Why can't people wear masks?

[TomAllenWife]

Properly!!!! It drives me insane!!!!

Either wear it or don't, but for the love of god stop wearing it on your chin or under your nose because it's doing fuck all

Surely it's not rocket science?

I was on a flight yesterday and would say a large amount of passengers were wandering around with masks under their chins, or just over their mouths

I've currently got a very, very minor cold. I've not been around anyone else with a cold lately, so I can only have picked it up from a trip to the shops when I wear a mast fastidiously.

I can only thank heavens I was wearing a mask as obviously the viral load from the cold isn't that great. I haven't had a cold for at least 3 years so have been dreading getting one as they normally wipe me out at the best of times.

If I hadn't been wearing a mask, I suspect I would be a lot more ill now than I currently am.

Wear a mask if you can, don't if you can't, but for the love of god wear it properly if you're going to bother at all.

@Fairylights25 - I live in Brighton. No way was the whole country mask compliant last year. Not a chance.

@Jaxhog
Better this than more people dying, surely?
It will somewhat depend on who is dying. If you are damaging children's lifelong prospects or hugely damaging wider society, to extend the lives of those who only have a few months to live by a few more months then overall the trade off is probably not worth it.

Everything is a balance, part of that equation is how many months of life (rather than the total number of lives) that might be lost because of one action, but the other side of that is also what economic, social and developmental damage that will do. Locking down again, or holding back children's development and reducing their economic prospects will likely reduce their overall life expectancy and quality of life, is that worth making sure some people with less than six months to live get to life six months rather than three?

@paranoidnamechanger

Why after 18 months are people so thick that they can't understand that wearing masks cuts transmission? Why do you think they are worn in hospitals? Why do you think they magically don't work outside hospital settings? They reduce the amount of droplets in the air it's not fucking rocket science. If everyone in Tescos is wearing one then you reduce transmission. That's why other countries, like the country I live in, made them obligatory everywhere and continues to make them obligatory indoors and in schools. And yes, we do have much lower rates and kept our schools open from September 2020 with virtually no closures.

Mandatory mask wearing has worked so wonderfully in Scotland, hasn’t it?

I don't live in Scotland

@Fairylights25 - I'm pretty certain that South Asian countries don't bleat on about damage to children, because they've adapted. But if masks is the hill you want to die on, fill your boots.

I don't wear one, I refuse to go along with this theatre for another day longer. I have been pleasantly surprised when out shopping to see I am far from alone!

[quote MatildaIThink]@Jaxhog
Better this than more people dying, surely?
It will somewhat depend on who is dying. If you are damaging children's lifelong prospects or hugely damaging wider society, to extend the lives of those who only have a few months to live by a few more months then overall the trade off is probably not worth it.

Everything is a balance, part of that equation is how many months of life (rather than the total number of lives) that might be lost because of one action, but the other side of that is also what economic, social and developmental damage that will do. Locking down again, or holding back children's development and reducing their economic prospects will likely reduce their overall life expectancy and quality of life, is that worth making sure some people with less than six months to live get to life six months rather than three?[/quote]
Yes, I found the easy dismissal of such potentially significant impact on young children's communication development quite chilling. Obviously it may not have those awful effects... but if it did, then there's no 'surely' about it whatsoever.

@Hoppinggreen

It actually doesn’t matter if you “believe” in masks or not I am not medically trained to know if/how effective they are and neither are most of the idiots on the internet Unless you are medically exempt you are legally required to wear one in certain situations so just do it I have never know a situation before where so many people feel they know better than experts and feel qualified to spout so much crap. We don’t trawl the internet for advice before deciding whether to obey other laws so why this one? It’s a piece of material on your face not a yellow star or forced sterilisation or any other stupid analogy that stupid people dream up when they should just admit they don’t like wearing one I hate it but I do it - which probably makes me complicit in genocide or some shit

There is no "medically exempt", there is just exempt, it is a self-certification process and there is no medical assessment. The is also a "get out of jail free card for this as one of the reasons to choose to be exempt is people for whom putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause severe distress. The rules do not state you have to carry a card or any official proof or evidence of exempt status.

There is a genuine issue that mask wearing is probably not particularly effective in reducing transmission of Covid, at least not in the way they are actually used in the real world. Even in hospitals where they are used by highly trained people they are nowhere near 100% effective.

That does not mean that people should not wear them in situations where they might have a beneficial impact, crowded public transport being one of the major places. I dislike wearing one, but I still wear one on a train or in a shop, even though the risk in supermarkets is incredibly low, I am not going to wear one walking around outside though.

The problem with masks is that the government held them up as a cure all, they are however something which can be very visible, so it works well to be seen to be doing something, even if that thing has a largely negligible impact.

@churchofthepoisonmind

I don't wear one, I refuse to go along with this theatre for another day longer. I have been pleasantly surprised when out shopping to see I am far from alone!

I agree. I’m on buses twice a day and must passengers, including myself, aren’t wearing them.

The most ‘challenge’ I’ve had is at Lidl when a security guard gestured to my face when I walked in, I just waved to him and carried on shopping. They can’t do jack about it.

images.app.goo.gl/iXgTMU5swGD3fTE7A

If you're not sanitising your hands before putting a fresh mask on, if you're not sanitising them when replacing your mask throughout the day, if you're not replacing your mask each time it's been taken off and if you're sticking it on the counter instead of disposing/washing it correctly, if you touch your mask to adjust it throughout the day without replacing or sanitising, if you don't take it off by just the ear straps, if you're setting it down on a table/pulling it down by your chin while you're having a coffee and then putting it back on.....

You're not wearing it properly either. You're spreading germs too. It's not just a case of having it over your mouth and nose at all times

@VikingOnTheFridge

Yes, I found the easy dismissal of such potentially significant impact on young children's communication development quite chilling. Obviously it may not have those awful effects... but if it did, then there's no 'surely' about it whatsoever.

What I found horrifying is that you think the above is more 'chilling' than the deaths from Covid of vulnerable people. That is truly disgusting.

Bleating on about non compliant mask wearing yet you are happy to fly. Oh the irony.

[quote Dishhh]@VikingOnTheFridge

Yes, I found the easy dismissal of such potentially significant impact on young children's communication development quite chilling. Obviously it may not have those awful effects... but if it did, then there's no 'surely' about it whatsoever.

What I found horrifying is that you think the above is more 'chilling' than the deaths from Covid of vulnerable people. That is truly disgusting.

[/quote]
Oh come on @Dishhh - the "you are heartless/don't care about the elderly and vulnerable" schtick is so 2020! At least try to be original, and stop with the faux outrage, we can all see right through it.

@VikingOnTheFridge
Yes, I found the easy dismissal of such potentially significant impact on young children's communication development quite chilling. Obviously it may not have those awful effects... but if it did, then there's no 'surely' about it whatsoever.
People are focused on the singular argument of "we must stop people dying from Covid", this is reinforced by the daily numbers read out on the news, the government banging on about it all the time. It ignore the impact on wider society, but also the almost failure of many other parts of the health service with a singular focus on Covid. We are delaying cancer and heart operations so the unvaccinated with Covid can have ICU beds, in many cases the delay means cancer progresses to a further stage, so shortening life expectancy considerably, sometimes making what was a curable cancer incurable.

There is no perfect answer, but unfortunately the current focus is too tightly on Covid where we need to be taking a holistic approach.

[quote Dishhh]@VikingOnTheFridge

Yes, I found the easy dismissal of such potentially significant impact on young children's communication development quite chilling. Obviously it may not have those awful effects... but if it did, then there's no 'surely' about it whatsoever.

What I found horrifying is that you think the above is more 'chilling' than the deaths from Covid of vulnerable people. That is truly disgusting.

[/quote]
Bearing in mind the potential lifelong impact of communication difficulties being hypothesised here and the vast wider societal impact that could have across generations, disgust from someone who either doesn't understand or doesn't care about that is a compliment.

@trickytrudy

Bleating on about non compliant mask wearing yet you are happy to fly. Oh the irony.

Indeed. If there is one thing making things worse atm it is surely people flying around the world. I would guess this is having a far larger impact on spread than people pulling filthy masks from their pockets each time they go shopping! The hypocrisy of the OP really is quite something.

@churchofthepoisonmind

I don't wear one, I refuse to go along with this theatre for another day longer. I have been pleasantly surprised when out shopping to see I am far from alone!

Same.

Absolutely sick of it.

I will wear one where it's the law/possible fine, but I refuse to cover my nose.

I can't see through my glasses, it sets my anxiety off when I can't breathe clearly, and it makes my skin irritated and causes acne. I'm just so done with it.

I'm double vaccinated and had a booster. I sanitise regularly and have always adhered to testing/symptoms/necessary isolation. But I will not cover my face until the end of time and I will not be told who I can and can't see, because that's the road we are going down again.

But I will not cover my face until the end of time and I will not be told who I can and can't see, because that's the road we are going down again.
This nonsense won't stop until people say - enough. It's now common knowledge that while the PM was telling people they could not see loved ones last xmas, him and his mates were having a party. These people are laughing at us.

I was in M and S food Hall yesterday and witnessed an elderly couple that were sat in the cafe section (without masks on obvs) have a go a young woman walking out of the shop (past the cafe area), for not wearing a mask!
I told them to shut up as they, nor I didn't know the womans circumstances, and had ZERO right to know either.

These types of self appointed mask police are bonkers and need to wind their necks in a little

@trickytrudy

Bleating on about non compliant mask wearing yet you are happy to fly. Oh the irony.

Totally agree. Wearing the Halo and preaching to others as they go....

@Whammyyammy

I was in M and S food Hall yesterday and witnessed an elderly couple that were sat in the cafe section (without masks on obvs) have a go a young woman walking out of the shop (past the cafe area), for not wearing a mask! I told them to shut up as they, nor I didn't know the womans circumstances, and had ZERO right to know either.

These types of self appointed mask police are bonkers and need to wind their necks in a little

And then everybody clapped…

Nope, no one clapped. But the mask police shut up

this is so retro. All the little baby anti-maskers are out bleating again like it's 2020 but with the added bingo bonus of trotting out lines from Ultimate Fuckwit Piers Corbyn's song like obedient little twits.

I've just seen a woman on the opposite side of the road walking alone down an empty pavement wearing a mask.

Absolutely fucking crackers.

The world has gone mad.