Extremely, extremely bitter note: how much all the diversity&inclusion is all talk and no show was on clear display when FOSDEM didn't have a mask mandate.
Many people are completely sick of the precautions, in a world where if you want to live an even remotely reasonable social life you will get infected over and over: The cost of the countermeasures is seen as significantly worse than the cost of not taking them.
At this point, imposing a mask mandate would likely exclude many more people than it would include. To my knowledge, no tech events have banned masks, so anyone who wants or needs to avoid this risk has the option by wearing a well-fitted mask or respirator. Insisting that everyone else does is ridiculous.
People who who have cold symptoms should not participate in conferences at all. It just that everyone almost to no exception will ignore that and still go since they have already invested so much time and money going to Brussels.
It the same problem with airports. Every person who is there with cold symptoms have decided that traveling that day is worth more than the risk of spreading illness to others.
The big innovation during the covid pandemic was not masks, it was the cultural shift of people staying inside when they had cold symptoms. Sadly we are now returning back where it is totally fine to again have cold symptoms in public. That is the choice that shouldn't be theirs to make.
If you personally are well informed on the extent of the risks of endless reinfections, then you're in a minority but I agree that ought to be your choice to make, ideally.
But most people don't even know that N95s offer excellent personal protection, and most people are surprised when they see how long the list of interconnected risks is.
That was the gp that insisted that. I'm mostly just amazed at how many people don't even know enough to be making that informed decision. But yes, certainly just forcing the decision on them will backfire.
