If masks are so important

[whatdoidonowffs]

Why is it not becoming compulsory now instead of ten days time ?

Some shops still have to look out for people though which this will make harder it could well lead to alot of customers who have been banned for being aggressive or rude or stealing etc sneaking back in

@IwishIhadaMargarita

They are mandatory already in Scotland. I have had masks since April and can’t fathom why other people don’t have them already

Hmm, I can't possibly imagine why people don't have something they've had no compulsion to buy.

I like I'm sure millions of others have had no need for a mask, how hard can that be to understand ?

@SarahTancredi

I still don't understand how all the shops who have to ID people for alcohol cigarettes and age restricted products and who also have to look out fir barred customers are going to ve aboe to do this when everyone is wearing a mask...

If large parts of the rest of the world can manage I'm sure it's not beyond the wit of English shops to work it out, or even ask Scots how to do it.

MN has become a gathering place for negative wingers of late. Why not just get on with it, even if it's not 100% adhered to there will be benefits.

I bought 100 disposable ones off Amazon a few days ago, must have had a premonition, they were £8, now the same ones are about £20

so people aren't allowed to worry about how key parts of a job are going to be affected .... got it.

For those stressing about them not being available anywhere, all the clothes shops are starting to sell them.

Eg ASOS sell a variety of unisex and if you need it urgently you can pay for next day delivery.

Plenty of Etsy sellers too, and you’re supporting small businesses which is nice.

There are over 2 million people currently shielding who will be pushed back into workplaces etc - wearing a mask shouldn’t be a massive inconvenience to save lives

And maybe it will lead to a different approach as it's ridiculous that you have to be over 25 when the law says you have to be over 18 (or 16 for some products). You have to look over 25. Because some under 18s can look older, so staff need to be able to check id of those who look over 18 but may be younger.

I presume it's because the Covid deniers, the ones that still compare it to flu or a bad cold, won't have had the forethought to buy re-usable masks weeks or months ago like lots of us did. So it's just giving them time to scrabble about whilst whining about the cost and get themselves organised.

You have tolookover 25. Because some under 18s can look older, so staff need to be able to check id of those who look over 18 but may be younger

Cue older brother and sister passports and driving licences cos if you can't see the full face they only need to have similar colouring really. And there's no height details or anything its just a mug shot

We all have old t shirts we can cut up.
I don't. They are either in good condition or they are ones I wear to bed. I don't keep anything I don't wear. I don't own any scarves or anything similar either. Luckily, I've just bought a couple of masks but if something was brought in overnight before I did then I would have had nothing.

Because despite the whole world wearing them many in England will only wear them if told to

Most of the world might be wearing them but not the whole world. In my little corner of rural Tanzania I can't remember the last person I saw wearing one outside of a hotel.
Although I did see someone on his own driving one of the handful of vehicles we saw in the middle of the Serengeti wearing one.

You can wear a scarf, I have couple of Seasalt Handybands I will wear in winter but they are too hot for now so I bought the disposable ones for the odd time I have to shop, 1 a week should last 2 years. DH wears his running buff.

Why are people saying it’s so that you have time to buy masks?!
No one needs to buy a mask. It’s a face covering you need so any scarf would do

Don’t go buying one if you don’t need to

OP why don't you just start wearing them straight away? Then you have nothing to complain about and who knows? It might save your life or someone else's.

@SarahTancredi

I still don't understand how all the shops who have to ID people for alcohol cigarettes and age restricted products and who also have to look out fir barred customers are going to ve aboe to do this when everyone is wearing a mask...

A part of the exemption includes store people requesting them to be removed for the purposes of ID.

Its like bringing a condom to a baby shower

I'd say it's more like bringing a condom to an orgy that's already in full swing. Pretty useful in protecting yourself and others even though the party's been going on a while.

@Pleasantville the only people who've had no 'need' for a mask up until now are people who haven't set foot outside their door for four months or are too selfish to wear them unless there is 'compulsion' and for whom this measure is being introduced.

I wear a mask any time I'm in a shop or busy high street or on public transport.

Hasn't been the advice for weeks been make your own and various patterns how to make you own at home, so their own start in a future date guidance makes no sense because they don't endorse buying them 🤣

Because it takes time for it to be written into law.

Makes no sense to make them mandatory 4 months into a pandemic though, it’s like bringing a condom to a baby shower

I’ve read this about 5 times already today. It’s BS.

No one needs to wait for it to be mandatory

No one needed to wait 4 months ago either.

For some reason not everyone has bought them yet. Even though they've had at least four bloody months.

I'm usually grumpy about this.

Hang on retail staff don't have to wear anything?

59 fines issued by tfl, 18,500 stopped since June 15th.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53397617

For some reason not everyone has bought them yet. Even though they've had at least four bloody months

Sadly many who have also seem to be quite happy to just throw them in a hedge when done.

Fuck knows what state the country is gonna be in after this. Gloves and masks discarded every where

Lots more people are going to start mask wearing when shopping right away I would have thought, regardless of whether we have reached the 24 th July deadline?

Surely if people have a mask to wear they won't leave it at home until they look at their calendar and say Right today's the day to wear it!

I thought that date was a deadline for anyone who has trouble sourcing a mask and to give time for the news to filter down to people who don't pay attention to current affairs. It's possible some families or elderly will struggle to pay for
or make masks for their whole family right away.

I think people's dismay or reticence over the mask news is simply the realisation that CV is still here and is still a risk. It's a horrible fact. People were starting to feel optimistic and this is a reminder that we're still far from back to normal.