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Original poster

Why won’t so many Brits wear a mask

484 replies

IloveConkers · 10/12/2021 17:50

I live in mainland Spain where I haven’t seen a single person without a mask in a supermarket since March 2020. I hear it’s the same in Germany and Italy. What is it about so many British people that makes them not do it when it’s clearly safer. I returned to the UK for a visit and found it horrifying. I was even looked at with disdain for wearing one! I just don’t get it!

OP posts:
RoomOfRequirement · 10/12/2021 18:55

All the posters whining about freedom would do well in the US. They don't know what freedom actually means either.

Topseyt · 10/12/2021 18:56

@icedcoffees

I think lots of people are sick of it, tbh.

They've worn their masks. They've had their jabs. And yet we still end up back under some kind of restrictions because nothing we do is actually working.

I wear a mask when I have to but I personally don't think wearing a piece of cloth over your mouth makes any difference to whether you catch/spread COVID or not.

That is my take on it too. I struggle with lung capacity sometimes, so do often have to move my mask or will need to pull it down below my nose just so that I can at least partially keep it on and still breathe. Sometimes I use the exemption because of this. I keep mask wearing to an absolute minimum and will get away without it if I possibly can

I only wear one where I absolutely have to now. I am diabetic too. A week ago I was in the supermarket when I felt myself starting to go hypo, meaning my glucose levels were becoming low-ish. So, you would have seen me in a corner of the supermarket without my mask on starting to suck on my glucose tablets.

Boris Johnson is hardly a shining example here is he? He even tried to visit a hospital without wearing a mask. I've always worn mine in medical settings even though I struggle and have sometimes been permitted to take it off by staff concerned.

WhenSepEnds · 10/12/2021 18:57

We are all meant to be doing it in Scotland and I would say where I live, most people are following it but of course there are some who don't and they are never really challenged

WhenSepEnds · 10/12/2021 19:01

It's a well deserved pat on the back Smile

Anonymous48 · 10/12/2021 19:09

I also live in a different country and I don't understand this attitude either. Just because it wasn't a legal requirement people stopped wearing them? How about you wear a mask because it protects people around you? And of course there is much evidence that they do help prevent the spread of the virus, so just because PP "think" they don't do anything doesn't make it the case.

What's all this with people being exempt too? That isn't even a thing where I live. If there's somewhere that masks are required you don't have a choice.

I'm also shocked that kids don't wear masks. They were required for all school children where I live until very recently (where our case numbers have gone way down) and for places that require masks it's for everyone aged 2 and older. They seem to manage just fine here!

girasol · 10/12/2021 19:09

Here you go @Unanananana and @Fcuk38

“ Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence covid-19.”
www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302

(If you’d rather read the Guardian summary of the above: “ Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, according to the first global study of its kind, which found that the measure was linked to a 53% fall in the incidence of the disease.”)

Or this: www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118

Or this
“ In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that there is association between face mask use and reduction of COVID-19.”
eurjmedres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40001-020-00475-6

fakereview · 10/12/2021 19:14

@IloveConkers

I live in mainland Spain where I haven’t seen a single person without a mask in a supermarket since March 2020. I hear it’s the same in Germany and Italy. What is it about so many British people that makes them not do it when it’s clearly safer. I returned to the UK for a visit and found it horrifying. I was even looked at with disdain for wearing one! I just don’t get it!
I returned to the UK for a visit and found it horrifying

it wasn't law in England until the end of November

And you weren't looked at with disdain for wearing one. I've worn one since March 2020 (ie way before they were a thing anywhere except the Far East) and never been looked at with disdain.

Anyway you don't live here. Aren't you lucky not to have to consort with all these awful mask-refusers?

It is so annoying when people who live overseas come onto a UK website to criticise people in the UK.

Frankola · 10/12/2021 19:14

There was blanket compliance in England for most of the pandemic. But over time many areas of the population have lost all trust and belief in the government due to their own actions and so many now just don't believe the guidance or want to stick 2 fingers up to government by not following it

A580Hojas · 10/12/2021 19:14

@Silverswirl

Because they are fucking horrible to breathe through and actually unless you wear the right ones do little. Also covid is a mild virus or cold for the vast majority HTH
Covid is mild for most ... but at the same time there's no knowing is there? We all know people who have died who weren't expected to. It's like suggesting everyone should be happy to play Russian Roulette.
A580Hojas · 10/12/2021 19:15

@Frankola

There was blanket compliance in England for most of the pandemic. But over time many areas of the population have lost all trust and belief in the government due to their own actions and so many now just don't believe the guidance or want to stick 2 fingers up to government by not following it
Sticking 2 fingers up to the Government doesn't protect your health, unfortunately.
fakereview · 10/12/2021 19:16

I also live in a different country and I don't understand this attitude either. Just because it wasn't a legal requirement people stopped wearing them

Well you don't know if people would continue to wear them in most countries because in most countries it has never stopped being a legal requirement. But I can say that when I went to Guernsey on holiday nobody was wearing them (end of September).

fakereview · 10/12/2021 19:18

@wrappedupforchristmas

In wales we have not stopped wearing masks in shops so i don't know why you are going on about British I think you mean English.
I think the OP means "people in England". There are lots of English people in the rest of the UK, and there are lots of non-English people in England. Assuming that they were in England when they visited the UK.
flashria · 10/12/2021 19:22

If we go on in this manner we will never get shot of them. That is my concern. They are unpleasant, suffocating, dehumanising and dystopian, and I can't believe that everyone doesn't agree with this (even if you advocate wearing one at the moment). But the vast majority of people have embraced them with such enthusiasm that if there is no pushback at all they will become normalised to such a degree that we'll be in them forever. I think we're on the way to that already as can be seen from the OP who says everyone where they are has been wearing one without fail for 18 months. I don't want this for our society.

They are being seen as a marker of the kind of person you are: wear one = good person, don't wear one = evil person. That's dreadful and will be an enduring viewpoint if we don't at least keep up a dialogue about it.
Many people on this thread and others are so keen on them that there will never be a moment where they are happy to say no one needs them any more. After all, we'll all be 'safer' forever in them...what if someone's got any kind of virus at any point in the future? 'better safe than sorry' in perpetuity....
All those people who are 'shocked' to see someone without a mask - what has to happen for you to be happy for them to end? Genuine question.

Anonymous48 · 10/12/2021 19:22

@fakereview

I also live in a different country and I don't understand this attitude either. Just because it wasn't a legal requirement people stopped wearing them

Well you don't know if people would continue to wear them in most countries because in most countries it has never stopped being a legal requirement. But I can say that when I went to Guernsey on holiday nobody was wearing them (end of September).

Yeah, actually I do know that, because it's not a legal requirement where I live. Whether it's legal or not makes no difference to the vast majority of us. It's whether it's the right thing to do.
Anonymous48 · 10/12/2021 19:23

@flashria

If we go on in this manner we will never get shot of them. That is my concern. They are unpleasant, suffocating, dehumanising and dystopian, and I can't believe that everyone doesn't agree with this (even if you advocate wearing one at the moment). But the vast majority of people have embraced them with such enthusiasm that if there is no pushback at all they will become normalised to such a degree that we'll be in them forever. I think we're on the way to that already as can be seen from the OP who says everyone where they are has been wearing one without fail for 18 months. I don't want this for our society. They are being seen as a marker of the kind of person you are: wear one = good person, don't wear one = evil person. That's dreadful and will be an enduring viewpoint if we don't at least keep up a dialogue about it. Many people on this thread and others are so keen on them that there will never be a moment where they are happy to say no one needs them any more. After all, we'll all be 'safer' forever in them...what if someone's got any kind of virus at any point in the future? 'better safe than sorry' in perpetuity.... All those people who are 'shocked' to see someone without a mask - what has to happen for you to be happy for them to end? Genuine question.
"They are unpleasant, suffocating, dehumanising and dystopian". Give me a break! They are none of those things.
Snoozer11 · 10/12/2021 19:23

It does wind me up when people who clearly have a bad cough decide to get on a train without a mask, take the seat behind you and cough their guts up for the rest of the journey.

BoredZelda · 10/12/2021 19:24

Is it safer? Where’s the proof?

This is why, OP. Because any time it comes up, you get shit like this.

And because you know, we are exceptional. We just don’t need to listen to science or do anything, we can just declare we all have to get back to normal and it will all just go away.

Duckrace · 10/12/2021 19:25

Because they are selfish and often not very bright.

Anonymous48 · 10/12/2021 19:26

@Fcuk38

Is it safer? Where’s the proof?
Yes. Yes it is. This has been very well established.
saleorbouy · 10/12/2021 19:27

I was thinking the same as you last month whilst in the U.K for a few days for a wedding.
We went to the local town and supermarket I was amazed how many people were strutting about as though nothing was the matter. Probably the very same who will be moaning if their Christmas is inconvenienced in any way with restrictions.
In my country of residence masks were voluntarily taken up by many and are now the norm. It's such an easy precaution to take I don't understand the objections to it.

flashria · 10/12/2021 19:28

"They are unpleasant, suffocating, dehumanising and dystopian". Give me a break! They are none of those things.

But they are! How can you say they aren't? They are unpleasant because they make your face all wet and hot, and suffocating because you can't get a proper breath, dehumanising because we make relationships, connections and perceptions of others from our facial expressions, and dystopian because in our society (and almost all societies) we have had the custom of showing our faces to each other openly. Surely all of that is just fact?

CamQ · 10/12/2021 19:29

Because some of us understand evidence and statistics.

flashria · 10/12/2021 19:29

saleorbuoy and others are even calling the 'norm' now. So depressing.

luinagreine · 10/12/2021 19:30

"They are unpleasant, suffocating, dehumanising and dystopian". Give me a break! They are none of those things.

Exactly, they may be in that poster's opinion but that doesn't make it fact.

Whitefire · 10/12/2021 19:31

Yes us in England are selfish, thick wankers. Can we change the record now please?