Face coverings to be made compulsory in England

[Redolent]

Sky News just reporting that from Friday 24 July it will be mandatory to wear a face mask in shops/stores in England. Fines of £100 if you don’t (reduces to £50 if payable within 2 weeks).

Disgusting.

I realise that they are to protect others, not myself

There's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that face covering protect the wearer too but even if not, of everyone is wearing them then everyone is protected.

Shaking my head at the posters who are saying they are upset that we now all have to wear masks. Don't understand some peoples' priorities at all. Very bizarre.

Part of me does wonder though if Boris has made the announcement tonight specifically to make Michael Gove look like a tit (well, more of a tit than he usually looks).

@StormTreader

It's a small inconvenience to me to possibly not kill off someones lovely old granny, that's a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make, have been making, and will continue to make.

If someone who already has scarred lungs and reduced oxygen levels can manage without keeling over, I don't see why healthy people are making such a fuss about it.

But of course you don't see why it would be a problem - you don't have the perspective that people who do find them nigh on impossible to wear do! You can cope - even with scarred lungs - but some people can't. It should be acceptable for they to be their circumstances. Being potentially accosted by someone who feels it's their right to demand they explain why they're not wearing a mask - and it will happen, because some people can't help themselves - is not right.

@AlecTrevelyan006

it's a fucking mental decision driven by politics and the need to be seen to be doing something. The economy is fucked and I'm fucking fuming about it.

There is nothing remotely normal about the new normal. It's like living on Animal Farm in 1984. The world has literally gone fucking mad and people have lost leave of their senses in a desperate bid to out do each other in their virtue signalling as they beg the government to take away more and more of their rights and freedoms because their frightened to death of a virus that will almost certainly not kill them.

I'm out.

Oh grow up.

@Desiringonlychild - yes. I will only do essential shopping in an actual store the majority will be online and no I will not be going anywhere that makes me feel like I am a disease carrier. And just like people who feel more comfortable going out masked up i feel more comfortable not. Each to their own.

I also lip read more than I realise. At the cinema I could not understand a word the person on the door said due to the mask!

Same, I struggled to hear the girl in the shop today. I’m imagining the awkward convos if we both had masks

people arent taking notice of sd this is the next step-just do it

@Parker231

The wearing of masks is to protect others not to remove your rights and freedom. Some posters are incredibly selfish and sound like some of the stupid Americans going on about their rights.

What would you rather - more unnecessary deaths and a tighter lockdown or wear a mask once a week for your trip to Tesco’s?

I know. I can't believe the selfishness of some on here.

How can anyone not agree with masks

Its just stupid.

If you have a breathing problem or a real mental health issue then ofcourse your exempt

But anyone else moaning about them, You need to think about others.

Up to 80% of people with covid-19 are actually symptom less, so you are a carrier and a spreader without knowing it, wearing a mask will minimise you giving it to others by a huge amount.

For those saying "You can go to the pub but cant go to the shop without a mask"
Yes, your right, But very vulnerable / post shielders are unlikely to be in the pub but are very likely to be in a supermarket getting essentials, so people should have to wear a mask to protect other people and not be so selfish.
(Also to help protect shop workers)

To the poster who said "No-one wears them correctly"
Your wrong, iv seen lots of people wearing them correctly, iv seen people with there nose out too, which ofcourse is defeating the object...

The more people that wear a mask, the less likely possibility of the virus being spread

So I wear a face mask in a shop where I stay away from everyone and sanitise my hands.
But people can go to pubs and not wear face masks and that’s fine. Nonsense.

Pubs are operating under rules to keep people distanced, and customers are supposed to be sitting at tables which keep them apart.

In shops people wander around.

In practice, I don't know if pubs are sticking to that, as I don't really go to them.

But to be fair, pubs are covered by a compelling different set of precautions that a shop couldn't possible adhere to.

So yes. It does make sense.

But people can go to pubs and not wear face masks and that’s fine. Nonsense.

Yes. Pubs have track and trace, would you happy to give your name, address or phone number to every shop you went into? Or just wear a bit of fabric, tough choice on the liberties front.

@wildone84

Shaking my head at the posters who are saying they are upset that we now all have to wear masks. Don't understand some peoples' priorities at all. Very bizarre.

I'm not upset by it, and I'll do it, but I think it's an illogical requirement at this point in time, and that it confuses matters. People don't know what they're supposed to be doing any more and the government can't tell them to get out eating meals and spending money and at the same time to do something that most British people, rightly or wrongly, see as an extreme/crisis situation (if id shown you a photo of the high street full of people in masks 6 months ago you'd have assumed it was a still from a disaster film). One, or more likely both, of those messages will get lost.

This!

I don't have dodgy priorities, I just like there to be a point to things.

We have no cases locally, no one hospitalised and no new positive tests. Yet now, months in to this, we are being made to wear masks. It doesn't matter what mask or how you wear it, or whether you wash it, or whether your hands are clean - wearing mask is the thing you have to do.

My DC have to go to school in tiny classrooms with no ppe and v poor washing facilities

The government are bribing people to eat out with no ppe and drinking in pubs, with the resultant lack of social distancing is completely allowed

But I must wear a mask to go shopping or else

I don't think it is me with skewed priorities here

I'm pleased about this.

I live in London and it's frustrating to see so many people just not giving a shit, getting on trains and busses without a face covering.

Of course I'm not referring to those who are exempt, but a good example today was when I was on the tube and a group of sales people (I could overhear them practicing their pitch) actually had PPE with them and were choosing not to wear it.

One of them had a visor that he put down on the seat next to him, another had a mask attatched to her ears but was wearing the mask round her neck.

The other one didn't have anything at all.

There's no excuse for it, pure selfishness.

I'm pleased to know that some local bus drivers are refusing access to those without masks, who aren't medically exempt.

@PJ6M I think you’ll find that is the number dead at the scene not the number who eventually die

[quote GhostTypeEevee]@RedToothBrush

It's such a shame as I've found Scouting to be amazing with my son with building his confidence and new experiences. I really hope other children can continue to have those opportunities.

I am so naive, I just thought he did it as it was something he believed in not because he was paid lots!

[/quote]
He's controversial amongst those who volunteer thats for sure...

He sells an own brand knife off the back of being Chief Scout. The Scouts advise kids not to have penknives on camp and are really strict about their use (count them out and count them back in). Not only that, but one of the knives he sells is one that Scouting specifically say MUST NOT be used for safety reasons under any circumstances (lock knives) regardless of age / section.

Its a real pet hate of DH's who has to safety teach the kids one thing only to be effectively undermined by Grylls advertising and marketing.

The reason pubs and restaurants are different is it’s impossible to eat/drink through a mask. So in these contexts we have to rely on distancing or close them altogether. And as someone above rightly points out, access to supermarkets is a necessity for those at risk, pub-going is not.

Has anyone said how the staff feel -- it wasn't compulsory for them before, and now staff must face covers all day at work, won't they.

@MinnieMousse

Part of me does wonder though if Boris has made the announcement tonight specifically to make Michael Gove look like a tit (well, more of a tit than he usually looks).

Every cloud

Good. About time. And for all the people complaining, what makes YOU so special?

Frankly, I'm astonished at the panic and fury that masks seem to induce in otherwise rational people. I don't particularly relish the prospect of wearing one, but surely, it's just common sense. The There will be exemptions for those who cannot wear masks for medical reasons. Why all the fuss?

The only problem that I can see is that they've left it so long to make them mandatory.

I'll happily wear one, yet as a deaf person I'll wear a huge humiliating sign around my neck saying I cant understand a word you say so please dont talk to me. Popping into my local shop for a few things we run out of is the only time I actually get to speak to another human being outside of my household.