Why are Sainsbury's (and others) asking for continued mask wearing?

[jowly]

To keep their staff well? ( many don't wear one even now)

To give customers a sense of security?

I'm very willing to wear one if there's a reasonable reason to.. and I get all the theories why we may be wise to. But why are supermarkets going for this request? Why is it in their interest?

Am I missing the obvious?

I’m guessing they won’t end it but people will stop out as numbers fall instead

Otherwise when do they decide to switch

@Iggly

See graph, the point cases reached same levels as July 20th was late October.

It's virtue signalling at its finest.

There was a very good Danish study on mask wearing and how they can do more harm than good - the moist cloth is a magnet to bacteria that you're then inhaling into your lungs.

Why people think they're stopping Covid is frankly beyond my understanding.

They’re experiencing MASSIVE staff shortages because their staff keep catching covid from all the customers too selfish to wear a mask for a ten minute shop.

So they're definitely catching Covid from all those ten minute shoppers and not from people they spend far more time with like their colleagues, family members or in the gym/restaurants etc?

After the mask mandate was removed last July cases actually FELL.

A good example of the post hoc fallacy. Other explanations for this include that it was summer and that schools broke up.

@southeastdweller I don't live in the UK. Where I live, masks have been mandatory indoors since some time in 2020 and if you try to go in somewhere without one you are refused entry. The vast majority of people accept that masks are a simple way to reduce the spread of an airborne virus and people don't make a massive fuss about wearing one. I don't really understand all the angst about it in the UK and I don't really undrestand this idea that if something is law (as it was in the UK before..masks were mandatory) how or why so many people just ignore it or just say, "oh well, it's impossible to enforce". I mean it's not in other countries. It's the law, people comply.

It depends on their customer base. I think Sainsburys tend to have a slightly older and more middle class cliental, so its probably reflecting this to a degree.

Its interesting which supermarkets are encouraging mask use and which say its not necessary.

Personally, I don't see what the problem is with it anyway. Its says 'you can continue to wear masks, and masks are normal here' which some people need. A hard stop to that is diffiult for some to adjust to. It enables people to shift much more in their own time without feeling awkward about it.

Our Sainsbury’s has been really difficult about masks i.e chasing you up the aisles and demanding to know why you haven’t got one on and demanding to know your reason for not wearing one. We’ve just stopped shopping there.

There was a very good Danish study on mask wearing and how they can do more harm than good - the moist cloth is a magnet to bacteria that you're then inhaling into your lungs

Could you post it? And a few more to support it?

There have been documented outbreaks in supermarkets and lots of evidence that aerosols build up in them because they are poorly ventilated. I guess that’s why 🤷‍♀️

It’s not fail safe but whatever % wearing a mask limits transmission by at the moment must be worth it to keep schools & services open. It’s such a small thing, just do it out of social responsibility if nothing else

Is it worth it? How would we know that when we've never done any analysis on it?

The only reason you'd come to that conclusion is if you think limiting covid transmission is the only goal of any importance and you don't particularly care about the efficacy of mitigations, just so long as it feels like something is being done.

It's not a small thing for everyone

@borntobequiet

Schools yes, but cases were climbing immediately before when the weather was good so summer affect didn’t appear to be a factor. What happens in the coming weeks should offer some insight one way or another.

I live in an area that has pretty high compliance re masks so absence percentage over omicron period could be looked at to see if it helped v low compliance.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

There was a very good Danish study on mask wearing and how they can do more harm than good - the moist cloth is a magnet to bacteria that you're then inhaling into your lungs

Could you post it? And a few more to support it?

As requested -

news.sky.com/story/covid-19-what-does-the-science-actually-say-about-face-masks-12349337

www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118

And to balance the Danish study bollocks

www.factcheck.org/2020/11/danish-study-doesnt-prove-masks-dont-work-against-the-coronavirus/

@TheKeatingFive

It’s not fail safe but whatever % wearing a mask limits transmission by at the moment must be worth it to keep schools & services open. It’s such a small thing, just do it out of social responsibility if nothing else

Is it worth it? How would we know that when we've never done any analysis on it?

The only reason you'd come to that conclusion is if you think limiting covid transmission is the only goal of any importance and you don't particularly care about the efficacy of mitigations, just so long as it feels like something is being done.

It's not a small thing for everyone

There have been studies. I read about one way back earlier on in the pandemic where they studied transmission in indoor settings with and without masks and with and without ventilation. The masks reduced spread. Given that Omircron is much more transmissable than the variant that was around at the time of that study it would seem even more important to wear masks now in indoor settings.

Ok then, let’s just tell all those silly surgeons and doctors to stop bothering to wear masks during operations etc - it’s not like they make any difference in the transmission of anything according to the ‘science’ spouted by many posters here!!🙄

Given that Omircron is much more transmissable than the variant that was around at the time of that study it would seem even more important to wear masks now in indoor settings.

Or it's so transmissible masks don't stop it

France uses masks and passes more than us cases have been very high, Germany looks like it’s increasing and uses higher grade ones

TfL recently announced that their enforcement officers had issued 1450 fines of £200 in the three weeks ending 3rd January to passengers not wearing masks

TfL are no longer allowed to issue mask fines. 1450 fines in 3 weeks for a system which carried 17,000,000 journeys over 3 weeks (rough approximation of 296m journeys in 2020/21) is hardly effective.

Thank you

As l thought. Danish study my arse!

I'm not that worried about catching it but id rather not get it if that makes sense. I'm vaxxed and boosted and do wear masks in shops and tbh I will continue to wear a mask in supermarkets because why not? Its no skin off my nose and it might stop me or someone else getting sick. It might not but I'm not losing anything by wearing one

Given that Omircron is much more transmissable than the variant that was around at the time of that study it would seem even more important to wear masks now in indoor settings.

When Omicron was first reported wasn't it suggested that it was so transmissable that all the measures we had in place were not likely to be able to prevent transmission? That would seem to have been the case, and it's why cases peaked and have fallen. It wouldn't seem as important to wear masks to me.

A decent mask protects both others and yourself. There is evidence from studies conducted in NHS settings that N95 mask-wearing made a big difference.

Many people can't or won't spend the money needed to buy N95 masks.

No mask solves everything, but good masks help.