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Wearing A Mask
As a former OR nurse, I just don’t see what the big deal is. I worked 40+ hours a week, in a mask. For most of my nursing career. With asthma.
I know for a fact masks work to prevent the transmission of our germs from one being to another. That’s why we wear them in operating rooms. Everywhere. Globally. Because they work.
We wear masks to protect our patients. For many days before any symptoms emerge— we are all carriers. Of anything we might ‘catch’. From the flu to the common cold to TB to COVID. By the time symptoms appear — you have already been contagious for any number of days. Because your symptoms are your body’s response to the virus or bacteria that have taken up residence. The virus or bacteria, on the other hand, has been busy growing and spreading under your body’s radar. This is called an incubation period and is common for every germ — everywhere.
I was exposed to COVID this summer. A significant exposure. During that time while I was waiting to see if the virus would take hold of me, those long two weeks where I considered that they might be my last two weeks on Earth in decent health — I always, always wore a mask if I left my house. Even to walk the 400 steps to my mailbox. I wore it to protect anyone I might encounter.
