If face masks are made mandatory...

[CathyandHeathcliff]

How long do people suspect they will be needed / kept mandatory?

Where I live in the middle east everyone wears them even small children and the temperature is 45c, it's really not that bad!

I realise they're not the most comfortable things. But if healthcare staff, including myself, can wear them for 13 hours straight at work you can manage 30 mins in a shop.

No, not everyone can.

Why has that STILL not sunk in for some people? Jesus.

Dh has a beard so can't see any mask fitting effectively enough to work.

Also if your glasses are steaming up wearing a mask the fit is poor too.

Poor fit will mean the virus will escape so unconvinced about the benefits in reducing virus transmission. But I can see that it might encourage confidence. Whatever if mandated I will comply. As I do if usinf public transport or if I had to visit a hospital.

The evidence, as fully discussed on Newsnight last night, isn’t there. This is political because chattering people “want something done”. They like to follow others.

I’m very anti and I won’t plan to go shopping for fun. It won’t be fun for me. It seems a backward step for failing shops and shopping centres. You can get this virus in all sorts of ways and mostly it’s from hospitals and old people’s homes.

I realise they're not the most comfortable things. But if healthcare staff, including myself, can wear them for 13 hours straight at work you can manage 30 mins in a shop.

I keep reading comments like this

The comparison does not work. The people who genuinely cannot wear a mask are those with disabilities surrounding their breathing or mental health - these are NOT the kind of people you are likely to see working in health care.

My dad has COPD and cannot walk to his own kitchen without shortness of breath. He can't wear a mask. It WILL affect his breathing. He also isn't ever going to work in health care.

People who are doing 13 shifts in a mask are not the same genre of people who struggle to breathe every day.

sorry @vanillandhoney people have repeatedly mentioned about exemptions and those with additional needs that can not wear masks. You can not wear a mask and should not have to. I think that quote was talking generally.

*No, not everyone can.

Why has that STILL not sunk in for some people? Jesus.*

I will amend. The vast majority can wear for 30 minutes in a shop.

@sleepingpup

sorry *@vanillandhoney* people have repeatedly mentioned about exemptions and those with additional needs that can not wear masks. You can not wear a mask and should not have to. I think that quote was talking generally.

Maybe so, but I've read so many comments telling people with asthma or autism to suck it up and wear a mask, because the poster knows someone with those conditions and THEY can wear a mask, so why can't you?

It's horrible and makes you feel like shit. If mask-wearing becomes mandatory I'll just have to stay at home. I suppose that makes people feel better because, y'know, out of sight, out of mind.

If they do become mandatory I will shop online. The shops will be empty i reckon and jobs will be lost.

But gotothecooler, people like your Dad would be better protected by mandatory masks, even while unable to wear one himself.

The evidence, as fully discussed on Newsnight last night, isn’t there. This is political because chattering people “want something done”. They like to follow others.

oh patronise somewhere else. I wear a mask because "i like to follow others". 🙄

I would like to see the Newsnight though as I have seemed to have seen so much argument counter to that . including WHO guidance.

The countries that have mandatory mask wearing - all just political?

It’s interesting how people who favoured lockdown now favour compulsory mask wearing.

The two are not automatically correlated and the calls for masks are quite recent. They only really appeared after it became clear that relaxing lockdown was not going to cause a massive second wave.

I think it shows a lack of critical thinking and a dependent mindset. People who think the world revolves around them and that others need to be made to do things to protect them.

I don’t think the support for masks is anywhere near as strong as the support for early lockdown. If these people really believed in them, then they would be wearing them already and, if anything, it seems to be reducing where I live.

I think it shows a lack of critical thinking and a dependent mindset. People who think the world revolves around them and that others need to be made to do things to protect them.

It shows me following the guidelines and nothing more. What i think is irrelevant. It's mandatory so I am doing it. I don't think the world revolves around me and that's a ridiculous judgement to make on people for simply following the rules.

@ItMustBeBedtimeSurely

But gotothecooler, people like your Dad would be better protected by mandatory masks, even while unable to wear one himself.

Well not really. Isn't the protection for the other people? In any case he personally isn't found shopping. He is just an example of why 'but people in healthcare manage' doesn't mean the everyday person can too. People in healthcare are not the ones with serious disabilities.

As with so many things, the night/day right/wrong approach is an over-simplification. Not everyone can have a vaccine, but if enough people do, the whole community benefits from protection. Surely masks are the same, if enough people wear them, there's a protective effect overall. That's why I wear a mask in enclosed spaces where social distancing isn't always upheld to the fullest.

Forever because the transmission will continue because close relationships and will make no difference.
How many of you have kept socially distancing indoors with those that don’t belong to your household ? How many of you would keep them on when visiting family and friends ? And when going to the pub? That’s where transmissions will most likely happen. So just because I pop to Tesco with a mask I won’t be protected if I go to visit in laws and then remove it.

@itMustBeBedtimeSurely think you’ve not understood how masks work. Masks are not to get protected but to protect others. So @gotothecooler would not be protected if he wore a mask. He’d be protecting others. Unless he wears a ffp2 which they’re really uncomfortable to wear

I hope they're made mandatory. Public health trumps people's comfort right now.

@liaun will you wear them when meeting with family and friends indoors and when going to restaurants with other people that don’t belong to your household

A more detailed explanation on the advantages of shields over masks:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525

@EasterIssland

Yes, however my point re mask wearing was about how health care workers cannot be compared with disabled people.

My dad was an example of someone with a breathing problem, who cannot wear a mask, but also could not work in health care. The bizarre comparison between healthy hard working people and disabled people does not work.

On a more personal level my dad is not going shopping.

Things will get worse in winter, virus wise, so I think until the virus dies out (unlikely) or we have a vaccine.

If they become mandatory I will definitely not be going shopping!!!!

Until they realise it’s making no difference to transmission rates

And you know better than a large number of scientists who are recommending mask wearing?

Infections are falling, hospital admissions are falling, deaths are falling. It is nonsense to introduce this now while trying to reopen the economy.