I’m sitting in a waiting room in The Christie Hospital in Manchester, wearing my KN95 mask. I’ve been through the cafe, had bloods and walked around. I am the only person in a mask!!!!! Has anyone else experienced this at their hospital?
Am I missing something? Has Covid disappeared?
Mandy
Mandy I assume you are going into a Haematology department, are staff and patients in that department wearing masks. In my London hospital they still are, but we have a vocal patient group. I believe it is now down to the individual hospital trusts.
Colette
Yes, I am part of the Flair trial. No staff or patients wore masks. Just saw one man in a corridor in a mask.
So surprised as we all know blood cancer sufferers are high risk.
I haven’t seen masks in my local hospital for nearly a year to be honest. Even medics treating me have been unmasked. Seems to be the norm now.
Newdawn
I agree it's worrying and a strange situation. When I go in the haemo department everyone wears masks. But in all other departments and in corridors no-one does. Not sure why they think we miraculously become risk free when sat in a corridor or seeing someone in another department. I've been to 3 other departments recently and no staff or patients wore masks. In fact when I went for my 3 yearly mammogram the receptionist told me in front of other patients that I should take my mask off as I wasn't required to wear one now 😳. I wasn't very happy to say the least. I've been to 3 different hospital and it was the same in all of them.
So sad. It reminds me of the old "designated smoking areas" in restaurants, which were often the tables adjacent to the "non-smoking" area. Magic!
LOL. I don't remember the airline, it might have been a foreign one, but I remember one side of the aisle was smoking and the other side was no smoking!
I haven't worn a mask in a few years. In USA I don't see many wearing at our hospitals or doctors offices, airports or stores.
Curious as to why you’ve decided not to wear a mask now? It’s nearly four years since Covid arrived, so not long ago.
Just got tired of wearing it & no one else was.
I wonder - do you bother with wearing a seat belt when riding in a car? It's the same general principle.
Yes, both safety issues but the difference for me is that I have always felt I couldn't breathe normally in the masks and always marvel at those who do so for long periods without an issue. Do so under certain circumstances but not as regularly as seat belt.
Seatbelts are law.I don't feel the need to wear a mask. It's a personal choice.
Personal choices can have surprising unexpected consequences. Because more people in the US value the freedom of not wearing a seat belt compared to other countries, this was the result, "In the USA, where airbags are larger and more powerful and seat belt law varies from state to state, airbag related deaths and injuries are more common."
A uni mate of mine was responsible for the incorporation of air bags in new Australian vehicle designs, back when they became mandatory in order to reduce vehicle use deaths. He explained that the larger US airbags were mandated specifically because it was more likely that vehicle occupants weren't wearing seat belts. Hence the choice of larger air bags to achieve the equivalent injury and death reduction, but with the unfortunate result that even if occupants were wearing seat belts, they're still at a higher risk of airbag injury than other countries.
I'm from the states, just wondering what the hospital masking policy was a little over four years ago? I seriously don't know.
Policy for what? Seatbelts? Air bags? or Masks?
Seatbelt saved my life about 40 years ago. Drunk driver came out a side street and I T boned it. My car spun, the B pillar hit the rear of the other car and door bust open. The impact on the back of the car threw me, so I was hanging out the open door by the lap belt and half off the shoulder belt, watching the road go under the car. Without the seat belt I would have been out of the car and run over by own back wheel.
I'm not sure how much use air bags are other than adding a lot to the cost of new cars and destroying the interior beyond economic repair.
As for masks, we should adopt the same attitude as Japan and South Korea.
Hi
May I ask
1. Have you caught any serious infections
2. Are you on treatment and if so, which one
3. If vaccinated for things did you make antibodies
I only ask because after FCR chemo in 2018 I masked in public only for periods of severe neutropenia but never masked or gave getting any infection a second thought. I went 2 years without any infection except one nearly fatal fungal infection that most likely did not come from another human.
Thx
Skipro
Hi Skipro
Yes, I also had FCR in 2018.
Had 3 blood transfusions due to low neutrophils and anaemia. Have had at least four nasty chest infections, the most recent one a month ago and still recovering. I caught all from my husband.
I wear a mask whenever I go to inside public spaces, which isn’t often.
I had 3 rounds of FCR 2018. Remission & feel great since.
Initial vaccines & one booster. Built some antibodies. No more boosters.
No major infections. Occasional cold- I am with small children 2 days a week overnight. I had one bout of a virus that was going around in May - which lasted 5 weeks. Everyone who caught it had same 4-6 weeks which made me feel better knowing I had same symptoms & length of illness.
I went back to my pre covid life 2 years ago. I go to stadiums, movies, restaurants, parties etc. 💕
In my cancer center everyone is still wearing masks but when I ended up in the ER in the hospital connected to the cancer center, most medical staff weren’t wearing masks including the ER doctor.
I haven’t seen anyone wear masks there in last six months. In fairness, the only time I wear a mask is when I have a snuffle or cough ( & I always test for Covid first).
Equally, I tend not to mix in large crowds.
Went to Theatre last Wednesday - felt like I was coming down with something Friday night - by Sunday night more obvious - now enjoying a week of Clarithromycin.
Yes, appointment today, just one other person in the waiting area was masked and no staff were.
EDIT
Seems masks are required in admissions and A&E.
Yes we have the same issue when we go to the hospital. Apparently staff are not required to wear masks in the NHS now and even worse they can attend work when covid positive if they have no symptoms! Very scary
Yes this is exactly what I've been informed at my local hospital by a nurse!Just seems so wrong to me!
We have the right to be accommodated and protected against covid and other viruses. I ask them to please wear a mask.
Sadly, where I live, no one has been masking ANYWHERE in about a year. Since covid, I mask ALWAYS and only go out when I'm forced to. We've got to look out for ourselves and find relief from the depression this causes. I reach out to God, family, and esp my HU friends. Don't forget our furry little friends- priceless too.
I always wear a mask — yet never see anyone else with one on. Never! Crazy world. — Stupid world.
Haven’t worn a mask for a long time, always felt uncomfortable wearing them. Not sure what the chance is of picking up something, I suspect it is very low, especially if you’ve had the vaccine.
Just wondering, are you on watch and wait? If you are not and are taking a BTK inhibitor. the ability for your immune system to manufacture antibodies when you get the Covid shot decreases. Wishing you well.
I am a year into round 2 treatment (venotoclaz + rituxamib). My consultant is pretty relaxed about the mask situation. My view is that you need to enjoy life rather than worry about the small chance of picking something up. To be fair I don't go out as much as I used to due to suffering from PHN related to shingles. Indeed stressing about the impact of CLL could cause shingles, which I wouldn't wish on anybody.
Same here. There is often just one other person masked. But I continue because it seems to be working. I haven't been sick with anything since masking and social distancing started, and I love it. And the last thing I want is long covid. In the last few months I've been a little less rigorous. If I'm not in a crowded room and can social distance I'm OK without the mask. I judge the room for ventilation, high ceilings, etc. But then there's always the person who comes right up and talks in my face and I feel it's too rude to put a mask on then.
Hi, I visit my onology unit once a month, no one wears mask anymore including me. I think it must be nearly a year now since masks were worn. I also work as a volunteer in another hospitals onology unit and I reckon 10% of patients wear masks , staff don't. Remember staff are still expected to work even with they test positive.
In short masks don't work in any shape or form. It's been proven countless times. More of a confidence booster than a COVID one.
How patronising and untrue!!!
What mask are you wearing may I ask please 🤔
I think it depends what kind of mask. KN95 have been proved to provide excellent protection against Covid for up to 45 mins
My co-administrator, AussieNeil , recently shared this post which explains the benefits of good quality respirators (eg well-fitted N95 masks) and how they can help to limit the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other airborne viruses.
healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
CLLerinOz
I'm sorry you think that. It is not true, but confusion about it is widespread, even or especially in medical circles.
Not true. I attended a large (300+) funeral at the beginning of Covid. I wore my N95 and tried to keep my distance from people. I cleaned my hands with sanitizer everytime someone grabbed it to pay respects. It turned out to be a super spreader funeral. Half the people that attended came down with Covid and I did not. Turns out I actually hugged the nice lady that brought the Covid to the funeral. Explain to me how my mask didn't protect me please?
Probably luck. Depends on the mask . If you feel comfortable and reassured wearing one ....go for it. All I am saying is eminent scientists have said the basic masks do very little and the fact most people wear the same one for days it's probably harbouring germs. If you look for John Campbell on YouTube it may change your view slightly ? Also more controversially it would seem the covid vaccine is actually creating a resurgence in some cancer's. I wish you well in your journey regardless of our opposing views🙏
Sadly, last year John Campbell found how to greatly boost his YouTube income by spreading mis/disinformation healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
You need to look more critically at why some eminent scientists are making controversial claims, such as cancer resurgence. There were certainly more cancer related deaths in the years following the pandemic, due to cancellation and/or postponement of treatment and screening. Remember, medical services were overloaded because of the pandemic. However, it seems there's really no evidence to support turbo cancer claims: sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr...
With respect to "eminent scientists have said the basic masks do very little", that's probably a fair comment, because very few people were wearing N95 or better masks because they simply weren't available, with surgical masks and cloth masks the norm and not fit tested. The Cochrane report into the evidence for mandatory masking (and Cochrane reports are highly regarded) was inconclusive, but a significant weakness of the study was that there was no control of mask wearing outside of mandatory mask wearing locations. It wasn't a meta-analysis study on the risk reduction for individuals. Of note, the lead author of the Cochrane metal-analysis is a member of the Brownstone Institute, brownstone.org/author/tom-j... From the Brownstone Institute's About page; "The motive force of Brownstone Institute was the global crisis created by policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. That trauma revealed a fundamental misunderstanding alive in all countries around the world today, a willingness on the part of the public and officials to relinquish freedom and fundamental human rights in the name of managing a public health crisis, which was not managed well in most countries. The consequences were devastating and will live in infamy."
As you noted, risk reduction "Depends on the mask."
Neil
oo
From my own personal experience I'm going to have to agree with sidesy.
From late February 2020 we were required to wear masks at all times. The company supplied 3M N95 masks to all employees (one new mask per day). I procured about two dozen extra for when I might be required to go to Rx or grocery stores (not more than 6 times total until COVID took me down). I did a big grocery trip after work on 5/8/2020. That next Monday I felt terrible. That whole week my temps were in the normal range (Security detail scanned all employees when entering the facility).
After work Friday I took my temp after getting home and it was 101°. I went immediately to the Covid ward at major hospital, had my nose swabbed with a long Q-tip for testing. 36 hours later they called and said I tested positive ..... said we'll stay in a wait and see mode.
That next Monday morning my temperature was 103.5°. We called the EMT and off I went to a quarantined Covid floor at the hospital. The second day they started a 5-day course of Remdesivir (which did virtually nothing since my O2 levels were still below 91). The staff ordered a transfusion of plasma from a matching donor who had earlier recovered from Covid. However, the plasma did not arrive until the 9th day (I'm O-). Within 12 hours my O2 levels had snapped back up to 95-96, and the next day I was printing 98-99.
So from my own personal experiences the 'religious, daily masking up' did not prevent me from acquiring Covid.
Anecdotes are the poorest level of evidence, but for what it's worth, I've been living with a severely compromised immune system due to chronic neutropenia for nearly 14 years. It's our neutrophils that primarily keep us safe from infection. At times my neutrophil counts drop under 0.5 - and bone marrow stem cell transplant patients are not allowed out of isolation until their neutrophil count is over 0.5. Once I ended up in hospital with febrile neutropenia after going shopping unmasked going grocery shopping during a business Christmas shopping period. Prior to working out that I needed to mask in public if I wanted to avoid respiratory infections, I quit using public transport to attend educational workshops on CLL - perhaps 3 hours exposure per workshop, as I found the resulting colds were taking me longer to get over. I've since travelled twice to Europe from Australia (up to 40 hours on public transport and waiting in busy international airports each way) and not picked up a respiratory infection. That was with the use of surgical masks, not the much better respirators, which I now wear.
Masking isn't 100% effective, after all N95 means 95% filtration, if the mask is well fitted, but scientific studies show that on balance, they do reduce your risk of becoming infected. See the studies referenced in this post healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
Neil
The shape and form is critical to function. Mask versus respirator. How many people understand the difference?
The levels of ignorance and misinformation, even in public health departments, are.... breathtaking. It's hardly surprising that "studies" fail to show much benefit from mask mandates when compliance is so abysmal - I have seen it with my own eyes in several hospitals.
One meaningful study, where the hospital staff concerned were given no option but to wear an appropriate face covering throughout their shift instead of standard issue: cam.ac.uk/research/news/upg...
I was at Preston Royal Hospital, yesterday- same story. A nurse told me that the staff at the blood sample unit are not supplied with masks anymore. Just me in a mask and it was pretty crowded. I had to sit next to a patient who had just come from a ward for some tests. She was breathing heavily the whole time. When I went for my flu jab at the pharmacy opposite the hospital the pharmacist could not find a mask to wear and told me he would hold his breath.
We’re still the mask wearers and hopefully we’ll stay Covid free as a result. 😊
How terrible. My husband and I always wear a mask at the hospital visits. To mitigate issues with people not being masked we wait outside the building after he checks in they call him on the phone to say the consultant is ready. We are still shielding only out for hospital and gp everything gets delivered medication, food etc. Not great but important to keep my husband safe
Yes, I'm afraid that's my experience too. Even in the oncology depth.
No COVId has not disappeared. People I know still keep getting it. My wife was in hospital and hardly anyone wore a mask - but I did! So just wear yours and ignore everyone else.
Hi Mandy, I mentioned this a few weeks ago. I was in Scarborough hospital in North Yorkshire. We both wore our masks. Walked through reception area and a long way down hospital corridors. It wasn't until we reached the Haematology Department that we saw anyone else wearing a mask. The health care assistant who weighed me had a mask on as did the consultant I saw.Scarborough hospital is rife with Covid and a little while ago still had wards closed due to Covid19 cases.
I felt very unsafe, completed my appointment and got out of the hospital as quickly as possible.
Very scary ☹️
Absolutely. We have just been shopping, Dunelm and Sainsbury's, in both stores, saw just one more mask wearer! Our checkout lady at Sainsbury's asked about our masks and I told her that I am immunosuppressed due to my CLL. She then said that perhaps she should be wearing a mask, this is her first week back full-time after recovering from Sepis Pneumonia and back surgery. No one had advised her about being immunosuppressed in spite of her being so ill. She will be getting masks on her way home she said.
I've noticed the same on my last few visits to the haematology dept. Very few staff or patients with masks. Only one consultant wore a mask on these occasions
Very very few people wear a mask at the specialist cancer hospital where I go. Often I see no one. I don’t wear one either. It’s become normal again not to. Consultant said unless everyone wears FFP2/3 masks they don’t really help 🤷🏻♀️
Same story in Slovakia. Nobody wears masks anymore.
I was at UCLH (Macmillan Centre) yesterday for bloods and a consultation. Very few masks though they are still on the desk at the entrances (along with a hand-gel) for anyone who wants to wear one. Fewer and fewer however do.
Are covid, or any other virus stats still being published and if they are, can they be relied on, because I don't think most people test anymore.
Roger
I went to my hospital appointment last week and I was the only one wearing a mask when I asked why no one is wearing masks anymore I was told it had been stopped three months ago and it’s not a compulsory requirement any longer and it’s a personal choice whether to wear it or not
But I am petrified of catching anything so I’ll keep on wearing mine 🤗
I go to cancer hospital in London and mask wearing not in place they say it is choice. Haematology no mask in waiting area which you have to wait an hour. No mask on nurses taking bloods . No masks and they are a famous cancer hospital. Do not agree with this
Hi, Mandy..
I never see other patients wearing masks, and only one or two staff, in 13 hospital & other NHS appointments in the last 7 months since mask mandates were dropped in my local hospital, and I started counting. AND I started asking.
I don’t expect patients to; they haven’t taken an oath to ‘do no harm’. It’s their choice. But I do expect HCPs to provide equality of access to safe healthcare. It is our legal right.
I draw myself up to my full 5’ 3” and a bit, and calmly and clearly state that I am immuno compromidsed. I have leukaemia. Please would you wear a mask?
Out of 56 nurses and doctors, not one has refused, or even shown any resistence.
They usually put on surgical masks, which is a bit of a token effort, but as my main reason for doing it is to remind them that we’re still here and still need protecting.
With 100% success to date, I trust my faithful FFP3 respirator, but if we don’t swallow our pride and find our voices, they will just get comfortable, and those of us who should be protecting ourselves (but aren’t) will continue to be at risk.
I have found in life that asking always produces better results than not.
Bravo!! Exactly, "to do NO harm"!! Ignoring the FACT that covid is still there, does not make it any less deadly. Wishing you all the best.
I think we live in a different world than others!!! At my cancer hospital in Boston most patients and staff were not wearing masks! Honestly, I wear a mask whenever I am around a lot of people. I am pretty vigilant. I haven’t been sick in over 4 years except for having CLL. I think the mindset for others is that due to people being vaccinated there is no need to wear a mask. A lot of people think Covid is over. Lately I have had 5 of my clients get Covid. This is why I had to close my office and work remotely doing Telehealth. I think we all just have to focus on our own health and do what we can to protect ourselves. I’m glad people on this site are like minded!!!
It’s the case everywhere. Leeds Bexley Wing took advice from Christie, Manchester, obviously unable to carry out local IPC Assessments.! They are following orders or more precisely government guidance. Dangerous for Blood Cancer Clinics.
Hello
I am from the U.S. and our hospitals and Doctors offices have indicated at the entrances: “Masks are optional within our facility”.
Since Covid, I always mask up!! I wear a mask everywhere. When family or friends visit or I visit their home, within all public settings, etc.
Even when I was taken by ambulance to hospital, the EMT’s didn’t mask up and I specifically requested they do.
Here in the States I’ve only seen a handful wear masks over the past year.
I find it unsettling they aren’t required in hospitals, and medical offices (in my oncology unit) since there are new “very contagious” variants continuing to arise. Not to mention the threat of RSV.
Blessings of health to all!!!
Jill
Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston recently dropped their mask requirement but nursing staff and doctors still wear them in appointments.
I was shocked with my last visit at Dana Farber. It’s a cancer city and most patients were maskless. The mask also is protection for the flu and RSV. My specialist did have a mask on. We live in a different world with our CLL! We all have to make the best decisions for ourselves!😷😷😷
I was at DFCI yesterday and my Nurse Practitioner didn’t have a mask. She offered to wear one but I said I’m fine with the one I’m wearing. I had a substitute NP since the usual one I see was sick and stayed home. 👍
My physicians tend to wear masks.
I mask up everywhere indoors but find I am less bothered now with other people not masking compared to months or years before. I will take the precautions I need to take and hope for the best.
When I had my last haematology appointment in October (in Watford), I asked my haematologist about wearing masks and Covid risk without them. She, maskless, replied that Covid is so manageable now even for us with CLL, she is not concerned!
Hospitals and doctors’ offices in NJ (US) no longer require masks, including my local hematology office where I am the only one masked when I go. They have a treatment suite attached and I see nurses and techs walk in and out unmasked. I was pleased to see that the Rutgers Cancer Institute still required masks when I went in September.
I still wear a KN95 whenever indoors in any public space and have remained Covid free. I do what I can to keep myself safe.
I go to a regional cancer clinic in the Southeastern US. Masks are only required in certain areas. In my area, Hematologic /Oncology area, they are required in the waiting room only. They are required for everyone in the Infusion wing. One of the hospitals in my local area has reinstated the mask requirement due to heavy increase in RSV cases.
I've often thought, how nice it would be if we all lived in the same area. I would sure feel safer.
I live in Montreal, CANADA and I am proud to say that in my hospital, everyone wears a mask. We feel that we matter and feel protected. I am sorry with the cavalier attitude of many other countries. Wishing all of you good health. 🙏🏼💖
I live in Rochester NY, and throughout the pandemic I wore a mask and have continued to wear a KN95 everywhere-always. With the rise in Covid once again, and RSV, Flu-A, there hasn’t been a mandate for masks in health facilities, other than “optional”. I’m rather shocked and disappointed that even our health system is non chalant with regard to the spread of the various “cooties” out n about!!
If I didn’t have CLL, my choice would be to at least protect others, as it’s been determined there are those who are “carriers”, thus unknowingly putting risk on others. ☹️
Blessings and safekeeping for all!!💕
Yes, I was freaked out going to my Doctor at Dana Farber and very few were wearing masks. I guess I also didn’t get the Covid is over menu.🙄 I still wear mine.
Sandy
Ten days ago my wife was recovering from major surgery in an intensive care bed in a "world class " private hospital in London. Most of the staff attending wore surgical masks, some with nose uncovered, and the senior nurse was unmasked. On the ward, no staff wore a mask; a few visitors did.
When I went to Christie’s a few weeks ago, there was only me and a girl in the cafe wearing masks. I still choose to wear mine
Yes most times I go I’m the only one wearing a mask I also work in the hospital near where I live which I’m off sick , All the nurse tell me Covid is rife again stay safe keep wearing it Julie x
My hematologist oncologist still wears hers for all her appointments. I literally have not seen her mouth or nose in years! She is a smart woman. I could care less if I'm the only one wearing one out. I've had Covid this year and I don't want to catch it again. Not to mention RSV cases are on the rise in my area.
Last week I went to my oncology appointment. I was the only person wearing a mask (N95). I asked the RN rooming me to wear a mask and she had to LOOK for one. No masks for my GP visit the week before either. But I always ask them to wear a mask and they are very gracious and put one on. Still, pretty amazing that we have to ask, especially at the Cancer Center. (I am in the US.)
It's a pretty sad commentary about the current state affairs. And as someone has worn a mask for work and pleasure (construction and woodworking) for decades I'm always mildly surprised at the resistance.
In our hospital Tunbridge wells when ever we have to go no sign of masks we are the odd ones out but we will keep wearing them stay safe.
In December of 2022, I went for my three-month checkup, and was told that as usual, my blood counts were perfect. Feeling great, I happily enjoyed the holidays and my job as a pre-K teacher. At work, I always wear a K95 mask because I'm around small children. In January of 2023, I enjoyed two Saturdays in a row, of lunch dates with friends. On those days, I decided not to mask up because I wasn't around the kids. Looking back, I'm not sure what my reasoning was, but ....Anyway last week of January I contracted covid and it literally almost killed me. Between January and this past August, I was in and out of the hospital 8 times. In April I was told I had Richter's Transformation. Also, imho I'm convinced that covid weakened me so much, that it caused the CLL to transform. I don't think it's a coincidence. It makes me a little angry, that NO ONE wears a mask anymore, and people like us who are immunocompromised and don't make enough antibodies, have to continue wearing masks, while everyone else happily bounces around mask free. Covid did not disappear. On the contrary I heard we are about to experience a surge. So, you are correct, wearing your K95 mask. I know I certainly will, for the rest of my life.
I’m so sorry to hear what a terrible time you have had. I really hope you get stronger and can enjoy life again. Sending you very best wishes.
Thank you so much. Best wishes and the best of health to you too. My post was too long already, but the story has a happy ending. It turns out, that a BMB in August revealed that the Richter's, Large B cell Lymphoma had vanished, and been replaced with my old friend, good old CLL. So, the RCHOP, (which once again almost killed me, it depleted my entire immune system and platelets,) was cancelled after only one treatment, and replaced by Brukinsa and a once-a-month Gazyva infusion. My bloodwork is perfect again, and I feel wonderful. I'm finally going back to work soon, after being out since January. 🙂
Hello Mandy56
I see people walking around my hospital with out masks to but makes no difference to me. I am not worried about just covid, but also flu, cold and any bugs from patients who come into hospital for treatment. I wear a mask which is required if you have a port for blood draws, I suspect it is chemo protocol for cancer patients. Wear that mask at hospitals, I do. Blessings.
Hi. To be honest, Christie’s was one of the last hospitals in the area to stop masks. I am always the only one wearing a mask now.
I always feel very safe in the haematology department, because everyone is so aware of covid, even if they don’t wear masks, so I feel my risks there are about as low as they can be, but I still wear my mask.
I reckon the rest of hospital is lower risk than other
Hospitals as they don’t take acutely ill patients like other hospitals. Also Christie’s is a cancer hospital. People with solid tumours don’t need to be as scared.
I think the reality is that the rest of the world has gone back to being mask free, and it’s up to us to wear masks if we want.
My masks have protected me multiple times. We have lost two members of the family with covid when rates were high a few years ago, and staff not wearing masks contributed to this.
Christie’s take an active approach to covid. If they start to hear covid cases are going up, or patients are catching it at home, they tend to reinstate masks as and when. They constantly monitor the local incidence. They have an urgent line for people on treatment, who maybe have a fever, so they have a system for hearing about circulating viruses etc.
I would prefer if A&Es would wear masks, as it makes it quite frightening to go into an A&e where infection is a big part of their intake. It tends to make me not go.
I got a shock when hospitals were not wearing masks in the UK, but I think that’s mostly because i often feel in a forgotten group. Never feel awkward about wearing a mask. Do what you feel best protects you.
Same story here.I had my flu vaccination at GP surgery two weeks ago.I was the only one wearing a 😷 mask.No-one wearing masks in shopping centres any more.I intend stepping back from public venues over nx few months as exposure to respiratory infections increases as places become more crowded owing to increase indoors social gatherings at this time of year. Best wishes.
My US hospitals have made masks "recommended" in the main areas and provides them for free. I'd guess 5-10% are masked.
However, the cancer center within those hospitals still requires masks and compliance is very high.
Hospital appointment 
COVID-19 hospitalizations soaring in England. 
CLL and breast cancer
Bad News (Secondary Cancer)
