... to ask why people are still wearing masks?

[KatyKopykat]

I've seen several people wearing a mask in shopping centres and on buses and trains.

It's up to the individual to choose. I'm interested in the reasons and it's fine to ask and I don't have to defend myself. Equally posters don't have to justify why they choose to wear a mask.

@KatyKopykat

Prior to starting this thread, did you sincerely have no idea whatsoever why anyone might still be wearing masks?

And if you sincerely had no idea, do you feel enlightened by some of the answers on this thread? Do they seem valid to you?

I expect you will ignore this post but I would like everyone else to see you ignoring polite direct questions.

Because they want to.

I want to know why it bothers those that don't.

For those saying 'It's sad'
Grow up.
You're probably the ones that all think the vaccines are going to kill us and this is all to control us.

Let people be. Live your own life. Let them live theirs in a way that they want to, instead of making posts about it on Mumsnet so everyone can agree with you that these people you 'don't understand' are paranoid or something.
Does that make you feel better?

So.... fuck deaf people then!

I wear them sometimes during flu season. A flu could be deadly for me as a diabetic as an asthmatic.

What do you suggest people do when they have a vulnerable person exactly?

My DD has been in ICU twice from covid so far. She’s been hospitalised four other times with it. This is in amongst hospital, and ICU, admissions for colds, flu and chicken pox.

It’s shit for deaf people with masks. I do get that. But my daughter already has a short life expectancy and I’m going to do everything I can to make that as long as possible.

So.... fuck deaf people then!

Apart from the fact that the number of times deaf people encounter someone needing to wear a mask must be quite small, there is writing and also sign language to help traverse this gap.

Everyone has different reasons for wearing or not wearing a mask. I was interested in those.

Masks can be a pain in the butt, but I would prefer to try wearing one for short periods of time (I'm not good at it for long periods due to asthma) from choice than go back to mandates. Or even worse, lockdown. Lockdown was very bad for me and the country generally . I get why we be needed it then as a short term measure but it's unsustainable in the long term.

Countries where they had a choice to mask or not, SD or not, had far lower covid death rates. Of course those countries did have a different demographic to the UK (more land mass, fewer people) which was probably a factor.

I have 4 friends and acquaintances with long covid. Two of them have said that every time they catch covid their symptoms get noticeably worse. One has very severe CFS and mobility problems. Another of them was a very healthy gym-going 20something, who is now almost bedridden and under the care of a cardiologist. Every covid infection could make their health nosedive. I don’t always still wear a mask, I admit, but these two have asked all their friends to, and I feel I should do it more often.

Well put.

There’s another myth cropping up on these type of threads and that is that you need exposure to viruses to develop a healthy immune system. There’s a really interesting read here, but the takeaway is that it’s not beneficial to us to catch viruses, can be very detrimental, building healthy bacteria in the body is important but it’s not anything to do with catching disease.

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/is-the-hygiene-hypothesis-true

Couldn't you come up with any reasons yourself?

Hopefully, now you’ve read this, your mind will have been opened a bit and you’ll be less judgemental about people who are probably just trying to do their best in difficult circumstances to protect people who are seriously ill.

Because they are completely brainwashed, believe everything the news says and thinks the government care about them.

Alot of people wear masks to protect others. Covid has gone round my office again in the past month.
Also a good way to protect yourself in any season.
I see it as something good that came out of covid

Get your "news" and "facts" off FB and YT, do you?

One thing that the pandemic legacy and cost of living has changed seemingly for the worse is that there are people who don't wash as often, and so in enclosed spaces such as the London Underground, quite bluntly more likely to spread illnesses.

RTFT before making such a brainless comment.

Wouldn't make any difference.

Conspiracy theorists have their own agenda.

Good grief, you don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to realise this government doesn't care about you!

No one with any sense believes that the government cares about them. That wasn't what I was referring to.

I never really understood the conspiracy that masks = sinister government plot to control us. To what end? The mandate was only temporary.

If anything, it showed government incompetence. By the time it happened the horse had bolted - the mandate came too late in the pandemic and didn't specify FFP2/N95 masks for public transport (as they did in Germany, for example) so it probably wasn't very effective in halting the spread.

Some people don’t wear a mask to protect themselves but will wear one to protect others.

Perfectly put.

If I thought I might have Covid, I would wear a mask for exactly that reason. If the new variant starts to take hold, I would probably go back to wearing one routinely.

I would be mortified if I infected, for example, my 85YO MIL, who has avoided Covid but was hospitalised with pleurisy and pneumonia in December 2021, or any of my elderly or vulnerable friends and colleagues.

Unless someone has a psychological or sensory reason for not wearing one, I really cannot see why they wouldn't.

The thing that confuses me is seeing the odd person wearing a mask, but not wearing it properly, it's under their nose or not even covering their mouth properly. What's the bloody point of that? It's not compulsory, they're choosing to wear it, but they still can't be arsed.