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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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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.

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yet to wear a mask been working from home since start three members of household husband retirement age and over weight does not go out daughter who works supermarket and me the type 1 diabetic who has been doing all the shopping once a week in week 10/11 and despite some people not obeying rules have been fine so far, the risk is to myself and my daughter bringing it home from work but need to carry on despite if I go back to work and use public transport then I will wear a madk
 
My wife works in the local hospital until now she has been able to work from home but has now do to various reasons been called in from next week to assist in other departments and with the latest announcement is going to be expected to wear a surgical mask while at work which she feels is going to be very difficult.

And we have no idea how we are going to rearrange things at home as I am shielding.
 
It’s so hard, it’s awful to be so worried and stressed, very detrimental to anyone’s overall health. I feel today like I have hit the “lockdown wall” I just don’t want to get out of bed, do anything at all except be cocooned on my own. It’s a bit scary as it’s the total opposite of the way I am and I have never felt like this before even at some of the worst times in my life
 
I think a lot of people have and will have that feeling. It will pass. It is a difficult time for us all so it is normal to need a break. You're not alone
 
I see WHO have amended their advice and now recommend all over 60’s and those with underlying conditions should wear medical grade masks wherever social distancing is challenging. All others should wear fabric coverings in such situations

edit to add

https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1279750/retrieve
 

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Have just read about Kate Garraway's husband it seems that they have finally been able to do a MRI and it reveals the virus has attacked most of his major organs holes in his heart liver kidneys brain and nerve damage and among the organs severely damaged is his pancreas so although he wasn't diabetic before contracting covid 19 he is now.
 
I heard that story and it is absolutely tragic but please get it in proportion. He has had a very bad and shocking reaction to this virus but Kate Garraway was at pains to say that it was also extremely rare. I also think this could be the emotional reason behind Piers Morgan's rants..
 
 
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.

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To me wearing a mask when near others is a social responsibility. I wear mine to protect others and would like everyone else to do the same in an ideal world. It may not give me much protection but every little helps. Mine is a home made pleated mask ( cotton) two layers and I put a kitchen roll filter between the two layers. It has a wire nose piece to ensure a snug fit. Steam ironing it between wears to kill bugs.
 
Yes but you miss the point that the mask is to protect other people from you - not to protect you from other people! That mask has an exhalation valve that does nothing to trap the infectious droplets that you breathe out, so it is useless to protect others. It will provide you with a little bit of protection - if it is used correctly. Do you know how it should be worn?

Hmmm.
 
Do you have a link for that research?
Mask wearing shows you are following the law and behaving in what is regarded as a moral fashion (lots of infomercials on the topic of unselfishly wearing masks, keep landing in my ears at work).
Most people now have their own cloth masks and unlike you I imagine many are not treating them like their pants as the meme go (boil washing and putting them on fresh after each use) The only RCT I can find shows them to be pretty useless in stopping transmission. Most of the research done prior to this was on the correctly worn surgical type masks in a hospital setting in the context of preventing outbreaks of disease in those settings with high staff absences and spread to patient being a concern. Suddenly a bunch of theoretical experiments have been done (not in the real settings we would see in our community) to support the policies which have also changed course drastically.

A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare wor
Results The rates of all infection outcomes were highest in the cloth mask arm, with the rate of ILI statistically significantly higher in the cloth mask arm (relative risk (RR)=13.00, 95% CI 1.69 to 100.07) compared with the medical mask arm. Cloth masks also had significantly higher rates of ILI compared with the control arm. An analysis by mask use showed ILI (RR=6.64, 95% CI 1.45 to 28.65) and laboratory-confirmed virus (RR=1.72, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.94) were significantly higher in the cloth masks group compared with the medical masks group. Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%.

I also wondered if the practice of wearing masks has any impact on levels of respiratory viruses in Asian countries. It is hard to find much but here is the conculusion of a Japansese survey of 3000 people which suggests that its the hands and space bit that helps.
Conclusions
Overall, this study suggests that wearing a face mask in public may be associated with other personal hygiene practices and health behaviors among Japanese adults. Rather than preventing influenza itself, face mask use might instead be a marker of additional, positive hygiene practices and other favorable health behaviors in the same individuals.
 
kev-w said:
I've been using an FP3 mask for sanding the walls but not for shopping or exercising, I don't personally see the point.
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The point is you don't infect anybody else. If you know this, then not wearing a mask is just selfish.
 
NicoleC1971 said:
I also wondered if the practice of wearing masks has any impact on levels of respiratory viruses in Asian countries.
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Surely if long-term wearing of masks had a tangible impact on levels of respiratory viruses then many or all of our surgeons, who can spend up to 10 or 12 hours a day wearing surgical masks, would all be dropping like flies...?
 
I think there's a world of difference between surgical/medical settings in which conditions are sterile, the users are trained in and adhere to correct use of masks and a general population in which the range of 'covering' is vast and the 'wearing' is eclectic to say the least.

The fidding, multiple time use, storing in pockets and general handling of whatever is being used to cover nose/mouth/chin/wrist (delete as appropriate) leaves me wondering about just what is being harboured/transmitted to the wearers, and therefore about the effectiveness.
 
This is why we need, and should have had, clear guidance and training videos in all the media and government bulletins on the safe and correct way to use and clean a mask.
 
Sarbak said:
Surely if long-term wearing of masks had a tangible impact on levels of respiratory viruses then many or all of our surgeons, who can spend up to 10 or 12 hours a day wearing surgical masks, would all be dropping like flies...?
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surgeons wearing properly fitted masks that get changed by sterile hands for every surgery probably do keep themselves free of colds and flus.
Not sure about those that keep their masks stuffed in their pockets and pop them on as and when. Given the amount of companies advertising products to cure beneath the mask spot outbreaks, I am not confident about how much bacteria and viruses those masks are harbouring!
 
I think the way we were all asked to make a mask back in March and save the good masks for the NHS was the start of the mask misuse. All because the U.K. didn’t stock up in time. Masks have also morphed into fashion accessories: some decorated ones are indeed lovely, but we need a kite mark system, and a banning of the ineffective ones. I agree with @lucylocket61, we also need instruction about how to use and sanitise them on all media.
I’ve seen so many people whose masks slip down below their noses, who take them below their chins when they’re talking to others that I’m turning into the kind of outspoken old granny I’ve always been slightly afraid of.
 
I live in Scotland so almost everyone has to wear one basically anywhere but outside . Have my own theories on this Covid thing , I read an article about living with Covid , was quite interesting , it had one piece of data in the article saying that in the winter of 2107-2018 an extra 50, 000 people died from the flu . Hmm dunno what to say really . Well I do but best I say nowt s I might get castrated by the “ herd”
 
My masks are surgical quality and fluid resistant. Single use. If you wash them they lose the resistance. According to what I read and what my audiologist told me, they have to be fluid resistant to be of any effect at all. Ordinary home made ones are unlikely to be fluid resistant.

Ushthetaff said:
I live in Scotland so almost everyone has to wear one basically anywhere but outside
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Same as in England now, in public indoor places but not in the work place as I understand it, apart from retail and hospitality sectors.
 
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