quick poll - have you experienced mask wearing for periods of 4+ hours a day?

[peridito]

I'm just interested to know how many people actually do this and how they find it .

In the summer I wore one continuously for several hours while travelling and it was pretty grim . How public facing workers and secondary school staff/pupils would, and do ,cope I don't know .

Yes I wear one to teach in. I’m a clinically vulnerable primary teacher and we’ve had lots of positive cases in my school so I’d rather wear one even though it’s not ideal. I tend to work through my lunch break so end up wearing it all day. I’ve got used to it now.

I wore one for about 4 hours for an exam (3 hours 10 paper plus getting registered, waiting to be let out afterwards, probably close to 4 hours total. I wore a surgical style one and didn’t really notice it after but I’m used to wearing one for work (GP) and I think the stress of the exam was a good distraction!

Yes,retail

I haven't a choice

Yes. I've been in the office for a couple of days.
I have triple layer cotton masks and change them at lunchtime. No fuss at all.

@peridito

I really take my hat off to those wearing them for hours .

People do say you get used to it .I found the glasses steaming up and the fact that the mask got so wet really difficult .

I'm just thinking about compliance by secondary school age pupils .

Secondary school pupils only wear masks in corridors in England. I think a few schools allow them in class but not many. I know a lot of teachers and none work at a school where masks are worn all day, they would all feel much safer if they were. Compliance however is an issue even in when masks are only required in corridors.

I suspect it might be the only way to keep schools open next term.

Yes for work. Ova much longer than four hours. Not particularly nice but hardly end of the world awful.

I'm a nurse so yes you get used to it

12.5 hour shifts on a ward. They aren’t the easiest thing to wear but it’s been months now and that and the rest of ppe is just a normal thing now. Do get more thirsty and my throat feels a bit dry and sore some days.

I go in an empty room/toilet if I need a quick break from it. We get two half hour breaks a day where we don’t wear them but have to eat socially distanced and minimal people.

Have to agree about ffp3 tho. Serve a purpose but urgh....

Surgical face mask 9 hours per day plus eye protection.
Used to it now apart from the steamy goggles

@AllDoneIn

Secondary school teacher. Take it off for 20 mins at lunch wear it all day teaching. I'm at the stage where I just roll my eyes when people bleat about wearing them.

If we had them in secondary classrooms we probably wouldn't be facing school closures in January. Teens are perfectly capable of wearing them bar a handful of genuine exemptions - rather than covidiots and pearl clutchers with their 'Won't someone think of the chiiiiiildren!' The very same thing they screech when there's talk of closing schools.

We're in the middle of a fucking pandemic. I'm out of patience for magical thinking. Let's try actually following the science for a change with mask wearing and ventilation. If three year olds in Singapore can manage, I'm sure most 15 year olds can.

👏👏👏👏👏 Totally agree.

over 10 hours a day woth asthma. It's fine.

What annoys me is people bleating on like it's a new thing to be honest...I work in an industry where we wear masks and safety glasses all day. I change in an airlock, when carrying out testing I sanitize (whilst wearing gloves) with an IPA solution at least every 3-4 mins. This is the reality of the pharmaceutical industry. If we can do it then others can do it...

Secondary students would have breaks at least every couple of hours if asked to wear them in lessons I think.

Yes. It's fine, you get used to it.

Last week I took DD to the theatre.

We put our masks on to get on the train at 12.40pm and then went - train, black cab, theatre, black cab, train, home. Took our masks off at 18.40.

Didn't notice them after a while.

DD ate minstrels through hers - poked them up under the bottom. I did take mine off briefly to have a sip of drink.

Yes, at work. Meant to wear at all times on premises except for eating and drinking. It's not great but has to has to be done. Luckily work supply and we can change at regular intervals.

Also, DD at private school and wears hers in lessons. They get to take them off for ten mins outside in a double lesson.

Secondary teacher in Manchester. We've worn them in communal areas since September and all of the time since the start of October. I take it off to eat, when I go to the toilet (they are so for toilet rooms) or if I have a very small class; I thankfully have 2 classes of fewer than 18 so I can maintain 2 metres and we have windows and door open. We also have a rule of if you are out of your seat you need to wear one for the students and they are coping fine; we have less than around 4% with exemptions.

You learn to cope basically. It did make my wheezing a little worse but again I just get on with it and volunteer for all of the outside duties

My D's wears one all day at school in classroom. Only time it comes off is 15 mins outdoor break time and if outdoor PE. He and his friends have no problems with it at all and have said everyone should be wearing them when with another person.

Wear masks waitressing and DD in class at school. Wore them to visit relatives yesterday. We were laughing at DH as he's never worn a mask for longer than a supermarket shop and was moaning about it.
I'd imagine using toilets as a place to have a break from your mask is possibility the worst place, due to others with the same idea, enclosed space and poor ventilation.

Yes, frontline NHS nurse. My shifts are 10 hours plus, and you get used to it very quickly. You forget you have it on most of the time. Spots, dry eyes, and chapped lips are the problem. Small price to pay, I think. In the first wave we didn’t have enough PPE, so I’m not about to start a whingefest now. The FFP3 masks are more of a challenge, they hurt.

Frontline NHS. 13 hours at a time, with a half hour break at some point in the middle. Have to wear it in all areas unless you’re in a room completely on your own. It was grim at first, but you definitely get used to it pretty quickly. Love ripping it off when I step outside into the cool night air!

Yes. I am a nurse, so have been since about May. My shifts are 13hrs long and I never leave on time. I get 1 break, which is meant to be 1hr but isn't always, but can only have the mask off while actually eating or if I can find somewhere to sit where I am the only person in the room. I got used to it pretty quickly. I started having what are probably panic attacks not long after I started wearing masks, but someone taught me how to breathe through the panic effectively and it happens infrequently anyway, and, to be honest, my mental health is shit and I am not entirely sure it wouldn't have happened without the masks. They also really hurt my ears. We only have ones with elastic ear loops which are far too loose on me, so I have to tie the loops in a knot at the back of my head which makes it too tight around my ears.

Yes 8.5 hours at work so not as bad as some.