Attitudes to face masks

[Vallderama]

I live in an area where there are a lot of Chinese people so around here it is quite common to see people wearing face masks. I have started to do so too this last week. I am fully aware that there is no scientific evidence that it will protect me from Coronavirus and I continue to wash my hands etc. It does however make me feel a bit better psychologically given that I have to keep working and using public transport even though as a lone parent it wouldn't be great if I got I'll. I have also noticed that I don't touch my face when I'm wearing one, which is obviously a benefit.

However I have encountered some strange looks (not so bothered about this) and today in Morrisons I actually had a woman come up to me and scream my face about it.

For context, I'd gone there to get a few bits that weren't available yesterday when I did my shop. I wasn't panic buying, I had around five items in my trolley, no loo roll even because there wasn't any, just things like a box of teabags that I needed and they hadn't had yesterday, a bag of popping corn so that the DC's can make themselves some while watching films as I guess we'll be spending more time indoors.

I queued for at least 45 minutes, just minding my own business, it was all very tense and everyone filling their trollies with all kinds of shit, making comments about how crazy it was to stock up (even though they themselves were clearly stocking up) but I was just waiting it out.

As I was waiting this woman came along shouting about how ridiculous it was even before she saw me and as soon as she did see me got right up close to me and yelled about how my mask wasn't going to protect me. I said ok, thanks and looked straight ahead but she kind of angled her neck around so she wasn't back in my face, screaming at this point, about how the mask made things worse because it trapped moisture, ranting on and on at me. I just kept saying thanks, that's great, I honestly thought she was going to hit me. Then she beetled off and filled her trolley with ready meals, like at least thirty of them, all the time shouting about how I'm fucking stupid etc.

Now obviously she's a bit tapped, but do people wearing masks generally encounter this? Because if so I might rethink but really until today it was one little thing that I didn't think affected anyone else but made me feel better, even if it is a bit daft. I have elderly parents and am stressed about them, we're all stressed, this was like my little stress reliever. And it definitely stops me touching my face. It just made me feel calmer. If this is a common reaction though I may need to rethink.

How are you all with people wearing masks and should I stop?

Masks are only of limited use if you have the virus and are trying to limits its spread. Although if you had it you shouldn't be in public. They are a bit pointless tbh

I wouldn’t say anything to someone wearing a mask but I would think they’d bought into the panic and thrown science out of the window.

Coronavirus: Do face masks actually work? www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51881555

I saw three people wearing masks today, 2 x surgicals but 1 was purple with white flowers, almost as it were a fashion item.

Why were you wearing a mask?

My DH works at a large venue which has the capacity to hold thousands of people and he said there were quite a few people wearing masks last night so I think it will become more the norm like you see in Italy etc
I should imagine that most of those who think they're useless and a waste of time wouldn't actually confront wearers about it but just mind their own business.
I'm asthmatic and gave in to panic last night and ordered masks for my family and myself, not sure if I'll be brave enough to wear one in public unless more people start to.

Masks are only useful if you are treating or caring for someone with C19!

If I knew you had no additional health risks (obvs not possible for a stranger in the street) I would be slightly irritated that you had depleted the stocks of masks at a time when there is a shortage for those who desperately need them. There are not enough face masks for GP surgeries. Also please think about neutropaenic patients on chemo who are vulnerable to Covid as well as all the other bugs

They must have some use otherwise you wouldn't see people wearing them all over Asia.

Even if they only make people feel better psychologically that has to be a good thing?

I do think they have their uses.... for once they stop you subconsciously touching your face and therefore transmitting the virus that may be on your hands via your mouth or nose.

Of course good hand hygiene is essential but they're not mutually exclusive are they? You can wash your hands and wear a mask, not just one or the other.

Someone on another thread said her DH was challenged about mask use too. After all, we live in a country where some people would rather have their retinas burned out of their eyes than be "the wanker in sunglasses" even in the middle of a heatwave!

As you learned, wearing a mask is likely to bring people right up to your face to yell at you. I don't think it's worth it.

I would have said to her in a calm manner... My face mask may not protect me from Coronavirus, but it does protect me from your breath!

I bought the masks six weeks ago so am not contributing to shortages now. Also they were from Amazon so not from an official health supplier. It has been making me feel better wearing them, even though I know they're not really doing anything, given that I have to work and that I get there on public transport and if I keeled over my kids would be fucked. It just makes me feel a little calmer. Plus as I said I've found it stops me touching my face, which is part of the official guidelines.

The mask won’t help, it’s just false security.

‘A bit tapped’

Primary care staff are al busy trying to buy themselves masks anywhere they can so they can be a bit safer while trying to see and asses patients with fever and coughs .

I regard people who wear face masks in the same way that I regard people who drive for miles with their hazards going.

i.e. " Thanks for giving me a visual clue that you are not quite firmly grounded on planet earth, I'll keep my distance."

I don’t see why people are so against them. I plan to start wearing one when the school forced me to go in and be around 1500 kids. I realise it will not protect me %100 however I know it will offer some and if I was a carrier reduce spread. I don’t really care what people say. Put yourself first cos no one else will!

And i bought my n95s way before this as well are mini preppers

The assistant in our PHARMACY was wearing a mask!!!! Given the advice that they are of no protection, I can only presume she had a cough. If that was the case, why was she not self isolating?

@puds11 yeah I think screaming in a person's face about hysteria while shovelling thirty ready meals in your trolley and they've got a box of teabags and some popping corn in theirs is pretty unhinged behaviour.

In China the masks have to be worn to protect others from catching it from the mask wearer. It means if you’re contagious and cough or sneeze, it gives some protection from your germs. I wish we had them and was compulsory to wear them at the minute.

I agree with the Chinese approach and if this is going to become part of our diseases I agree even more that we should all adopt it

I’ve seen quite a few people wearing N95 masks recently.

However, not a single one of them has been wearing them properly. Nobody has adjusted the nose bridge to fit against their face, presumably because making them semi-airtight like that is a bit sweaty and uncomfortable. A good half of the people I’ve seen have been wearing them on their chins, leaving their noses and mouths clear so they can breath properly.

It irritates me that when we have shortages of these masks, some people are wearing them as ostentatious hygiene theatre, with no intention of discomforting themselves by wearing them properly (because that would be sweaty). But at least we all now know that they are taking Covid19 very seriously!

I expect to see surgical gloves pinned to tops, plastic gowns carried under arms, and other ridiculousness.

@T0tallyFuckedUpFamily well quite. I don't know if I'm carrying this thing or not. None of us do given that the government aren't testing. Probably a mask won't do me any good. If I am inadvertently capable of spreading the virus around though, wearing a mask stops other people from getting it, to a point.

(Obviously wouldn’t dream of shouting at anybody, just internally rolling my eyes at them).

I was under the impression that the fashion in China and Japan for face masks is about stopping the person with a virus from passing germs to others, not the other way around. Face masks get damp and that dampness is an ideal place for viruses and bacteria to breed, so they also need to be changed regularly.

I am not wearing face masks. I don't have any and doubt I could if I wanted them. Our hospital staff need them far more than I do. I am keeping my mouth shut and breathing exclusively through my nose. The sinuses synthesis nitric oxide which is meant to help reduce your chances of catching a cold. I don't know if it works for coronavirus.

I am also wearing gloves and washing them at the end of each day. I am thinking of getting some cotton ones for the summer as I will look ridiculous in knitted gloves soon.