With new guidelines suggesting those who have been vaccinated don’t need a mask outdoors, but how do we know who’s been vaccinated and who not? The honor system is questionable with all of the anti-masker / anti-vaccine people about
I’m keeping my distance.
@hawaiiboy People who’ve been vaccinated still need to protect others who haven’t been yet, so I think it’s far too early to be changing this regulation.
@pimoore @hawaiiboy I'm not trying to start a debate (there's been plenty of that on different subjects in the last 24 hours). As a leader in the area of arts education, which has been impacted by the pandemic more than just about any other area, I've spent hundreds of hours poring over data. The science has never supported the use of masks outdoors. Even on days where the wind is barely blowing, the movement of air is sufficient that any danger of contracting COVID-19 is extremely low, sufficiently close enough to 0% that it warrants little if any concern. The new guidelines simply reflect that understanding while still maintaining a cautious approach.
@gpittman @pimoore Good points. I’m not really worried about the majority of the population that exhibit common sense, it’s the minority that have been a problem all along may now feel they have license. Hawaii has been doing in and of itself, its when we opened up…
@hawaiiboy Understood. Here in South Carolina, where people fall all over themselves to deny that COVID is real, or at the very least not a big deal, it's quite similar.
@hawaiiboy @gpittman It’s the deniers around here that make me worried too, especially since I’m still waiting to be vaccinated (yay, Ontario). There have been large groups of unmasked anti-lockdown — and even anti-vax — protestors around various places the last two or three weeks. Even with the apparently near 0% chance of outdoor transmission, I still find myself giving people a wide berth even outside.