AIBU for thinking people wearing masks are the ones spreading the virus?

[Georgeoftheinternet]

I was at the supermarket today and no one was following the 2 metre social distancing guidelines. Masks give people a false sense of security and people become lax.

Putting a bit of gel on your hands doesn’t remove all the germs, your mask isn’t PPE (check out HSE website) and neither are gloves.

If this virus was so bad, why aren’t supermarket workers who see hundreds of people a day most at risk of dying.

The problem is people cling on to ‘I’m wearing something so I’m helping^ because they can’t face the reality that I’m that they can do fuck all.

It’s easier to do something and blame other people for it - when it’s probably Linda in Aldi’s spreading it in her custom made mask.

I wear a mask.
I stick to the social distancing rules and don't just wander around obliviously and right next to people.
Knobheads are gonna knobhead regardless of whether they're wearing a mask or not.
Oh and YABU.

@PhilSwagielka

So we should all just not wear them?

We need to wear them but also be aware that the minute we touch something or breath we could potentially be be spreading it.

We touch

Door handles
Food
Card machines
Shopping trolleys
Toilet doors
Food trays
Tables
Chairs
Money
Petrol pumps

The virus is here.

You can’t shout about people not wearing masks when you happily tap you pin in to a catch machine or even push a door open.

P p e does work I'm a care Assistant and have been in contact with 10 plus covid patients and I have weekly tests and I'm negative. I do wear full ppe and very careful. Masks do work

@Vivana

P p e does work I'm a care Assistant and have been in contact with 10 plus covid patients and I have weekly tests and I'm negative. I do wear full ppe and very careful. Masks do work

It does not work in all cases. I know of two cases where

A lady was heavily reliant on oxygen and was visited daily by her grandchildren. All of them wore masks. She died last week. I know this because she lives in my grandmothers square.

Second one - careers going in to see an elderly blind man. He cought it off one of his careers and is very ill in hospital. I know this as my mil is his next door neighbour and deals with SS for him.

Masks only a bit - which isn’t good enough

Putting the flu comparison into perspective:

More than three times as many deaths were recorded between January and August this year where COVID-19 was the underlying cause compared to influenza and pneumonia.

The mortality rate for COVID-19 is also significantly higher than influenza and pneumonia rates for both 2020 and the five-year average.

Since 1959, which is when ONS monthly death records began, the number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia in the first eight months of every year have been lower than the number of COVID-19 deaths seen, so far, in 2020.

Winds me up when someone is breathing down my neck in a shop with a face mask on. Back the fuck up moron. Jeez.

We wear them at work, I wear one when im out. Work in a care home and we have had no cases in the home or from staff.

@Dustysilkflowers

YANBU

I’ve said this the entire time. Masks Do not offer full protection - it like holding up an umbrella in rain with holes in it. The government know this and it’s the reason why they took so long to implement mask wearing in the first place.

The virus is here. We have to live with it. People are really struggling because there is no quick fix to it.

But hey - betty down the road is making masks out of t- shits and selling them on facebook! Yey!!

Of course. Nothing gives you 100% protection not even a condom. You wouldn't need to add holes to an umbrella as it doesn't give you full protection. You can still get wet under it.

Masks help. Umbrellas help. Condoms help.
You get my point I'm making here.

[quote Georgeoftheinternet]@ultrablue thanks for the info and it’s what I suspected!
The thing is no one checks in on the app whilst shopping.[/quote]
Checks in on what app?

Many supermarket workers, bus drivers and others coming into contact with many people did die. Key workers put themselves at risk to serve the rest of us. Wear a mask to stop the spread of the God awful virus.

Masks reduce the risk, they don’t magically stop you getting infected. They’re like an obstruction.

And I don’t shout at people for not wearing masks.

@georgeoftheinternet, JVT said on TV in a bad year up to 20k can die of flu but in a good year only 7k. In UK there have already been over 34k deaths and surely more to come yet this year. More than die with the flu.

@Porcupineinwaiting

God, another poster with a room temperature IQ.

When the zombies come for our brains you'll have nothing to fear.

👏🏻👍🏻

[quote Georgeoftheinternet]@HerdyGerdy 46,229 is the official figure. And so what, same amount died from the flu yearly.

Saw my friend who wears a masks put on her instagram how she was with her friend at the bar. Both unnecessary and no
Social distancing.[/quote]
Haven't rtft yet but your comment really annoyed me. So what? What a horrible comment to make. Would you say that to someone grieving a relative who has died from this disease?
Yes people die from flu but we vaccinate against certain strains and I like to think people take precautions such as hand hygiene to protect themselves and others from flu. Fact is this is novel and we still don't understand it or have a vaccine. A mask minimises risk so the least we can do is comply (unless exempt)
So what? Come and work a shift with me and say that to the family of a patient dying over the phone because they're not allowed in. Or to the patient fighting for breath. Or the colleagues I have lost because they chose to put themselves at risk to help people

If masks don’t help why have doctors and nurses been wearing them for ever? Yes, they may not be a cure-all but they have been proven to reduce viral load which may result in you getter a less severe dose. I can’t understand why people aren’t clear on this. Unfortunately not everyone wears them correctly, or wears appropriate coverings. Scarfs and tissues held over the mouth are not going to cut it. Masks lodged under noses or worn around chins....

IMO, all you can do is just take whatever precautions you can to protect yourself and other people. As for me, I made sure I had the flu vaccine; 2 years ago I forgot about it (I don’t qualify for a jab on the NHS), and I ended up with a really bad bout of flu which turned into pneumonia and my health hasn’t been the same since.

No protection is 100%. We just do the best we can. I’ve had long Covid, which I caught early on in the pandemic. I now wear a mask and social distance as far as possible.

I have no control over what other people do so I don’t get hot and bothered about that. Stressing about other people’s behaviour really isn’t worth it. We’re living through difficult times and the majority of people are coping the best they can. Yes, as always, there are the idiots, but you get them on the roads and on public transport.

This is all over Twitter, apparently being circulated by German Drs. I guess it offers some answers to your question.

@Tadpolesandfroglets they haven’t. It’s only in surgery and dentists.

@KTheGrey

This is all over Twitter, apparently being circulated by German Drs. I guess it offers some answers to your question.

That’s a cough right?

@Codexdivinchi but is it though? Where are the swabs taken from surfaces?

@vodkaredbullgirl you getting tested every week? Is that an elderly care home?

That’s a cough right?

It shows the percentage chance of the person on the left infecting someone else with Covid.
In the early stages of Covid you don't know you have it but you can infect someone else with it.
The person on the right is protected by their mask, but is better protected if the infected person is masked. The best protection is when both wear masks AND stay 2 metres apart.

This article gives an excellent explanation as to how the virus us transmitted, predominantly via aerosols that can stay in the air for hours. It's well worth reading and taught me some things I didn't know. Why aren't they teaching people this stuff, especially as we head until winter?

english.elpais.com/society/2020-10-28/a-room-a-bar-and-a-class-how-the-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html

Top tip: if you have visitors eg at Christmas, change the room you are in regularly if possible and air the vacated room. The longer you share the same air with somebody infected, the more "polluted" the air gets and the higher your chances of becoming infected.

@georgeoftheinternet your posts are entirely ignorant, misinformed and miseducated. Yes I work in science and yes I have a serious lung disability, I suffered pneumonia within the last year and have suffered it multiple times in my young life, it is serious and can kill. Yes a mask can reduce risk of transmission a mask does not wholey protect yourself however. But if you are perfectly healthy and don't wear one, please understand the vulnerable peoe you are putting at risk. It is selfish and unnecessary. Your figures are incorrect and it is people like yourself letting this country down. Do you not understand that if you just complied with mask wearing lockdowns would be over alot quicker. I honestly think people like yourself should be charged with manslaughter for being so selfish and negligent.