Why I Keep Wearing a Mask and Dining Outside at Restaurants

The Monday before last, that is, October 9, I had dinner with a friend - outdoors. On Friday, I emailed him to say it was great to see him (it was!) and he'd had a positive COVID test that morning. There was quite a lot of nail-biting on my part until I'd had two negative test and he had figured out that probably he and other friends, all testing positive, had been exposed the following night when they were out together. 

Whew.

But...on Sunday, I had lunch with a friend - again outdoors - and then we sat next to each other for a long, long opera. I wore a mast during the performance, but chatted with various people ummasked at intermission. And this morning my friend, who has been under the weather since yesterday, tested positive. This is a friend who has been extremely cautious throughout the pandemic and its current more endemic phase.

I am once again biting my nails, and once again urging people to wear masks when you're on public transit, in public places, in stores, anywhere where you don't know everyone else's status, etc. Masking is most effective when everyone does it, and I am doing my bit with the masking.