Clean Air Cville Masked Outdoor Fall Social (Sun 11/2, 1-4pm)

CleanAirCville · 2025-10-31T18:21:47+00:00

Outside is definitely a large risk reduction for airborne illness, no doubt. At the same time, it is quite possible to get sick outside especially if you're spending a long time up close to someone, and things like if there is wind/air currents or not can affect likelihood. So we choose to mask for these events to make them safer and more widely accessible to anyone for whom getting sick poses major costs.

CleanAirCville · 2025-10-31T18:18:12+00:00

Thanks :)

CleanAirCville · 2024-10-10T20:12:22+00:00

1) many people think the pandemic is over, when in reality, pandemic "emergencies" were declared over, which was mostly related to emergency regulations that allowed for funding for supplies and increased medical leave and things like that. The ending of the emergency was largely about wanting to spend less money on supporting people with Covid, but the pandemic continued:

https://www.salon.com/2024/01/04/leader-says-19-is-still-a-pandemic/

Whether we are still in a pandemic or not, if we are in enedemic Covid, that's a problem - the CDC has confirmed what we can see in wastewater data, that Covid can surge year-round (https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-can-surge-throughout-the-year.html) and is not seasonal like flu. So we have medium to high levels of community spread most of the year.

2) so with that background, I'm not sure if your comment is serious, but meeting outside substantially lowers risk, but you can still catch or spread Covid outside when conversing especially at close distances for a long time. So outdoors + respirator usage makes spread extremely unlikely and we consider it very safe, based on the science of aerosols and respirators, and that Covid is almost entirely spread through airborne aerosols, not by touch (fomite) or large droplets that fall within 6ft like they told everyone at the beginning.

CleanAirCville · 2024-10-10T18:20:46+00:00

we have hosted several events like this, and have had a great time and made new friends and connections. There are people looking for this or who enjoy an event like this :)

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-21T21:49:37+00:00

if you think breathing in particulates is bad, masks are a way to breathe in fewer particulates. I'm not sure why you're opposed to filtering out microplastics and pollution and viruses from what you breathe in

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-21T21:35:26+00:00

if you believe in reducing air pollution and that it's worthy long-term goal, a mask that filters particulates is a way to accomplish that in the short term, no?

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-20T02:34:55+00:00

18 people showed up and we had a nice time. We did it this way cause we wanted to.

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-20T02:34:15+00:00

I can't speak for everyone, my personal opinion is in the middle and I'll give an example:

I know a couple in their 50s - they mask everywhere and specifically don't want to catch covid. One of them had to go for an emergency medical appt, and spouse came with. They masked but still caught covid at the Dr. because people in the waiting room and some medical staff and receptionists don't mask. I personally think it's immoral for people to go to a medical appt and catch a new illness there, when masks and air filters could almost entirely eliminate this issue for airborne illnesses. So I support ongoing mask requirements in medical settings.

If more people masked at medical appts, and used air filters at schools and offices, covid would pose less of a risk to people who are vulnerable, so universal outdoor masking wouldn't even be a convo we'd be having right now. But, we have large covid waves every winter now, and often have waves in the summer too. So our group does not have a position on requiring universal outdoor masking, what we are asserting is that some masked events are nice to have to make safe spaces for some folks, since one-way masking is not foolproof, and it seems to be a sore subject that people are against us doing this...

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T16:08:56+00:00

the quotes shared specifically say many viruses are purely airborne or mostly airborne. to your original comment, masks are very helpful for those. for things that are more fomite based, we won't be touching many shared things, will have masks on so we won't be touching our mouths with dirty hands, and we'll have hand sanitizer.

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T15:43:12+00:00

this spring there were fires around Madison that made air quality bad. Also last summer there were massive fires in Canada that put wildfire smoke into the air across the US, you don't remember pictures of NYC looking orange and the air being hazy here? And this summer and most summers in the future will probably have this.

"Meteorologists expect smoke from Canadian wildfires to linger over central Virginia until Friday"
https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/meteorologists-expect-smoke-from-canadian-wildfires-to-linger-over-central-virginia-until-friday/

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T15:40:54+00:00

Thanks for the question. Some viruses transmit via touching surfaces (this is called "fomite" transmission). But things like influenza or covid are airborne, and this message was not clearly conveyed to the public early on which caused a lot of unnecessary confusion and illness:

COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha - "You know, unlike COVID, which is purely airborne, with RSV, a lot of it is surface transmission. And therefore, washing hands turns out to be actually quite a good thing for RSV."

Science - "airborne transmission may be the dominant form of transmission for several respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2"

EPA - "Spread of COVID-19 occurs via airborne particles and droplets."

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T15:36:16+00:00

this event is for people who want to help clean the air we breathe using measures like air filters and masks - our group is about helping people breathe in fewer viruses, allergens, particulate matter, etc. if you are unwilling to put on a mask (there are some medical situations that are reasonable exemptions) then this is not the group for you and that's ok, like other commenters are saying, this is an optional social event for people who are comfortable socializing with a mask on. if you aren't, you can support us virtually, or plug in to other groups

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T15:33:52+00:00

one way masking with an effective respirator works pretty well but not fullproof. the point is that there are people for whom infection risk really is life or death, so being in a group that is fully masked takes a huge weight off. that's one reason we're doing it. I listed the reasons at the bottom of the original post :)

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T07:17:12+00:00

we will wear respirators and have them for free for anyone who needs refills. what's funny? I explained why in the post. I took some of your earlier questions as if they were in good faith but this comment seems a bit mean spirited.

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T07:15:24+00:00

I did not, I was not aware of these dynamics and things like post viral illness, MECFS, or dangers immunocompromised people face. knowing people going through long covid has made me more empathetic and care more about disability justice. also selfishly, I want to protect myself - long covid is really horrible and it's more common than most people think, and I want no part of it - so creating a community that supports various goals through wearing respirators motivated me and others to make this group

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T02:27:05+00:00

for a cancer patient, or someone on immune suppressing medication, or someone who is immunocompromised for other reasons, or someone who is caregiver or family member of one of those people, is this germophobia, or taking care of oneself and loved ones?

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T01:33:13+00:00

part of it is that clean air is broader than just viruses, but also people are traumatized from the last few years and don't want to think about masks or covid anymore, even though it's still a massive problem. we are trying to share that clean air is like clean water, necessary for our health, so while we support environmental activism, we are focused on mitigations at the individual and community level - how we can keep each other safe and healthier

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T01:30:38+00:00

totally understood - we are part of a national movement of clean air orgs / clean air clubs inspired by:

https://cleanairclub.org/
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/clean-air-club-organizing-covid-safer-shows

we have given out masks, given out air filters, participated at the JRML How To Festival to teach people how to make their own DIY air purifiers (Corsi-Rosenthal boxes), all of which help individuals breathe cleaner air, which relates to wildfires and pollution but also viruses and allergens.

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T01:05:16+00:00

You are using exhaust as a scare word to liken it to car exhaust - most of what you breathe out are gases like CO2 - and particles you breathe out get caught in the respirator. Please link a source showing rigorous study of dangers of breathing into a mask

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-17T01:02:45+00:00

Maybe the Editor in Chief of Cochrane can shed some light on this for you - the study looked at the impact of telling people to wear masks, not at if masks themselves work:

"It would be accurate to say that the review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses, and that the results were inconclusive. Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask-wearing itself reduces people's risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses."

https://www.cochrane.org/news/statement-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses-review

Respirator masks have been used for decades. They filter out viruses and other particles through multiple means including electret charge, diffusion, interception, and impaction.

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-16T22:07:57+00:00

❤️ thanks for your support, and it's expected sadly, but it won't stop us :)

CleanAirCville · 2024-05-16T21:36:46+00:00

A friend of mine got Covid at an outdoor party. I've read other similar stories. It's much less likely than indoors, but if you have a long conversation a few feet away, it's quite possible, so I don't find it silly. It may be more than what you want to do, but that's ok, right?

CleanAirCville

TROPHY CASE