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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Face Masks

403 replies

alltheapples · 28/02/2022 14:36

AIBU to think nearly everyone has stopped wearing them?

At the weekend we visited a local tourist attráction, went swimming, went to the pub, went for a meal out, and went shopping. During this I saw no more than a handful of people wearing a mask?

OP posts:
AllThingsServeTheBeam · 02/03/2022 20:36

@AnnieSnap but the vast majority of people are vaccinated and have already had covid. So it's not the risk it was..

Anonymous48 · 02/03/2022 20:48

@Tzimi

"throwing those uncomfortable, itchy, smelly things straight into the rubbish bin"

I wouldn't want to wear mask if it was uncomfortable, itchy and smelly either, but they shouldn't be any of those things. Did you not experiment a bit to try and find one that did work for you?

AnnieSnap · 02/03/2022 21:07

[quote AllThingsServeTheBeam]@AnnieSnap but the vast majority of people are vaccinated and have already had covid. So it's not the risk it was..[/quote]
A friend’s mother (3 years younger than me)was in ITU for 2 months. She’s now home now. After 4 months, she struggles to walk without assistance and has no energy for anything. She had all vaccines, including her booster. A neighbours work colleague was fit and healthy. He’d had two vaccines. He died with it (just before boosters). I know of several others who have been very I’ll in hospital after all vaccines.

Natty13 · 02/03/2022 21:07

I think I'll stop wearing mine when my local ITU (which is where I work) no longer has to have increased staffing and extra beds open for covid patients. I wish I could make my dad not vulnerable or my child bot asthmatic but there we go.

Just like I've always worn a mask when looking after patients with TB, swine/bird/normal garden flu as well because I don't want to take that home. How pathetic am I right?!

Juno22 · 02/03/2022 21:21

AnnieSnap in contrast, I don't know of anyone under the age of 80 who has been seriously ill or died of covid. However over the last 2 years I've lost 2 friends to cancer and another to heart problems, and a close family member to cancer. All were under 65 years old.

I will wear a mask where I feel it's the right thing to do, like on a busy tube train. Or if I feel I should, like if I have a cold. I'll always wear a mask where it is required such as in a hospital. But I also want to get on with my life and masks are no longer required in England. I won't wear one just because some people think we should wear them and are still afraid of covid. I don't judge anyone who chooses to, that's their choice. It's not mine.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 02/03/2022 21:27

@AnnieSnap and I know not a single person who has died or even been seriously ill from it. I do know people who have had their cancer treatments delayed who are now going to die. I will continue as I am. And, so by the looks will the vast majority of people I know and who live in my area.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 02/03/2022 21:32

@AllThingsServeTheBeam

and I know not a single person who has died or even been seriously ill from it

Well aren't you the lucky one. What a crass and insensitive thing to say.

TheMagpie · 02/03/2022 21:36

@AllThingsServeTheBeam

Good for you. Us disabled people don't have the luxury you do. We'd like to be safe.

QuirkyTurtle · 02/03/2022 21:37

[quote AllThingsServeTheBeam]@AnnieSnap and I know not a single person who has died or even been seriously ill from it. I do know people who have had their cancer treatments delayed who are now going to die. I will continue as I am. And, so by the looks will the vast majority of people I know and who live in my area.[/quote]
Mumsnet user does not know a single person who has died of COVID! Have you alerted international press of this? It could break this whole COVID conspiracy thing wide open.

LittleWins · 02/03/2022 21:44

Probably 70/30 in the supermarket near me (70% wearing them). I still wear mine for supermarket shopping, museums, tube or smaller spaces. I can’t see that changing for me anytime soon.

Each to their own.

TheHoptimist · 03/03/2022 00:01

@Bootikin

In London about 80% of people are still wearing them indoors / on transport, thank god.
Where in London?

Zone 1;
Nowhere are 80%
Bus less than 20%- almost all over 65
Tube about 20%- tourists from SE Asia
Shops less than 10%.

Tzimi · 03/03/2022 04:59

@AnnieSnap "Most people weren’t wearing them because they were compulsory, but because of the serious risk from Covid. Have a look at the figures. The risk is still high. What you are saying is that you want to forget about the risk, but us damn sensible types get in the way of you doing that!"

It's a whole different ball game now, than it was in 2020. For a start, most people are now vaccinated. Also, the current Omicron strains are nowhere near as virulent as the original Alpha & delta strains. You should follow Dr Campbell on YouTube. He says that it's actually a good thing to get infected with Omicron, as it confers excellent immunity to all strains, and is very mild. Deaths & hospitalisations have come down now. So yes, in 2020 & 2021 it was very sensible to wear a mask, but in 2022 things have moved on.

AndAsIfByMagic · 03/03/2022 08:47

WHO advice is to wear masks.

They know better than random posters on MN.

The ignorance expressed in this thread by some 2 years into Covid is ridiculous. No one can be that thick, surely.

Juno22 · 03/03/2022 08:58

WHO advice is to wear masks in certain indoor settings, eg where there is poor ventilation or social distancing is not possible. It's not just 'wear masks'.

mamabear715 · 03/03/2022 09:42

@AndAsIfByMagic, we are just wasting our breath, aren't we? Obviously, people CAN be that thick. :-(

Parker231 · 03/03/2022 10:15

Throughout the pandemic I’ve been amazed at how many Mners are virologists, scientists and ICU doctors

AndAsIfByMagic · 03/03/2022 10:16

@Juno22

WHO advice is to wear masks in certain indoor settings, eg where there is poor ventilation or social distancing is not possible. It's not just 'wear masks'.
I know.

So should most people. But they don't.

HarrietteNightingale · 03/03/2022 10:26

I find it odd that some people expect that everyone else feels the same way they do, that what was always a temporary emergency measure would become normal practice. They seem rather surprised that many people were only wearing them because they were legally mandated to do so, and now they don't have to, they aren't.

MarshaBradyo · 03/03/2022 10:38

@HarrietteNightingale

I find it odd that some people expect that everyone else feels the same way they do, that what was always a temporary emergency measure would become normal practice. They seem rather surprised that many people were only wearing them because they were legally mandated to do so, and now they don't have to, they aren't.
I agree with this. I know it’s everyone is thick etc from pp but people can choose, which should be accepted.
bemusedmoose · 03/03/2022 10:49

where i am more people seem to be wearing them now than before! I think now that restricts are gone people are actually more cautious.

I still wear mine but then ive had it twice and been really poorly so dont want to catch it again!

HarrietteNightingale · 03/03/2022 11:38

I agree with this. I know it’s everyone is thick etc from pp but people can choose, which should be accepted.

They can, and people are going to have to get used to it, like the pp who suggested she should "call out" people for not wearing them "if they weren't exempt". No, if she is in England they don't have to wear one, everyone is exempt now (not sure of other regions), whatever you think about it. It's odd how regional/localised it seems to be, as people keep saying most people are still wearing them in shops etc. Not here they aren't, in my local big supermarket most people (staff and customers) had stopped when the plan to drop them was announced, a week before the official date.

I will use my own judgement as to when I think I need to wear one. I agree they've become a comfort blanket to many, and I don't think they do much, in the way people generally wear them.

TravellingFrom · 03/03/2022 12:16

That’s fine about using your own judgement and not wearing a mask

As long as YOU don’t pass judgement on people who decides to Cary in wreaking one. Unfortunately there seems to be many of those people on the thread.
Including those associating wearing a mask and cancer patient not receiving the care they need Confused

I have to say it would be nice if protective measures were not all put in the same bad and all seen as restrictive, dangerous, stopping people from receiving care etc…. When there is no comparaison between a lockdown/restricting visits and wearing a mask or having an air purifier….

HarrietteNightingale · 03/03/2022 12:59

As long as YOU don’t pass judgement on people who decides to Cary in wreaking one.

I don't. Up to them. It has no bearing on what I do.

Juno22 · 03/03/2022 13:09

I think it's also important that those who choose to wear masks should not judge those who don't. If there is no requirement to do so then people don't have to wear them if they don't want to. Calling people thick isn't helpful.

We've reached a time when it's about personal choice. It's none of my business what others do and I don't care whether people wear masks or not. I'll wear mine when I have to or when I think I should, or not at all.

MarshaBradyo · 03/03/2022 13:23

Me too. I want people to just choose and everyone else to accept which ever choice that is, either way