Old North News

If there’s one thing society has learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that no one policy will please all the people.

The country is seeing that again with the recent removal of the mask mandate on public transportation, such as airplanes. While it was a welcome relief for many, some now have greater cause for concern.

“If there's not a mandate, then there's a lot of people making choices that could seriously negatively impact our family,” Dana Bengston told ABC 11 News. Bengston has family members who have compromised immune systems. 

The concern is that the mask mandate was so divisive from the outset that it puts Bengston and others who want to protect themselves in an awkward position. Asking someone to wear a mask isn’t guaranteed to be taken well in some cases.

Bengston's husband, Kris, battled an aggressive form of throat cancer a few years back. More recently, the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Julia, was diagnosed with leukemia, leaving her with little immunity. So contracting COVID-19 is not something Bengston can take lightly.

“We're going to mask up, and we're going to do what we need to do. We have not had an argument with anyone about asking them to wear it," she told ABC 11 News. "We're also very, very careful about where we go."

David Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Chapel Hill, is also concerned about the mandate being lifted. He flew to West Africa while the mask mandate was in place, but he’ll be flying home without the guarantee that everyone else on the airplane will be wearing face coverings.

He has his strategy mapped out.

"The good news is, even one-way masking is protective. We know that,” he told ABC 11 News via Zoom. “I wear my surgical mask. I have a cloth mask that goes on top of it. This pushes the surgical mask against my face better, so there's no gaps.”

He also said he times his mask breaks accordingly.

"When people are eating and drinking, I don't even drink. I wait. I'll wait till everyone's done. And then I will take off my mask for a very short period of time to do that,” he told ABC 11 News. “I don't want to synchronize with everyone maskless at the same time and me breathing in that air.”

Wohl also recommends taking some at-home COVID-19 tests on your travels. If you start to experience symptoms, he suggests testing yourself a couple of times. 

For those who choose to travel without face coverings, Bengston asked for consideration in those instances where someone requests it.

"Nobody knows exactly what's going on in someone's life or who they're in charge of taking care of,” she told ABC 11 News. “If you're asked to wear a mask, just wear it. Just have compassion."