To think snotty, coughing people should wear masks?

[RiderofRohan]

On the train or other forms of public transport. In waiting rooms etc. People coughing with half-hearted hands held up to their mouths. Blowing their noses with abandon. None of them wearing masks, just shedding their viruses into closed spaces.

Isn't it just common decency, after we went through a global pandemic, to try to protect those around you? It's super normal to wear a mask in parts of Asia if you are unwell to reduce the risk of your germs spreading to your fellow humans.

Do people honestly think that starting a thread like this is going to change anyone’s mind?

No-one is wearing masks, it’s widely accepted they did nothing to stop Covid; the scientists have admitted this in the covid inquiry. If you want to wear one, go ahead. You can’t make anyone else. And no, covid isn’t a different beast now.

Some people have been truly brainwashed.

The way people talk about “germs” blows my mind. Especially when people become convinced that they know who gave them said germs and when. There are “germs” on literally every single thing you see and touch. Trillions of them. Nurses and Doctors work unmasked around bacteria & viruses day after day and rarely catch those infections. People sit in houses alone with no visitors at all and still get viruses and no one ever asks how that happens, how that is possible.
Mothers lay in bed cuddling children with viruses and couples sleep in bed with each other yet it’s pot luck weather things spread between them. This germ anxiety spreads down through families and it does no good but Covid has made people, that never acted like this before, become so paranoid now. My aunty had a heart operation about a year ago and then stayed in for about 6 months after ,as someone that she was now “vulnerable”. This never used to be the way!? People used to have these procedures then say afterwards that they were in better health / less vulnerable.
I feel really sorry for the people with sick kids, I’d imagine that can really screw with your mind but it’s hard to have patience with adults that are terrified of colds.

I do this. It should have become basic courtesy. Wear a mask so you're not sneezing and coughing all over everything. It won't completely prevent spread, but it'll help.
Unfortunately, the insane politicisation of masks, ranging from the "if you're not wearing a mask you're putting my life at risk" even when outside to the "masks do absolutely nothing, reduce oxygen levels and are a form of control" meant that any sensible messages about masks never got out. It became a very visual way to create division, regardless of their actual effectiveness (which was never properly studied, frustratingly).
The WHO said to wear a mask if you're sick initially, and I think that guidance should still stand.

Personally, in this current weather, I've started getting my old masks out just because it keeps my face warm, and stops me sniffling from the cold weather.

Wear a mask so you're not sneezing and coughing all over everything. It won't completely prevent spread, but it'll help

I sneeze into my arm or tissue. Same with a cough.
Have you really known anyone to sneeze a stream of goo into a mask and still walk about with it on?

Personally, in this current weather, I've started getting my old masks out just because it keeps my face warm, and stops me sniffling from the cold weather.

Lol, top trolling

The evidence that masking helps prevent things like colds and flu is not good. Until covid that was the majority consensus view in medicine, a perspective that had been gaining increasing traction for decades.

Most people aren't going to wear the kinds of respirators that protect reliably against airborne viruses nor should they be expected to.

I don't know why what people in Asia do is supposed to be some kind of argument, people do a lot of things in a lot of places, it doesn't mean it's effective.

Not to mention all of the stuff in the pipes between the water source and your house!

Things are much less sterile than people realize.

I agree, and it has become much more common where I live in recent years.

Wear a mask so you're not sneezing and coughing all over everything

@abominablesnowman genuinely, how does a mask prevent someone sneezing over things? Surely you don't sneeze into your mask? It needs to come off to sneeze, and then people will do whatever they'd have done without the mask (which hopefully is to sneeze into a tissue etc).

If you’re sneezing and coughing due to being genuinely sick…stay home. No one wants whatever you’ve got.

@SarahShorty

I abide by rules to keep the peace, not because they're logical (or in this case, illogical).

What part do you think is illogical?

If you're quoting me, I wrote "Covid is a different beast," not "Covid is a different beast now". The first sentence has an entirely distinct meaning to the one you're implying, ie. Covid is different in nature to other respiratory viruses.

And FYI: masks do and did work.

Do people honestly think that starting a thread like this is going to change anyone’s mind?

I suspect the intention with a lot of them is actually to start a ruck...

I won't wear a mask now, we have vaccines for covid for the vulnerable and humanity has existed alongside viruses and germs for long enough without masks.

Masks could be argued to pose humanity a greater harm by the environmental impact of producing, transporting and disposing of them.

Better to focus on teaching appropriate hygiene imo.

Oh well then, lets never get in a car, just in case, or go outside, we might get struck by lightning. You can't live like that, and you certainly can't expect others to.

That's not really practical though, is it. People have to work. Not everyone can call in sick with a sniffle.

Looking at levels of sick absence, spreading diseases at the levels we are doing know is harming the economy (the government seems hell bent on clamping down on malingerers, without looking at what could be causing an actual rise)

It's in everyone's interests to reduce the burden of sickness on society, the individual and of course the economy.

In Victorian times, the importance of clean water was recognised, and there was huge investment in sewers, water filtration etc.

We also know the importance of clean air.

The ways to clean it are ventilation, filtration, and the much reviled wearing of masks. If people with symptoms wore a mask, then yes it would have a major effect on the burden of sickness on society. (I mean a mask, worn diligently, not a face-covering worn any old how) and that's because of physics and does not need trials.

So why wasn’t everyone advised to wear one??
🤣🤣
Regardless Covid (apparently if that’s even a thing) what ever it was, still spread when people wore masks!!!

I'd still like to know how all the mask enthusiasts expect people to cough and blow their noses whilst wearing said mask.

On the off-chance this is a genuine question, not someone just playing:

You cough in to the mask, of course. That's kind of the whole point.
To blow nose you move mask the minimum for access, and replace immediately

Erm no, I won't be doing that thanks.

There is evidence that virus shedding occurs before symptoms so a bit late once they are coughing etc. Therefore unless masks are worn all the time it's a bit pointless. I personally don't want to wear a mask all the time.

You can @RiderofRohan if you wish though?

This is the sort of nonsense which undermines any of these arguments.

I suffer with post nasal drip, I have chronic rhinitis and constantly cough and blow my nose.

So that could have been me sitting next to you without a cold, without covid (why on earth is everything covid these days, other viruses are available) and you have got covid and blamed the other person.

Have you ever tried having a streaming nose with frequent sneezing and coughing with a bit of fabric over your face?? Unbearable and totally unpractical. Just makes it worse. You can't blow your nose unless you remove the mask. I'd have to do that very often. Also with a stuffy nose it's hard enough to breathe without a mask making it even harder. So no, I don't think masks should be worn.

How irritating that must be for you and everyone around you.