I don’t understand why anti-science people even want to attend science fiction conventions that have rules dictated by science to prevent illnesses.
Take the way Con Suites have changed over the last decade or so -- the food handling & distribution rules have gotten stricter. As a result, less Norovirus and the like spreading at cons over the last few years.
And I won't even remind people that by the late '80s, a bowl of condoms was generally available in many Con Suites. Why? Because science learned that you were less likely to get AIDS and other such diseases if you used condoms when you had sex. And most fans understood what that meant.
Now, conventions are starting to reopen with strict rules about vaccinations and masking. I’ve worn masks up to 10 hours a day while working on movies/TV shows - it didn’t kill me. There haven’t been major COVID-19 outbreaks lately on any movie/TV production as masking rules are strict & most people are vaxxed.
As cons reopen, they’re trying to not spread a potentially deadly disease. I will only go to cons with strict rules so long as COVID-19 is so active. We had hoped to go to Capclave last week but had a family funeral to attend. Capclave was about 2/3rds its regular size, but the people who attended seemed to have a good time despite the masking requirement.
We have started to go to movies and concerts again, but we always wear M95 masks in theaters.
We hope to take our first European cruise next year, on Viking, which has strict rules about vaccinations and masking. Most current cruisers report that most of Europe is open, most areas require masks in public and many require some sort of vaccination card. That makes the cruise and touristing sound very safe.
COVID-19 proves you can’t fight science - science always wins.
Found a science-based graphic from the summer of 2020 that shows wearing masks does not reduce the oxygen you breathe in. This was done by Dr. Megan Hall who had treated many COVID-19 patients and tried to reassure them with facts about masking:
2022.01.07. Things have changed some since I wrote this with the rise of the very transmissible Omicron variant. Luckily, most people who've had 3 shots of any vaccine tend to have something that's more like a mild cold or fever - so we're getting more transmission but less severe illness and fewer deaths among vaccinated people. Not sure if TV shows/movies are generally in production. In mid-December, just as Omicron was getting more common, we went to the World Science Fiction Convention in DC, a convention that required people be vaxxed and masked. About 2,500 people attended (we think - they never did announce a real number). The weather was mostly very nice so people could open their windows and congregate on balconies. We heard about 30 people developed breakthrough infections after the convention, most fairly mild.
2023.10.8. I'm not sure why I didn't say I had just had COVID-19 in early January 2022. I'd gotten it during a house visit to someone who thought she was sick with something other than COVID. I had 5 days of mild flu-like symptoms; by the time I was able to get a COVID test, my symptoms were gone though I tested positive. Jim was asymptomatic, tested anyway and was also positive. So we stayed in for, basically, another 2 weeks. It was the only time we used online grocery ordering and pick-up.
By 2023, conventions (and just about everywhere else) were much more casual about masking and vaxxing. I made the stupid choice to not wear a mask at Confluence in late July 2023 while I was running Registration, meaning I came face-to-face with every attendee, most of whom were not masking either. By Monday morning, I had some weird sneezing fits. By Monday night, I had a sore throat and just felt off. I tested positive using a home test. Had about five days of symptom, but had about another 2 weeks of good days and bad days. I would go out on good days but went back to wearing a mask just in case. Finally tested negative about 3 weeks after the first positive test. Jim tested negative twice while I was sick. About that time, we heard that people who don't get COVID or are asymptomatic may be protected by their genes which is interesting.
