If masks are made mandatory in England, will this put you off high street shopping?

[IHTC]

Y/N

Right so now its perfectly acceptable to spend hours in the pub or a restaurant where you cant wear a mask given that you are there to drink/eat but a 10 mintue stroll round a shop and your suddenlty at risk of contaminating everyone your spend 2 seconds walking past in the aisle... beyond ridiculous.

Are they also going to issuing fines for improper wearing, continually touching, not handling/storing correctly when taking on/off numerous times throughout the day and not boil washing the damn thing everyday too otherwise the mandatory wearing of them is a complete and utter waste of time!!

I'll be making my own lunch to take to work from now on rather than faffing around with a mask for the sake of 2 minutes buying a sandwich.

I personally don’t like the idea of my 3yr old daughter being around a sea of masked, expressionless faces

My 4 year old wears one and literally couldn't give two shits about it, jabbers away happily and takes it all in his stride.

Kids are very resilient and adaptable. They are much better at accepting change. It's adults who can't cope with it.

I’ve also found them very hot and sweaty and my acne is awful around my mouth at the moment which I’m sure has been caused by the mask. I know people will think that’s superficial but mine get huge and quite painful

Be careful with this. It only takes a slight break in the skin and you are looking at impetigo.

I’m in Scotland so have been out 3-4 times with masks on now as have the children. They are a bit annoying but in general ok everyone is wearing them. DH took the DC to church and they all wore them. I think we will all get used to them quickly and it will be normal quite soon. It’s really no big deal if it meals shops can open and the elderly and vulnerable can go out and about, I’d rather wear a mask than have people stuck inside their house for months.

Someone mentioned teachers wearing them, I’m a SEN teacher working with severely autistic children most of which are non verbal. Masks will either scare them or they will rip it off my face to see me, facial gestures are very important to them as well. As it stands right now (and it’s ever changing) we’ve been told back full time no masks).

No. It makes me more likely to go in a shop if everyone is wearing a mask.

And yes you can go in a pub without a mask where let's face it of course people get way closer than in a shop! It's fucked me off that

Don't forget you've got gyms opening in a week or so where it will be perfectly acceptable to exhale heavily indoors surrounded by others exhaling heavily making the droplets spread wider, but as long as your wearing a mask to buy a paper or pint of milk you'll be fine!!

@LovingLen Only 7% of people shop online. It was on one of the early Covid threads when people could not get online slots.

And yes you can go in a pub without a mask where let's face it of course people get way closer than in a shop! It's fucked me off that

Don't forget you've got gyms opening in a week or so where it will be perfectly acceptable to exhale heavily indoors surrounded by others exhaling heavily making the droplets spread wider, but as long as your wearing a mask to buy a paper or pint of milk you'll be fine

Its actually very obvious. Destroy the high street so you have your cashless online society and then demolish and build expensive housing where high street used to be.

Aaaand- compulsory in 11 days.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-face-coverings-to-become-mandatory-in-english-shops-12027960

Hallelujah!

After 50k Covid fatalities finally some better late than never common common sense! Billions globally use some form of PPE and now England! Wow unbelievable it takes half a year to wake up and smell the coffee! Well done Boris/Cummings and co....

Make sure everyone follows all combined mitigation rules! Billions globally wear PPE even in Scotland and it is going to help save some lives at last!!!

Yes I am definitely unlikely to be going to any shops as I have asthma & struggle to breathe wearing a face covering. I think it will be very awkward trying to shop without one as people will probably comment. It’s a no win situation. I also can’t understand how pubs, restaurants & gyms can be open with people not wearing face coverings & being there for a long time, but you have to in shops.

No, it's just a piece of fabric. For those that cannot wear them due to medical or mental health reasons then that's understandable, everyone else I'm not sure what the issue is. Children used to have to take gas masks to school (and everywhere else with them), that would have been scary; a piece of fabric, not so much.

I wear a mask anyway when out but I've been shopping online for so long I prefer it now.

So I have to wear a mask to pop into the newsagents or shoe shop, if I then nip into the estate agents next door is this also classed as a shop? Is it only indoor places where I am buying a product from and not a service that requires the wearing of a mask?

Come on government, if your going to be dishing out £100 fines for non compliance then you need to give a little more clarity.

I'm really surprised at the reaction to mask wearing! I've never understood why we didn't follow the example of the Asian countries from the word go. I see it as liberating for people who can't afford to get the bug - but it has to be other people doing it to be effective. Are we so selfish?

It will put me off. It took me ages to get in the habit of taking reusable carrier bags and there were many days when I just popped in on ny way home, forgot a bag and ended up with my pockets stuffed with cheese and green beans or whatever.

Masks will be the same, it will be impossible to just pop in, you will have to be prepared.

I also worry that the virus will be spread more because people can't keep their hands off their masks, and many don't wear them correctly

Thank you to all the sensible Scottish people for showing the English why globally billions use some sort of PPE daily! Along and combined with other Covid mitigation common sense medically wise behavioural expectations and rules possibly fewer lives will be lost and we can collectively begin to help pay off those emergency budget “freebies” and slowly get back to new ongoing pandemic normal! Still some contradictory nonsense regarding masks use for certain business sectors but at least we are finally awake to the dangers of a relaxed Covid attitude!

@thetwink

I'm really surprised at the reaction to mask wearing! I've never understood why we didn't follow the example of the Asian countries from the word go. I see it as liberating for people who can't afford to get the bug - but it has to be other people doing it to be effective. Are we so selfish?

I agree. I’ve always admired the Japanese approach of donning a mask if you’re sick and out in public. What might be a mere cold or flu to you can kill a vulnerable individual — someone’s elderly mother, someone’s immune compromised son. It’s selfish the way we just knowingly spray our germs everywhere.

I should clarify, I have no objection to wearing a mask, and I am happy to do so, but inevitably there will be times when I might have gone to a shop in normal circumstances but don't have a mask with me so can't.

www.arabnews.jp/en/japan/article_17455/

Yes Japan are leading the way. So im looking forward to seeing these pop up all over the UK.

Cold face masks sold via vending machines in Japan
18 May 2020

YAMANOBE, Yamagata Pref.: Cold face masks are being sold via vending machines in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Yamagata, at a time when demand for regular face masks remains high in the country amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

The cloth face mask with two pockets to put an ice pack in each of them is priced at 1,300 yen. The product, which comes with four ice packs, are available for purchase at two vending machines in the prefecture or via the internet.

The mask is manufactured by four sewing companies in the prefecture.

"I think the cold mask would be useful to prevent not only coronavirus infection but also heatstroke," said Katsuyuki Goto, managing director at a knitting company in the town of Yamanobe, Yamagata, that developed the product.

The company started selling usual face masks via vending machines in March after its sales of knit products declined partly due to cancellations of exhibitions amid the pandemic.

In late April, the company started placing advertisement flags saying: "Now offering cold face masks," after finding out that the masks happened to be cooled as they were sold via vending machines for cold drinks.

The flags helped boost mask sales and led the company to come up with the idea of creating the face mask that stays cold longer.

The product was developed through a lot of trial and error, according to the company.

"It would be great if we can make social contributions, even only slightly, by offering various choices of face masks," Goto said.

JIJI Press

I know this sounds a touch showboating and immature but finally we the rare “stupid” super cautious always mask wearing weirdos (despite the initial temporary discontent) are now free and not ostracised as if we are the over the top Covidiots from some far away land!!! Bloody common sense is finally common! Even you Cummings (for taking the piss hypocrite) is forgiven! Some lives will be saved so what is the downside? Economic recovery can slowly return too. Just need to actually test people properly and have a real track, trace and isolate strategy that actually works and not some political corporate mates corruption number as if no one noticed!

Just a simple ask - wear a damn mask and possibly save a life - best news this decade so far!

Does a launderette class as a shop?

No, it will make me feel slightly less anxious about shopping, and in the winter there might be the added bonus of not catching a cold or the flu.

I wear a mask in shops, but my face gets quite hot, whether it's a home made fabric mask or a disposable one. So, it's a relief to remove it once I'm outside the shop, but therein lies another issue - apparently many people are just throwing their disposable masks (and gloves) onto the pavement when they've finished shopping! Much of this plastic litter ends up in the sea, so I hope there will be more bins placed around outside shops, and a campaign to stress the importance of the proper disposal of masks, along with best practice guidelines to cover the correct wearing and handling of masks.

There's less bins outside now

Yes