Wearing a mask

I lost one of my cloth masks, the purple one at the bottom.  I knew I'd had it earlier in the day.  I called the office.  No one had turned in a cloth mask.  Later, when I went out again, I found the purple mask hanging on the doorknob of an apartment down the hall from me, near the elevator.  I asked my neighbor Galina if she had picked it up and hung it on the door of that unoccupied apartment.  Yes, she had, thinking it was probably mine.

Some of us have worn TWO masks during this pandemic, doubling up with a paper mask under a cloth mask.  Some of us who are elderly and immunocompromised are still wearing masks, even when others have cast them aside.  As this sign shows, earlier in the pandemic the Crown Center required that we wear masks whenever we were outside our apartments.  If we didn't, it was considered a lease violation.

The disheartening news I read recently, though, now says cloth masks are "useless."  Yes, that's the word I read.  They are useless.  The article said we should be wearing N95 masks because droplets from SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) can get through a cloth mask too easily.  Today, I've been reading an AMA article entitled "What doctors wish patients knew about wearing N95 masks."  The article was published yesterday, so it is about as current as I can get.  Here's part of it:

"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and other health professionals have continued to stress the everyday necessity and importance of wearing masks to protect against the spread of SARS-CoV-2.  While reusable cloth masks have been recommended until recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other experts acknowledge N95, KN95 or KF94 masks provide the most protection when in public indoor spaces given how transmissible the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is. ... N95 masks filter up to 95% of particles in the air when approved by NIOSH and proper fit can be achieved.  People should be aware, though, that about 60% of KN95 masks in the United States are counterfeit and do not meet NIOSH standards."

I currently have these two kinds of N95 masks — maybe I should call them "particulate respirators," but what a mouthful that would be!  And I have oodles of these blue medical masks, along with quite a few cloth masks.

Word of the Day #1

immunocompromised /ˌi-myə-nō-ˈkäm-prə-ˌmīzd / ˈIH-myoo-noh-ˈKOM-proh-mized / = Having a weakened immune system.  People who are immunocompromised have a reduced ability to fight infections and other diseases.  This may be caused by certain diseases or conditions, such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, malnutrition, and certain genetic disorders.  It may also be caused by certain medicines or treatments, such as anticancer drugs, radiation therapy, and stem cell or organ transplant.  Also called immunosuppressed.

Word of the Day #2

mouth·ful /ˈmouTHˌfo͝ol / noun = 1. a quantity of food or drink that fills or can be put in the mouth.  Example:  "He swallowed a mouthful of beer."  2. a long or complicated word or phrase that is difficult to say.  "Immunocompromised is almost too much of a mouthful for most of us to say."

By the way, I used that photo at the top of the four cloth masks in an earlier blog post, HERE.  You ask, why am I writing about masks on a book blog?  Because I'm thinking how nice it is that I can sit in my own apartment without a mask (or double mask) and read my books.  Okay, now back to my reading.