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

@Cornettoninja
And then everybody clapped
What a load of rubbish!

I was disappointed when they re-introduced masks for indoor shopping recently but I do wear them (properly covering both mouth and nose) out of conformity and respect for shop staff as they have to work with so many strangers indoors every day.
This morning I caught myself being really annoyed at bunch of teenagers in local Tesco - all boys from a nearby school, most without masks or masks under chin etc. I did not feel it is a risk and they would somehow infect me but I just felt cheated that I'd put my mask on - there's not much point it seems!

@Sunshinegirl82

Lots of people don't want to wear them and are only doing so because they're being made to. I'm not saying that's right but I think it's why you see so many being worn incorrectly.

Reminds me of our school tie. Everyone had their own way of wearing it incorrectly - too loose, too low, back bit longer than the front etc. Perfect for those who want to rebel without getting in too much trouble.

@lliitttlepiinkhouse

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.

I've seen people wearing them outside in town where they keep pulling the mask down to draw on a cigarette then put it back up, for each draw..... scared of a virus with very low death rate, but clearly not of the known risks associated with smoking. Totally cuckoo

@lliitttlepiinkhouse

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.

I would

I found that wearing a mask outside

• stops my glasses getting foggy when I go back in a house/shop
• keeps my face nicely warm when it’s cold/raining/windy

So yes I would do that sort if stuff but not because I’m worried about covid! It’s just nicer to wear one

I did not feel it is a risk and they would somehow infect me but I just felt cheated that I'd put my mask on - there's not much point it seems!

If you don't have covid, there's even less point!

@lliitttlepiinkhouse

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.

Not as crackers as you might think. My neighbour has been told today that her cancer is in remission but her consultant told her to always wear a mask when she is out of the house because her immune systen will still be shot to pieces following chemo.

@lliitttlepiinkhouse

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.

Quite honestly forget I'm wearing mine half the time because I wear it for work, and I work a lot 🤣. So I'll quite often come out the shop or get off the bus and forget to take it off because I'm so used to it being there. Once forgot to take it off when on a break at work and went to take a mouthful of tea - went well 🤣🤣🤣🤣

If that makes me mad then so be it 🤪

@TinaWeymouthsBass

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds Actually mask wearing cuts spread of covid by over 50%!

The last paragraph of this article admits it is not a causal link, just an association. Just because infections decrease when people wear masks doesn't mean mask wearing causes less infections. There is just a correlation e.g. Just because people in uk spend more money in shops when it's cold and less when it's hot, doesn't mean the cold weather CAUSES frenzied high street spending. Are there any mask studies that have found a causal link? I haven't found any yet but happy to be enlightened.

@TinaWeymouthsBass

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds Actually mask wearing cuts spread of covid by over 50%!

That is an insane claim considering the Scotland and Wales haven't seen lower rates than England since Jul, when England's mask mandate was lifted.

A mask under your nose is like wearing a condom over your balls

Pointless !

Yes masks work. Good masks work better. There is absolutely no need to worry about not touching the mask, how you put it on or off, or even if it's an absolutely filthy mask crumpled in a bag it will still work as a mask because covid is airborne.

I suspect the big factor affecting how well mask mandates work is indoor hospitality (where obviously masks can't be worn for eating and drinking). In those environments and in schools we need permanent changes to make the air safer to breathe through reducing occupancy, increasing ventilation and using HEPA filtration.

In the meantime, get a good ffp2 or even ffp3 mask and fit it as well as you can. I find I don't worry so much about others' masks now I know my face mask protects me quite well.

@brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Think about the average intelligence level in the UK.

Then remember that half the population is less intelligent than that.

No wonder so many don’t wear them properly, they’re just not bright enough to understand why.

I am en lined to agree although I'd have to say that it's emotional intelligence that's lacking as opposed to academic intelligence. They are two very different things. Many academically challenged (for want of a less offensive phrase) are extremely emotionally intelligent and will wear a mask because they understand that it benefits the people around them. On the other hand, there are many extremely academically intelligent people that won't wear them because they have the emotional intelligence of a virus (bit like covid!).

My dad is fervently pro-mask.
He also argues that vaccines should be mandatory -- for everyone.
He has barely suppressed rage at people who don't support the strictest lockdown measures or oppose vaccines or won't wear masks.
He's more or less terrified of Covid.

He wears his mask with nose out because he says he can't breathe with nose in.
I find that quite funny.
Mask mis-wearers like my dad don't fit neatly into anyone's little sweeping generalisations.

I had mine on in the street the other day. I forgot it was there. When I see people wearing one in the street I think they probably got to take it off

Much fewer people where I live (including shop staff) are wearing masks on buses and shops compared to in the spring. People are waking up, finally.

Actually mask wearing cuts spread of covid by over 50%!
Lots of misinformation around covid, wild theories etc are called out - and rightly so.
So why are claims like this not deleted? Masks do not cut spread by more than 50 per cent. This is categorically wrong. Why do people even post things like this? What is there to gain?

Sometimes I wear mine in the street, largely because I sometimes wear glasses and a hat, and by the time everything is arranged comfortably around my ears it is easier to keep it on that put it on and off between venues.

People shouldn't project onto others - you see someone in the street with a mask - you have no idea if they are terrified of covid or just popping to the shop with it already on. Assumptions you make about other people say more about you than them.

@churchofthepoisonmind

Actually mask wearing cuts spread of covid by over 50%! Lots of misinformation around covid, wild theories etc are called out - and rightly so. So why are claims like this not deleted? Masks do not cut spread by more than 50 per cent. This is categorically wrong. Why do people even post things like this? What is there to gain?

Because BMJ published an article that said so. :(

Then Ben Cowling did a thread on Twitter saying why 53% was a howler of an over-estimate.

Cowling is fairly fervent supporter of mask-wearing to stop Covid, btw. Just not at expense of good quality epidemiology..

I despair. How is the public supposed to make sense of the science when the BMJ is promoting rubbish??? BMJ took an editorial stance early on about masks & have stayed welded to it no matter how modest the underlying effect size may be.

@churchofthepoisonmind

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.

What on earth do you mean - see right through it? This whole paragraph makes zero sense. It writes like you wanted to find something to insult me with, didn't have much, and came up with the most pointless thing you could think of. Deaths of the vulnerable still count, I believe. My outrage is not faux as my sibling (and I) could be one of those vulnerable people. And we are not elderly be any means, but he has very late stage cancer. So I don't appreciate people like him being casually written off because someone finds it chilling that kids can't see faces.

"There is absolutely no need to worry about not touching the mask, how you put it on or off, or even if it's an absolutely filthy mask crumpled in a bag it will still work as a mask because covid is airborne."

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ oh heck.

Re masks don’t work anyway…

See the figures on wearing FFP2 masks in particular

www.mpg.de/17916867/coronavirus-masks-risk-protection

[quote Dishhh]@churchofthepoisonmind

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.

What on earth do you mean - see right through it? This whole paragraph makes zero sense. It writes like you wanted to find something to insult me with, didn't have much, and came up with the most pointless thing you could think of. Deaths of the vulnerable still count, I believe. My outrage is not faux as my sibling (and I) could be one of those vulnerable people. And we are not elderly be any means, but he has very late stage cancer. So I don't appreciate people like him being casually written off because someone finds it chilling that kids can't see faces.[/quote]
That's not what the term chilling referred to. Try again.

@TheVampiresWife

It's like last year all over again with the mask threads.

Sigh.

So boring, isn't it!

Masks are not a panacea but they do cut transmission when used with other measures if the vast majority of people use them. Just saying "oh they don't work anyway" because you don't like wearing them makes you a dick. Newsflash, nobody likes wearing them. I think part of the problem in the UK is that it's been easy not to wear them or to opt out. Where I live they were made compulsory everywhere, indoors and in schools out last year, basically you could only go without in your own home, and people got used to them. They are still mandatory in all indoor settings and in schools. Our schools have stayed open since last September.