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. 😷

Funny typo.

Someone in supermarket wore one than stood right behind me in the queue to pay no consideration for social distancing... so no point really.

N95 medical masks prevent ingress, they are great for medical people dealing with Covid19 patients. They require a good fit and strict mask hygiene.

Fabric face coverings prevent egress, they are truly altruistic.

Many people miss the difference

Wearing a mask is pointless. Especially if you are wearing the same one as in theory it would be "contaminated" after you wore it the first time. The virus can also get into your eyes, so if you're not wearing goggles too then that's pointless. Plus, if it's a surgical mask (like everyone is wearing) they get moist when you breathe and then stop working, so they wouldn't protect you or others if you were to be carrying the virus.

I can’t wear them I’m hoping it doesn’t become compulsory

DH and I have separately noticed that more and more people wearing masks are coming much closer.

On the other hand, my OH was saying the other day that everyone seemed less bothered about the 2m thing in the supermarket and shops. He's the one who has been going out and says the past couple of weeks people are definitely more lax.

South East here - I would say at least half of shoppers I see are using masks (some home fashioned rather than medical) and gloves.

Nobody would bat an eyelid here.

@JingsMahBucket
I have expressed myself badly. English is - obviously - not my first language.
I was referring to a certain aspect of 'othering' going on in all cultures and religions, which exists both ways and citing a personal experience to clarify it.
But I do realize that this thread is not the place.

I don’t care if you wear one but I won’t. Ever. It’s pointless.

If they're so pointless why do surgeons, nurses, vets and dentists wear them?

I am not in favour of wearing face coverings because I think it is pretty pointless and people would be better off washing their hands and physically distancing.

People wear them for too long so they become saturated, fiddle with them putting droplets on their hands and spreading them, don't wash them properly or often enough, leave them lying around or in bags or coats before being washed, etc etc. I think it is a bit of a sop meant to make the public feel less scared about going out. There is very little evidence that masks slow the spread ...

I was about to say I bet you looked really strange. But then I read your OP. You aren't talking about skincare face masks, are you?

I'll see myself out.

I've been unwell, most likely Covid-19 and it's been really unpleasant. 6 weeks on I am probably not infectious, but I plan on mask-wearing in shops anyway for the following reasons:

1. I know it won't protect me against catching it again, if that proves to be a possibility, but I'd like a lower viral load if that should happen, please. Thanks.
2. It protects others, even if I just have a cold, and helps to normalise it by example. What the right calls 'virtue-signalling' and the rest of us sometimes term 'common decency'.

I have to attend a clinic in hospital regularly as I am on Warfarin. The phlebotomists have the same mask as me plus a face shield. I got it in a Spar shop in the centre of Dublin just before the lockdown. I definitely feel safer with it on. More and more people are wearing them in the hospital and outside too. I even saw someone in a car with one on!

I have noticed that the people in masks at our local shop and the big superstore nearby tend to get a lot closer than most to others ... false sense of safety? or 'I'm protected, fuck you!'? hard to tell. Not all, just a significant and noticeably high percentage ime.

@Oakmaiden, they do everything well in South Korea, don't they?

And they have not recommended face coverings in Scotland - they have said they might be useful when social distancing is impossible i.e. public transport but there is little evidence of their effectiveness.

@PinkFluff2 proving a point about altruism there.

The public do not wear face coverings to protect them selves, they do it to protect others.

About half of cases are asymptomatic, why risk infecting somebody, wear a mask, protect others

Read some research, there is more every day

@Coffeecak3 A forum on social media was asking how to wash the masks to kill the virus. Frankly if the virus is on your mask it will be in your nose and mouth too.
As previously stated masks are to protect others from you.

I agree! Surely you'd need 1000s of mask per person - you're not supposed to reuse a mask - it defeats the point to them - weeks back Dr Harries said you're more likely to infect your mask - better to stay home and social distance.

If they're so pointless why do surgeons, nurses, vets and dentists wear them?

You can’t see the difference between the general public going out shopping and medical professionals who can’t stay 2m away from their patients?

@Wobblywibblywoo @notacooldad I find it fucking hilarious regardless of the reason behind one covering their face as there was a point in time that many people were ok with banning face coverings..what if it was banned and now the ban had to be lifted...fucking hilarious ( and just to say...I dont personally believe a woman should HAVE to cover her face and I certainly wouldn't for cultural reasons, but like I said ...fucking hilarious)

I wear one when I go out for two reasons, first to help reduce transmission, because if I have it, it will do that, however effective, it will help. Secondly as a message to others that we do have a problem here and I am trying to do something about it and hopefully getting them to think the same way. Right now in my neighbourhood it seems many people just want to pretend it never happened, but we are not out of the woods and the NHS needs all the help it can get.

Actually as a non-Muslim, I was thinking of wearing a hijab for 2 reasons - to cover my nose and mouth and to wear over my hair to hide the horrible encroaching greyness!

Given a choice, I would prefer people to properly practice social distancing in public places. In the supermarket today, it was the people wearing masks who were unnecessarily close.
Masks will be best for places like public transport where social distancing can be more difficult (especially as we start to come out of this lockdown and people start to travel more).

@VenusTiger you don’t need thousands of masks per person. Buy a cloth mask and wash it when you get back inside the house. Using a cloth mask leaves the medical PPE for the staff who need them.

Big difference betwen wearing a mask to stop you catching/spreading diease and wearing one because your community expect it of you for cultural reasons