I wasn't wearing a mask before, because of all the other precautions that were being taken in shops etc where I live. I am wearing one in shops now, because I want to be the change I want to see.
The commonly-touted research states that if 80 per cent of people wear masks, the transmission rate is cut by 50 per cent.
Anyone denying that masks prevent the transmission of infection must surely wonder why surgeons wear them? Maybe surgeons just love the style?
And what's all this about 'medical people' not wearing them?? I've been wearing one at work since the very start of this - because the organisation I worked for trusted the advice from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy rather than the shitty nonsense advice Public Health for England gave care homes.
The vast majority of people who have difficulty wearing a mask will find that what they are experiencing is 'air hunger' due to long-term hypererventilation. Their breathing pattern has become too fast so they blow off carbon dioxide(CO2) to such an extent that they never reach the levels of CO2 that would normally trigger a breath in. So their respiratory centres reset, and trigger a breath in at much lower levels of CO2 than the norm. This leaves them vulnerable to panic attacks and anxiety, as low CO2 levels affects biochemistry and stresses the body.Anxiety and panic creates hyperventilation, so you then have a vicious circle.
The only treatment is a regime of breathing exercises that create manageable air hunger, so that the respiratory centre is bathed in CO2 and resets to normal levels. Or you could wear a mask as often as possible, for as long as possible, so you re-breathe CO2, just as you would if you breathed into a paper bag or your cupped hands - common advice for panic attacks.
I am asthmatic, with a tendency to hyperventilation and panic. Hyperventilation massively worsens asthma. Wearing a mask at work has been sweaty and claustrophobic. But it's also been very calming to me on days I've been stressed. Re-breathing CO2 is not harmful.