What happened to all the people saying they would continue wearing facemasks?

[Down2earthsort]

I rarely see anyone with a facemask. Even the elderly.

Yes, essentially. It did none of us any good to foster a culture where it was acceptable for people to comment on what others are wearing on their face.

In answer to the question OP, some of them still are wearing masks. I know others who chose to keep wearing them initially after restrictions ended, particularly after July 2021 when it had been law for a year in England and more strictly adhered to than it subsequently was during Omicron. They stopped when they'd got used to not wearing them, and felt more comfortable again.

I still wear them in public.

I wear them in medical settings. The majority of staff and patients were wearing them in A&E yesterday as there is a very nasty respiratory virus going round, as well as covid.

I see others use them in supermarkets, banks and buses and assume they are either ill and being considerate or have a vulnerable family member.

I also see disgusting animals hacking away without putting their hands over their mouths, including one man who coughed directly on the fruit and veg , literally right at them 😡

EDIT - meant to say...the majority are being worn by young men on protest marches/electric scooters with their hoods up, but thats nothing to do with medical reasons.

Back wearing mine again, just in crowded spaces, doctor’s, hospital etc- got Covid in September along with the rest of the family (all one by one and there’s 6 of us!!) No way I’m getting sick again before Christmas (same for colds flu etc!!)

Two in a London concert hall on Thursday night. Both elderly. My brother who’d tested positive, wore one around us when we saw him.

EDIT - meant to say...the majority are being worn by young men on protest marches/electric scooters with their hoods up, but thats nothing to do with medical reasons.

True, the cohort who found them a very convenient way of covering their faces to make identification harder haven't gone away either. But I don't suppose that's what OP was thinking of!

They found their confidence again.

These days it takes confidence to wear a mask, when most people around you aren't and you know some may be judging you negatively for doing so.

Last time I saw one, he was using it to keep his chin warm.

I am in the SE I see them daily.

I wear one when I fly (all that recirculated air) and on buses when I've got some upcoming hospital treatment. I do it hoping to avoid catching a cold.

I swore I'd always wear one on the tube no matter what. Then did rush hour journeys of an hour plus each way without one two days running.

4 days later I tested positive. So yes, I am going to be that person who wears a mask from now on.

I wear one when I'm unwell or in a huge crowd.

What a strange question.
People who feel the need to wear them wear them others don't.
I usually see at least one person wearing a mask when I am on the bus or in a crowded place. People who are immuno compromised need to wear them in crowded spaces. Some seriously compromised people probably just don't go out at all when there are a lot of viruses going round.
And There are a lot of very horrible bugs going around lately.

The people I know who still wear them are... not well-balanced.

And I feel bad for thinking that because it's probably a really good idea to wear one, especially at the moment with the covid/cold/flu season ramping up.

I see quite a few people wearing them. Always one or two on the bus when I catch, several at the supermarket. Wore one myself when I had cold symptoms needed paracetamol from the local shop - that turned out to be Covid later in the week. Also wore one when I had a work meeting with someone who is undergoing chemotherapy (all of us in the room wore one and had a window open).

Who were ‘all the people’ who said that they would continue to wear masks?

A few people wear them on my train to London. A few days ago I sat down next to someone on my way home who was wearing a mask. When I noticed it I politely asked if she was wearing it because she was ill or because she didn’t want to get ill. She said she was wearing it because she had a cold. I thanked her and said I was going to move as I was going away and didn’t want to risk getting a cold. She smiled and understood; I was grateful that she reduced my chance of getting a cold at a really annoying time. But yet some people still think anyone wearing a mask is some sort of scared ‘sheeple’!

Got a packed train London - Scotland last week, there was one woman with a mask on for the whole journey. We had masks in Scotland far longer than the rest of the UK (until April 2022) and in my local supermarket for the first year you'd see them regularly, and gloves, and face shields, and people wiping their trolleys and the rest of it.

Rarely see a mask any more. If I do, I assume someone has covid.

Same. Loads here.

I used to see a few about even before Covid as we have a large population of students from China and they have grown up wearing them whenever they had a cold etc to stop speading germs. So I still see them being used by that group and also some elderly people on public transport. That's about it.

Never mind just Covid, there’s thread after thread on Mumsnet about the latest cold/cough/virus and how terrible and unwell posters are feeling, yet nobody considers that wearing a mask in crowded places and public transport could make a difference.

I went shopping last week in my local town and the amount of people coughing, spluttering, hacking up and sneezing was horrific! (normally men). I don’t think I saw anybody cover their mouth or use a tissue.

@CleverClogg Do you mean you just want the window by you open or ALL the windows?

I still wear one sometimes but also find I'm much more picky about going busy places now more people are back on sharing every cough, sneeze, germ and virus under the sun. I don't want to be in busy shops and crowded places whilst someone stands breathing down my neck as they tell someone how awful their cold is.

I still see some people wearing them and assume they've got their reasons.

At work the only times people wear them are when they have Covid (no paid time off for Covid) so they’re a bit of a signifier that you’re infectious with something