I still don't understand the face coverings thing.

[BigBreakfast]

Is seems like, again, the government has gone with public pressure rather than what will actually make a difference.

The WHO says only people with illness or those caring for them should wear masks.

In all other cases, whilst it may offer some protection to those around us, it actually increases the risk to the wearer because if someone with the virus breathes near you, the droplets are "caught" by the mask and therefore spend much more time close to your face.

Also, all these people buying pretty homemade masks etc, there's no point having one mask. They need to be changed frequently, if you're to avoid increasing the risk to yourself. Always once damp, which will be quite quickly, as you breathe. And you mustn't touch them, which will surely be nigh on impossible.

Plus, they're expensive. C. £5. If you need a few each, in a family, that's quite an expense at a time when we know many families are struggling.

I'd wear one to protect others but I'm not comfortable doing it in the knowledge that increases the risk to me, which is what Jenny Harries previously told us it would do.

WHO

Thanks for the pipe cleaner suggestion

Are there any Type/brand of masks in particular that are better to wear with glasses to stop them steaming up? That’s my own real issue with wearing one.

@BillywilliamV

It's all to make it look like we have some kind of control over something that we have no kind of control over! It is a psychological exercise!

No, it's infection control

Try understand science. Logic. Common sense

it is safer to keep it on untouched once it is on, rather than taking it off and putting it on again. after doing my click&collect supermarket collection I usually have one or two other errands eg foodbank dropoff or post office - I will keep my mask on for the few minutes in between rather than faff around taking it off, finding a place to keep it clean, then re-fit it

Exactly! I posted similar just before you and am glad for your example too. I doubt anyone is wearing a mask in the car just to go for a drive!

Christ alive there is no such thing as carbon dioxide poisoning.

Many health professionals have posted videos on this

Reuter’s published data as has the lancet stating mask wearing is beneficial.

Look at the places that wear masks and their rates of the virus

This opposition makes me embarrased to be living in England and we are going to go down in history for all of the wrong reasons.

Get out of your own heads and maybe try and read some actual science not some Facebook conspiracy numpty.

Healthily people don't wear them routinely

Yes they do. Former resident.

Remember this disease spreads from the pre-symptomatic and the a symptomatic. They’re not coughing or sneezing from COVID, but are somehow still spreading it

If you have a mask on there must be less risk of you touching your nose/mouth directly and then putting germs on door handles etc. It isn't difficult and won't to any harm, and could be helpful don't understand the objections. (I am not believing many if any will suffer CO2 problems.)
Like anything else you will get used to it and it won't feel weird or make you "paw your face"

I’m slightly confused. Announce mandatory on public transport but we have been told specifically NOT to wear them in schools, nurseries etc. How is this different?

Isn’t it because the main purpose is to protect others if the mask wearer is carrying the virus? So an adult wearing them in the classroom would be doing so to protect the children, who are at vanishingly low risk from the virus.

I also imagine you don’t spend 20 minutes with your face in another person’s armpit in a classroom.

There is a separate question around whether children should wear them to protect teachers - different countries have taken different approaches but I’m glad they’ve not forced kids to wear them here when the evidence of transmission in schools worldwide is pretty lacking.

I'm in Singapore and we all now wear them in public for the time being (except for some strenuous exercise). Mask wearing was already a 'thing' in east asia before covid-19 anyway, the attitude has always been 'my mask protects you, your mask protects me'. it is the polite, considerate thing to do. The advice that has always resonated the most with me has been, 'act like you already have the virus and behave accordingly'.

The idea of a mask isn't to protect you from catching it. It's pretty useless at that, actually.
It's to prevent you from spreading it via respiratory droplets if you are asymptomatic.

@Tumbleweed101

Are there any Type/brand of masks in particular that are better to wear with glasses to stop them steaming up? That’s my own real issue with wearing one.

If they are steaming up, then you don't have a good seal over the nose. Try pulling it up a bit so the mask sits underneath your glasses. It worked for me.

I thought masks were a thing in China, Singapore, Japan etc pre cv because they were so polluted?

They've terrified people so much with the BBC scare mongering, having people believe that we're all going to die from this. Now when they need those same people back at work they know they'll have a hard job getting them to leave the house. So telling them to wear a face mask is the answer.

Being made to cover your face "by law" will never be normal.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52930245

The BMA thinks it's a good idea. They're doctors.

We need to wake up and smell that coffee - oh but wait - this is the UK where everything has to be done differently. and badly

@Shallwedancetomojito

These aren't normal times.

I don't think you can blame the BBC for scaremongering. It is an actual pandemic.

@ShirleyB25

No these aren't normal times, these are crazy times. A time that will go down in the history books.

For the year we've had so far. Aliens surely have to be next.

@SudokuBook

I thought masks were a thing in China, Singapore, Japan etc pre cv because they were so polluted?

No, the kinds of masks worn routinely in these countries don’t filter air for the person wearing them they simply provide a barrier for air and secretions from the wearers nose and mouth travelling very far. From what I’ve read it’s very much a culture of preventing the spread of sickness; it’s accepted that you’d be wearing one if you were unwell with a cold simply so as not to spread anything.

Japan in particular has had issues not just with SARS but also tuberculosis. They’re pretty clued up on respiratory illnesses and it shows in their covid response and stats.

For any joggers out there...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8311179/amp/Joggers-lung-collapses-ran-2-5-miles-wearing-face-mask.html?twitterr_impression=true

Was he intense running or jogging? And can you find a better source than the 'run it on page 1 apologise on page 23' Daily Mail?

[quote BigBreakfast]@MadameButterface will yiu be providing the masks? What standard do you require?[/quote]
We will be wearing medical grade masks, we will ask customers just to have a fabric ear loop mask, if they don’t have one we’ll have a small number they can buy. I do hope no one will be an arsehole about it, but like i say it’s no skin off my nose if they are, they can just go and do it somewhere else 🙂

@Shallwedancetomojito

yes yes to aliens next - who knows??

@DameFanny

No other source.
But a similar incident also ...
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/two-schoolboys-collapse-and-die-just-six-days-apart-in-china-while-wearing-face-masks-c-1017871.amp?twitterr_impression=true

That sounds alarming about the lung collapse with the guy jogging with a mask, however I don't see the need for a mask when you're exercising in the open air!
I'm totally happy to wear a mask in high transition zones to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses, as this becomes the norm then we will come up with more effective mask designs.

@Shallwedancetomojito So nothing proven re the link to mask wearing - could have been long QT syndrome or similar for the boy (s), and no direct evidence that the jogger who may or may not have been intensely running but was obviously building his fitness had the PE as a result of wearing the mask while exercising.

But are you honestly saying that because people have died while exercising while wearing masks (correlation not causation) that you don't think people should wear masks on the bus or in shops? What's your point?

Okay I support wearing masks in general but I would have thought it would be common sense that they’re not suitable to be worn during strenuous exercise.