Servers at pub not wearing masks - is this ok?

[Catyness]

I've been to 2 pubs now since they've re-opened outside. I was surprised last night that the servers/waiters weren't wearing any type of face covering. They stood around 1m away to take the order then would be right at the table when delivering the drinks.

Is this allowed? Is this safe?

I did feel uncomfortable and won't be rushing back there I'm afraid.

Things I have seen on motorbikes in Brazil 20 years ago plus the driver: 5 people on 1 and 2 of them children, no safety gear; a coffin (no telling if it was empty), 2 chests of drawers, 2 mattresses, livestock, bales of I don't know what - 2 large ones, large pottery jugs - 3 of them, 2 stacked on top of each other.

I could go on.

@TheVampiresWife

If flu can kill and walking across the road can kill and COVID is really no dangerous then what exactly is happening in India? Or Brazil?

Extreme widespread poverty, lack of vaccines and poor health care are all, tragically, factors at play in those countries. We do not have those factors in play here (although there is far too much poverty here, it's not on the same scale). It's ridiculous to compare the plights of those countries with the UK.

X-post

@osbertthesyrianhamster you said it more eloquently!

[quote TheVampiresWife]@osbertthesyrianhamster you said it more eloquently![/quote]
I don't speak Portuguese, either , only Spanish and French. My father was from Mexico and would no longer go to mainland Mexico except to fly out for about 20 years before he died last year. My mother talked him into it once, on a cruise expedition, but she said he was so nervous the entire time she never asked again. He actually worked in Brazil in the 90s and would not allow my mother to accompany him on that assignment (we, his children, were all adults); told her he'd turn it down if she insisted on going (it was worth a lot of money and only for 8 months so she relented).

People really have no idea of the situations there and there is no comparison with the UK at all, just none.

[quote TheVampiresWife]@PerveenMistry well over half of adults have had at least one vaccination. All vulnerable have been vaccinated, most of them fully. Vaccines prevent serious illness in almost all cases. We're testing 2m people a day and there are currently fewer than 1 in 600 covid cases in the UK.

Even if cases were to rise, serious illness/deaths will not increase the way they have done in the past. It's not denial, it's evidence.[/quote]
The implications of the variants and the susceptibility of those who are vaccinated is not yet known.

Mutations/variants can't develop without a host, whether or not the host feels ill.

Every expert advises continuing masking and distancing until more is known.

But keep denying.

The effects of extreme, wide-scale poverty, malnutrition as the result of that, extreme over-population, wide-scale corruption at all levels of government and drug traffic in Brazil, and stunning gap between rich and poor. There is simply no comparison among the UK and India and Brazil. Just none. At the very least, both India and Brazil have vastly larger land masses and populations than the UK, India far more than Brazil, which sits at about 213m, India at 1.3bn at least.

There's no denying the effects of all that, osbert. In both countries, the political influence has been a particular issue. However - and India is at this point now - the virus doesn't discriminate between the wealthy and the poor.

@TheVampiresWife But the unmasked customers eating/drinking/talking near you would be as much of an issue, surely? And those passing you to go to the toilet/get to their table? None of the tables at any of the outdoor seating areas near me are 2m apart. At many of them you're sitting practically back to back with the table behind you.

Agree with this, but of course those going on about the HORROR of unmasked serving staff don't seem to be bothered by this or other diners, and no one responded to my query if they would mask up while ordering or receiving their food and drinks!

@whensmynexthol1day

A member of sage said last week on radio 4 that not a single case of the virus could be linked to outside contact. So I reckon the risk is less than minuscule

This

I have to wear a mask all day at work (not NHS). As soon as they say I can take it off, I will not wear it a second longer and burn and spit on it.

You don’t have to wear one outside whether you are working or enjoying your drink.

It’s not so much the aerosol spread that would worry me as droplet spread from unmasked people standing and possibly talking over my food or utensils I was about to use. I’m not sure that being outside make much of a difference to that.

Well if that's what's worrying you then definitely don't go out to eat! Hate to break it to you but kitchen staff don't wear masks at all. All waiting/bar staff pull theirs off the second they go into the kitchen for a bit of respite because wearing a mask for a 12 hour shift on your feet dealing with demanding arseholes is hot and exhausting. Plus staff don't have to wear a mask for the morning opening or closing up before we open/after we close to customers, which is the time we'd be polishing/prepping/setting out utensils and putting plates away. If you're that scared, don't go out. We have enough to deal with already without nitpicking covid police arseholes to add on top.

@PerveenMistry I'm not denying anything. I'm going with the science, which says outdoors transmission is negligible and masks aren't required outdoors. Why do you think you know more than the scientists who have made these statements? Are you better qualified than them?

And we know there will be variants. We also know that we won't be wearing masks and SD forever, variants or not.

You've been deeply unpleasant on mask threads in the past, claiming that there should be no exemptions and that those who are we exempt are selfish disease spreaders who should stay at home and so forth. What on earth will you do when masks are no longer a requirement, and covid is endemic?

the virus doesn't discriminate between the wealthy and the poor

The virus may not, but its spread and effects certainly do. Poor, overcrowded housing, for example, will hasten the spread while poor medical care/malnutrition will have an effect on outcomes. And of course the same factors will have a negative effect on vaccine rollouts.

Oh. I don’t think I had ‘nitpicking covid police arsehole’ on my bingo card.

It’s fine because alcohol kills covid.

None of ours have been masked. We're all outside, 1m away. What do you expect will happen?

Anyway you can always ask them to put one on if you want to.

@Northernsoullover

They shouldn't be customer facing if they can't wear a face covering. You can complain to your environmental health team.

Botany ableism

Blatant*

Doesn’t serving a pint from 1m away get a bit messy? Or do your staff have really long arms?

@Northernsoullover

They shouldn't be customer facing if they can't wear a face covering. You can complain to your environmental health team.

So people with health conditions/disabilities which prevent them wearing a mask should be turfed out of their jobs?

Thankfully we have laws against that kind of discrimination.

And ableism isn't a nice look, fyi.

I went to a lovely local pub for outside dining in Easter holidays.

I can't even remember if the staff wore masks 🤦🏼‍♀️

But we were outside and them coming over was brief so even if they weren't it wouldn't have bothered me so maybe that's why I didn't notice either way?

I wouldn't be bothered by it. I think it's time for some normality to start resuming, I'm all for vaccinations, I've followed the rules. But I've never gone overboard and honestly I can't wait to get rid of masks because they make it so hard for me to take a big gulp of air in. I wear them but I bloody hate them.

Wouldn't bother me at all and if uncomfortable stay at home.

@Canyouexplainhowthatis

They should absolutely be wearing masks. I’m pretty sure it’s a legal requirement too.

I wouldn’t return to those establishments if they can’t even be bothered to take covid seriously. The council will probably be round soon to let them have it anyway.

Where I am most pubs now have apps for you to order online, then they bring your drinks out, masked.

Oh Lord

Can you explain how in the face of all scientific research and evidence, outside transmission is a problem?

Can you point us to the huge spike in cases after the marches last summer? The VE day congas? The people on the beaches?

No? Didn't think so.

This is what our local council sent out to outdoor bars. Staff should be wearing masks. We all are.

@Honeyroar

This is what our local council sent out to outdoor bars. Staff should be wearing masks. We all are.

That doesn't say they need to be worn outside. It also makes the point about exemptions very clear.