Attitude to masks needs to change...

[treeflowercat]

We adapted before back in the late Spring 2020, when it was decided that masks were beneficial after all, having initially been advised against it. The message at the time and since has been that masks protect others more than they protect you.

But now, the emphasis is on mask quality.... and it matters far less whether others around you have face covering but the quality of your own. For instance, it appears that you're far more protected if you have a FFP2 mask and others are maskless, than if you and everyone else has a cloth (or even surgical) face covering as per the link below:

www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a38697308/best-face-masks-omicron-covid-variant/

(NB the absolute times need shortening for omicron but relatively the differences remain)

The notion that a room where everyone had face coverings on is "safe" doesn't really appear to hold, as evidenced by the rises in countries where mask mandates are strict (look at Spain!).

Equally, the idea that a room where only you have a mask on (if high quality) is "unsafe", at least compared to the fully masked alternative outlined above, doesn't hold either.

It seems that the advice now needs to change, as it did before, and that your protection is primarily based on the quality of your own mask.

A recognition of this would hopefully diffuse some of the conflicts and anxieties surrounding mask use...

I'm not writing this as someone who is anti-mask, and I started wearing one before the become mandatory, but unless we make this shift, they'll be a lot of vulnerable people who feel disproportionately unsafe, in the belief that their protection still lies more with the cloth face covering worn by people they interact with, than the quality of the mask they wear themselves.

Masks will be gone by next week so kind of a moot point now.

@Lazypuppy

Masks will be gone by next week so kind of a moot point now.

Legally yes, but many will still wear them, and many vulnerable will feel fearful without a sea of others wearing masks around them.

Regardless of what the gibbering amoral buffoon PM says, I shall continue to wear a mask until the science shows infections are minimal.

Masks are done with op! Gone

I don't disagree with you, but government measures have always been for show, not based on scientific evidence.

@WeatherwaxOn

Regardless of what the gibbering amoral buffoon PM says, I shall continue to wear a mask until the science shows infections are minimal.

Same. Thanks for the info, OP.

@GirlInACountrySong

Masks are done with op! Gone

But that's the impetus for my post....

Masks will no longer be mandatory... their use will drop, but those who are vulnerable and feel fearful of this shouldn't be too alarmed, as the science appears to indicate that the quality of your own mask matters far more than whether those around you have face coverings on.

I can see why the immune compromised and others might consider wearing a very protective mask, at least while infections remain very common, but I think that if someone is scared enough to be in this position, they will be motivated to seek out the information for themselves.

Other people will probably drop the masks fairly soon.

American Twitter is full of panic-wallahs doubling down on ever-more cumbersome masks and sharing fun tips on how to use things they've found around the house (hairgrips, elastics, what have you) to bind them tighter and tighter to their faces. This is the group that has basically not accepted that everyone is going to get COVID sooner or later. "I'm still determined to avoid it!" Hmmm....

I’m not going to stop wearing mine just because Boris says I can

I get what you’re saying OP, some people only feel safe if they’re in a crowded room with everyone else wearing a face covering, even if it’s flimsy and not worn properly. We need to stop looking at what others are doing and take steps to minimise the chance of being infected ourselves by wearing an FFP2 or 3 mask which will actually help to stop us breathing in the virus.

I have to say, from the beginning the messaging to the public around masks has been absolutely dire!

And to add to this, I’ve been wearing a mask since way before Boris ordered us to, I’ve been wearing FFP2s since they became easily available, and I will continue to wear them based on my own reasonings, regardless of what the government tell us to do - I’m not a sheep 😉

I've been wearing FFP2 grade masks since spring last year - my thinking has always been that if I'm wearing one, I might just as well wear the best possible one that's easily available and affordable (FFP3s would be even better but are very expensive and need to be fitted just right for your face). It's been clear throughout there are lots of people in the UK who see masks as a political issue and refuse to wear them (no I'm not talking about people who are exempt) so I'll protect myself.

*The notion that a room where everyone had face coverings on is "safe" doesn't really appear to hold, as evidenced by the rises in countries where mask mandates are strict (look at Spain!).

Equally, the idea that a room where only you have a mask on (if high quality) is "unsafe", at least compared to the fully masked alternative outlined above, doesn't hold either.*

I'd go beyond that and say we should do away with the whole notion of 'safety'. Nothing in life is 'safe', certainly not as regards a highly contagious airborne virus 10000 times smaller than a grain of salt.

@IcedPurple

*The notion that a room where everyone had face coverings on is "safe" doesn't really appear to hold, as evidenced by the rises in countries where mask mandates are strict (look at Spain!).

Equally, the idea that a room where only you have a mask on (if high quality) is "unsafe", at least compared to the fully masked alternative outlined above, doesn't hold either.*

I'd go beyond that and say we should do away with the whole notion of 'safety'. Nothing in life is 'safe', certainly not as regards a highly contagious airborne virus 10000 times smaller than a grain of salt.

Don’t we take mitigations against things to make them more safe though? Can’t you think of any examples? No one is saying we have to make the world a sterile environment 🤣 Just that there’s a few things we can do to lower risks of various things.

Not all MNers are in the UK, obviously, and where I am (Italy) it's now really ffp2 or nothing. Cloth ones were never accepted but we did all wear surgical. Since the beginning of Jan in schools it's ffp2s only and I must admit I feel better in one.

Yes I agree, we should all look to use high quality masks between now and next Wednesday when they can then be disposed of!

The chart does show the power of a good N95.

For immune compromised people, the viral load required is going to be lower. A crowd may also have more than one person with Covid. So the fear of being in an unmasked crowd while being the sole person wearing an N95 really isn’t going to be going away.

Don’t we take mitigations against things to make them more safe though? Can’t you think of any examples?

No, I have never taken 'mitigations' against statistically mild illness against which I have been fully vaccinated. Nor have I ever used the word 'safe' with reference to said illnesses.

I can't wait for them to be gone again next week.

I'm CEV.

I wear a FFP2.

It is still safer for us if people wear masks on buses and in shops, as well as wearing a FFP2.

I don't see the problem with people (who are not mask exempt) wearing a mask in a shop.

I will be shopping online for the foreseeable.

It is a fucking stupid change of plan.

I wear a cloth mask with a disposable filter - you wouldn't know it to look at though. I've got N95 ones but I need to get better ones - the ones I have keep sliding up and covering my eyes!

I'm more than a bit alarmed by 'masks are gone from next week' comments, though. They won't be required by law from next week in England - and of course I understand that lots of people will stop wearing them, like last time. But they're still recommended in crowded places and I'm really hoping that compliance will remain similar to when the legal element was dropped last time - it was reasonably high on my commuter train, and on tubes etc, time dependent.

@Dontgetyerknicksinatwist

I’m not going to stop wearing mine just because Boris says I can

We neither. He's only doing it to have his own pathetic skin. Giving the people a carrot so that they shut up and stop bothering him with their worries about hypocrisy and lies.

I don’t trust Boris one bit. I can see that people are already just not taking it seriously any more. The statistics mean nothing (apart from deaths and they are still scary).

I have had Covid twice and, despite being ok now, am scared of getting it again as I was very unwell last time and it took me 3 months to get back to normal. I’m self-employed so it’s important that I’m healthy.

An FFP2 worn without a face fit test will offer protection similar to the levels from a surgical face mask.

I have never fully believed that mask protect unless its fully sealed and your breathing in and out of some sort of tank. I personally think its a sense of force security.