> wouldn’t that reduce transmission?

Lowered symptoms on droplets would be better, but a lot of in-person workplaces have a "do you have a fever?" check before they issue you any sick leave.

Not having a fever and looking like a mild cold in winter would cause at least my cousin's employer to ask her to come in and wear a mask at work (manufacturing, so she wears a P100 respirator anyway).

Technically yes, but see this comment:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29826355

This is the “not wearing a bike helmet will make car drivers around you more careful” level argument. Let’s see some hard data please.

Obviously it's way too early to have hard data on this matter.

But the WHO has been warning about this for months.

> We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and to infecting someone else who could die.

> In many countries and communities, we are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions.

https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-dir...

Exactly, and that comment is why mask usage in public is still important. The two-pronged approach of masking and vaccination was always going to be our best way out of this, and nothing about Omicron fundamentally changes that.

Try not to get sick. If you do get sick, don't spread it. If you do spread it, try to spread less of it. Defense in depth.