Masks seem to be back..

[RisingSunn]

Has anyone else noticed this? I've seen a marked increase in people wearing them - in the bank and on transport for example.

Have I missed something?

I haven’t seen anyone wear one for about three years.

Yes - quite a few people wearing on them on flights recently

I still see them here and there but I’m in Ireland and we were forced to wear them longer than any other country in Europe.

I haven’t seen one in years, thankfully. Did two long haul flights last month and no-one had one on.

I wore one for a few days to hide a fallen out front tooth.

I'd also consider wearing one if I had a massive cold sore outbreak.

I've never stopped wearing them on flights, trains, buses, theatres and cinemas. Often I'm the only one, but as I've never had COVID I shall continue wearing them in those circumstances forever.

See one person wearing one on a bus I use regularly,it's funny how it looks strange now and it's not that long ago we were all wearing them.

Wow! Why??

I don't wear masks but did recently. We had Covid (borderline whether I was still able to pass it on or not) and I was forced to go out and get prescribed medication for a family member who has a life threatening condition. Out of consideration for the general public, just in case I could still pass it on, I wore a mask.

If you see someone in a mask, they might be trying to protect you, so I always keep well away. There's also the possibility they are having chemo or something, so that's understandable.

Because I believe they have stopped me from catching it. It affects no one else if I wear one, my family and friends aren't bothered by me wearing one, in fact on flights and trains some of them wear one too. It's hardly an onerous thing to do to put a mask on and it makes me feel better. I believe it not only protects me from COVID but other people's coughs and colds too, as I haven't had any respiratory illness for 5 years.

I wore a mask and gloves when I had the flu two months ago. I had to take my toddler to the hospital for a referral appointment we waited over a year for.

I just didn't want others catching my flu, especially at a hospital where vulnerable patients may be present.

Masks are to protect others if you are infected, not the other way around. But if it makes you feel better, other than the environmental waste of the masks and microplastics, wear one if you want.

I think hand sanitising makes the difference for us, as we haven't been sick for the longest time. Unfortunately someone brought it into our home so it was in the air, so we got sick this time.

I wore one as immunocompromised and was waiting for an operation (not a plain mask though one of the proper ffp2 ones
I was waiting 18 months for this operation and wasn’t risking not having it

We went through this and were on mostly a self-imposed lock down for the few weeks beforehand. No way were we risking the surgery not being able to go ahead.

My understanding was that was the case if you wear a simple surgical mask, but if you wear FFP2 ( which is what I wear) masks it affords the wearer some protection.

I agree about hand sanitising, I do that frequently if I'm touching doors, escalators etc that other people touch and always after handling shopping trolleys or baskets before I get into my car or touch my car keys and I wash my hands when I get home from being anywhere.

Did Germany not have a mandate for wearing one on public transport until feb 23?

I’m in Ireland too and rarely see them. I last wore in A&E with my DD last winter (broken arm) but it was so packed with sick people I was worried we’d catch another thing. Nobody else was wearing one even there in a place that was basically a hotbed of germs. Only the staff had them on.

A girl at work was wearing a mask recently, how odd since she did not have any cold symptoms. A week after I noticed she had done some fillers/botox. How clever!

Guests at a wedding a couple of weeks ago, were wearing masks as they thought they may have caught Covid on the flight over. They had...and despite the masks we all caught it!! Quite nasty this variety as well..we have all been quite poorly.

Yes I've noticed more face masks being worn lately, just today in fact.
Shopping centre, saw more people wearing face masks today then I've seen in quite a number of months.

There's another thread on here about it.
It's a new COVID variant that's already spiked in China, and was detected late March, early April, in airports across the US.
NB.1.8.1 is its name, and one of the more painful symptoms has been described as like swallowing razor blades or broken glass.

It’s rather unusual

And?....

I'm not in the UK but they are quite commonly worn here, especially in supermarkets it seems. I wear one myself if I have to go there and I have a cold.

I haven't noticed it where I am but if I did, I would guess there might be some kind of cold or flu going round. lots of people still seem to believe they are effective, despite the continued lack of evidence.

They are effective in as much as when someone goes to a supermarket or anywhere else in public and they're wearing a face mask other shoppers instinctively give them wide berth, assuming sometimes incorrectly, that the person with the mask is sick.
Who cares? As long as it keeps those who might be infected as a distance.