How to think about wearing masks / distancing within the household?
post by Sameerishere · 2020-11-22T06:56:36.805Z · LW · GW · 1 commentThis is a question post.
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Answers 9 Robert Lynn 1 masasin 1 AnthonyC None 1 comment
Folks who live with or have a pod that extends beyond your romantic partner: how do you think about wearing masks and distancing with other folks indoors? My understanding is that most people with a pod that goes beyond a romantic partner hang out with their pod indoors, without distancing or wearing masks.
Is that true? If so, is it because you have reason to believe masks and distancing are ineffective indoors? Or do you think masks / distancing would help, but not enough to be worth it?
From a quick search, I was only able to find one study on the impact of masks and distancing within a household (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7264640/). It shows that both make a significant impact, but this is surprising to me given I'd expect aerosols to concentrate indoors such that with prolonged exposure, you'd breathe in the virus anyway unless you are wearing a highly protective mask.
Answers
It does help. It reduces the amount of virus particles that you inhale, and the severity of the disease. And if you're ventilating well, there's an even lower risk. For what it's worth, I've been on my own since March, and haven't really interacted with anyone else since then.
"Not enough to be worth it" hides a lot of room for variation.
Just this morning I was talking to someone who told me their niece, in her 20s, has such crippling fear of covid that she hasn't left her room, except to use the bathroom, in months. Her parents feed her my leaving plates of food at her door and then walking away. An extreme case, clearly.
My brother in law lives alone, and only goes out to pick up drive through takeout once in a while. He, my in-laws, and one other couple are part of my wife and my bubble. Of that group, only my mother in law works outside the home currently. We do not socially distance, because the odds make it not worth it for us.
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comment by mingyuan · 2020-11-22T22:56:04.969Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
I think you're confused about what a pod (or quarantine bubble) is. The whole point of a pod is that those are the people you don't have to worry about masks and distancing with. (Do you think parents wear masks when they're just around their kids?) Instead you share risk with those people, and decide together on your precautions. I don't know anyone who lives with people who are not also in their quarantine bubble; that sounds like an absolute nightmare and probably a lost cause, since you spend so much time sharing air with those people.