Rome--masks still a good idea?

They won’t hurt, especially in crowded areas. We returned yesterday from 3 weeks away, mostly in Italy. We masked on our flights, on the trains, in a few crowded museums and train stations. We tried to eat meals in less crowded spots. Fingers crossed so far (last flight yesterday), we stayed well the entire time in spite of being in close proximity to a few folks who had nasty sounding symptoms. There were a few others around us with masks on and everywhere we went, no one gave us a second glance. It’s nice to not get sick on an expensive vacation, which has certainly happened to us in the past:)

We did the same as Claire on our trips this year. Very few people were wearing masks, but we didn’t experience any funny glances.

I'm just back from Italy and wore a KN95 mask on every train and bus journey.
I came down with Covid in Florence two years ago and tend to pick up every respiratory bug going anyway.
I was often the only person wearing a mask for miles around, but who cares....I felt better wearing one for my own sake.
A week after returning, I'm fine...just some seasonal allergies to falling leaves, etc.
I think if it makes you feel better, do bring and wear masks.
Be sure to buy good quality ones, not flimsy paper ones.
Perhaps be sure to be up to date with your Covid vaccines and Flu vaccines before you travel, too.

Thanks for your help everybody,.. Looks like we will be wearing masks and will get the high=quality kind.

Kathie

Nobody is wearing them in Italy, and don’t really use buses or trains much, but I wear N95 respirator on the airplanes because airplanes are Petri dishes and someone sitting near you will almost certainly have some viruses to share and considering the proximity to other people it is a good practice. The problem is that even N95 respirators are useless unless you follow the proper masking protocols, including the PPE wearing sequence (I’m a hospital worker so they teach us that stuff and test us regularly), and that is not easy to do for many hours on a long flight. It’s also a good practice to change respirator every 4-6 hours, in case you are on a long flight. You can find proper instructions on the CDC website in the NIOSH page.
Other than that just keep a distance from others while indoors when you can. Outdoors you are at low risk (so eat at outside tables if the restaurants are packed).

Masks don't help that much.

You do know what the "95" in the name of the N95 mask means, right?

95 stands for 95% effectiveness at keeping out particles of 0.1-0.3 microns. A virus is about 0.1 micron in diameter.

Masks don’t help much because it’s really hard to wear them properly for a long period of time. It’s hard to breathe with those on.

Avoiding being too close to people’s faces indoor is best. Touching people, like shaking hands, is not good either, But I find it impossible to stay far away from people’s faces on crowded airplanes or buses, so those are the only places I would consider wearing a mask. And it’s not just Covid. Even a simple cold would make your vacation miserable. But I don’t wear masks outdoors, never have, not even during peak Covid.

Perhaps we can get back to the question related to choosing to wear a medical/N95/N99 mask while travelling as opposed to anecdotes about their effectiveness…..There are lots of viruses circulating, including Covid, so making a personal plan to stay well is a good idea.

We have spent 7 weeks in Italy and Switzerland and are seeing very few masks, maybe 1-2% of people are masking. We are fully vaxxed for everything we can be. Letting nature take it’s course from here but then we tend to be people who don’t get more than an occasional cold.