If the masks had been introduced from the off, I think there would have been almost total compliance. We believed the government and the scientists about the severity of the virus, that the NHS would not be able to cope. The majority adhered to lockdown measures. We did maintain the 2 metre rule and washed our hands through two renditions of Happy Birthday. We were, in the main, all acting as one.
And then, Professor Ferguson got lonely and took a booty call during lockdown. Cummings had his famous trip to Barnard Castle. The daily fatality figures did not include care homes for a long time, and then under sustained pressure from the media, only then were they included. The government and the scientists said that face coverings were not going to do us any good, as did WHO. The original Track and Trace app was quietly shelved.
We tentatively emerged from lockdown, and straightaway the BLM protests took place, and suddenly social distancing was out the window. The police took (were ordered) to take a softly softly approach, the rest of us wondered why the hell that had been allowed. (Interestingly, despite the amount of up close and personal contact in recent months, an FOI request has revealed that no Metropolitan police officer has died as a result of covid.) Ditto the hoards who descended onto beaches, why was that allowed so soon after unprecedented measures to contain the virus.
We have since learned that the fatality figures were wrong - they have included 5k who should not have been. An outsider academic had to point this out. The rules they announce are complicated, garbled, in some cases nonsensical. The slogans keep changing, are we still Keeping Alert? The social distancing/lockdown measures were put in place to flatten the curve to protect the NHS, now the measures are still in place but to what end, this virus is going to be with us for a long time.
WHO changed its mind about masks, they have admitted they have done so because of political lobbying by governments desperate to get people back into shops and spending. You can see why, with economies taking a dive, that governments want us to spend. Hancock said the masks were to instil confidence for shoppers. But, you can see from the recent retail redundancies and the dire economic news, that isn't happening. The cheap scoffs seem to be a success though, presumably because no masks are involved as well as bargain food.
So many mixed messages from the government/scientists, the allowed flouting of the rules by protesters, sunbathers and rule makers themselves (Ferguson/Cummings). There are many reasons why people aren't wearing a mask. In the main the deaths have been an older demographic with underlying issues. So, young people, who have already given up so much, have probably decided that they have no need to wear them. Others are worried about civil liberties, the government are rushing through legislations that seem to be about control of people rather than of the virus, so they are rebelling.
Others are wearing them because they are scared of harassment (even if they are exempt), or they know it is the only way they can shop. A lot of people know it's a cosmetic sop to get the worried back into the shops. They are the ones who seem to think that wearing a mask gives them the right to abandon social distancing. I don't believe that people who repeat the mantra I am wearing it to protect you, do go through that thought process, they are wearing it to comply and protect themselves, which is why you see people wearing them outside, nowhere near anybody else. They think they are protecting themselves from something they think is all around them, because the media has been feeding us an unrelenting feed of covid stories, most of which have been scaremongering.
Most people realise this is a serious disease, but have processed that the virus only affects a small number of people badly leading to death/serious health issues. In the meantime our economy is in deep recession, mental health issues are becoming an epidemic, there has been a breakdown of law and order, but most of all there is no trust left in the government. Introducing masks at a late stage when most people were at the "Whatever" stage was never going to be a success.
For the record, I have only been in a shop twice since they were made mandatory, I did wear a mask. No browsing, just bought the necessities. DH now does the shopping. I buy what I want online, but have stopped buying non-essentials. For two reasons, to save my money to offset the bad times that are coming, and as an an economic up you to the government who have bungled the handling of this.
So it is not a question of can't be arsed with a mask, more that people have decided to do their own thing because of the mixed messages, lack of clarity from the people who should be leading this.