Mr. Sparkle said

In a post-Omicron world, anything less than a K95 mask is theatre IMO. A plane (or subway car or restaurant) full of people in cloth or plain surgical masks is basically at the same risk as a plane full of people without masks. In the real world, the masks that 99.9% of the public wears are pretty much worthless.

It's like rubbing a rabbits foot but it provides the illusion of safety, so here we are.

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• "post-Omicron world" - like there will never be another strain of any virus of any magnitude ever? (even as reports circulate) Or any other world health crisis that may preclude humans working together for the benefit of all?
  
  
• "anything less than a K95" - like anything less than the best is worthless? What? Why get out of bed without 100% chance zero bad things will happen? Now nothing is better than something?
  
  
• "theatre" - dog whistle. Literally the definition of theater would be those on soapboxes ridiculing the steps taken to reduce the spread, now that those steps have worked.
  
  
• "basically the same risk" - No. That's not how viruses work. If no virus is present, no one is at risk of that virus. But there's always some virus of some sort, some mold spores, some irritant or whatnot floating around.
  
  
• "illusion of safety" - doesn't this sum up every waking moment for all of us? There are no guarantees. We each have our own version of risk assessment.
  
  I guess I don't understand the need to play on people's emotions, with the EXTREME language. Why not just use common sense?
  
  I also don't understand why with everything else going on, The Mask is the enemy. With the planes, you've got people from all over suddenly mixed breathing the same air - perfect opportunity if you're a virus wanting to spread. Sick people have been getting on planes forever. If wearing a mask for a couple of hours reduces the risk of getting any sort of sick from some joker coughing and sneezing, I'm in. I hate missing work. If that coughing joker is wearing a mask, my chances of breathing that in go way down. Common sense.
  
  So, no, not blinking an eye if masking is extended for a bit in certain areas. "Err on the side of caution" may result in work productivity. Don't you think it would benefit all of us if fewer people got sick?