Unmasked

It is almost exactly two years since the first lockdown in British Columbia in response the then emerging COVID-19 pandemic. The post-secondary Computer Science class that I was teaching at the time had about three weeks to run before the end of term and that last burst of educational activity was abruptly moved online with but the slightest of warnings.

That all seems an age ago now – which is, frankly, somewhat dismaying.

The College rather reluctantly stuck with online-only teaching for just over a year, during which time I taught two further courses from my studio at home. I must admit to have rather enjoyed the experience. Then – last autumn – we were summoned back to campus for a somewhat nervous term teaching face to face again – but this time wearing masks.

This side of Christmas I started another new course – on the College’s other campus – in rooms with which I was not familiar… and this in the face of the rapidly-spreading Omicron surge!

Finally – this week just passed – British Columbia followed the example of other Canadian provinces (and the slightly earlier one of the UK) in revoking its mask mandates in many areas… including in classrooms.

Thus it was last Tuesday that I faced for the first time a class of which about half were wearing masks and half were not. Safe to say that I was – and will continue to be – counted amongst the number of those taking sensible precautions.

So – what does this all look like now? The guidance that we have received from reputable official sources is that – after ensuring that one has taken up whatever level of vaccination is currently available (in the case of BC two shots plus a booster) – the next most useful precaution that one can take is to wear a suitable mask for whatever activity one is currently engaged upon.

The hierarchy of mask suitability is thus (from lowest level to highest) – cloth mask (not good!) – non-medical mask – surgical mask (level 2 or 3) – a surgical mask covered with a cloth mask (to keep the mask tight on the face) – or finally an N95 (or better) respirator. I wear a surgical mask covered with a cloth mask for things such as grocery shopping, but I wear a respirator in the classroom.

In the image at the top of this post one can see (from top down) – a cloth mask – a level 3 surgical mask – 3 different types of N95 respirators. As you can see – from struggling to find appropriate equipment back in January we now have a sufficiency…

…at least for now!