https://whn.global/why-i-still-wear-an-n95-a-doctors-perspective/
"Ever since January 2020, I’ve been extremely COVID-cautious.
That might seem strange, given that I live and work in Sydney, Australia—where,
until mid 2021, we had relatively low community transmission compared to many
other countries. But from the outset, I chose to take a precautionary approach.
I saw doctors and healthcare workers dying overseas, and I didn’t want to risk
my health—or my life—for my job.
Adopting that stance so early on, I quickly gained a reputation for being
anxious and alarmist. Some colleagues even worried about my mental health.
But in truth, I was preparing for the worst-case scenario. I assumed COVID was
airborne, even when our hospital’s Infectious Diseases team insisted it was
spread by droplets.
As an anesthesiologist, I was automatically at high risk. I regularly perform
aerosol-generating procedures, which were recognized as dangerous from the
beginning. Now we know that even breathing and speaking generate aerosols — but
that wasn’t widely known at the time.
To be fair, my colleagues did take the situation seriously in the early months.
We practiced donning and doffing of respirators and gowns and avoided touching
our faces. For me, though, I saw COVID everywhere. While my colleagues removed
their N95 masks once away from patients and sat shoulder to shoulder in the
tearoom for lunch, I put my N95 mask on in the hospital carpark and didn’t take
it off until I was back in my car. These days, I take it off as soon as I step
outside the hospital into the fresh air.
To this day, I keep my N95 mask on at all times. In other words, I don’t eat or
drink during my shift. I pre-hydrate before leaving home and wait until I’m
home in the evening to eat and drink again.
When I’m on call overnight, I bring a portable HEPA purifier for the on-call
room—and sleep in an ear-loop N95 mask.
At home, I take many precautions, too. I use three CO₂ monitors, open windows
to maintain airflow, run at least one HEPA purifier in every room, and use
far-UV disinfection lamps. I believe that clean air starts in the home!
All of these precautions have kept me safe throughout the pandemic. In
contrast, almost all my colleagues have contracted COVID at least once—some
multiple times. Some of them even have Long COVID."
Via Violet Blue’s
Threat Model - Covid: May 1, 2025
https://www.patreon.com/posts/covid-may-1-2025-127880470
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
