Scottish Schools - Face masks now "obligatory"

[WeAllHaveWings]

Regardless of whether anyone agrees or not these are now "obligatory" on buses, in corridors, and communal areas (not sure exactly what that means, some classrooms, but guess school will clarify?)

So ds(16) will need a mask for:

Bus/entering school to well-being/registration class
Going to periods 1 - 7
Goingwil to break/lunch
Bus home

So does he use the same mask all day, taking it on/off 11 times, or should he have several masks for the day and a dirty mask bag?

What will you be doing?

I am thinking maybe 2-3 masks per day......one for before morning break, after morning break and after lunch.....as I doubt ds would take/use 11 masks totally hygienically!

God knows. I personally think this will increase infections because there is no way kids aren't going to end up touching their masks then touching surfaces. I can and have taught mine how to put on, wear and safely remove a mask (nurse) but most adults don't know how to wear them safely so I doubt the majority of kids will. It just seems pointless, these kids are sitting next to each other in class, at lunch, playing together at break/after school etc and why sturgeon is listening to to the WHO I don't know, didn't they say masks didn't work just a few months ago during ppe shortages . Whole thing is a box ticking farce imo.

Very few people use/wear masks to infection control standards. School pupils will be no different.

Most will either have a disposable that they re-use all week day. Or a reusable that will rarely be washed.

And reusable ones will no doubt be left by pupils all over the place so can't see them being taken to lost property. Could be an expensive time. My DS used to lose everything at school, including his shoe laces. That amount of on and on would result in the loss of at least one a day.

Trying to avoid the "why" and sticking to "how" to do if without increasing the risk. I can't find anything specific about wearing reusable masks all day.

I know they "should":

• Sanatise hands before putting on, after removing or if they inadvertently touch the mask (unlikely for ds)
• Remove holding the ears straps and not touch the front of the mask

What isn't clear is if they should use a clean mask every time. I can see some links saying take off and store in a bag between uses making sure the outside of the mask doesn't touch the inside of the mask... but surely then the inside of the bag is then all "germy". 🤦‍♀️

Hopefully we'll get some guidance before next week.

xpost with Wax

Agree, school is going to be littered with lots of germy (or virusy) masks. 🤦‍♀️

To be honest even within hospitals the guidance changes/isn't always clear. DH always changes between different patients but now needs a new one between walking in the corridor and being on a ward so can go through 5 or more just collecting and delivering one patient. How the level of possible transmission changes based on the amount of mask changes I don't know ie. Is it a case of a 5% improvement in effectiveness with each change or what.

Agree about box ticking. “We are more caring than England”

It’s all bollocks. No one will wash the things and they will languish in pockets.

Queen Nic will be happy though

Mine prefer these neck gaiter/ head tube things I bought them from a camping shop. They can roll them up then roll them down as required, sanitising hands in between.

Not ideal but I don’t see another way unless schools are going to spend a fortune on providing masks as kids leave classrooms
Either that or sticking a mask down under your chin when not in use and cleaning hands after putting it back.

My son has worn masks since starting back (S3) - his choice. He wears three a day on average - one till break, another one till lunch and then one for the afternoon (not for his PE afternoon). We live just a few minutes from the school so no bus.

I make masks and he has a fabric clean mask bag and at the moment takes a plastic sandwich bag for used masks but I'm making cloth ones as the plastic waste is getting ridiculous. He knows to use hand gel/wash before putting on/taking off/adjusting.

I think if they're going to have them in full time they need to do something as they're not distancing (even if they want to the corridors are packed).

Dd likes the head tube ones but I’ve read they are the worst - I don’t mind about what’s mandatory etc but I’d like clearer guidance on which masks are best and clear instructions for the kids.

Total box ticking nonsense. Mine will take a clean one in every day. That's that. I'm not polluting the environment with these things that aren't even effective because they'll be pulled on and off all day.

I would probably go with 2-3 a day. We live in a mask mandatory area and we started with a fresh mask for each wearing, but it gets a bit ridiculous over time so now we use for a few hours. We keep a bin by the door for the used masks and launder as needed.

Will be asking for gloves to deal with the discarded face coverings. Already asked so that we could safely pick up the dropped wipes that are used at the beginning and end of a lesson to wipe down desk and chairs .

We have been given lidded peddle bins but have already observed they haven't been emptied daily.

Hopefully the gloves might be forthcoming now.

Isn’t there an issue of cost for the children too? Not everyone is handy with a sewing machine and the disposables mount up.

@anon444877

Isn’t there an issue of cost for the children too? Not everyone is handy with a sewing machine and the disposables mount up.

Funny how they were so quick to ban bloody single use plastic straws but not those fucking disposable masks. Those shouldn't be available to buy for non-healthcare settings. But hey, now we can all be 'safe' from Covid to watch the fuck up of the environment even more.

I’d like to see the right answer being everyone advised to have a number of reusable ones but some folk will need donations of those I’d have thought - the litter of disposable masks around is sad.

Yes sorry OP I didn't actually answer your question. Disposable masks can be worn for 4 hours. They can be reused upto 5 times if tumble dried on high for 30 minutes (costly!!). Cloth masks can worn until they become damp. It was torrential rain here this morning and I saw lots of school kids with them on walking to school (some are choosing to wear them already), so they will be wet and useless by the time they enter the school. This is what I was talking about re misuse, kids with damp masks are at a higher risk of virus transmission.

@Infullbloom

Yes sorry OP I didn't actually answer your question. Disposable masks can be worn for 4 hours. They can be reused upto 5 times if tumble dried on high for 30 minutes (costly!!). Cloth masks can worn until they become damp. It was torrential rain here this morning and I saw lots of school kids with them on walking to school (some are choosing to wear them already), so they will be wet and useless by the time they enter the school. This is what I was talking about re misuse, kids with damp masks are at a higher risk of virus transmission.

Exactly! But it gives people the warm fuzzies, makes them feel protected. They're not force fields and they won't be used properly in schools with all this changing and washing and crap. But hey, crack on, they keep St Nicola warm at night.

They should be washed or disposed of after every use and not touched as they will spread infection. They also become risky to the wearer if they touch their face to adjust or remove/put on the mask which can spread disease.

In practice, I think it’s a ridiculous fig leaf.

We're going with - 1 for the bus (same one for there and back), one for morning shool and one for afternoon school.
They're mainly to protect other people - so unlikely to have Covid on them unless your DC has Covid?

Complete madness. The streets will be strewn with these things. Kids will be playing with them, flicking them, putting them on their chins, hair etc. What a ridiculous situation.

@WouldBeGood

They should be washed or disposed of after every use and not touched as they will spread infection. They also become risky to the wearer if they touch their face to adjust or remove/put on the mask which can spread disease.

In practice, I think it’s a ridiculous fig leaf.

It is.

Correct mask use protects both the wearer and the population. That just isn’t going to happen. It doesn’t in the general population so I’m sure schools will be no better.

But imperfect mask use (wearing properly but touching when removing etc) still protects the population from the wearer, but not vice versa. It isn’t comparable to medical situations where the patient may have covid. An asymptotic student who coughs or breathes heavily but wears a mask doesn’t leave a massive trail of virus in the corridor.

Our children primarily wear them to protect their classmates not themselves. So it doesn’t really matter how often they are changed or how they are touched. The potential amount of virus on the outside of a face mask is a minimal risk compared to the amount spread by one person coughing without a mask.

ds will definitely be using reusable masks, we have built up quite a few over the last few months as seeing so many other countries going in the direction of masks at school it was only a matter of time before the UK got to the stage where it did the same.

Thankfully he is usually quite good at keeping his things together so I don't expect too many losses.

DD school implemented from today. The school’s timetable has been amended this year so all lessons are double lessons so she is only in the corridor on entering and exiting school then between classes 4 times a day. She has a reusable mask, a bag to place it in between use, hand sanitiser for use after removing and replacing her mask and carries a bag of disposable masks as spares. DD is 16 and is sensible enough re the handling of it all but she is miffed at having to do it. She uses public transport so her school clothes and mask are washed daily. She has plenty of uniform so is lucky we can do this. Not everyone can afford the cost of loads of masks far less plenty of school uniform. I really feel for families who will struggle with the financial implications of C19 measures.