I wore a facemask doing my shopping today...

[Justmuddlingalong]

Yes, I initially felt self conscious, slightly embarrassed and generally a bit of an arse. However, the sky didn't fall in, nobody pointed and laughed at me and after a few minutes I'd gotten over the initial discomfort.
I know it's not a rule to wear one, but on the list of embarrassing things I've done in my lifetime, it's very near the bottom. 😷

How about a headscarf or Alice band thenHelenaDove? There’s always a way around most of these little ‘it won’t work for me becauses...’

As for those who selfishly refuse to wear masks, here in California, you wouldn’t be allowed in most of our stores without a mask or face covering of some kind. It’s not just about you and it doesn’t need to be medical or industrial grade, even a folded headscarf looped through a couple of hair ties affords some protection - to others.

How about the US stops charging people for tests?

So if someone with breathing problems is affected (COPD asthma for instance) how does that help the NHS

PP "bribe a relative of a friend with wine"

Would that be the relatives or friends we arent suppossed to be seeing . Or the other mythical ones.

"China gave the world a head start"

China gave the world........................ fill in the blank.

I've been surprised at how few people I've seen wearing them out and about. We ordered some little fabric ones back in January when it was apparent that this was no ordinary seasonal infection (it took such a long time for the WHO to declare it a pandemic, but the signs were there for some weeks before that, according to the nurse in this household - not me.).

We wore scarves around our faces when out until the masks arrived, the masks finally arrived at the start of this month and we now wear them when we go to the supermarket or post office (we don't go many other places, although nurse obviously goes to work, where thankfully the full PPE is finally available, but obviously kept for clinical/medical settings).

They're washable masks (lots of things in this household get washed at 60 degrees for obvious reasons) and we also spray them as soon as we come home with Dettol, which we also keep a small bottle of in the car. The only other people I've really seen wearing masks so far were a couple of people with the full dust masks on and an Asian lady with a surgical mask on.

I'll be very surprised if BJ 'n' chums don't announce as part of their "ingenious plot" (which South Korea, amongst others, appears to have been in on for several weeks....) that wearing masks just might be a good idea given that the primary transmission route seems to be respiratory/droplet.

Lots of people don't realise that they're not wearing masks to stop them from getting the virus, necessarily, they're to stop you passing it on to anyone else, including if you're asymptomatic.

It’s not just about you

Really? Why are so many Americans against others having access to healthcare unless they can pay for it themselves.

That is the very definition of it being all about the individual.

Helena “ China gave the world........................ fill in the blank.”

This made me lol.

Just adding here - Asthma UK have also said many asthmatics feel they can’t breathe with a mask on. I could literally put my inhalers in a plastic bag around me, but there would still be some people who just thought I was being selfish.

I am seeing people with face coverings that aren’t masks, they are tied at the back but they aren’t as restrictive? Maybe that will be better fir asthmatics?

If I have to wear one on the Tube, it will be damp in minutes on a hot day. Before I got made redundant, I was on a 90 min door to door commute with bus and tube.

Good point Lilac What if we get another heatwave?

My mask has flowers all over it. I don't care what anyone thinks about it.

Helena I’m relying on Asthma UK to help direct advice fir asthmatics bit I’m not sure how to help others

Probably a fair few people will have to faint on the Tube before the problem is taken seriously 😱

I do think there’s got to be some realistic analysis of hot weather, Tube, face masks etc. I also hope Londoners are bright enough to understand but then again, the level of covhysteria is worse than any pandemic I dreamed up.

There are people who think my asthma should keep me shut indoors till a vaccine comes.

I'll probably get slated for saying this but as a Muslim woman I find it quite funny to see how everyone else is now covering their faces too!
Not Muslim myself but I can see that some of my friends have a headstart and comfort advantage over me on this one 😁
At least they offer good advice and don't point and laugh.
And yes they think it's hilarious that they are now trendsetters rather than downtrodden

I find it funny that masks fuck with facial recognition technology!

You are bloody joking I hope @Helenadove?

Get yourself on to you tube and cut your own hair if you get so hot (unless you have a medical condition?)
if you care about trying to protect other people from C-vid you would wear a mask in public.

(Or just stay home please)

"so you're implying what exactly our govt is only 4 months old - give it a rest"

VenusTiger You are over-sensitive
I wasn't implying anything about politics - just reassuring pp why I think it Ok to copy advice from foreign governments

btw, I expect the UK government to recommend masks / face coverings after lockdown, too

... and I know I've lived abroad quite a while, but I thought the Tories had been in power since 2010 and in government on their own since 2015
afaik, Boris and the current government are Tories

How to make a non-medical facemask (no sewing)
[[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/06/how-to-make-no-sew-face-mask-coronavirus
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/06/how-to-make-no-sew-face-mask-coronavirus]]

"I find it funny that masks fuck with facial recognition technology!"

Unfortunately, the Chinese regime have developed software to handle this
I'm sure they'll sell it to Western governments, until the West can develop its own

BigChoc how well does it work? Facial recognition tech seems full of errors already.

Interesting precedent for not wearing a mask

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mask_League_of_San_Francisco

No stasi @terrigrey hair is an insignificant side issue.

Its the not being able to breathe properly with one on.

Try directing your ire at the people who kept going on flights to fucking ski trips in Northern Italy AFTER the virus was already a well known fact.

The people who kept boarding cruise ships AFTER the virus was already a well known fact.

The people who drove to second homes. I guess these pastimes were more important than breathing though.

And i havent missed the threads about Wizz air on this board. People cant wait to get back on a fucking plane. And predictably those threads dont stretch as long as this one. But me being able to breathe while doing an essential food shop. How very entitled of me.

Quelle surprise.

Oh and heres another group you can direct your ire at instead. The stupid twonks gathering on Westminster Bridge on a Thursday night.

Didnt see many masks there all three times when i saw it all online. Yep they scored a hat trick.

Perhaps that part of London should have its own lockdown.

Trying to shift the blame to the parts of society that dont get to go on bloody holiday stinks

Shifting the blame wont wash this time.

Helena, they haven’t done it again have they? I’ve got that they had a protest about lack of PPE.

@BigChocFrenzy i can use a cup from an old bra.

twitter.com/Urban_Pictures/status/1255956549333389313?s=20

Ive seen more social distancing in a tin of sardines!!

Helena I suppose it’s good that wasn’t all over social media

It’s definitely a much lower number than last week.

The London R seems to be lower than other parts of the country according to today’s briefing.

I live in NY where we now have to wear one. It really has made people more complacent and I definitely see a return to normal behaviour by many.... We are wearing a mask, we’re safe now... kind of thing.

Lots of people wearing them round here (London) , not just in shops but for exercise. We don't have any, we did get given a couple of paper ones a week or so back. DP found that his glasses steamed up and he couldn't see properly, not sure what to do about that.