COVID-19: are you wearing a mask?

[Po girl]

Well I’ve tried to stay in as much as possible since the beginning just going out for a walk, but on two quiet occasions in M&S I’ve worn a mask and will continue to do so.
I am a frontline Government worker but working from home due to type 1 for 46yrs and being 62yrs old I’m not taking any chances.
My husband if frontline Custody Police staff and luckily I had an old box of FFp2 masks from 20yrs ago which are better than the thinner ones which we both wear.
We will continue to wear in the public for a few months more yet and will continue to do so when and if we are allowed to go to Corfu in a September.

 

[milesrf]

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

Here in the US, there aren't enough of the "proper" ones, so those are supposed to be reserved for health care workers.

 

[Ajax]

I bought a pack of 10 single-use medical face masks from a community pharmacy ..in case it becomes compulsory on public transport, to wear one.

Perhaps it will be the new ✻dress code✻ outside the home ..a practice as weird and strange as some of the concepts which shaped Victorian England.

 

[MillieT]

No mask, poor Hba1c, mild copd plus asthma...I still go shopping when needed.

 

[Tannith]

Thank you for the info, at the beginning of the pandemic when I first researched making them, the recommendation was to use non-woven, fabric and I wasn't sure what was meant by that. I've got some old "Heals" cotton furnishing fabric around somewhere - close weave so hopefully that should be ok. Thank you again.

Brunneria on another thread on masks said "For those who are interested bfe99 meltblown filter fabric (for disposable Medical grade filter liners) is available on both Amazon and Ebay."

 

[Jimphillips]

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

I am a doctor and a Type 1 but living in Germany- this is a simple and effective cautionary measure and should be compulsory in public places .... the old saying that coughs and sneezes spreads diseases is still true , and it’s unbelievable that The UK govt sits on the fence as usual where simple measures can help ! It’s compulsory here and quite a fashion industry around it already !

 

[Honeyend]

I am a HCP and a cynic. I think the UK goverment is using science and evidence based practice to people from doing things which will probabely not harm them, could even help because they do not want us to take PPE from the NHS, when perhaps the use of simple PPE, ie a mask or face covering could prevent use of the NHS is the first place.
The whole thing about losing your sense of taste and smell being a sign of CV, has been known for weeks, but it does not become and acknowledged symptom, until they get the data from an app. People have been going to work with the symptom, it may be their only one, because of this.
New York are testing care workers twice a week, any test is roughly two days out of date. We are going to have to live with this for a long time and it the South Korean expert is correct we should expect a CV type virus infection in humans at least evey five years, based on previous infections. We need to do all that we can to prevent its spread.

 

[hankjam]

I have never understood why the wait for all the symptoms to present before testing to get confirmation.
Not everyone gets the full set. If I had lost my sense of smell first a test would confirm, isolate me and trace where I had been...

but then, they clearly didn't plan for testing in the event of an outbreak, despite the warning signs.

 

[Amart]

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

Common sense would suggest venturing into a supermarket without any form of protection will leave you exposed to the risk of infection. I'm sure you're aware more people within UK have died from CV-19 than from blitz bombing during WWII. Wear a mask together with googles to minimise risk to yourself - which is what l do as a T1 diabetic as l know lm high risk for infection.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Common sense would suggest venturing into a supermarket without any form of protection will leave you exposed to the risk of infection. I'm sure you're aware more people within UK have died from CV-19 than from blitz bombing during WWII. Wear a mask together with googles to minimise risk to yourself - which is what l do as a T1 diabetic as l know lm high risk for infection.

I thought the masks were to protect others from you, not you from others. They minimise risk to others, but not to the wearer.

 

[Brunneria]

I thought the masks were to protect others from you, not you from others. They minimise risk to others, but not to the wearer.

it is more complicated than that.
There is a reduction in infection in both directions, but most effective From infector to infectee.

@Winnie53 posted this Video in another thread. Very interesting explanation of the value of masks, suggesting that if everyone wore one, then the masks + handwashing + social distancing = more effective than the whole Lockdown. Which would mean the Lockdown could end tomorrow.

edited to add the @ tag

 

[Tannith]

I thought the masks were to protect others from you, not you from others. They minimise risk to others, but not to the wearer.

On the news today they said that a new study showed that masks reduced the wearers spread of droplets by 90%. I think everyone should be required to wear them outside their homes or in public places

 

[Deleted member 308541]

I thought the masks were to protect others from you, not you from others. They minimise risk to others, but not to the wearer.

My partner and myself wear them for our benefit, not others when we have to go out, to think otherwise is a nonsense.

 

[hankjam]

My partner and myself wear them for our benefit, not others when we have to go out, to think otherwise is a nonsense.

With respect I would suggest it's not nonsense.
Imagine you are in a room with 9 other people and no one has the virus and you wear a mask. Fine, no real need.
Imagine you are the one with the virus and the other 9 didn't have it. With a mask those droplets / aerosols would find it harder to get to the other 9 folk. If you didn't have the mask and still had the virus but one of the 9 has a mask, then the chances the other NINE people would get the virus would be much greater.

 

[Deleted member 308541]

I

Imagine you are the one with the virus and the other 9 didn't have it.

If I had the Covid 19 virus I would be in lockdown / quarantine, not spreading it in people homes / shopping centres etc...

 

[HSSS]

I

If I had the Covid 19 virus I would be in lockdown / quarantine, not spreading it in people homes / shopping centres etc...

The whole point is so asymptomatic people, but contagious, or those whose symptoms do not yet show don’t spread it. These people are out in society and not isolated. None of us know if we are they.

 

[Brunneria]

I

If I had the Covid 19 virus I would be in lockdown / quarantine, not spreading it in people homes / shopping centres etc...

people can spread the virus before they know they have it. Asymptomatic spread is responsible for the majority of infections, since it takes an average of 5 days for the symptoms to develop. Sometimes it takes 3 weeks.

There are plenty of examples in the press of ‘superspreaders’ who infect large groups of people when they attend church groups, choirs, clubs, public transport, or sports events before their own symptoms develop.

 

[Bluetit1802]

My partner and myself wear them for our benefit, not others when we have to go out, to think otherwise is a nonsense.

It also depends on the quality of the mask as to how effective it is, particularly in relation to protecting yourself. Yours looks like a super-duper one. Most of us in the UK have ordinary masks, shop bought or home made, non-medical types. We were warned off buying medical masks in order to protect the supplies to the NHS and carers.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

 

[verdesca]

Things a relaxing slightly here in Italy. To wear or not to wear is not an option if you want to shop or enter such places. No mask no entry is the way it goes.