Masks Be Gone?

opinion

This week, my place of work finally got rid of the mask mandate for patients. This has no doubt caused some spirited debate amongst my colleagues and without a doubt I am apprehensive about the change. That being said, it is interesting to see the pandemic as “officially over”, all the while there are still plenty of covid cases diagnosed daily in my shop. So, should we be happy, cautious, or even suspicious of these new policies?

Now I totally recognize the Covid virus of today is not nearly as serious in its symptoms and side effects as the virus of early 2020 and 2021. That being said I have also noticed tremendous benefits in terms of less flu and other respiratory virus cases. However, anecdotally it would seem that patients appear to be sicker with these day to day URIs since their routine exposure has been decreased. So who are we really benefiting?

I had a colleague ask me if I was going to stop wearing a mask and I think that for now, the answer is no. I will continue to wear a mask particularly when seeing patients with URI symptoms. If for nothing else other than I HATE being sick!

I’m curious what your thoughts on the matter of mandatory masks for patients and staff going forward are? I can certainly see both sides of the argument and want to hear from people much smarter than me….. that means YOU! please comment your thoughts and feel free to share your own personal experiences!