“Put your mask on” or “mask up” is a phrase that many people have been hearing lately, but has anyone wondered what it’s like not just in school? Such as different work places? 

Steel Dynamics Inc. has changed the way they do their day to day work. The company allows fewer people in areas of the plant and the employees do not order food collectively as much as they used to. 

Matt Anderson, who works at Steel Dynamics Inc., said that the employees are wearing a mask at work and have limited going out for lunch.

“Eating at home a lot more, and only using carry out when we do chose to eat at a restaurant. Another thing is making sure that I have a face covering before I leave the house,” Anderson said. 

While Anderson is minimizing COVID-19 exposure, he is not confident that it will work.

“Shelter at home didn’t suppress the virus to 0 cases,” Anderson said. “It’s silly to think that masks would work better.”

Unlike Steel Dynamics Inc., OMI Orthodontics has a steady flow of students with mildly crooked teeth coming into the building.

OMI has implemented several safety procedures including limiting people in the office, taking temperatures of patients when they walk in, wearing more protective gear and making everyone wear masks. The facility also has more staff helping with infection control procedures and everyone wears masks.

When the hygienists work on patients teeth, they wear hazmat suits and double up their rubber gloves.

“We are not spreading germs. The office is sanitized more often and everyone wears a mask” said Dr. Joel Johnson, who runs OMI.  Masks “keep everyone safe,” he added.

Dr. Johnson believes the steps he and OMI are taking make the facility safer for patients during this time of Coronavirus.

Both facilities are working toward keeping everyone safe, but the urge to return to a simpler time is strong.

“I would like things to go back to normal,” Anderson said. “Things were easier and just made sense.”