"There is no life without ice." If you can find a reasonably uncrowded rink, that looks like it is kept clean and sanitary, and you take reasonable precautions, I figure it's reasonably safe. I also walk and jog on uncrowded sidewalks and trails. And I've done a bit of inline skating on same.
As far as neck gaiters and other polyester masks, as I alluded to earlier in this thread,
Lately, I've taken to wearing two layers of washable mask in public places. I use a two layer cotton mask under a stretchable polyester mask. Studies say polyester masks aren't much good in themselves (the droplets don't stick, but break up into smaller droplets which may actually stay in the air longer, and be counterproductive), but the cotton masks don't conform perfectly to my face, so they would let droplets through. Ideally I should use polypropylene for the outer or inner layer - it generates static electricity when rubbing against cotton, that is supposed to help make the droplets adhere to the cotton. But I found a bunch of cheap Polyester masks at Walmart (I think about $10/pack of 5) that fit me perfectly.
There have actually been multiple studies that said polyester masks (including those neck gaiters, which I had in fact bought - BTW, they are only one layer thick) were not nearly as good as cotton. Not just the Duke one. And even later studies were only saying it might not be worse than wearing nothing at all. But I figure you could use those neck gaiters in the same way as I use my other outer polyester masks - on top of a double layer cotton. In fact, they might be nice when the whether turns a bit cold - sort of like a ski mask, though I admit they don't provide much insulation.
BTW cotton does sort of make sense. It is hydrophilic - meaning water sticks to it. Apparently including droplets. However, many of the mask tests were done using small airborne salt particles, because it is easy to make them in the hardest to stop size range. I don't understand why cotton would stop small salt particles better than polyester and other synthetics. Anyone know?
I just tried rubbing alcohol as an anti-fog layer on glasses, while wearing a mask. It works pretty well, though it may be temporary, until it evaporates. Some people say detergents work too. Many anti-fog sprays contain one or both.
I refuse to wear a transparent plastic face shield while skating. They move around too much. Imagine trying to spin with a loose shield bouncing around! Also, I'm not sure how well they stop the droplets at all angles. They seem to need anti-fog stuff too.
In terms of masks, I use the Under Armour sports mask which, for me anyway, allows better breathing than a normal cloth mask.
It's all synthetic materials, including polyester; no cotton. AFAICT, Under Armour provides no reason to believe it works better than other synthetic materials. Though it does look thicker, so it might be better.
Masks seem so alien to figure skating, which is so very much a visual sport! But we do what we must.
All the rinks I checked require masks. They are also want people to register in advance (so they can control the number of skaters), and non-skaters - including parents - can't enter the facility. At some rinks, I've seen rules you can't even bring in shoes or skate guards (I guess unless you can put them in your pocket - like flip flops and soakers, though the extra weight would interfere with spinning too), because they don't want you leaving things around that other people might touch. And don't count on being able to use drinking fountains - so drink water before you enter.
I'm sometimes wearing gloves too, even when it isn't all that cold. Just in case someone runs into me.