Sainsbury's and Tesco have joined the bookseller, Waterstones, which has said customers should wear masks to protect staff and other shoppers.

[UndercoverToad]

Good.

@LizzieSiddal

Good luck with that. I doubt anywhere will be enforcing it if it means turning customers away.

Yes be heard they will bring back the security staff which shops had during the first lockdown. So yes, they will be inforcing it.

Why would they do that? They haven’t been enforcing it like that while it’s been the law. As of yet, no shops have said they will insist on masks, it’s all just encourage and recommend. And I’d be very surprised if that changed.

Shops will all be busy this weekend putting up their mask encouragement signs, wonder if they will remove the distancing ones as that will be no more from Monday

Good.

There seems to be rather a lot of immature people on this thread. It reminds me of the mentality of a small minority of football fans on Sunday night, who ignored everyone else and behaved disgracefully.

@Bryonyshcmyony

Dh won't wear one I will probably but if I forget it I won't bother trogging back to the car and having to queue again.

Queue? Which supermarkets are still requiring customers to queue to get in, haven't had to do that since last summer at any supermarkets or shops at all here.

@TeddingtonTrashbag

I would be inclined to go in without a mask. If they aggressively insist, will smile sweetly, don one. fill a trolley with frozen food, get to the checkout and then realise in horror that I’ve left my purse at home and leave with a promise to return, and leave them with their perishing pile. Thanks f enough of of us do that , they might getthe message that bullying doesn’t pay.

Wow ... deliberately wasting food. What a cuntish thing to do.

@TeddingtonTrashbag

I would be inclined to go in without a mask. If they aggressively insist, will smile sweetly, don one. fill a trolley with frozen food, get to the checkout and then realise in horror that I’ve left my purse at home and leave with a promise to return, and leave them with their perishing pile. Thanks f enough of of us do that , they might getthe message that bullying doesn’t pay.

i'm a retail manager....it won't come to that. who will be given the job of 'aggressively insisting'....i would not ever ever make my staff do that and our retail director would recoil in horror if government insisted!

the only way would to be a uniformed police officer on the door of every store....corner shop to department store.....with powers of arrest. not going to happen

Our local Tesco had constant tannoy announcements and signs saying that customers had to shop alone where possible during the second lockdown. Plus a member of staff on the door to supposedly enforce the rule. They did nothing at all and, as a result, 75% of customers were shopping in pairs or in families with both adults present. Appreciate some had a genuine need to have a helper or their kids but Tesco had zero interest in enforcing their own rule.

So, I won't be wearing a mask at Tesco from Monday. I've been vaccinated which reduces my risk of transmitting Covid substantially. I am not convinced that our mask hygiene (mine included) is that effective at stopping transmission. Most adults have been offered vaccinations and mask wearing is a small step on the road to getting back to some semblance of normality. I understand if others feel they want to wear their masks.

Yes be heard they will bring back the security staff which shops had during the first lockdown. So yes, they will be inforcing it.

I never saw any additional security in shops. I did see people without masks though, because even though it was/is mandatory, the whole 'exemption' thing was handled so badly that it is so easily abused. Now the legal requirement is going to be lifted, why do you think security guards will suddenly be able to enforce mask wearing?

@UndercoverToad

The message is that you ‘should’ wear a mask to protect others.

If you choose not to - and are not exempt - you have no one but yourselves to blame if infections spiral out of control and we are faced with restrictions again. You will be directly contributing to the suffering of others.

33000 children are suffering with long Covid and that figure is rising.

10 to 20% of those who get Covid - even mildly - suffer long Covid.

This has to be parody surely - if masks worked that well when they were mandatory then cases wouldn't currently be 'spiralling out of control' as they are now

@LizzieSiddal

Good, I’ll only be going into shops/restaurants/cafes who are actively protecting their workers.

Me too, I will only shop in a store that prevents their workers from smoking, drinking and eating junk food.

I wish they could enforce it for those who can wear a mask. The selfish people choosing to not wear one should be told to stay at home forever .

[quote UndercoverToad]@user1471518104

Yes - www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/11/their-childhood-has-been-stolen-calls-for-action-to-tackle-long-covid

And @gardeninggirl68

It is not ‘utter shut’.[/quote]
And the millions of children whose lives were stolen by lockdowns and restrictions for the last year? You’ll find far more children with long term mental health problems than you will children with long term problems from COVID. (I mean children with proper debilitating illness for more than 12 weeks, not children whose cough has lasted more than 4 weeks so are lumped under the ‘long COVID’ umbrella.)

@TeddingtonTrashbag

I would be inclined to go in without a mask. If they aggressively insist, will smile sweetly, don one. fill a trolley with frozen food, get to the checkout and then realise in horror that I’ve left my purse at home and leave with a promise to return, and leave them with their perishing pile. Thanks f enough of of us do that , they might getthe message that bullying doesn’t pay.

No one is going to aggressively insist (or even non-aggressively insist) so you won’t have any reason to carry out your cunning plan.

@harridan50

The masks are gesture politics It is the combination of lockdown, social distancing and vaccination that has worked And the natural progression of a virus Will only wear one when in close contact for a protracted period as on public transport

This this this.

Dirty rectangles of polycotton taken on and off repeatedly and shoved in pockets and rarely washed.

Why do people think these are playing any part in infection rates? They are grim. Social distancing does far more and masks are a useful tool for reminding people to back off, that’s all.

And John Lewis. And I am selectively going to shop at those stores if I need something.

People seem to wear them as a badge of honour, to show how superior they are.
LIke the inane Thursday night clapping.

Vaccines mean we can now move on.

@LizzieSiddal

There seems to be rather a lot of immature people on this thread. It reminds me of the mentality of a small minority of football fans on Sunday night, who ignored everyone else and behaved disgracefully.

Which immature people, the ones saying about the fictional security guards

@bumbleymummy they will CONTINUE to be stolen if we ignore safety measures and let the infection rate spiral out of control.

@BelleClapper well get yourself a decent face mask then! There are many studies showing the effectiveness of masks. That’s why people are using them. WORLDWIDE.

[quote UndercoverToad]@bumbleymummy they will CONTINUE to be stolen if we ignore safety measures and let the infection rate spiral out of control.[/quote]
Infections are irrelevant if they do not transfer to hospitilisations, which they appear not to be.

[quote UndercoverToad]@BelleClapper well get yourself a decent face mask then! There are many studies showing the effectiveness of masks. That’s why people are using them. WORLDWIDE.[/quote]
I’m talking about the general public, not just mine.

[quote UndercoverToad]@bumbleymummy they will CONTINUE to be stolen if we ignore safety measures and let the infection rate spiral out of control.[/quote]
Not if we don’t keep locking down and restricting things they won’t!

I actually think masks are quite good as a visual reminder that there is Covid and we should be distancing and being careful. I think they do have benefits over and above acting as a mask.

I'll probably keep wearing one because for me it's easy (I don't have to wear one for long hours etc). If other people choose not to, it's up to them.

@bumbleymummy and if you are going to ‘lump under an umbrella’ my school age DD has been thriving, had an outstanding end of year reports and has learnt a great deal of compassion over the past year. So perhaps you are ‘assuming’ to fit your rhetoric. Her mental health has certainly not suffered.