Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

When do we think will masks become optional?

179 replies

sailorsinthedancehall · 18/08/2020 14:46

November? There was mention of social distancing no longer being a thing by then?

OP posts:
BananaPop2020 · 18/08/2020 23:09

It can’t be soon enough, they are horrible to wear.

RaspberryRuff · 18/08/2020 23:16

@mum2jakie

Sure there will be pressure from the retail industry if figures continue in this vein:

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-fewer-supermarket-visits-after-face-mask-rules-introduced-12051709?fbclid=IwAR2AAqSjsgnKKlf5iPNfEPL-4Hh030Nt-yQ2YGHEuyeuQCcvRoj1Mvjk_TY

Click and collect for me since they were introduced and no non essential shopping.

I went into the city centre yesterday and went to a shopping centre, what a grim and joyless experience. I was looking at make up. No testers. Who the bell is going to buy £45 foundation or a £20 lipstick without even getting to try it. No trying on clothes. So you have to but it and go to the hassle of traipsing back into town, paying for more parking etc. All these stupid measures including masks will kill the high street finally.
DipSwimSwoosh · 19/08/2020 00:04

I'm going for October half term. When schools go back, nights draw in and eat out to help out is over, people won't be in bars and restaurants so much. The government will want us spending money somehow, and having to wear a mask anywhere indoors would prevent that.

janetmendoza · 19/08/2020 00:11

I'm going for the start of the warm weather next year if numbers stay low. So May or June 2021

PhilCornwall1 · 19/08/2020 00:15

November? There was mention of social distancing no longer being a thing by then?

If you think bird brain is going to announce they are no longer needed, you'll be waiting a long time.

He's just appointed Dildo, that's going to be her job now.

PhilCornwall1 · 19/08/2020 00:16

Oh shit! That's should say Dido!! Autocorrect really did change that!!

RaspberryRuff · 19/08/2020 00:17

Dildo 🤣

HeIenaDove · 19/08/2020 00:49

@DipSwimSwoosh Could be. They will be thinking about the possibility it could affect Christmas shopping.

HeIenaDove · 19/08/2020 01:03

Or when a politician or advisor gets caught not wearing one. Then they will gaslight us and say it was only guidelines despite the fine...which has never happened before.................oh wait!!

Butterybiscuitbase12 · 19/08/2020 01:10

I’m just enjoying the fact that while masks are made mandatory then all the facial recognition tech is lying gathering dust.

kierawhogives · 19/08/2020 04:05

Mask work. Please wear one. End of.

Teal99 · 19/08/2020 04:57

I think if they are introduced in more public places, streets and parks, there will be a lot of non-compliance. I won't wear one, I have no outside space, I want to feel fresh air on my face. I am good at social distance.

I have worn one three times since they became mandatory in shops. My DH mainly does the big shop now. The few times I have been it is a fast shop, no browsing. The supermarket is very quiet - I went at peak time. I have not been in any other shop, nor will I until we no longer have to wear them in shops.

I respect anybody who wants to wear one, but I do not think they should be compulsory. I don't buy into the I am wearing it to protect you line. Most people are wearing it under sufferance, or are wearing it because they think it will protect themselves rather than anybody else. We do not live in an altruistic society.

In the street recently, it was boiling hot, a guy was wearing one in my street. My DH and I made sure to give him a lot of space and still he made this big dramatic move into the road and tapped his mask, meaning we should be wearing them I think, even though it was in the open air. Demented.

I think some people have fully embraced mask wearing, it makes them anonymous. Or they feel more confident about their looks with one on, or they are just getting off on the drama. I hate that they have become fashion items too.

Until they disappear our economy will fall further in decline. If they had been introduced at the start, even if they had told you to rip up a t-shirt rather than buy them, there would have been more compliance. But now it's too late, we have no trust left.

Uhoh2020 · 19/08/2020 05:26

if they had been introduced from the start, even if they told you to rip up an old t shirt rather than buy them, there would have been more compliance

Exactly this!
Several daily briefings they were asked about masks early on and we were repeatedly told "the science " tells us they make no difference in protection to the wearer or those around them. 2 months later they start to become mandatory in certain places. So they were either lying bastards then or they're lying bastards now!
Masks aren't a new invention "the science " on how effective they are will have already been known for some time

BooseysMom · 19/08/2020 05:56

March 2021 or March 2022 are the two dates I've heard today through colleagues who have contacts in different fields

That's a difference of a whole year ffs! As a pp said no one will want to continue with this until early 2022.

There is definite non compliance. At the garden centre they have a big sign saying mask wearing is mandatory. So a family of 3 rock up, mum & dad both have masks..very good. But their daughter, who is clearly over the age of 11 and nearly as tall as her parents, doesn't have one. They were still allowed entry. So masks are obvs not mandatory then are they?!

PhilCornwall1 · 19/08/2020 07:45

But their daughter, who is clearly over the age of 11 and nearly as tall as her parents, doesn't have one. They were still allowed entry. So masks are obvs not mandatory then are they?!

This has been done to death on here.

How do you know the daughter didn't have a reason for not wearing one, you don't.

Funnily enough, we were at a garden centre today and I wasn't wearing one either. Same applies based on your logic then, as I'm a shade over 11 and probably taller then most people that were there. Nobody around me had any idea why I wasn't wearing one.

I thought the government line was not to judge people for not wearing a mask/covering and to certainly not challenge. That's a nonsense though, I get challenged all the time and get called some very pleasant names.

RaspberryRuff · 19/08/2020 07:57

The “they needed to protect supplies for the NHS back in Feb/March” is bollocks. We aren’t advised to wear those masks. It’s a face covering. Or was there a shortage of cloth and elastic as well because the NHS were using it for masks?

RaspberryRuff · 19/08/2020 08:00

I don’t know who people get so worked up about others not wearing masks. You’ve got no idea why someone isn’t wearing them. Our Morrisons now has a sign outside telling people to be mindful that some people can’t wear one. Sad that this is necessary

yawnsvillex · 19/08/2020 08:04

@RaspberryRuff same in my local Sainsbury. The sign says do not question people without masks.

I only shop in there now - without a mask. Obvs I'm a mass Murderer and will be in Piers Morgan serial killers next year.

Oh but wait ... obvs we are all going to be dead by Christmas, and the doom and gloomers won't be happy until we've had all these 2nd waves and we are all dead.

I'm still awaiting the VE Day wave, crowded beach wave and the riots wave .... no pathetic muzzles then!

LaureBerthaud · 19/08/2020 09:15

shoving them randomly into their handbag when they take them off

What are you supposed to do with them?

Bishybarnybee · 19/08/2020 09:37

shoving them randomly into their handbag when they take them off

What are you supposed to do with them?

I haven't seen any guidance about his, but if you just chuck it in your handbag, surely any contamination just transfers to other items in your handbag? We carry a separate cloth bag, and are careful to remove by the elastic and hand sanitize after touching a previously worn mask. We do re-use for a few short periods over one day, but wash them at least daily.

It seems to me that if they are worth wearing, it's worth having a safe routine for carrying, removing and washing them.

RaspberryRuff · 19/08/2020 09:41

I don’t think they’re worth wearing so I do the bare minimum. I’m not convinced CV is going to jump onto the outside of my mask and infect me just because I don’t put on and remove the mask the way a surgeon does. I don’t bother with 3 layer ones either. It’s asking enough for people to wear the hateful things without mandating what kind to wear, how they take it on and off, and how to wash them. I do what I’m told and wear it. The rest is up to me.

Frazzled13 · 19/08/2020 09:45

@Bishybarnybee

shoving them randomly into their handbag when they take them off

What are you supposed to do with them?

I haven't seen any guidance about his, but if you just chuck it in your handbag, surely any contamination just transfers to other items in your handbag? We carry a separate cloth bag, and are careful to remove by the elastic and hand sanitize after touching a previously worn mask. We do re-use for a few short periods over one day, but wash them at least daily.

It seems to me that if they are worth wearing, it's worth having a safe routine for carrying, removing and washing them.

I think the key point there is that you haven't seen any guidance on it. There was guidance on how to properly wash your hands at the start of this, and yet no guidance at all on masks. "Wear something that covers your nose and mouth and wash it regularly" is all I've heard. It's almost as if the government only made them mandatory as a token gesture to seem like they were doing something.
RaspberryRuff · 19/08/2020 09:52

Nicola Sturgeon briefly whiffled on a few months ago about washing them at 60 degrees. Then was seen wearing one which was hand wash only Confused

VinylDetective · 19/08/2020 09:52

@RaspberryRuff

I don’t think they’re worth wearing so I do the bare minimum. I’m not convinced CV is going to jump onto the outside of my mask and infect me just because I don’t put on and remove the mask the way a surgeon does. I don’t bother with 3 layer ones either. It’s asking enough for people to wear the hateful things without mandating what kind to wear, how they take it on and off, and how to wash them. I do what I’m told and wear it. The rest is up to me.
Same here. My mask lives in the car. It’s never been washed, probably never will be. I wear it to tick the box and for no other reason.