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!

Mask wearing doesn't mean a quicker and safer reopening of things, hence why it is not compulsory

Hardsell
Hand washing is not compulsory
Arse wiping is not compulsory
Deodorant is not compulsory
Just recommended, like mask wearing

Shields are also useful jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525?widget=personalizedcontent&previousarticle=2764955

Recent studies suggest that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be transmitted by infected persons even in the absence of symptoms of disease. While social distancing and good hand hygiene are the most important methods to prevent virus transmission, new guidelines state that healthy individuals can consider wearing masks in public settings, particularly when physical distancing is difficult (like in grocery stores or pharmacies). Primary benefits of wearing a mask include limiting the spread of the virus from someone who knows or does not know they have an infection to others. Masks also remind others to continue practicing physical distancing.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2764955

I want to be able to speak to other people safely www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2007800

I'm happy to be a bit inconvenienced to get back towards some normality.

Because the risk of self contamination is so high. I believe there’s a false sense of security.

The amount of people I see walking around with masks on, fiddling with them, taking them off then immediately eating food is quite worrying. (No hand washing or even hand gel)

Yesterday I saw a man take his gloves off, scrunch them up, then picked his nose!

I saw a woman sat in the park with her mask pulled down resting on her neck. Her baby was snuggled right into the mask. What’s the point??

If you wear masks (or gloves) at least learn to take them off carefully.

www.fast.ai/2020/04/13/masks-summary/

This is by an Oxford prof of primary care. She makes a strong case for face coverings. The little video at the end illustrates what people have been saying about droplets on this thread. Less droplets, less transmission, thus safer and more normal more quickly.

She's very much an advocate of face coverings, not PPE. I've sewn the total of one cushion before covid, but even I have managed to make some masks and I really recommend www.prettyhandygirl.com/best-fit-face-mask/
esp for everyone struggling with the steamed up glasses thing.

You're completely correct that we would benefit from a public information campaign about masks. I could easily swap nonsense stuff about staying alert with ads telling us about how to take off masks, what 2 metres looks like and reminders about hand washing.

I saw a woman sat in the park with her mask pulled down resting on her neck. Her baby was snuggled right into the mask. What’s the point??

You seem to be making the common mistake of confusing a medical mask with a face covering.
Medical masks are for people in close contact with Covid patients, they prevent ingress.
Face coverings are for the general public, who all have a chance of being asymptomatic, they prevent egress. Presumably the woman also kisses her baby, do you think that should be stopped!!

'May'
'can consider'

Awesome. You do you. There is literally nothing there that says it either works or is compulsory

It's a choice. You wear one if you want, makes no difference to me either way, just as me not wearing one makes no proven or demonstrable difference to you (although it does seem to make people angry that they can't control others. Yoga is helpful with that)

Mask wearing doesn't mean a quicker and safer reopening of things, hence why it is not compulsory

In my opinion, if we don't get a vaccine (if we do mask or no mask is irrelevant anyway) wearing masks will slow return to normality.

The quicker the virus spreads, the quicker we'll have herd immunity and we'll be back to normal life. Slowing the spread protects the nhs but also prolongs the use of saftley measures.

We actually need it to spread at a speed the nhs can manage without slowing it down so much that we end up having lockdowns for years.

Restarting the economy is about consumer confidence.
Recommendations for hand washing, social distancing, her immunity and "British common sense" failed miserably and fatally. Perhaps masks - as flawed a strategy as it is - will make people feel more willing to go out and spend money.
All the "I'm a free spirit bastion of British values" brigade can do their blah blah while people give masks a go - preferably with public information videos to guide them.
And maybe it will help the economy.

@HeatherIV , the Tories tried a cull of the elderly by getting Covid 19 into care homes. Not really a great policy.

The President of Portugal. Wearing a mask while queuing in a supermarket.

A good example of why the deaths/million in Portugal in 119. In the UK it is 511.

the Tories tried a cull of the elderly by getting Covid 19 into care homes. Not really a great policy.

I'm not really sure why that is relevant to my post.
Covid kills old people. People in care homes are living in close confinement. Covid was always going to have a big impact in care homes. It's not only the uk that has struggled with covid in care homes. I don't think it's a government policy. I think it just happened and it wasn't a priority to sort out.

"It just happened ". Seriously? They discharged untested people into care homes without warning that had no PPE. That's not "it just happened ". That's at best incompetence.

The quicker the virus spreads, the quicker we'll have herd immunity and we'll be back to normal life. Slowing the spread protects the nhs but also prolongs the use of saftley measures.

So you're happy for hundreds of thousands of people to die? What are you talking about? Please look up the countries who are successfully suppressing covid while running their economies and allowing freedom of movement. There is no successful model of herd immunity but suppression clearly works in South Korea and other east Asian countries thanks to test, track, isolate and mask wearing.

No evidence for your claim of mask wearing being linked to suppression of virus

Going back to another poster. Absolutely, if it gives people confidence, let them wear masks. I'm not suggesting they be banned. Free choice for anything non proven. You want to wear a crucifix or sprinkle yourself with holy water, equally go right ahead.

• The President of Portugal. Wearing a mask while queuing in a supermarket.

A good example of why the deaths/million in Portugal in 119. In the UK it is 511.•

Are you saying that this is because we don't wear masks?

Masks ARE a barrier. They're not just confidence boosters. Or like Holy Water. That's a stupid and unfair comparison.
Covid is transmitted by droplets, masks are a barrier, if everyone wears masks there are less droplets around. Masks also help people not reach out for their face without thinking.

However, it does depend on the mask.
If you wear one, don't just get the one your friend did out of leftover material.
It should let you breathe, and it should be water proof, so that saliva droplets don't get out easily.

For example, in Portugal there are recommendations for what a good non medical mask should be, and sellers get certificates, for single use and for washable masks.

They don't mean you're 100% protected, but if worn properly, you and everyone around you is safer than without.

*A good example of why the deaths/million in Portugal in 119. In the UK it is 511.•

Are you saying that this is because we don't wear masks?

Mask wearing in Portugal is a more recent thing, actually.
The main differences that lead to less deaths per million, and still will are: earlier, clearer and consistent measures; excellent test coverage (resulting from a huge effort from labs, universities, research institutes and local councils) and consistent tracking of cases and contacts.

However there's been a massive rally to produce PPE equipment and to certify it.
Right now, going into the 2nd week of relaxing measures, and further relaxing, there are clear guidelines (even if some are not consensual).
There are many companies selling certified washable masks. And we don't see buses full of people without PPE.

A number of other European countries are at the very least making them compulsory on public transport. Perhaps we should do that. It may be easier to keep your distance in the supermarket and I guess you could argue that people could just order their supermarket shopping online (although it seemed virtually impossible to get a slot last time I looked), but it may be more difficult on a tube train and it is called 'public transport' after all...

The President of Portugal. Wearing a mask while queuing in a supermarket.

He also confined himself at an early stage instead of shaking people's hands in a hospital.

It's a recent photo and part of a concerted public image message with the PM to demonstrate how people can and should start getting out and encouraging mask use.

Note that he's still maintaining some distance in the queue. Because every bit counts.

I just wondered why someone would post a picture and a bunch of figures like they were linked. And I thought surely they aren't saying the mask is the reason, because of everything and more you pointed out about Portugal.

@jobhunter7 If you've had the shielding letter you can register to ensure your household gets. 'priority' for deliveries.

Mine took ages to get sorted, but can now shop online again as I did before CV.

canigooutyet
Indeed, the masks aren't the reason for the current figures.
They may be in the reopening. We don't know yet. We're playing it safe here, as much as possible.
The fact is that there was hardly any PPE when covid started and when it hit Portugal. As most of Europe, we couldn't rely on the population wearing masks because there weren't any and the few were needed for hospitals.
The recommendation then was to wear only if really needed.

We've since built up reserves and production.
The Portuguese government, reportedly, were able to secure supplies faster and cheaper than through the EU joint effort, which is ironic considering the UK's inability to and the drive for Brexit.
But many factories diverted production to make PPE and are now supplying the internal market and exporting.

Supermarkets now are selling boxes of disposable masks, although still expensive, at half the cost at the peak or less.
Now it's one protective measure that can be implemented at reasonable cost to allow people out with less risk.

For what it's worth, the WHO actually don't recommend that asymptomatic individuals wear masks. There's no evidence that it protects you from catching COVID-19 and may actually increase the risk slightly as mask wearers tend to adjust and fiddle with masks which means they are touching their face more often.

Asymptomatic individuals are also told to not wear the proper surgical masks as that contributes to a shortage of masks for people like care workers who do need them.

There is some evidence that wearing a mask will stop you infecting others. But mostly it's a confidence thing. People feel better wearing masks and as if they are doing something.

There is some evidence that wearing a mask will stop you infecting others!

So, if it's spreading in the community, and everyone is wearing them, and you want to ease off distancing measures and reopen businesses, they are a useful tool, don't you think?