If you can, research N99 masks. They are way better than N95 masks. And if you can, wear a thin mask (like a surgical or cloth mask) on top of the N99 or N95 mask. That will drastically reduce the spread and contraction of even omicron. This virus is airborne, so that means eating in a public restaurant or dining outside next to an infected person puts you at risk because you have to remove your mask to eat. To really do everything possible to avoid contracting the virus, you should eat outside and alone during your lunch breaks - perhaps in your vehicle if it's snowing or raining. You should avoid eating in restaurants and coffee shops altogether, or at least during a surge. You should use the best possible mask and/or double masks when going into shared air space in any arena, including with those whom you know who are vaccinated (they could still be asymptomatic spreaders). You should be cognizant of your neighbor's shared plumbing and hallway air spaces or outdoor air spaces (like shared back yards or shared mail rooms), such that you flush the toilet with the toilet seat down in your own apartment, you wear a mask when getting the mail or going out into the hallway space of an apartment or condo building, etc. You should also invest in good air purifiers spanning your workspace and home. You should also encourage those who meet with you to remain 6 feet away - inside or outside - while also wearing masks and, if they can, getting vaccinated and boosted. You can set boundaries with people, including your employers, based on your risk needs.

There are ways to completely avoid contracting the disease, too, which may require curbside deliveries and contactless door deliveries and mail deliveries, as even a stroll inside a supermarket with a 3-ply or cloth mask poses a huge risk when delta and omicron variants spread within seconds - as opposed to the other variants that spread within 5 to 15 minutes. Studies have shown this for delta, and because omicron is more virulent, it is likely also similar. This is why it is important to double mask and have the best mask on the bottom layer - either an N99, N95, or KN95 or the equivalent.

You can also select to use a respirator mask.

Those may seem "extreme," but if you truly want to avoid getting the illness, this is what it takes with an airborne pathogen that remains under debate as to whether it is airborne or not.

People will say that they don't know how they got it when they did everything, but you have to ask if they were wearing their masks properly, and the correct masks that filter out the new variants. You have to ask if they still go out for NON-essentials, like to travel, to concerts, to the movies, to restaurants, to coffeeshops, to stores, to crowded spaces, to unkept work spaces with poor ventilation, to hugging people without masks, to congregating with people who are largely unvaccinated and unmasked, to protest rallies that are crowded, to resorts, to hotels, to churches, and more - all of which could be conducted online or safely in person if there were mask and vaccine mandates that were enforced. Unfortunately, it takes more than just our individual efforts. So, when the world or our communities lack in public safety, we have to up the ante if we truly want to "do all we can to avoid contracting the virus."