[OutsiderFan]

This is tough. I was wearing a mask every time outside the house up until two weeks ago. I still wear one if I go inside with others, but given there has been no reporting of people getting infected from simply passing by others at least 6ft away, I stopped.  And remember, I'm in a county with the most deaths per capita in the country, predominantly in LTCF. Speaking of them...

Yesterday my infection control nurse friend who works at LTCF came by and dropped off some surgical masks for me. He was saying this virus is incredibly easy to transmit, talking about surface spreading in particular, something I have become less concerned about over time. He was off my porch and neither of us were wearing a mask while talking, probably 10 feet away. He also told me wearing a mask too long makes you breathe in so much more C02 (don't know what kind he was referring to exactly), that your blood oxygen level goes down even if not sick, as a result of re-breathing so much exhaled air. He equated it to exercising at high altitude.

Of course, when I go out in West Hartford, CT, I'm not likely to encounter too many people. I only passed by one this morning who walked way around me. In San Francisco, it's much more densely populated. Even in the Sunset and Outer Richmond you can encounter a good number of people. But there is also the fact more things will likely open sooner if everyone wears a mask. Not only will the mask wearing protect more people, but the case numbers will go down as well, leading to more economic activity.

IOW, if the city couches it as a "if everyone wears a mask we'll be able to go out more," compulsory make wearing can work. If it's couched as "wear a mask or get fined," then it's not going to go over as well.

[OutsiderFan]

This is tough. I was wearing a mask every time outside the house up until two weeks ago. I still wear one if I go inside with others, but given there has been no reporting of people getting infected from simply passing by others at least 6ft away, I stopped.  And remember, I'm in a county with the most deaths per capita in the country, predominantly in LTCF. Speaking of them...

Yesterday my infection control nurse friend who works at LTCF came by and dropped off some surgical masks for me. He was saying this virus is incredibly easy to transmit, talking about surface spreading in particular, something I have become less concerned about over time. He was off my porch and neither of us were wearing a mask while talking, probably 10 feet away. He also told me wearing a mask too long makes you breathe in so much more C02 (don't know what kind he was referring to exactly), that your blood oxygen level goes down even if not sick, as a result of re-breathing so much exhaled air. He equated it to exercising at high altitude.

Of course, when I go out in West Hartford, CT, I'm not likely to encounter too many people. I only passed by one this morning who walked way around me. In San Francisco, it's much more densely populated. Even in the Sunset and Outer Richmond you can encounter a good number of people. But there is also the fact more things will likely open sooner if everyone wears a mask. Not only will the mask wearing protect more people, but the case numbers will go down as well, leading to more economic activity.

IOW, if the city couches it as a "if everyone wears a mask we'll be able to go out more," compulsory make wearing can work. If it's couched as "wear a mask or get fined," then it's not going to go over as well.