50 reasons to mask
In case you needed some inspiration, encouragement, or motivation today
I probably get asked about once a week (at the very least) why I am still masking. It usually comes in the form of the question “are you sick?” to which I respond (in my head, of course): “No, but I’m sick of hearing that question! I mask so that I don’t get sick!” I have what some have jokingly (but maybe not so jokingly) called infinite Covid from two Covid infections (that I am aware of). Most people know this more permanent post-viral state as Long Covid (also known as LC). Whatever you want to call it, it is TERRIBLE. 0/10, I would not recommend. Luckily, there is a very easy tool that can help prevent us from developing LC!
Anyways, there are plenty of amazing posts on why people mask, like Steph Fowler, LCPC, CADC’s great piece last year:
…but I thought I’d put together my own non-exhaustive list of 50 reasons (and responses you can give to people) about why one should/could mask with KN95s and N95s (unfortunately surgical medical masks - those blue ones we’re so familiar with - do not do an adequate job at protecting us or others around us! However, if that’s the only mask you have access to, it is absolutely better than no mask at all, but consider upgrading your mask if you can, and if you need help accessing masks, check out your local mask bloc here: www.maskbloc.org).
This is only a small sample of reasons one might wear a respirator - there are far more out there of course - but hopefully it can serve as a starting point if you ever find yourself needing one! Some are serious, some are more silly, some are a bit tongue in cheek, some are sarcastic, all are valid. No one needs a reason to wear a respirator (and in an ideal world, you certainly shouldn’t have to ever justify why you wear one) but here are some ideas anyways.
Why you might want to mask:
I just don’t want to get sick and there’s so much going around right now.
I already have Long Covid and I don’t want to make it worse with repeat infections.
I don’t want to inadvertently give anyone else a Covid infection that causes them to develop Long Covid if I happen to get sick. Masking helps prevent that.
Hundreds of people are still dying from Covid every week, even in 2026! I don’t want to be one of them!
I don’t want to be the reason someone else dies from an acute Covid infection or severe Long Covid.
I don’t want to inadvertently infect a child with Covid, especially when they can’t consent to what air they share, and likely don’t have the tools and knowledge to protect themselves.
I don’t want to contribute to the growing Long Covid crisis in children. Did you know it’s now one of the leading health problems in kids?
COVID-19 is often categorized as requiring either a Biosafety Level 2 or 3 (depending on the lab and country). That means that when handling Covid specimens, researchers have to wear full body suits and gloves, and additional PPE like an N95 respirator and face shield. Why should we “civilians” treat it any differently?
Everyone is at risk for Long Covid. Even Olympic athletes, NHL stars, and NBA players have developed it. Doesn’t matter how “healthy” you are.
My immune system is already compromised by prior Covid infections, getting a cold could knock me out for a month.
I know Covid is airborne and while vaccines are great (and I strongly believe in them!), the best way to protect myself and others is through a respirator like a well-fitted N95. The SARS-CoV2 vaccine helps lower transmission and reduces acute cases, hospitalizations, and death, but does not miraculously prevent all transmission (I wish it did!).
We’re still in a national measles surge and I really don’t want to catch it and wipe out all my existing immunity against other diseases.
I recently learned you can develop Long Flu from a flu infection (much like Covid:Long Covid), and the flu has been really nasty this season.
Bird flu is still out there mutating and marinating until it becomes a full blown pandemic and I don’t want to risk a 52% fatality rate.
I’ve developed POTS, chronic migraines, Myalgic encephalomyelitis, and other health conditions and disabilities after multiple Covid infections and I don’t want any more. My hands are full.
Long Covid is really, really expensive to manage in this country, and I can’t afford to get even sicker than I already am.
I have allergies and I’ve found that my mask really helps me with that!
When it’s cold outside, my respirator helps keep my face a bit warmer.
I always hated when strangers (read: men) would tell me to smile, and now with my mask, they don’t.
I want to be less identifiable to ICE agents, Flock surveillance cameras, and other law enforcement officers who threaten my safety.
I want to help protect my identity at protests.
I want to keep people I’m organizing with or protesting with safer from airborne illnesses, especially since BIPOC communities are especially at risk for acute Covid outcomes.
I want to easily show my disabled and immunocompromised comrades that I care about their health and safety (and actually do something that helps to protect them).
It’s impossible to know who you’re sharing air with (you cannot always tell someone is disabled or immunocompromised by looking at them), and so I prefer to err on the side of caution and mask to keep shared air safer for everyone.
Colonizers (see: North, South, and Central American settlers, Israelis) use(d) viruses to kill and decimate indigenous populations. I’m do not want to follow in their footsteps.
I want to set an example for my healthcare providers to do no harm and take diseases like Covid more seriously.
I have vulnerable, immunocompromised, and disabled family members at home that I want to keep safe.
I have vulnerable, immunocompromised, and disabled friends that I see that I want to keep safe.
I don’t want to give my cat covid!
I can only work part time and I work freelance, and can’t afford to get sick and miss more time at work. I don’t get sick leave either.
I love not being sick all the time! It’s such a game changer.
Masking is punk rock.
The government and WHO initially lied and said Covid wasn’t airborne, and now continue to downplay the dangers of Covid. Do you really trust them to be telling you the truth, especially with RFK at the helm of public health?
It was airline CEOs that pressured government officials to lift mask mandates and shorten quarantine times because their profits were threatened, not because Covid got less serious. Public health institutions haven’t been making evidence-backed decisions when it comes to Covid so I’m going to do what keeps me safe.
I value my memory and don’t want to get early onset dementia!
I can easily hide any zits that unexpectedly pop up on my face.
I like to keep an air of mystery.
I like to keep people on their toes.
My face is sometimes too expressive, and with a mask, I can keep my thoughts to myself.
Researchers have found a significant association between acute COVID-19 infections and an increase in car crashes (in other words, the risk associated with COVID-19 was found to be analogous to driving impairments seen with alcohol consumption at legal limits), and I don’t want to drive dangerously!
Black, brown, and queer communities are most at risk for severe Covid outcomes and I want to do my part to not put those communities further at risk.
As climate change worsens, viral spillover events from nature will become more common (meaning more pandemics). Heat waves can also accelerate the spread of infectious diseases. Masking will help keep me safer from these threats.
As air pollution continues to rise around the world, often reaching hazardous levels, wearing a N95 helps protect me from dangerous particulate matter that can permanently lodge itself in my lungs.
As wildfires continue to become a growing crisis across North America because of human-driven climate change, respirators (particularly P100s) can keep me safer and help me breathe in less soot, ash, and other volatile organic compounds.
It’s rude and frankly awful to give someone else a cold or a virus when you can so easily prevent that from happening!
I care about others’ health and bodily autonomy and want to live in a way that my actions reflect my values.
Our immune systems are not muscles that require infections to get stronger. So I want to keep whatever immune system strength I still have left!
We eliminated an entire strain of the flu when nearly everyone was masking up in 2020. Can you imagine what else we could do if more people masked.
I mask because I have to.
I mask because I want to.
Note: Most of my essays are stream of consciousness, mostly because I’m too tired and brainfogged with my LC and ME/CFS, but also because it’s a nice experiment to be (mostly) unfiltered. Thanks in advance for excusing any typos, spelling mistakes, etc. And at least you know a human actually wrote this! If I made any mistakes/errors in this piece, feel free to let me know in a DM, but please do so nicely.
I get maskne (mask acne), BUT that doesn’t prevent me from masking.
When masked for hours at a time (e.g., in transit, on flights), I’ve found that changing the mask every 3-4h helps prevent pimples. Grateful for the access to masks.