about wearing face masks/coverings

Ive just made 4 masks for the family I live with and we will wear them when appropriate, shops etc I don’t feel embarrassed, I just want to stay safe.

To be any use at all, masks should have at least three layers, a scarf doesn't do anything, nor would a hijab be much help.

It makes sense to wear one when inside with strangers, eg shops, garages etc, and when they open all hairdressers will have to wear one to protect you. You should do the same for them.

Wiping the lens of your glasses with washing up liquid helps stop them steaming up, but no matter how well your mask fits they still will to some degree. Wearing them lower down your nose also helps a bit.

The number of people I see pulling down their masks to talk is incredible, if it isn't covering your nose it is useless, and by touching the front of it you have just put the germs on the front straight onto your hands.

I think the Government will see how things progress, if the numbers don't continue to go down, then it may well become compulsory in shops as well.

Pamela J1. ....... can’t find elastic use elastic bands ... I did .

You were being considerate to others wearing your mask. In such a close environment perhaps the others should have been wearing one too. Out at weekend and I felt a lot of people I encountered who were wearing a mask did seem to not bother with the 2 mtr rule. False confidence as I ciukd have coughed or sneezed on them when tge were leaning over in front of me at shelve.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I was wearing one when i go to my regular blood testing (for warfarin) but when you speak or ask staff anything they cant tell what youre saying so i end up unhooking it from my ear at one side so they can hear me!!!pointless telling us to wear them if it renders them useless if no one knows what we are saying!

Do what you like, you don't know if the people round about you are carriers or not, some people don't know themselves if they have it, I purchased snoods that the oil companies use for their workforce and I couldn't care less what anyone thinks, when I wear it, better to be safe than sorry

I think everyone should wear a mask we don’t know who may have the virus. So were protecting one another.

Exd
What you wear be it a mask or any other form of attire is your choice Nothing to do with anyone one else.

Gloves seem to be pointless - the virus does not go through skin, and if you touch anything infected the gloves are infected. I try to avoid touching when out, but wash my hands as soon as I get in, and then wipe front door handles and keys with a dilute disinfectant. I really can't see that gloves are any help, and may increase confidence about touching when in truth they are no different to your skin. Masks I am still pondering - haven't been anywhere that migh warrant one, but I gather from a friend working in London that she sees many people wearing masks who are pulling them about to achieve comfort and presumably increasing their risks of infection, glove wearing or not! Oh what a dilemma.

@lizzies, surely if your glasses are steaming up then your mask is pointless? If it can let moisture escape then it can let the virus escape so you are not protecting anyone. This also goes for all the people wearing badly fitting masks. The masks are supposed to protect others from your germs

Just been told by my husband that a new paper in the Lancet says they DO protect the wearer. Obviously not as much as medical grade respirators but still noticeable benefits.
It was apparently published June 1st.

We've been told to wear masks on public transport, in any medical setting and anywhere where you might not be able to socially distance. I wear one when going to the supermarket because social distancing is so often not observed either by staff or shoppers. So yes, wear one, remembering that you wear one to protect others and if they do the same, they protect you!

I do have masks but avoid other people and hardly ever need to use them. I think there is a larger issue here, which is the way in which we make social contact. I use my face a lot when talking to others, especially smiling and grimacing with my mouth. Up until now, I have been happy and sociable with a wide circle of friends, but now that my social life is mostly intense one-to-one conversations on Skype, I have become more introverted and cautious. I am concerned that the use of masks in social situations is going to have an adverse effect on the mental well-being of people because body language will be more difficult to read.

Never worn one, have no intention of wearing one, and very few people seem to wear one. I go to supermarkets about two to three times a week, and shopping in Wilco, and l have to say, they are very rare.
People cycling with one one, are the ones that look plonkers, standing in a shop with one on, is not plonkerish at all.
.
Do what you feel comfortable doing.
If you had to travel by public transport, it is necessary, and l would definately wear one then too.

I would think well done to you for trying to be considerate.

I wear a mask to stop me getting lynched. I cough and sneeze a lot because of hayfever.

Masks are now compulsory on public transport I believe.
Medics have mixed feelings about masks as, once they become damp from wear they can admit virus.
If they are deemed to protect others from the wearer, then if we ALL wear them we all become protected.
GLOVES should be sanitised between shops in the same way as naked hands, as gloves will transmit virus from place to place, in the same way as un-sanitised hands.

Yes you are right to wear a mask, i don't normally go into my local shop at the moment, but i did yesterday wearing a mask and glad i was,as the shop assistant wasn't ,and she sneezed,
I can't believe shop assistants aren't made to wear masks,

@PamelaJ1

I was watching tutorials for making various types of face mask on YouTube - one of them used tights instead of elastic. They cut a strip about an inch thick across the leg, and then stretched the circle it made so that it rolled up and looked like an elastic band, a few people said that this was more comfortable than elastic. One person then cut this so she had a strip and sewed each end to the mask just as you would with elastic.

Never mind feeling a plonker..be safe!Research is divided on the mask issue but the last I heard was the WHO recommended it.At 81 your age,statistically, is a risk factor despite your thankfully good health.Without going into the science as a retired[waiting to go back for Covid!!!!]nurse I wear one in the situations like the one you have described

At my local post office people have to queue outside. One out one in so only two customers side by side at a time. Oh and don't worry what others may think. What you feel is right for you is what is important....

I only mix with other people in the supermarket and always wear my mask but really prefer ones that have elastic that goes round the back as well as on top of the head, so you can control it with one hand.

I'm past caring what others think - it makes me feel safer and being slightly agoraphobic, makes me feel invisible as well!

What's not to love! Plonkers unite!

After my daughter who is a care worker explained about the dangers of gloves transmitting the virus in a non care setting I stopped wearing them. However masks are different and I always wear one in enclosed public spaces or if there are crowds outside that I cannot avoid. I am a bit of a rebel so if I feel people are rolling eyes or judging I am so super nice to them, I'll catch their eye, say hello or good morning or whatever, smile with my eyes etc.....then bob my tongue out behind the mask, just a little bit heehee!

I wear a mask in shops as a matter of support for the shop workers who mostly have to wear masks all day. They have kept me fed throughout the lockdown and are frontline if someone does come in coughing and spluttering. Problem is I wear glasses and they immediately fog up and I struggle to see what I am buying or where I am walking!? I have tried scarves and alternatives but they all mist up the glasses. Anyone found a solution?