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!

I know it is shocking. A lot of this could have been prevented if they had acted on the info they were getting at the start of the year. Only now are they starting to say erm we listened to the wrong scientists. The same ones btw who provided info they actively worked against. The same trained people who have concerns about the masks.

As long as people have all the evidence and make a choice on their individual needs. It’s down to them. Nobody can be forced to do anything. One right I don’t want exceptionS to made. The full right to have the choice about my body. I will fight that right all the way if it looks like this will happen.

There's very little evidence that it has a positive effect. That's why it's not mandatory.

Don’t be silly @Ruffle it’s fully proper true you know. A gazillions scientists say it’s all true.

That’s also a good starting point for anyone interested in making informed decisions. Do back ground checks on them. Are they qualified in any related area. Credentials and from where etc. That takes away about 70% off nonsense. Sounds like it takes fine, really doesn’t once you get started.

Sorry ,I've not read all 29 pages so this may have been covered but - where to buy ? Preferably a structured one so not sitting flat across nose and mouth .

Depends if you want something that has been quality tested or not. Type of protection etc

Not really that it is worth it -=lots of evidence the other way and loads of downsides which do not make up for any upside.

Well ,not the v thin one wear disposable ones .

Something a little more robust ,not expecting it to offer ICU protection but more practical than several layers of thick cotton scarf .

Maybe something like these

www.vistaprint.co.uk/masks/ and using a thin sanitary towel ( genius idea from a nurse upthread ) to keep cost of filters down ?

As Xenia pointed out, none medial ones aren't worth it.
Because of the lack of PPE many countries had to look at the alternatives. Only to be used in extreme emergencies and even then with restrictions.

Disease control centres around the world also have more information about it. Including for those who want to wear them, material types, how to safely wear, wash etc. Which btw is at least a 60 degree wash after each wear. And I think you have to use a new one in each building, but double-check.

The European disease control has also given NHS the same info about when to use none-medical ones for their staff. Many of whom are still having to do because of the ongoing PPE situation. This is also based on info from WHO.

For balance - some people think that it's a conspiracy why WHO has mentioned the PPE situation and advised against face masks.
Other people understand why.

There are also a number of people who are strongly advised against the use due to medical reasons. Again on CDC sites, BBC, whatever media you watch and information about were to use if you want to, is also available.

Sorry, I cannot link anywhere to buy, I cannot endorse something that could worsen peoples health. But hope the info helps you and of course others make informed choices.

Medical not medial haha.

Still no-one has properly explained why PPE on face and eyes is vital for NHS but useless to the rest of us

Look how difficult it's been to source PPE for people who need it, in the NHS, never mind randoms.

@peridito Can you breathe through a sanitary towel? They're not porous for obvious reasons.

Still no-one has properly explained why PPE on face and eyes is vital for NHS but useless to the rest of us

Because they're exposed to much higher volumes of biological matter that is much more likely to be infectious than the general population.

The face masks irritate me. Before the lockdown I actually ordered some masks (im classed as vunerable) and disposable gloves.

Then everyone (gov, media) was saying how ridiculous it is and how masks don't help ...

BUT NOW THEY WANT US TO WEAR THEM? Piss off, if they really thought it would of helped then they would of told us to wear them sooner.

It's only now they're saying it because they know they are pushing us out far too soon ! and the second peak is coming rapidly

@margin but 250,000 people in UK have now confirmed to have caught covid and that doesn't count all the 1000s for whom there is no testing at all. So, we are being exposed to it too, not just NHS workers!

I was in a queue to pay for my goods at a garden centre the other day, a guy in front of me sneezed into his hand on more than one occasion and just put his hand back on the trolley handle. The GC weren't cleaning g trolley handles, nor were the trolley handlers wearing any gloves 🧤

250,000 people in UK have now confirmed to have caught covid and that doesn't count all the 1000s for whom there is no testing at all. So, we are being exposed to it too, not just NHS workers!

Yes but most people that have it will be at home. Not in the shop. NHS staff are exposed to people with it because the ill people attend medical settings or the nhs workers have to attend the persons home.

And even if someone in a shop did have it, I assume you are not providing intimate care to them. An nhs working will have to get up close and personal to ill people.

And before anyone says asymptomatic carriers. If you're asymptomatic then your unlikely to be coughing and sneezing, which is what the mask protects you from. So the mask won't protect you from asymptomatic carriers anyway.

@MarginalGain but 250,000 people in UK have now confirmed to have caught covid and that doesn't count all the 1000s for whom there is no testing at all. So, we are being exposed to it too, not just NHS workers!

There is a theory that has been posited/discarded/posited again that viral load can affect the severity of the infection, so if I were a health care worker I would proceed with caution. For example anyone intubating a covid19 patient would be exposed a giant volumes of the virus so if this theory were true, at much greater risk of death in the absence of PPE.

Obviously people working in covid19 wards have far more opportunity to catch covid19 than a normal person, so the fact that they are not overrepresented in the death statistics must that they're not overrepresented in the overall infection rates which must mean that PPE has brought their risk of infection down to a normal person's.

The anti mask force is busy today, how about some science.

Fabric face coverings stop the wearer spreading droplets, these droplets are formed by breathing, talking, laughing, coughing, singing and sneezing. www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jamp.2008.0720

Coronavirus is spread by these droplets, they float around in the air for a while, hence the 2m rule. They also settle on objects, like your mobile phone and things on supermarket shelves that people have breathed on. Fabric face coverings keep the wearer from spreading these respiratory secretions. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1752-7163/ab8a55

40% of virus carriers are asymptomatic, plus people seem to be at their most contagious for a few days before they begin to show symptoms.www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7147908 People do not know if they are asymptomatic and are definitely still breathing.

Nobody in their right mind would wear a N95 mask outside of a clinical setting. They are uncomfortable and without a perfect fit provide less protection than a fabric face covering. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03252 If you are not a medic, you don't really need one.

What is needed is a way to contain the breath of 7.5 billion people. Fabric face coverings are cheap, easy and new research all the time (this is a novel virus, lots of new research) points to them being effective. consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/how-simple-face-coverings-protect-against-covid-19

If you don't like science links, try this lady (has PhD in coronaviruses) but explains it in a very accessible way www.teriberry.com/?fbclid=IwAR27MH1qJor0hP8jHIm2v8OfHYiux_TKYnmlmzC6rQWPuQEp8Mc80uCfaxg

@PestymcPestFace.

the first link was published in 2009, hasn't been updated, and to view have to $51.

Oh really, what are the anti-mask force up to today? Wait there's some type of task force?

In other words, how about a Google search .

Right, contain the breath of 7.5m, but force. I can so see that happening, said no one ever.

Preferably a structured one so not sitting flat across nose and mouth

A bit random but Playmobil. I'm about to order some to try. I can't do cloth or anything tight to my nose/mouth due to ptsd so am hoping their sort of duck bill design/structure will be tolerable for short periods. I've watched a few videos and people seem to find them comfortable enough.

Is covid-19 300nm?

Is England ?

Are the duck heads that big in rl? I'm thinking hows it going to fit. Can get a Tampax up my nostril. Oh Gawd imagine the duck getting stuck 🤣

Don't you still need to put something over that to protect the mouth. And refrain from sneezing?