Well, well, well face masks mandatory on public transport now

[Cherryghost]

It's now mandatory to wear face mask on public transport with exceptions for disability, young children etc.
This should have been done ages ago.
They also admitting face masks offers some protection

Fortunately I am WFH for the foreseeable future so it’s not going to affect me day-to-day but I consider it to be a massive overreaction and won’t make any noticeable difference to infection rates.

You are right, people can and should voice their pissed-offness about having to wear a mask. Then they need to be responsible and grown up about it and leave the stroppy teenager attitude behind as they shut their front doors behind them, and put on a mask when they are on public transport. Medics don’t relish getting to work and then wearing one along with a visor and an apron and gloves all day either. But they do for their sake and everyone else’s.

@Weedsnseeds1

I wore a face mask yesterday. When I got home I sprayed it both sides with disinfectant to kill any viruses that might have adhered to it. Not enough product to soak it, but enough to coat it. I then hung it in the sun, in an isolated area where no further airborne particles of Covid will reach it, to dry and air. In the evening I hung it in the hall by the door. There will be at least 24 hours between spraying it and wearing it again.

Any trace amount of phenol left on the mask will be considerably smaller than the amount of phenol present in any standard over-the-counter sore throat spray so I have no concerns at all that this regimen will be detrimental to my health.

My face masks are made of double layers of heavy duty, tightly woven cotton and I will also be washing them at 60 degrees regularly. The disinfectant is a temporary measure as I don’t want to put on a hot wash for a couple of face masks.

@AlecTrevelyan006 Much of what I read on here is complete crap. Your post is the polar opposite. Thank you.

Part of the problem is equating objections to mask-wearing with “stroppy teenage” behaviour, which I know is being used deliberately to get a rise. However, most people voicing their objection on this thread and others on Internet forums will and currently are just getting on with it. My mum is a GP and loathes wearing PPE for many reasons beyond her own discomfort (communication issues with patients and their families are a particular problem - she is mainly seeing palliative care cases in their own homes, or small babies with worried parents). Of course she gets on with it. I don’t know why those who don’t like to hear about objections or doubts about wearing face coverings get so worked up about people talking about it, when the vast majority of those people are going to comply, as did many who objected to lockdown restrictions just get on with it. I find the shutting down of people’s concerns very worrying. I also happen to know that people objected in other countries too, and complied at the same time. It’s not just a “special U.K.” thing - if anything, assuming that everyone else in other countries is happily compliant is assuming the U.K. is super special

It was the same on here earlier in lockdown - some posters REALLY objected to pregnant women (I was one - the objectors were not) discussing their concerns about restrictions to maternity care. Even in the pregnancy topic itself there were non-pregnant posters coming along and telling women how they should feel about it and that they should be grateful they aren’t giving birth in a refugee camp and similar nonsense. It really is ok for people to discuss concerns and dissatisfactions and queries that they have.

Nobody is going to relish wearing a mask, especially in summer. I think that’s a given, apart from maybe some cosplay fans who like dressing up as doctors. I’m sure in countries with a good rate of compliance many people really find wearing a mask bloody unpleasant and I’d be hard pressed to find a medic who currently has to spend the working day togged out like an extra from a post-apocalyptic film, who is finding it anything other than mentally and physically knackering.

Sometimes though we have to do things we find difficult and put us out - not being able to park in certain places even though they are the most convenient for us, moving our buggies on the bus if a wheelchair user gets on etc. As my late grandmother used to say “ Life isn’t all sweets and roses.”

@Quarantimespringclean you could put the mask in a shallow dish of water and microwave for a couple of minutes (disclaimer - I’m not sure about shrinkage but if you were hot washing at some point the same thing would happen)

@TheExterminatingAngel - thanks

Healthy debate should always be welcomed

“ Sometimes though we have to do things we find difficult and put us out - not being able to park in certain places even though they are the most convenient for us, moving our buggies on the bus if a wheelchair user gets on etc. As my late grandmother used to say “ Life isn’t all sweets and roses.””

And who says that people who are TALKING about their objections aren’t doing just that? Why do you keep saying the same thing as me but making out that I’m saying that people aren’t going to crack on and comply?

Well people can object all they want but at the end of the day we all have to sometimes do things which we don't enjoy. When your child is complaining about not wanting to wear a seatbelt, how long do you spend patiently saying I know darling it's difficult before you finally snap - put the bloody thing on so we can get going?

Talking of infection rates, we don't seem to be doing very well.

Maybe an extra measure (face coverings) would be sensible before we open up everything.

I'm not a really a revolutionary. My way of dealing with this will be not using public transport.

That being said, I think that the 'new normal' is so seismically disruptive/disproportionate that I think it will absolutely, positively give rise to a new political faction that threatens Johnson's leadership, if not a new political party.

Yes GalesThisMorning, and why do you assume that people objecting here Who don’t have reasonable exemptions won’t be putting on their face coverings as mandated when required? Discussing things here doesn’t stop you being able to go anywhere so it’s hardly like your child refusing to put on a seatbelt. Or do you feel the need to “snap” in a paternalistic manner at posters here, despite their complaining not really affecting you beyond you finding it rather irritation?

I think I lot of people also minimise the discomfort and trouble of wearing a mask with glasses. Part of my objection is the despite nose pieces my glasses either get steamed up or don't sit properly on my face giving me significant vision issues. The result is that I then spend most of the time fiddling with my glasses, touching my face or mask thus making the whole process defunct. And I still haven't seen any convincing evidence I'm afraid. And, if you want to avoid getting ill with COVID you would be better maintaining your distance, washing your hands and not touching your face.

And many of us, myself included, could do with losing some weight and exercising more and doing more to support a healthy lifestyle. It is more important to me that I actually address being overweight rather than rely on not getting Covid ever

Make your own visor.

I'm not snapping? Am I? I don't mean to. I'm idly posting while pretending to be chase in some godawful game of paw patrol. I do suspect most people posting will comply. Its the British way isn't it - complain then comply

Joking joking before I get told off...

I also don’t understand why people want to discourage debate.
Wearing masks on public transport doesn’t affect me at all, I haven’t used public transport since I moved back from Madrid 9 years ago. That doesn’t mean I cannot have an opinion on the measures imposed by the governing body of my country.

I was on the tube earlier this week.

I observed the mask wearers pretty keenly, they tend to lower them when they're in low-density situations which of course is fingers across the face/mouth and of course they have their hands on the hand rests.

It's all just theatre.

@MarginalGain

You’re missing the point... Face coverings are more to protect others from droplets in your breath, not primarily to protect the wearer. Do you also believe tissues are merely used for theatrical effect too?

I have never, ever known people make such a mountain out of a molehill, as the anti mask people on MN.

You just put it on, and then when you get home you bin it or put it in a bowl or container until you have a moment to wash it.

Everyone wears masks where I live. It works fine. It is easy. It is almost certainly part of the reason why we have few deaths despite never having a full lockdown (they closed the schools and other "heavy-spreaders"---that was all).

Re glasses---you need masks with a nose wire. You just push the wire down over the bridge of your nose as you put it on, so it sort of bends around it, minimizing the gap. I do this and rarely have any misting up issues (apart from on one cold misty drizzly day, I remember).

*I have never, ever known people make such a mountain out of a molehill, as the anti mask people on MN.

You just put it on, and then when you get home you bin it or put it in a bowl or container until you have a moment to wash it.

Everyone wears masks where I live. It works fine. It is easy. It is almost certainly part of the reason why we have few deaths despite never having a full lockdown (they closed the schools and other "heavy-spreaders"---that was all).*

Amen. I have never heard much a do about nothing since GCSE Shakespeare.

"Due to the infrequency of my visits out I only really need 1 mask. If I really wanted to splurge, I could get another but don't need to do so. If you're minimizing your trips out to once or twice a week, you really could get by with just 1 fabric mask."

I try to go out every day if it's not raining, but only wear the mask to the supermarket about twice a week (don't drive so can't go any less frequently).

If I'm just going for a walk, I try to maintain distance. Other people don't always though and I do come closer than 2m to people, but that is so brief that I don't think it's a risk, having read about how rarely it's transmitted outside after fleeting contact.

5Mikes - I suppose you don't wear glasses. It DOES makes it harder, but I will try to find one with a nose wire and also try the surgical tape trick.