Items

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  2022-04-11

  Don't forget to wear a mask!

  This is an Instagram post by kondinincrc. This is a post about an upcoming Easter egg hunt for kids. It says that kids three and above are required to wear a mask. This is pretty normal for the time. Some places still require masks, while others do not. This has been an ongoing trend after 2020 where restrictions are lifted for certain things, but required for others. It is one of those aspects of the pandemic that have carried over for quite some time.
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  2022-04-07

  Where the Government Requires Masks

  This is an Instagram post by urbanpeaceinstitute. This post refers to places where mask mandates are still in existence. Even though mask mandates have been lifting in many places, certain places still want masks. Some of these places include: emergency and homeless shelters; public transit; healthcare settings; long-term care facilities; and correctional and detention facilities. These places are either government or healthcare associated. This post links to the County of Los Angeles Public Health for more information on the Coronavirus.
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  2020-10-13

  Muted Sense of Smell

  COVID-19 re-created a living paradigm I had experienced living in Japan for many years of wearing a mask in public, usually on public transportation or during flu season. Although I did not wear it all the time, when I did wear it my sense of smell would of course be muted, or I would smell my own breath. It would also bring to my attention what I perceived others would smell when I spoke with them making me more self-conscience of my breath (and increasing gum and mint purchases). Although I found it uncomfortable, I would deal with it for the short periods of time it was necessary. When the COVID-19 government responses in the US required the use of a mask in public, I found myself back in unpleasantly familiar sensation of having to wear a mask, but now one made of cloth, since disposable paper ones were hard to acquire or reserved for health care workers. Of course, said mask has been washed and dried with perfumed detergents further muting the sense of smell. What also made it worse was the fuzzy lint strings that existed on the inside of any mask (cloth or paper) that would tickle the nose and inducing a sneeze, unleashing a round of stares from strangers nearby. Overall, I have grown used to it, but the behavioral shift in wearing, washing, gathering, and staging of a mask that has become a norm, and so has the muted sense of smell. Sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse.