Are people wearing masks out & about where you are?

[SomewhereEast]

This very much isn't intended as a discussion of the pros and cons of mask wearing! I'm just genuinely curious. They're a very rare sight where I am - even staff in shops & supermarkets don't bother - but I get the impression we're outliers?

I am also outside Glasgow but I only see the odd one. Popped into an M&S foodhall last week and only saw only person in a mask.

It was more common a couple weeks ago, but in the last week it's dropped significantly. Even in the shop where there had been mask and gloves, there is nowt now.

Not in our village so much but in the local town its around 50% I reckon. And of that 50%, 95% fiddle with them, wear them incorrectly or pull them off to chat/make phonecalls.

60-70% near me in North London.

Family in NE say less than a quarter are

Very few. I went to a busy doctors yesterday and was the only one

A very small amount of people considering the high number of cases. Seems to be a lot wearing gloves and throwing them on the floor after use unfortunately.

Small town - I don't and most people aren't either. We're also the least effected area

I have to go to the doctor's surgery once a week on my mobility scooter and always wear a mask and gloves. Free of the virus so far - touch wood.

I find them quite irritating to wear, and they steam up my glasses. The nurse at the surgery has this problem too.

Maybe a third wearing masks. East London.

Few people wore them here. I shop at supermarkets in two small towns and one larger one and I would say 1:10 people. Not seen much change and supermarket workers are not universally wearing them. Low infection rate though.

I think people would wear them if they knew they were in a hot spot. Without robust info, people seem to prefer not to. That goes for everyone enjoying walks and cycling outside too.

Hardly anyone

@BubblesBuddy

Few people wore them here. I shop at supermarkets in two small towns and one larger one and I would say 1:10 people. Not seen much change and supermarket workers are not universally wearing them. Low infection rate though.

I think people would wear them if they knew they were in a hot spot. Without robust info, people seem to prefer not to. That goes for everyone enjoying walks and cycling outside too.

How do you know if you are in a hot-spot though?

In Japan, 95% of adults and older children wear masks even outside. Indoors, even more.

Small children under 3 do not wear them and a few other people do not. Maybe they have breathing difficulties or other reasons.

British people are a bit weird about masks IMO.

I'm near the City. Very rare to see people in stores wearing masks or their version of a mask. Did see someone weeks ago with one of those kitchen sponge cleaners.

Outside only to be worn if you have symptoms iirc.

Have had to go hospital a few times for appointments and apart from the staff, not everyone was wearing one.

Thankfully i only had to there and back, cannot really breathe wearing them, but worked a crochet pattern for me to do it simply because I'm not sure and waiting for test results, again. But even then I still went through 8 in 2 hours. Once they start to get damp you have to change them. Go into more than one building, it has to be changed.

Last year I had to think carefully about how much san-pro I would have to take out with me, plus spare cash etc just in case. Now I'm thinking, fuck, somedays I will need a suitcase to hold all the bloody face coverings, and isolate the worn from the clean.

I haven't seen anyone here wearing them since Maech/April time.

But even then I still went through 8 in 2 hours. Once they start to get damp you have to change them. Go into more than one building, it has to be changed. Last year I had to think carefully about how much san-pro I would have to take out with me, plus spare cash etc just in case. Now I'm thinking, fuck, somedays I will need a suitcase to hold all the bloody face coverings, and isolate the worn from the clean.

I am in a society where everyone wears masks and I have never heard of anyone doing this. You wear one mask when you go out and when you get home you either throw it away or put it in a bowl with any others, to be washed at the end of the day. It is really not that complicated.

Eek. This is scary. I’m currently in a country where they’re compulsory and intending to move back to the U.K. soon.

Haven't seen any glove wearers apart from those using them for ppe.

There seem to be two types worn from what I can gather - the disposable latex/non-latex. Although people wear them daily for their jobs, they hate them and spend a lot of money on hand creams and barriers. Never mind the environmental impact.

Fabric ones, again the issue of isolating from everything else. Pop into Sainsbury's, that's one pair done. Pop into the dr, another pair, into the chemist another pair.

These like your clothes and masks, they also have to go straight in the wash and not at 30-degree wash and yourself into the shower. No wonder some parts of the country have hose bans.

And of course, if they become widespread use there is a high probability that crimes will increase. It will be a criminals paradise, lifting restrictions and enforcing face masks. Too easy to get caught at the moment

Few are, most not. I don’t and wont unless it becomes compulsory. Same with gloves. Hate the sweatiness. Just wash them.

@Kokeshi123
The advice is to change them when they get damp.

To help prevent transmission a clean one to be used in every new building, bus etc. Something about there's no scientific evidence to show the none ppe ones are effective at all. However, when damp there is something to show they can be harmful to the wearer.

Reading all the medical ppe guidelines globally for these types of situations was fascinating. They had to consider the use of none-ppe masks, and basically erm if there is absolutely nothing else available go for it, here are our suggestions on how to try and protect yourself. I think all this became available to everyone back in February/March when the shortage started.

Most don’t bother. I’m pregnant so have had a few appointments and was quite shocked to see the receptionists not even bothering with a mask, especially the pregnant one!

I wear one whenever I have an appointment which is the only real time I leave the house tbh.

Not as much anymore. There were quite a lot at first but I think people have either got bored, or realised that there is no point wearing mask and gloves if you are going to touch your face every 2 minutes.

I’m in Massachusetts where masks are required to be worn unless you have a medical issue. Where I live, people have been pretty good, I’ve yet to see someone enter a store (supermarket, off licenses, garden centres, picking up food etc) without one. Some stores won’t let you in without one. Some people wear them when walking or running but not many, I’d guess around 20%.

That's interesting about Massachusetts and they have exceptions. I often think I must be mishearing/reading when people from wherever who have it compulsory insist there are no exceptions. And I'm thinking hang on I know people from there, and erm there are exceptions lol.

Most of our stores seem to forget about the 2-metre rule when inside and let in several customers at the same time. And of course, the staff member monitoring this blocks the entrance so you inches apart and of course, no mask. Only local independent shops have staff with gloves and masks when not behind their screens, and seem to be able to contain customer numbers without standing near the door.

I work in a small pharmacy. We have one customer in the shop at a time. It is easy to police (as said above) by saying from behind the counter "could you wait outside please, one at a time at the moment"

Probably 80% of customers were wearing masks today. We staff wear masks when we go outside, or beyond the screened area. We were in a covid hotspot after holding a racing festival at the start of all this. Not so much of it about here now.