Why are people not wearing masks?

[FergusComeLately]

I’m queuing inside my local supermarket, I’ve see one other person wearing a mask.

Does it not make sense to just TRY to protect other people and try and keep infection rates down. Even a scarf wound round your face?!

I think they should be compulsory when you are inside. Is it the PPE shortage which is preventing Boris from making it so?

Talk to me about masks!

From this thread it splits readily between: for the greater good/ I am special, me.

Where i live,with one of the most rigorous testing regimes in the world and mandatory mask wearing, new infections are fewer than 800 a day. Deaths below 10.

Extrapolate what you wish

This thread shows me exactly why people don't wear masks because it's all me, me, me, me.
Oh yes and "my anxiety" which is the go to mumsnet excuse for not doing anything you don't want to...pathetic. Maybe if one of your loved one dies because of your negligence you might take a different view and you'll also then have genuine anxiety.
I work in the nhs and I go nowhere without a mask.
My sister lives in a country where mask wearing is obligatory and they have had very few deaths there.

I also can't understand why people aren't wearing gloves. I find it extraordinary. I wear gloves while I'm shopping and pushing my trolley and remove them once I have loaded up and am back in the car, and sanitise my hands. When I get home I wear a new set of gloves to unload and bring everything up, discarding these once inside and I can wash my hands thoroughly. Then I scrub down and sanitise all the shopping and re-wash myself.

Well one reason could be that literally no one I know - mainly families with small children who are also working from home - has the time or energy to expend on such a massive faff. Between dropping off shopping for elderly parents, homeschooling, dealing with endless conference calls and entertaining toddlers we barely manage to wash our hands and stuff the shopping in the fridge, let alone sanitising everything!

Even just in shops Or crowded places to help protect others, and in turn others are protecting you.

I certainly don't need others to protect me or particularly want them to and I'm in this extremely vulnerable group. I couldn't give a toss on how people go about their day or what they are doing, or what they are wearing.

I have never sanitised shopping or showered after going to the supermarket. If you're going to wash your hands anyway then what is the point of the gloves?

I find your behaviour a lot more odd than not wearing gloves @WanderingMilly do you think this level of paranoia is rational in any way?

Plus there is plenty out there about why people should NOT be wearing gloves anyway.

Hardsell I tried linking to scientific papers, either you didn't read them or didn't understand them.
The Vanity Fair article is a nice translation of science into an easy to read and understand format. Some people here have a background in scientific research but most, understandably, don't.

I've worked far too much ever since this pesky virus landed on our shores, I'd like to get back to some sort of normal.
The virus is not going to vanish for quite a while. New normal is going to be different and people will still get ill and some will die. We can exert some control over the virus, we can't let it control us and remain in lockdown forever, nor can we return to uncontrolled spread and overwhelmed hospitals. Wearing a mask, at times, is one of these things we can do, to help everyone.

www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1435.short

@WanderingMilly gloves are useless if not used correctly, and you are not using them correctly. For any benefit you would have to change them after you touch anything at all not wear for a full shop. I wonder if you are using your masks correctly?

Washing your hands when you get in and usual hygiene is enough as it's very unlikely you would pick anything up from shopping.

No one is saying use masks or we're all going to die

Wearing masks in areas that aren’t as well ventilated, or in covered over shops, as well as maintaining social distancing, can help to stop the spread of the disease.

In the WHO guidelines about pandemics there is (I believe) a section that suggests mask wearing during a pandemic may be helpful.

Masks have been proven not to be helpful when it comes to flu, but there is a lack of testing when it comes to coronaviruses. Anecdotal information points towards them being helpful.

To all the virtue signallers whether you like it or not people just don’t care that much about possibly stopping random people they don’t know getting a virus that most of us don’t even have. That’s just how it is. Most people, probably including all the virtue signallers, have lived their lives up to now making sure themselves and their families are alright ahead of random people.

I’m not comfortable with perfectly normal behaviours like not wanting to walk around without a face covering being viewed as “selfish”. All it does is deflect blame from the real reason this is such a fiasco which is the government’s response. It ain’t my fault there are 10s of thousands of people dead.

That last link was good. Interesting summary of the evidence that essentially boils down to - there's no proof they work - but heck, we've got nothing better, why not suggest it as an option?

That's fine. It's honest. It's logical. It's a suggestion. We can do it or not do it. You can choose to wear a mask, I can choose not to. We both know there's no evidence either way that it makes a difference. You want to feel you are trying. I'm going to say three hail Mary's before leaving the house. We're both happy, end result probably the same.

How is it virtue signalling when they are being found to work

Many drs are now recommending them, and explaining why.

You don’t know anyone who is vulnerable? You don’t want to do something tiny that might make a huge difference within your community?

All irrelevant. Masks do not stop the spread. They MAY slow/reduce transmission. We will all get it evetually and unless there is a vaccine that works in the next 12-18 months, then vulnerable people are going to get it and may or may not be in the small % that die. A mask won't stop that. The only way they can protect themselves is lock themselves away in a bunker until there is a vax.

If you said protect the nhs wear a mask - it might make more sense. But as the nhs is not currently overwhelmed - I'll carry on breathing fresh air thanks.

It needs to be made mandatory to wear masks.
But masks also need to be available.

Masks to be worn by the public should capture droplets exiting the airwaves, and thus protect others, not ourselves.
This means that masks should be worn by all

And yes, there is no need to wear gloves at all. The virus doesn't penetrate the skin.
Gloves are only useful if you can't wash or disinfect your hands between contact.
And gloves cause more waste.
Much better to just wash or disinfect hands.
(Biologist with Biological Safety Level 3 experience)

Masks do not stop the spread. They MAY slow/reduce transmission.

And thus help control the spread, so it's a good idea, as they allow more people out and about.

Nohardsell they don’t work with flu.

Anecdotal evidence is suggesting that they help with covid19, and we shouldn’t be waiting for full peer reviewed evidence before adopting masks as a simple way to help manage the pandemic.

I can't wear a mask cos I have mild asthma and they would make my breathing worse. I keep away from anyone when I'm out shopping and sometimes wear gloves. I hate arsing around with new gloves just to go out shopping but it's to keep me and other shoppers safe.
If you can't buy hand sanitizer cos the shops have run out, try mixing strong corsodyl mouthwash with a wee bit of water

Except it hasn’t been proven, has it?

As I said upthread I did wear a face covering but no one else bothered. Other people don’t care about protecting me, so why I should continue putting myself to the discomfort of wearing one to protect them

I have seen people in shops, handling trolleys, handling store goods, touching their face or putting their hair back and rubbing their eyes, checking their mobiles, handling goods again....not a glove in sight.... I find it odd

Have you considered they might have already had the disease so are immune.

if you think you're asymptomatic, stay home

How does that work? "Asymptomatic" by definition means you have no idea. Do you mean nobody should leave the house ever, just in case? Shopping, exercise, work? Most people have to do one or more of these things sometimes. Even if you are a SAHP who has home delivery you could still need to go to a hospital for something else or do something else that is important.

At this point it’s not just about protecting the NHS.

As time goes on more is being learned about the virus.
Assuming that everyone has to get it, and risk longterm chronic health issues that are starting to be identified (lung damage, inflammatory issues) would be irresponsible.

This thread shows me exactly why people don't wear masks because it's all me, me, me, me.

Yeah those people who said they were attacked, autistic people, people with existing lung problems - they're all selfish. Me, me, me exactly.

There are lots of reasons not to wear masks, and I don't want to is actually perfectly reasonable too. It's not selfish to want to have the freedom to not cover your mouth.

Over 50 countries have made mask wearing mandatory:

www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/countries-wearing-face-masks-compulsory-200423094510867.html

Yes I’ll wear one when I need to function in society again.

I’m waiting for the second wave of this shit storm.

Some info on masks being effective:

www.gov.sg/article/the-science-behind-why-masks-help-prevent-covid-19-spread