Will Los Angeles ever fully get rid of masks?
Mask requirements in California will disappear soon.
But, how many masks will remain?
Reasons to Wear Masks
There are several different reasons people might still want to wear a mask.
Scared of Covid
The CDC has been clear that vaccinated people don’t need to wear a mask.
However, some Los Angeles residents aren’t ready to ditch theirs. Some naturally cautious people will keep their masks for the foreseeable future.
Stay Healthy in General
Fred Pelzman is an associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.
He feels that maks could be used to promote health in general long after the pandemic, particularly in crowded spaces.
“When you’re around a lot of people you don’t know in a situation with contained air that’s not recirculated, I think masks will continue to be important.”-Fred Pelzman
You’re Sick
Masks have been proven to stop you from infecting others with Covid. The same is true for other things like the flu or the common cold.
It can and probably should become customary to wear a mask when you are feeling under the weather.
What the Experts Say
What are the experts saying about the possibility of masking post-pandemic?
Seasonal?
Some believe that Covid will become seasonal like the Flu. That makes seasonal mask wearing a real possibility.
Dr. Fauci is one of the people who believe this might be the case.
“It is conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory-borne diseases.”-Dr. Fauci
Fighting Other Illnesses?
Masks not only slowed the spread of Covid but the flu as well.
The CDC doesn’t currently advise using masks to protect against the flu. But that might change.
Cases of the flu dropped significantly this year. That was primarily due to mask-wearing.
My Thoughts
I believe strongly that universal mask mandates are a thing of the past. I don’t envision a day where the government forces mask-wearing on Los Angeles residents again.
There may be a few exceptions.
Seasonal mask requirements are possible but not likely.
Also, there is always the risk of another surge which would require masking.
I do think that voluntary mask-wearing will be more common than before.
Different people have different risk tolerances. That will lead to some cautious people masking up for a long time.