Data Report

Just saw this on X for the UK.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust re-introduces face masks in response to "a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in our hospitals"

Source of information.

1. @gwladwr on X

https://x.com/gwladwr/status/1975652979920584823

Here is another story that list even more masking requirements for healthcare workers in California.

Mask mandates return in parts of the Bay Area as virus season nears

Source of information.

1. SF Chronicle.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/bay-area-mask-mandates-21088785.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

This time a hospital in Canada.

Masking returns to hospital for respiratory illness season.

Source of information.

1. Doppler Online.

https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/masking-returns-to-hospital-for-respiratory-illness-season/

Canada: As respiratory illness season arrives, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) has updated masking requirements in the hospitals.

Effective October 3, staff, patients and visitors are wearing a surgical mask over their nose and mouth while interacting with patients/visitors, and/or upon entering a patient’s room/space.

Source of information.

1. Muskoka.

https://muskoka411.com/masking-returns-to-local-hospitals-for-respiratory-illness-season/

Spain is once again making mask mandatory in some settings.

Source of information.

1. Euro Weekly News.

https://euroweeklynews.com/2025/11/28/spain-hits-back-masks-are-mandatory-again/

North Carolina: Cone Health updating mask and visitor policies with respiratory illness cases rising.

Source of information.

1. WXII12.

https://www.wxii12.com/article/cone-health-mask-visitor-polices-changing/69685247

"MASKING CHANGES

Patients and visitors are encouraged, but not required to wear masks.
All Cone Health staff will wear masks when caring for patients."

Personal NOTE/remark:

I live in NC (but not in the aforementioned county where Cone health is)

My loved one is soon to have gall bladder surgery and I am going to make sure everybody knows I am not just a visitor but a caretaker.

Its good to see staff masking!... However I don't understand why patients and visitors wouldn't be required to mask as well... airborne illnesses are known to linger in rooms for hours! and that waiting room must be a host of germs! At least doctors and staff here are more safe!

There are also policies/mandates at other hospitals from time to time which don't allow visitors at all... In that case, I would think allowing visitors that were required to mask would be more ideal.

The weirdest policy Ive seen at some hospitals is when some hospitals don't allow visitors at all and yet at the same time there aren't any masking requirements for staff or anybody.. to me, this is horrifying because I am a  Masked caretaker.

I am the Masked Man who stands by my loved one's side and has made sure all staff and doctors that approach me and my  masked elderly loved one wear masks regardless of their policies. Ive done it before and I'll do it again. I get in their face and simply politely request "we prefer you mask for us if that's okay" and they always do.

I share a little secret you can simply request they mask for you, yourself... I encourage people to request staff and doctors who approach them to wear a mask regardless of policy or mandates... They often will accommodate you if you tell them that's what you prefer.

just politely repeat your simple request that you prefer them to mask for you …

Already having our masks on and also just repeating the words “we prefer you wear a mask for us, if that’s alright” politely and respectfully has gotten doctors and staff to mask for us promptly.

(Also tell whoever leaves your room like the masked nurse to relay to the next person that is to enter room that you prefer them to mask as well… but even if you request this be prepared to make your simple request yet again for each encounter: politely say “we prefer you mask if that’s alright”  for any staff , technician or doctor that approaches you to work with you and/or your loved one.) 

The Masked Man

I thought it befitting to include a private residence and household that proudly has a strict masking mandate in place since 2020...
here at:

Masked Man Music Studio & Masked Woman's Mountain Flower Bakery
of the High Country, North Carolina

1.Source of info The Masked Man

Masked Man & Masked Woman's Trip To Doctor To Drop Off Paper Work & See Masked Nurse & Masked Doctor Briefly Music Video

Here's our trip on foot to prove even a 77 year old woman can mask and can hike in a mask a couple miles to doctor and back so why can't healthcare workers toughen up, show some respect, and mask for us!?...
Video LINK:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kw_nxomTcrLyf3zTJx0UW0mQ7D1P9k-u/view?usp=sharing


The Masked Man

P.S. A little about myself... As a caretaker who masks, serves, and protects a relatively healthy masked loved one who is 77, I want to keep healthy & fit, and I don't want unnecessary risks from airborne illnesses and airborne viruses just because sick people and people who work with sick people aren't smart or kind enough to mask.  I must confess I get the creeps for good reason around maskless people especially maskless healthcare workers who try to approach us and maskless people in waiting room some of which are obviously sick and often coughing and showing signs of pain and suffering. Maskless people make me sick. I have an aversion to pain and suffering...'hence, my mask'.

I understandably feel nervous and sick with anxiety about entering an area where sick suffering people often seek treatment. I love myself and love not being sick. Out of sheer nervousness I go to the bathroom a million times right before the healthcare trip. I don't wanna catch anything from the doctor's office! I rehearse the words "we prefer you mask for us if that is alright". I tell you this just to let maskless people know how it really feels for some of us that choose to protect ourselves by masking. Healthcare facilities are the places where sick people gather and often seek medical attention. It's in everybody's best interest to mask in healthcare areas. Also, I have the right to not wanna catch anything when I have reason to believe I'm being exposed to something at a sick house Call it what you like but that's what a healthcare facility is..it's a place where sick people go... reality is it's a 'sick house'.

To me the one big common misconception throughout medical care is this: medical care isn't always just about medicine, internal medicine or intravenous drugs.. medical care also includes the use of tools, apparatuses and exercise and things we have to do. We must learn to use everything when treating and preventing illness, disease, and injury. The mask is an indispensable tool that actually works and is a must-have weapon of prevention against airborne illness and disease for both doctor and patient alike. It's non-invasive easy to use and should be taken advantage of if we are to fully embrace the Hippocratic oath especially the part that reads "I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure".

...for the mask can do this! It not only helps prevent just one airborne illness it prevents more than one type of airborne illness .. a multitude of illnesses! and its in accordance with the Hippocratic oath's statement in regards to prevention! For a doctor to omit using the mask is like omitting part of his Hippocratic oath! We all want an easy cure but hey! Don't skip or skimp out on utilizing the preventative measures esspecially if they exist!

It has always pretty much been an accepted practice in the medical world and the custom of all civilized societies to protect the healthy from the sick by separating them from one another.. that is the usual common sense custom that the medical world has known about and strives to practice. One of the ways to keep the healthy separated from the sick is by using the mask which is a noninvasive means and considered a humane way of preventing the spread of airborne illness and airborne disease. The mask is an essential and effective tool and means to prevent airborne illness and airborne disease when it is not always possible to completely separate the sick from the healthy. The mask is supposed to be used when the sick and healthy are forced by necessity to be in the same quarters.

Please protect yourselves and help prevent the spread of airborne Illness and airborne disease by using masks. Please mask for those that are masking for you.  Thank you.
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