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COVID-19: are you wearing a mask?

Are you wearing a mask when going out?

  • Yes

    Votes: 148 51.6%

  • No

    Votes: 88 30.7%

  • Considering it

    Votes: 51 17.8%
  • Total voters
    287
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I am, although the UK GOV spin is that 'evidence is weak' a marginal gain is still a gain so anything against a Virus which kills must be worth it if it is practicable to do so.
 
Like all things you have to get used to them, I used to have to wear them for work, and after a couple of days you forget they are there.
I made mine 3weeks ago, there studies as to which fabric is the most effective, but they all act as a barrier. I can not understand why the goverment hasn't endorsed them fully.
There are any amount of youtube videos on how to make them, from the very simple to ones with Hepa filters.
 
Brunneria said:
I'm struggling to understand this, although I do realise that your mindset is widespread.

Firstly, if there was no evidence that masks were effective, then they would not be used in clinical settings. There is such evidence. They are used. Therefore they are considered to be more effective than not wearing a mask.
(Obviously, the usual caveats apply - they should be doffed and donned properly, and they should be constructed appropriately)

Secondly, how are we protecting our frail and elderly? We are getting other people to go out and do their shopping and then delivering it to their doors. We are asking carers, volunteers and family members to shop and travel to and from work, and live their own lives, surrounded by members of the public and fellow professionals, and then visit the vulnerable, sometimes to drop off shopping or prescriptions, sometimes to help them far more intimately.

If they wear masks while doing that (at all stages), the risk they are spreading the virus drops. Obviously, it doesn't drop by 100%. But I will take a 20% drop (or even a 5% drop), if it reduces the odds of my frail and vulnerable elderly relatives from contracting the virus. Or if it reduces the chance that Covid-19 sweeps through a care home.

There is plenty of evidence that the majority of covid-19 infections are contracted by asymptomatic or presymptomatic spreaders. So that is the person in the queue next to you. The person on the checkout. The person filling shelves. A family member bringing it home with them from a shopping trip, or a day at work.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2009758
Masks help with preventing that in addition to social distancing and the correct use of hand washing and gloves.

ed for typo.
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My opinion is that widepread community infection is the only route out of this in tandem with shielding of the very vulnerable e.g. do wear a mask in an old people's home or better still pay carers to stay in. nyoone who feeels they are vulnerable could be supported by living alone with shopping being delivered.
I understnad that you and many others believe that we should stop trnasmission as if like a storm of locusts, the infection will pass or we will be able to stop infection until a vaccine arrives but my point is that low risk people should be able to go out and acquire immunity whilst taking care NOT to infect their frail or elderly relatives and that as Sweden as done we should trust people to make sensible decisions on their own behalfs.
My concern is about masks is that most people won't do the things you descibe or may be given a false sense of security and stop handwashing thus not making much aof an impact on coummunity spread overall.
In the East it is a cultural norm to wear a mask - odes that mean they have any less sick days from corona viruses (colds) or flu?
I am afraid of a situation when I make my own decision about this but get shamed or refused entry to a supermakert because I don't choose to wear a mask at the present time.
 
TriciaWs said:
No, some of us have lived through viruses in the past, humanity survived but many individuals did not.
During plagues it was common to enforce isolation, to the extent that people had plague signs painted on their door or were even locked in with planks nailed across their doors. There were patrols in the streets to enforce this. I live near enough to Eyam that primary schools here do school trips to the 'plague village'.
And Isolation hospitals still existed when I was a child. Then we got vaccines, and so many serious infectious illnesses are rare now.

I am self-isolating in the hope we will be able to get an effective vaccine. But if/when I have to go out it will be to the GP surgery or hospital so high risk areas. I researched the evidence about masks, and the most effective materials for homemade masks and I will be wearing one (plus a clean one and a plastic bag to store the used one if I need to take it off).
I also researched information on cleaning/sterilising masks.
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If you feel that you need to self isolate and are therefore afraid of this virus then it makes sense ot isolate AND wear a mask. i am type 1 but otherwise helathy and I would not visit you if I knew you were self isolating.
In the past we did have infectious diseases that were much more dangerous and debilitating with little knowledge of how to prevent infection or treat those diseases. Better hygiene, better diets, mass vaccination and antibiotics have seen many of those threats off in the developed world but there will always be new viuses arising so even if we do get a vaccine to this one, like the flu, it will evlolve each year thus making vaccination no guarantee of safety psarticularly amongs those that are metabolically compromised.
I feel that oneonf the learnings from this crisis is the need to make our 'herd metabolically healthier so that getting infected isn't such a risk for those people.
 
NicoleC1971 said:
<snipped> but my point is that low risk people should be able to go out and acquire immunity <snipped>
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As I understand it the status of antibodies, their lifespan and their ability to help resist a second infection is not at all well understood, which makes the herd immunity suggestion a little premature.
 
notafanofsugar said:
I'm seeing far more people wearing masks when going to the supermarket now and wondered whether people are wearing a mask or not? I've been wearing a makeshift mask but think I may a "proper" one.

x
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Not yet, but then, I don't get out much. I have a few at home and I intend to get a couple that can be washed next week, for myself and my husband... The Netherlands has a "Nah, you don't need those" policy for now, but I have a feeling there'll be a hard core second wave here in a week or two. Some people stubbornly celebrated King's Day, and when Ikea reopened there were INSANE lines... I like Ikea, but I'm not going to kick the bucket for a few pieces of salmon. I'll stick with canned tuna for now! So yeah... I'll wear mine eventually, but as I don't get out much anyway... It'll be a while before I have need of one.
 
NicoleC1971 said:
I understnad that you and many others believe that we should stop trnasmission as if like a storm of locusts, the infection will pass or we will be able to stop infection until a vaccine arrives
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Please do not put words in my mouth, or assume that you know what I and others are thinking.
The opinion you have just assigned to me is not one I hold, and it is not one that I have ever expressed on this forum, or elsewhere.

It is perfectly plain from events starting in China, and echoing from country to country, that the virus is now worldwide and cannot be put back in a bottle like some genie. In addition, there is (as yet) no indication that a vaccine is even possible. They have been attempting to come up with a vaccine for the common cold (including coronavirus) for decades, and made no significant progress.

When I replied to your earlier post I made 3 main points - that masks reduce the rate the virus is contracted, and then passed on - thus slowing infection. That wearing masks outside care situations helps reduce the spread to the carers who are currently taking COVID-19 into care homes and passing it on to the vulnerable. Also that asymptomatic carriers will not pass the virus so quickly if they wear masks.

Those points still stand.

If more people wore masks, there would be a slower, more controlled spread through the community, enabling the health system to cope better, and even more importantly, allowing the vulnerable to better avoid infection until such time as those around them are less likely to pass it to them.

In addition, we are all keen to get the economy jump started as soon as possible, whether we are currently working or not, and whatever our financial situation. Wearing masks (sensibly) would enable the Lockdown to ease more quickly. Several countries are using this technique, progressing by slow steps towards a return to normal life. They have chosen to use masks to help this process, by specifying that masks are used in shops and when outside to reduce the chance of another surge in the infection rate.
 
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Herd immunity is a concept that depends on a 95% uniform vaccination level that means throughout a population if any people even in small enclaves do not take up on the vaccination the concept of herd immunity disappears as has happened with measles.
 
NicoleC1971 said:
My concern is about masks is that most people won't do the things you descibe or may be given a false sense of security and stop handwashing thus not making much aof an impact on coummunity spread overall.
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That shouldn't mean not bothering, although I have to admit with idiots like the governor of Florida I can see where you're coming from. People can learn to inject insulin, take their BG, even put a condom on (where did that come from LOL), and I think we can all learn how to put a mask on properly as well as continuing to wash our hands etc.
Ron DeSantis' mask wearing etiquette leaves something to be desired.

FloridaGov.jpeg
 
At this time there appears to be no immunity for those who have had it, rendering the idea herd immunity as rubbish.

We also don't yet know how long someone who has had it is infectious,or ill with it.

I am on week 4 of this and am still not completely well.
 
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I have self-isolated since the lock-down (village shop delivers, they are stars!) but if I went out to shops I would definitely wear a mask. I have some P3 masks for DIY which are very effective for very fine particles, I wore one when the plumber visited last week to fix the broken-down water heating. He wasn't wearing PPE but my wearing it got him to get some out of the van and put it on.

IMHO wearing masks can only help - at least it stops one putting fingers on your mouth and nose if nothing else. At the same time I would wear disposable gloves if shopping / petrol pump use and take them off before removing the mask.
 
NicoleC1971 said:
I am afraid of a situation when I make my own decision about this but get shamed or refused entry to a supermakert because I don't choose to wear a mask at the present time.
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I don’t see that happening unless or until it becomes required or at the very least recommended. However the reason behind the negative response is not that you’ll be making choices for yourself to risk the virus but that if the logic behind wearing masks is that masks stops you spreading it (as opposed to catching it) therefore you could be seen as risking others by your choices.
 
Why would someone choose not to wear a mask if the government told us to?

With so many people who are asymptomatic, surely protecting others is something everyone wants to do, as we have no current way of knowing who is a carrier?
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I am not wearing a mask, but all I do is walk the dog where it is very easy to social distance. I don't go shopping. I can count the number of people I have seen wearing a mask on one hand. As far as I am aware (because I can't see any information about this on the internet, in the local press, or on local radio) I am assuming my small town is relatively free of the virus.

However, we have just received an order of 2 packs of 5 masks from the internet. The firm is
https://elle.co.uk/collections/prot...mask-5-pack-washable-large-size-free-shipping
They arrived complete with a set of instructions within 5 days of ordering. These are in case they become compulsory.

My husband watched an elderly man approaching a queue outside a supermarket. He was wearing a mask. He pulled it down, rubbed his nose with his hand, replaced the mask and grabbed a trolley handle.
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I ordered some masks from the company that @Bluetit1802 mentioned and for the same reason, to just have some ready in case I need them, currently I am just staying away from everyone. I notice that the company normally makes tights, in particular plus size ones, and they are giving away masks with orders for tights. No use to me, but might be of interest to some on here.
 
Yes I have been wearing masks and making them then we send them to the local Marie and they send them of to the area department and then they will be given out to the people, also we can now buy then from our chemist
 
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lucylocket61 said:
Why would someone choose not to wear a mask if the government told us to?

With so many people who are asymptomatic, surely protecting others is something everyone wants to do, as we have no current way of knowing who is a carrier?
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Lucy - I'm not picking an argument with you here, but for some people, being told to do x, y or z almost compels them not to do it, and do the opposite.

It is my belief there are quite a few folks and families around the place who are having discrete gathering, one way oranother.

Around these parts, I have certainly seen a number of groups out walking, albeit fairly well distanced, but a group of 6 or more all 2m+ apart, conversing isn't the most private thing!
 
DCUKMod said:
It is my belief there are quite a few folks and families around the place who are having discrete gathering, one way oranother.
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We have seen a similar thing here, people think the rules do not apply to them...
 
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