Face Masks

[alltheapples]

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?

@ThistlesAndUnicorns

I know this has been mentioned a lot but I still don't understand why people say masks don't help yet surgeons/nurses etc have used them for years? If they don't help then surely it's a huge waste on the tax payer? Genuine question.

Because the majority of people wearing masks in the shops are not wearing the same ones as surgeons. I do personally think masks work to some extent and no harm in them (although I personally won't be wearing one anymore) but it's a ridiculous comparison to make

Thank fuck. It's not normal for everyones faces to be covered, I want to see expressions and teeth and lips. They get hot and stuffy. I like wearing lipstick. I like being able to express myself fully.

I never really wore one for its intended purpose but if it’s really cold outside, I wear one to keep my face warm, it’s a nice brushed cotton number.

Barely anyone is here, thankfully.

I think it looks so weird and unnatural.

@SquirmOfEels

Much less - I'd say under 10% on public transport - but a bit higher on the Tube (up to 30%) because IRS so filthy and unventilated.

Probably around the 10% mark in other indoor places too - which figures, when you think of the proportion of the vulnerable in the population.

Nearly everyone in mecidal settings - got a text from GP today reminding all patients that masks are still to be worn at the surgery

My GP said she doesn’t care if her patients do or don’t - she doesn’t think they make any difference except making some people feel better about going out. She doesn’t wear one unless a patient wants her to.

I asked her about operating theatres and so on, and she said historically they have worn hats and masks and protective eyewear a) to stop bits of skin, hair or spittle from doctors and nurses falling into patients lying on the operating table and b) because in some procedures there is a real risk of splatter from the patient - you don’t want to get hit in the face with blood or pus or the like….

More people wearing masks than not where I am.

@dreammattemousse

I only wear one so I can be ugly in peace

I wear one to be warm. Like a scarf substitute. Hate scarves tou day my neck

@ThistlesAndUnicorns surgeons nurses etc use different types of masks then the ones we use(especially when dealing with viruses).

@pawpaws2022

Still wearing FFP2 masks and will be for the foreseeable as trying to protect myself

This

On tube yesterday, only 7 of us wearing them in one carriage.

I’ve tended not to wear mine for a few weeks now as I’m treble vaccinated and then had covid, which wasn’t too bad.

Having said that I’m in london the end of the month and using tube, I’ll likely wear one then.

Where I live in Canada people are militant about wearing them. I can’t see the majority here giving them up, even if the bloody government stopped mandating them. The majority wear them when driving alone and walking around outside. Apparently we’re a compliant nation of hypochondriacs.

I think this is more nuanced than it might appear.

It is my understanding from research in the British Medical Journal that Masks, when worn correctly, do offer some protection but mainly protect the other person, depending on the type of mask worn. If two people wear one, for example, and one has Covid, that will significantly decrease the other person’s probability of contracting it so I will continue to wear one in crowded/ unventilated places more for others than myself really as I am in a classroom and in contact with around 150 different teens every day, unmasked.

I do understand why a lot of people want to stop wearing them though, I do too really. It’s been two years of Covid. And the govt has made it legal to stop wearing them so it is inevitable. Fresh air/ windows open and social distancing seems to more effective mitigations if you can though.

There is about half and half in my area but significantly less than there has been. I’ve had to wear them on visits to dentist, doctors and hospitals which feel like the only places I’ve been beside work lately!

I dislike wearing masks and I’d pretty much stopped going out through the times they’ve been mandatory but it feels hard to go out now as got so used to staying home! I’ve definitely got used to not going shopping except when desperate for something whereas before I would often pop into town.

I know this has been mentioned a lot but I still don't understand why people say masks don't help yet surgeons/nurses etc have used them for years? If they don't help then surely it's a huge waste on the tax payer? Genuine question.

Unfortunately some people are a bit dim and don't understand the science behind mask wearing. Or they do understand but choose to put others at risk, which is odd.

@AndAsIfByMagic

I know this has been mentioned a lot but I still don't understand why people say masks don't help yet surgeons/nurses etc have used them for years? If they don't help then surely it's a huge waste on the tax payer? Genuine question.

Unfortunately some people are a bit dim and don't understand the science behind mask wearing. Or they do understand but choose to put others at risk, which is odd.

Haha. Yes. Some people are dim. But the people comparing manky reused masks to a surgeons mask aren't? Ok then.

I'm not. They don't work unless they're proper standardised ones. A bit of cloth from Etsy does fuck all.

@AndAsIfByMagic

I know this has been mentioned a lot but I still don't understand why people say masks don't help yet surgeons/nurses etc have used them for years? If they don't help then surely it's a huge waste on the tax payer? Genuine question.

Unfortunately some people are a bit dim and don't understand the science behind mask wearing. Or they do understand but choose to put others at risk, which is odd.

Surgeons predominately wear them to prevent bodily fluids from getting on their face.

Don’t understand why people have stopped wearing them. They’re no hardship and I don’t think Covid has been told the law has changed - it’s still out there!

I’ve been wearing mine this week, even though I’ve been vaccinated but I caught a chest infection from my son, who doesn’t wear a mask in his special school. I’ve been protecting anyone I’ve passed from catching the infection. You’re welcome!

So you only wear a mask because your told you have to, not because you think of others around you.

To all those who say that masks don’t work, why do surgeons and dentists wear them, pre, during and no doubt post Covid, if they are so useless? Or are you better informed than they are?

@bossyrossy

To all those who say that masks don’t work, why do surgeons and dentists wear them, pre, during and no doubt post Covid, if they are so useless? Or are you better informed than they are?

If you are using that as a comparison I am cringing for you. Not remotely the same.

About 50% in asda.
About 1% in leisure venues e.g. gym, cinema, toddler group

I still wear mine when I go to indoor places.

The effect of it may be minimal, but I feel a tiny bit safer wearing one.

That’s my personal preference. Not sure why some people get so ratty about some of us choosing to still wear them. Doesn’t effect them in any way, so I don’t see what their issue is. If you don’t want to wear one don’t wear one. For those of us that do, just leave us to get on with it.

@Ddot

So you only wear a mask because your told you have to, not because you think of others around you.

Yeah. Like everyone else around here. I'll keep my distance from people in a supermarket wearing a mask and wear one when going into the hospital. But that's it.