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Original poster

Masks one month on

144 replies

tomaskornottomask · 18/08/2021 16:37

So tomorrow it will be one month since restrictions were dropped in England.

How have you noticed masks changing where you are?

It seems very varied here. Almost everyone the other night in Sainsburys was wearing one even though it wasn't too busy and it's a big store. But M&S food opposite was busy and hardly anyone had one on, even though it's quite a small and cramped store.

I think it seems to have levelled off here there was a gradual decline but it's probably about half and half now on average.

OP posts:
HungryHippo11 · 19/08/2021 06:55

Gradually declining. The day the rule changed, most people were still wearing them. Now its maybe 50/50.
I've stopped wearing mine now. Since the rule change I've only been wearing it to help others feel safe, but now I figure that anyone who wants to be vaccinated has had the time to do so, and anyone who doesn't want to be vaccinated can't be that bothered about covid.
I'll bring my mask along in case there are some small businesses which insist on it, but I'm not going to wear it in the supermarket and so on.

Incidentally I've had both jabs and have been a very close contact of someone who tested positive, and didn't develop it, so feel I'm pretty safe.

HungryHippo11 · 19/08/2021 06:56

How we didn't get covid on that holiday I'll never know!
My guess would be because nobody else at the holiday park had it either. Its not like every other person is carrying it around.

Bobholll · 19/08/2021 06:59

@BooseysMom - well, most of the population don’t have covid. It’s like 1 in 10 people or something. There are 60+ million people in the U.K., about 300,000 people currently have it (as in a cumulative total given so many test positive each day) So 59.5 million people don’t have it. Chances are no-one was positive on your holiday. Plus outside transmission is extremely low.

People seem to walk around assuming everyone has covid. Or most people. That there will be a positive case wherever they go. It’s completely not true. The majority of the population don’t have it.

Onlinedilema · 19/08/2021 07:09

Hardly anyone is wearing one where I am.
Disclaimer- I don't go in supermarkets or nightclubs or live in a city so my experience is limited.
I've stopped wearing a mask unless I'm specifically asked to.
We did wear them in the theatre and it was awful, so hot and uncomfortable. I won't be doing it again.

User7458 · 19/08/2021 07:25

Still a lot wearing them in Waitrose, most other shops I have been in which are mainly those which were seen as non essential, not many masks. I haven't seen much mask wearing in places like public toilets.

Refreshpage · 19/08/2021 07:34

@GoldFrankensteinAndGrrr

Varied here, too. Hardly anyone wears one on buses, but there's no 'trend' at all in shops. Sometimes I go into my local M&S/Sainsbury's/Waitrose/Aldi and 98% are masked up, sometimes I go in and 98% aren't.

What's interesting is that cases haven't risen in the month they've been optional (I'm absolutely not an anti masker, but I can't help noticing!).

Similar here a mixture of masks and no masks. Some places a high number without. Before only people without had sunflower lanyards. Cases numbers are no higher here despite less people wearing them. I checked the cases for a month ago against today and fractionally smaller number of cases now. Schools are closed though so until back difficult to fully compare.
dft6432 · 19/08/2021 07:40

Mix here. Probably 60% wearing in the supermarket, 70% on the tube and not many in shopping centres. I'm in the mainly not wearing a mask category though.

Tumbleweed101 · 19/08/2021 07:56

It's gradually reducing here. Shops where most people were wearing them a couple of weeks ago I'm now finding the majority aren't. Which for me is good as I felt a bit strange not wearing one initially but now feels normal again not to. I do keep one with me and judge the situation accordingly but prefer not wearing one due to glasses misting.

KeepScrapingBy · 19/08/2021 08:08

I stopped wearing it a week or so ago when I noticed that more people weren’t wearing one either. It’s probably about 75% wearing/25% not wearing. I still keep it with me in case it’s needed. I do try to keep my distance though and most other people do too.

palacegirl77 · 19/08/2021 08:42

Noticed a lot fewer people wearing them in supermarkets and shops (south west Sheffield). And our numbers are going down - almost like they didn't make much of a difference.

Justgettingbye · 19/08/2021 08:45

@torchh

Here in SW, no one is wearing them. None at soft play, none in clothes shops, maybe a few in food shops.

What a relief! And I'm so happy the case rate hasn't suggested that masks did a single thing!

I agree with this I'm in the sw too
RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 19/08/2021 08:46

Waitrose, everyone.
Other places, about 30% wearing them.

Cornwall.

GoodnightGrandma · 19/08/2021 08:49

I’m still wearing my mask.
I am wearing it through choice, but also habit.

middleager · 19/08/2021 08:51

Hardly any wearing them here in my West Mids town or Birmingham, except for me, it seems.

Was in Exeter though and it was like another world - shops with signs up and generally everybody wearing them, esp in John Lewis. Everybody had a mask on!

AnneElliott · 19/08/2021 08:56

There's still a higher compliance on public transport (London) apart from 20 something young men who all seem to have hidden disabilities.

Supermarkets it's definitely dropped. I don't wear them now unless the staff are. If the staff are wearing them then it seems rude not to. My local bakers etc is still asking people to wear them and all staff are doing so. So most customers follow suit.

Westchesterarms · 19/08/2021 08:56

@BooseysMom Boris Johnson never used the expression "freedom day". That was something the media thought up. But if it was announced that masks were no longer mandatory but just advisory, so use of masks fell 80%, and you still didn't catch covid, perhaps Boris Johnson was right!

5zeds · 19/08/2021 08:59

Weird how many people say they’re not being worn in the SW. perhaps they mean tourists aren’t wearing them in very touristy areas. In my small town I don’t think mask wearing has changed much at all. I filled up with petrol yesterday and a man walked into pay without a mask and it was so unusual we remarked on it. I have seen the odd person in the supermarket but I always assumed they couldn’t for some reason not they couldn’t be bothered.
I do think there’s a lot of drama surrounding masks. Here we just keep one in our back pocket, shove it on if we’re going inside somewhere, and use hand gel going in and coming out of places. People do it on automatic.

Disneycharacter · 19/08/2021 09:00

Around 60% here too in shops and busy indoor areas. I'm happy to wear mine. Costs nothing and continued mask wearing has been credited with the less steep rise in cases.

WibbleyPie · 19/08/2021 09:01

I've chosen to wear mine and keep my distance still, although I'm double vaccinated and the people I work with are, it could still kill them if they caught it, I'd rather not have that on my conscience.
What others do is up to them, I get a bit uneasy if people crowd around me in shops etc because of the above but just try and move a bit further away. Near me I'm usually one of two or three people wearing one recently.
I'll stop wearing it full stop when 'they' say it's safe enough to take them off at work.

Justgettingbye · 19/08/2021 09:35

@5zeds

Weird how many people say they’re not being worn in the SW. perhaps they mean tourists aren’t wearing them in very touristy areas. In my small town I don’t think mask wearing has changed much at all. I filled up with petrol yesterday and a man walked into pay without a mask and it was so unusual we remarked on it. I have seen the odd person in the supermarket but I always assumed they couldn’t for some reason not they couldn’t be bothered. I do think there’s a lot of drama surrounding masks. Here we just keep one in our back pocket, shove it on if we’re going inside somewhere, and use hand gel going in and coming out of places. People do it on automatic.
The fellow sw people may correct me but in my town/county cases have always been on the lower side compared to the rest of the country
MrsSkylerWhite · 19/08/2021 09:37

Most still wearing where we are in small NW town. Distancing in queues too.

southeastdweller · 19/08/2021 09:37

About a third of people wear them in shops and on buses, maybe a little more in shops. I've not bothered wearing one since July 18th and it's been great.

I remember the weekend before 'freedom day' there were some posters on here who were adamant they were going to keep on wearing masks practically wetting themselves at the thought of shop workers turning away non-mask wearers but that hasn't happened where I am - who'd want the aggro when you earn crap money?

Banani · 19/08/2021 09:39

Still majority of people wearing them round here, no noticeable difference in shops/on buses from before the rules changed really.

Brokenrecord3006 · 19/08/2021 09:58

Still very varied in the south west, depends on where you go. Very mixed in supermarkets, but no masks to be seen in places like soft play and pubs.

I've only come across one local shop that demands you wear a mask and many people I've spoken to have stopped shopping there because of it.

5zeds · 19/08/2021 12:38

I've only come across one local shop that demands you wear a mask and many people I've spoken to have stopped shopping there because of it. i think the majority of people prefer masks in shops that I know and would actively avoid shops which didn’t encourage it. Here people wear masks watching their kids swimming lessons and everywhere inside really.

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