters for cabin air.
I agree that there is some type of filtration in aircraft cabin air but I’m not convinced it would easily stop viruses. My wife has consulted on clean room safety & regulatory compliance. To trap viruses the HEPA filters would need to be no larger than 2 microns. The pressure drop from a 2-micron filter size would be significant and probably require changing the filters after every flight. A UV lamp could facilitate killing of viruses but at that point we’re adding weight and size to the system. So yes, it is possible to reduce the viral load in an aircraft cabin but it’s far from perfect.