My current general rules for masking are
- If I am outdoors in a sparse environment, I do not require myself to wear a mask, but should still try to keep a >6’ distance between myself and others. If I am already wearing a mask, whether and when I take it off is up to comfort.
- If I am indoors but alone in the room, a mask is recommended, as aerosols may still be lingering in the air; but if I figure enough time has passed, and masking is uncomfortable, I’ll allow myself to take it off.
- If I am outdoors in a crowd, or indoors with any number of people (with exemptions for a few specific people), I must wear a mask.
But when it comes to the “sparse” environment vs “crowd” rule… How many grains in a heap, right? I’ve tried looking into this myself, but the information I find is vague and contradictory, which leads me to feel conflicted in situations where it might be a heap but it’s hard to determine.
Any time I’m outside, I’m masking. The only time it comes off for me is to eat lunch at work and I basically hide way in the back of an alley behind my building where people rarely go, which even that I don’t like doing but I have to eat. Aerosols can stay in the air for hours and travel far, plus I live/work in a city so there’s not really anywhere I can go where I know for certain someone wasn’t there recently.