face masks becoming the norm when people have common colds

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Prof Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said today that Britain would have to undergo a cultural shift, with face masks becoming the norm when people have common colds.

How does this work in practice? Keep taking the mask off to sneeze into a tissue or blow your nose? Sneeze into the mask through about 60 disposable masks a day? Countries that do this, what do they actually do?

Are we going to have another cultural shift, whereby it becomes acceptable to take a sick day if you have a cold?

The easy option of staying at home until you have the sneezes and snot under control isn't going to work under today's emplyment sickness policies.

It might work for a little while because at the moment, even if you test negative, if you spread your cold around the office they'll end up with far more people off while they all wait for their test results than if the one ill person just stayed home.

@cologne4711 Agree that mild cold symptoms in a child are more likely to be a cold, but the problem is that a proportion of children with such symptoms will have Covid and if parents simply send their kids to school when they have cold symptoms, that will include those who do have Covid, which will. lead to a rapid rise in case numbers

I would rather stick to hand washing as i hate masks.

People from certain countries wear masks as standard if they’re ill. I honestly wouldn’t mind if we adopted this practice.

It would be nice not inevitably getting ill in winter, or catching whatever virus is floating around at the moment. Eg if someone at work is ill, within a few weeks the rest of us would have caught it!

Or back at uni, I had “freshers flu” every year, even when I didn’t like a halls! Annoying when you’re trying to work on your dissertation in a library when someone starts profusely coughing or sneezing - and surprise, surprise, you end up portly, It’s selfish on their part as they surely should have stayed at home, not force the rest of us to put up with it.

I think some kids do end up with long term issues from all the germs they catch from nursery. Ear infections etc.
More sinks everywhere would be nice eg parks.
And if they keep some hand gel for shops.
This will be the first cashless year that could make some difference.

The balance is getting exposed to zome things young vs current situation of probably multiple illnesses at once.
I think hcp need to keep up the face masks (surgical ones).they likely give a lot of germs to already ill people.

I lived in Taiwan for a year a few years back. Mask wearing is commonplace. If you have a cold, it’s polite to wear a mask.

If you need to sneeze, remove the mask, sneeze into a handkerchief and then put the mask back on.

Funnily enough nobody jumps on you for sneezing. The police don’t get called. It’s not front page news.

It’s not rocket science is it...

I'm one of those oddballs who has actually enjoyed wearing a mask in shops, buses, enclosed spaces, and have been doing so since March. I like the anonymity and not having to wear makeup, but most of all I like feeling protected from other people's germs. I will probably continue to wear one through the winter months just so when some cockwomble hasn't been shown how to use a kleenex I will not be infected by their snot and spit. I feel very safe in a mask (please don't tell me that I'm not).

Wearing a mask doesn't 'protect you from other people's germs' whatever gave you that idea?

Destroyedpeople
I presumed that, as their cold-ridden snot and sputum was kept away from my nose and mouth, I wouldn't be inhaling it. That's whatever gave me the idea. Oh, you've reminded me, a mask also covers my resting-bitch face when I encounter snippy people.

Nah it protects the 'cockwombles' from you.
No need to get arsy about it.
I find it amazing that people know so little about this.

Sick of being treated like a bio hazard by crazed women with masks and mad rolling eyes frankly. When in fact the mask protects ME from THEM.

Not sure why this simple point is hard to grasp.

As you're supposed to stay home with symptoms of CV, I assume you wouldn't be out, as you'd almost certainly have a cough with it.

a mask also covers my resting-bitch face when I encounter snippy people.

^ LOL.

I had a theory that I was at peak immune system from having had everything. I had years of never getting a cold or any cold symptoms would last less than 36 hours. Now since Lockdown etc., I think my immune system will slightly decline due to not being exposed enough (immune system not being reminded). We shall see...

We all currently have a summer cold (have all had a covid19 test and negative). We have no idea where we caught it from as we know no one with a cold. We are wearing masks when out and about and I hope other people do as well. I would like this change to be here to stay when people are ill..... but, it is going to take a massive mind set change for businesses and people. We all have those people in work who never take any time off but spread their germs around and then look down on others who take time off when they catch it. This needs to stop. Also the disciplinaries for people who have time off sick. At my work its 3 instances or 10 days in 12 months. This is going to be interesting come this winter when we all have to take a day or two while waiting for covid19 test results to come back.

Do other people find themselves quickly mouth-breathing when wearing a face -cover, and does that mouth-breathing reduce over time? I'm not sure if I'll get used to mouth breathing or if I can learn to make myself breathe thru nose anyway. Maybe with chronic use, people adapt after a while to breathe a little harder and then revert to more nose breathing, after all.

@Jumblebumblemess

We all currently have a summer cold (have all had a covid19 test and negative). We have no idea where we caught it from as we know no one with a cold. We are wearing masks when out and about and I hope other people do as well. I would like this change to be here to stay when people are ill..... but, it is going to take a massive mind set change for businesses and people. We all have those people in work who never take any time off but spread their germs around and then look down on others who take time off when they catch it. This needs to stop. Also the disciplinaries for people who have time off sick. At my work its 3 instances or 10 days in 12 months. This is going to be interesting come this winter when we all have to take a day or two while waiting for covid19 test results to come back.

It's the culture here. I came down with what felt like a bad cold a week before lockdown, so I phoned in on the morning I came down with it and was ordered to stay home and self isolate for a week (then it was lockdown before I was due back in).

In normal times i'd have just worked throughout because I was healthy enough to get out of bed. Because of the disciplinary procedures a lot of people won't take any time off unless they're on their death bed.