Still cover mouth when coughing even if wearing mask?

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 7:36 am

I was raised to always cover my mouth with my elbow when I cough, but it seems pointless if I'm in a place that requires masks and I've got a mask over my mouth anyway. Is it considered socially acceptable to not cover your mouth with your elbow if you have a mask on, or is that still the proper ettiquette?

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 7:47 am

amother Lemon wrote:

Do you trust that your mask is working and not letting any germs out?

I wear the surgical mask when I have to wear one, and I'd only really trust a properly fitting N95. But I don't trust my elbow much either.

I'm just wondering if it's considered bad manners to not cover mouth, if wearing a mask. I don't think the elbow will do much to prevent germ spread, but if it prevents people from thinking I'm gross, it's a very easy thing to do...

it’s okay!

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 7:51 am

I’m so used to covering my mouth with my elbow that I continue to do it without thinking even when I wear a mask. I never thought of it, but now that you brought it up I realized I do it even though the mask is technically meant to keep germs from spreading.

amother

Banana

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:13 am

Yeah I know it defeats the purpose, but I lower my mask and cover my mouth with an elbow or a tissue. Hate the feeling of coughing in to my own face. (Obviously I only wear a mask because I'm forced to.)

amother

Midnight

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:27 am

How do you cough into your mask? Gross. Also where are you still required to mask yikes. And it’s beyond ridiculous to cover your mask if you are coughing, if coughing comes through so does breathing and you might as well not wear it.

amother

Maple

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:29 am

amother Midnight wrote:

Hospitals, medical centers, dentists office, still require masks.

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:35 am

amother Midnight wrote:

In Israel they still force them in medical settings, even if you come in for like a broken foot and don't have any signs of a respiratory infection.

Ridiculous, yes, but we the people don't have a choice unless we want to risk getting kicked out of the medical establishment, and usually we only go in those if we need to...

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:39 am

amother OP wrote:

Interesting. Im in israel and have been to the dentist and the doctor over the last while. Nobody is wearing masks anymore. Not the doctors, secretaries. Nobody.

amother

Maple

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 9:44 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Interesting. Im in israel and have been to the dentist and the doctor over the last while. Nobody is wearing masks anymore. Not the doctors, secretaries. Nobody.

And at my dentist here in NY, all staff are still wearing double masks! Even the secretaries that are sitting behind a glass wall.

amother

Geranium

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 11:35 am

amother Midnight wrote:

1. Why is it gross to cough into a mask? Not the kind of cough that brings up secretions, but just a normal little cough. It's the same germs as breathing. Not gross at all.

2. In the NY area, doctors offices require masks.

3. "If coughing comes through, so does breathing"- not necessarily, because coughing comes with a force.
I'm not a fan of masks altogether and don't think they do much, but just pointing out that there is a difference between coughing and breathing.

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 12:00 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Interesting. Im in israel and have been to the dentist and the doctor over the last while. Nobody is wearing masks anymore. Not the doctors, secretaries. Nobody.

It depends where you live. Very few people want masks, but if it's an official law, then even if 99 people don't want and 1 person wants, that 1 person can force everyone else. Hopefully they will remove the law soon. Private clinics could still decide to mandate, but then people who don't want to can go somewhere else.

I've known one person from a kibbutz who said that during the whole Corona era, masks were never enforced at all on his kibbutz, and kids were always allowed to play freely outside in groups, because the police never went in there and there wasn't one stickler who ruined it for everyone else. If I could go back in time, I would have moved to that kibbutz in 2020, as my family suffered tremendously under the mandates. There seems to be no point in moving now, but if they bring lockdowns or outdoor mask mandates back, I know where I'll be moving (and it doesn't even have to be Florida!).

amother

Maple

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 12:00 pm

amother Geranium wrote:

You're suffocating your cough right back into yourself, ewww. A cough, even a slight cough, does bring up more germs.

amother

Dill

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 12:10 pm

amother Geranium wrote:

To address number 1, of course coughing is more germs than breathing. If you think coughing and breathing are the same germs, then people should never have to cover their mouths when they cough (because it's the same as breathing and you don't expect them to cover mouths when they breathe, right?).
I think its gross to cough into a mask and then have the cough germs sitting on the inside of the mask against your face

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 12:51 pm

amother Dill wrote:

Not to be gross, but I think one of the main reasons that a polite person coughs into his sleeve, is to prevent spittle from flying onto others. Also thay way he doesn't get it into his hand (why you shouldn't cover mouth with hand, instead use elbow) then shake someone's hand.

amother

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 12:54 pm

I heard that the surgical mask was invented, not to prevent spread of airborn disease, but to prevent surgeons from spitting on the patients' open wounds. Not just while sneezing or coughing, but sometimes people can accidently spit a bit even while talking.

amother

Dill

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 1:09 pm

amother OP wrote:

This exactly. The point of masks was never to prevent viral spread, and the purpose of surgeons wearing them is not so that surgeon doesn"t spread viral particles to the patient

theoneandonly

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 1:35 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Interesting. Im in israel and have been to the dentist and the doctor over the last while. Nobody is wearing masks anymore. Not the doctors, secretaries. Nobody.

IME here in Israel some doctors ask you to put on a mask and some don't.