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!

They protect others from the wearer's germs e.g. when coughing, sneezing, That's a new horror I hadn't thought of - wearing a snot-lined mask.

@highmarkingsnowmobile

@PurpleDaisies

What about Japan? Poor handling of the virus, very weak and late lockdown, no track and trace. Near universal face mask usage.

Or Czech Republic? Face masks mandatory since 12th March. Less than 500 deaths.

Or we could just crack on in our jolly British manner with 30k + deaths. Because you know, we’re handling this so much better than anyone else.

I feel like we should be wearing masks.

I had a quick look at the research on coughs and sneezes. I couldn’t really find any studies on how the 2 metre rule came about.
Apparently it was based on scientists agreeing on how far the largest droplets of a cough or sneeze can spread and is a sensible distance if the person is outdoors and wearing a mask, as outlined by the WHO.

The information coming from an American university on the study of COVID showed that cough particulates travels 1m immediately, 2m in around 12s and up to 4m in 40s. A sneeze spread up to 8m. This was backed up by evidence in other studies done a few years ago.

A mask didn’t stop the spread of the particulates, however it did limit the duration it lingered and its distance by blocking and therefore slowing it. So it stayed within a 2m area for less time. It didn’t really need to be worn properly as such, just covering the nostrils and mouth to disperse the speed of the cough or sneeze, although wearing it sealed tight helped limit the area the particulates spread to.

My thinking is therefore the 2m rule would only be really effective if you are staying 2m away and using a mask otherwise it doesn’t matter if you’re 8m away, if someone sneezes then you are exposed? It’s to limit the area around you enabling social distancing to be effective? So the 2m rule is pointless unless the contagious person within your 8m area is wearing a mask? I couldn’t really find many more studies that differed from the result of the one mentioned above but it seems the 2m rule was based on the principle that the person would be wearing a mask and staying 2m away, not 2m away or wearing a mask.

Amazing track and trace system AND wearing masks. Every little helps eh.

Time to make it compulsory to wear masks now, certainly indoors in public. Enough is enough, people are not complying with basic advice.

I don't wear one because when I go out I take my 3 month old with me and he screams blue murder if I have a mask on. Trust me, I've tried and it's not worth it.

Oh and if you have pet ferrets, please wear a mask when around them
www.fli.de/en/press/press-releases/press-singleview/novel-coronavirus-sars-cov-2-fruit-bats-and-ferrets-are-susceptible-pigs-and-chickens-are-not

Some countries are also issuing advice to wear masks around pigs as they have similar coronavirus receptors to humans. zahp.aza.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WPPH-TAG-SARS-CoV-2-statement.pdf

Meanwhile in MNland people don't want to protect humans.

From the ECDC (dated 8th April)
www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/COVID-19-
use-face-masks-community.pdf

Pretty much every other country in Europe has made in compulsory on public transport - Ireland, Estonia, UK, Switzerland, Croatia and Hungary are the exceptions.

Maybe they don't have masks (or a sewing machine to make them)?

Meanwhile in MNland people don't want to protect humans

There's a large number of humans in MNland that I don't believe are worth protecting.

At the moment with Covid19 I think it should be law to wear a mask over your nose and mouth when out, and ideally, something in front of your eyes too.

Do people making these kind of suggestions remotely consider the impact that this would have on society? On communication, on social cohesion and everyday interaction, on those who have additional needs or rely on being able to read expressions to communicate?

All the fuss pre-Covid about a minority of Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab - ‘It hinders communication/you can’t see what they’re thinking/you can’t fully relate to someone if you can’t see their face /covering your face is abhorrent to our culture’, and yet suddenly now it’s fine - indeed desirable - for everyone to wander round looking like we’re in a second rate sci-fi movie (and yes, I do know there’s a global pandemic on).

We are not Singapore or China; our culture is based around openness and freedom and our unease around those whose faces we can’t see is culturally deep-seated. It’s not just selfishness.

Use a sock
twitter.com/donalscannell/status/1259804672455557120

Use a t-shirt
www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

Use a bandana
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html

Use a scarf out of your wardrobe

Use your imagination

Until it’s a legal requirement I will not be wearing a mask

I've bought two of the snood type ones made for cyclists and walkers. Thin, stretchy material and have two holes sewn in either side to hook over my ears so they stay up. I struggle a bit with masks but find these really comfortable.

I just wore one as a snood when at the supermarket today, most customers and staff weren't wearing masks, but my idea is I'll always have a face covering with me to pull up if necessary or if I feel happier doing so in a busy place.

If made mandatory in the supermarket/other shops/school run in future I'll wear one all the time.

I don’t need to wear one. I don’t use public transport and I don’t go into shops. At work, we keep more than 2m away from each other.

Perhaps not enough people have had a friend or relative become seriously ill or die of Covid-19. It tends to focus the mind.

REVISED

Pretty much every other country in Europe has made it compulsory on public transport - Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Belarus, Ireland, Estonia, UK, Switzerland, Croatia and Hungary are the exceptions.

I don’t understand it either. I have run out of masks now. But have been wearing them to leave the house and nip to out local parade of shops.

It’s been an eye opener about how many times I touch my face, put my fingers near my mouth etc. I am not normally a person who is Phobic about germs etc..

I am wfh doing 8-10 hour days in total isolation in my spare room. My partner is furloughed and doing the childcare. So perhaps my perspective is skewed? But why would t we just want to try our bests to get this virus down to safer levels so we can all be back to normal?

And Denmark.

Perhaps not enough people have had a friend or relative become seriously ill or die of Covid-19. It tends to focus the mind probably not given that there’s 60million + people in this country

I can't. I tried several options and they send me into a panic. I'm autistic with sensory issues. I cant wear necklaces, high neck tshirts or scarfs. Things on my neck make me feel choked. As such scarf etc doesn't work. Other options are either too loose or make me panic.

I just stay far away from others and rarely go out.

No idea what difference it would make if a friend or relative had died of it. Bit late to worry about masks then, isn't it?

I'll wear one if it's compulsory but as it isn't, I won't. It's just an added bonus that it pisses people on here off.

Yes compulsory in other countries including Slovakia where I come from, very early they made masks compulsory and closed airports and borders together with other restrictions..
At the moment so far there were around 1500 cases and 28 deaths all together.. I know Slovakia is a very small country and you can't compare it to UK..
But the speed the government acted was crucial..and that's what makes the difference..
Slovakian care homes were closed for visits long time before I still heard a care home manager here in UK speaking on TV that visits will be the last thing they will stop
Airports were closed and only Slovak nationals were allowed in with the condition of going to 2 weeks quarantine in state managed place..
I can't understand why UK airports were still open through all this and probably still are..
Masks are good, I personally make them at home but tbh fb doesn't allow me to advertise so no one gets to know in my area that I make them..
I made some for my family. The ethos of wearing face cover is I protect you, you protect me.
Reality is in UK it's too much to ask so until is not compulsory I can't see this working here, hence why so many ppl still die every day..

I live in Denmark, no one is wearing them here - I’ve seen less than 20 people since this started. Our death tally is around 540.

The government hasn’t advised wearing them, and as the infection rate is falling, I see no need to.