Arkay
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- Dec 20, 2019
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I wore a mask for the first time about a month ago. I'm in NYC and have emphysema. I live in a 23-story building, and ran into a good friend in the elevator. He was teasing me about the mask, but I told him that I had to go to the supermarket and since I'm 62 with COPD, I couldn't take the chance. I had worn the mask for approximately one minute at the time, and pulled it down to talk to him. But truthfully, I felt kind of stupid and also found it uncomfortable and difficult to breathe. He told me that his wife (my friend for 30+ years) was begging him to wear a mask, because she is homebound and has severe asthma. Then he told me that he just will not wear a mask (very few in my neighborhood were wearing it then). He works with an optician, has to deal with customers and has to do all the running around because his wife is homebound. It was too inconvenient and silly.
Yesterday, his wife died. She was also 62. He is a good guy who has taken care of his wife for years, and took care of his son when he was young, too. He is pierced to the marrow in case he brought something home to her. It hasn't been determined yet if she had Covid. She only spent two days in the hospital and he doesn't appear to be ill. She wasn't a well person to begin with, so it may be something else that killed her. But every time I think about how maybe it would be different had he worn a mask....
Please, everyone, don't give up on the precautions. One never knows.
I'm bringing my own quote over from the general Coronavirus thread, because it more uniquely applies to those of us in NYC and other places where elevators and lobbies are more common.