what % still wearing masks?

[WhereAreMyAirpods]

(obviously talking UK here, where masks haven't been compulsory in months).

I live in a part of Scotland where mask compliance was very high. Whatever people's personal thoughts on masks and whether they were effective, people wore them because it was illegal not to. It was exceptionally unusual to see someone unmasked in the supermarket this time last year, even after England ditched the masks and we continued, compliance was 95% or more.

Have just been to the local small supermarket, there was about 10 customers in, 5 in masks. And a masked member of staff.

And before everyone piles in with "oh they might be clinically vulnerable" well yes they might, but masks are supposed to protect me from them, and pre March 2020 I never saw one single mask, ever. Except in a hospital.3

My dh is cev , and we have both had 4 vaccines / boosters so far . We wear them , in all situations , but see the irony of walking in a cafe in one and taking it off to sit and eat / drink before putting it back on to leave or visit the loo.

Does it matter?
It's not compulsory nobodies saying we should all wear masks again ,If others feel safer wearing a mask that's their perogative.

On a thread about mask wearing it’s quite difficult to see what else you did mean.

The gloves are pretty pointless, but vaccines and mask wearing in public spaces are pretty much all we have as protection. Yes a better mask may have helped but they aren’t exactly cheap if you are on a limited income so perhaps he was just doing the best he could.

I've had lots of hospital appts recently, all doctors and patients wearing them. I doubt they all have OCD.

I hate them. All I can think of is the horrific amounts of landfill they’re contributing to.
Obviously some people choose to wear them for various reasons but I’m so much happier now they’re not needed most places.

They’re still mandatory on public transport in most of Australia where I live but in practice there’s no enforcement so it’s up to the individual. I’m actually surprised how many still wear them on my daily commute.

So if you're one of a 3% or 5% wearing a mask and 95% aren't, doesn't that make it entirely pointless?
Not if you wear an FFP2.
I agree that cloth masks are poor protection but I seldom see those now.

I am vulnerable enough to qualify for treatment and was hospitalised with covid last year.
I only wear a mask in medical settings now.
I also flew abroad wearing FFP3 and will wear one every time if I fly again. That's all.

I don't quite understand why people should resent others who choose to wear a mask. If I'm near someone in a mask I give them more space.

I'd like to think that people who have covid would wear a mask but that's never going to happen.

Barely anyone. I don’t have any any more. I doubt I would bother even if they were “mandatory “ again as bugger all happened to people who didn’t bother last time.

And also because they seemed to do bugger all than be a comfort blanket for the anxious last time. Tokenism

Not as an individual, but society suffers when we all wear masks. Much of human interaction is done with facial expressions, which is hidden by masks. Not to mention the muffled sound which hits the hard of hearing especially hard, and the security implications of shoplifting and violent crimes.

We also NEED exposure to germs - children are getting nasty diseases as their immune systems have been overprotected by masks!

Yeah it’s definitely the mask wearing and not the fact that getting covid looks likely to damage your immune system that’s the issue.

And if MN is to be believed, children might be short of catching certain viral infections e.g. flu, RSV but plenty of other respiratory infections were going around during term time. Autumn Term 2020 and 2021 weren’t exactly short of children with ‘normal every day coughs and colds’ in school.