Face Masks in shops

Wasn’t it to do with worrying about shortage of PPE and concern about public using stocks up?

Everything seems to have been done on the back foot here.

MayBee70

I think you’ll find that it was just this country and the USA that didn’t advise the wearing of masks months ago and you only have to look at the death rate in both countries to realise what a mistake that has been.

I'm with you on this MayBee the use of masks were not implemented for reasons only known to themselves!

www.barrheadnews.com/news/18580817.three-simple-tips-stop-glasses-fogging-wearing-face-masks

I posted this link on another thread. It may help.

I have worn one from day one and have just ordered some visors as my glasses steam up with a mask.

Even = been

Mercure Tue 14-Jul-20 10:15:13

Are you not aware that the first rule of Gransnet is that every other country in the world has been incredibly wise and their citizens have all followed the rules perfectly? It’s only the British, and especially the English, who are stupid and ignorant.

Boris has stupidly taken advice from the Chief Medical Officer and other highly qualified individuals who obviously know far less than the self appointed experts on the Internet. As new information has come through about this worldwide pandemic he has made appropriate changes to the guidelines instead of blindly sticking to the incorrect information given out in the early days.

As for people invoking their RIGHTS! It beggars believe and probably safer for the rest of us if they stay tucked up indoors keeping their stupidity shut away for the rest of the year and possibly beyond.

There have even some incredibly brave people making huge personal sacrifices to help keep us safe but also a small number of ridiculous vociferous half wits trying to undermine any sense of well-being that many are desperately trying to cling on to. Selfish and mean spirited carping on and on. You would think they would have bored themselves senseless by now.

I saw a list of countries that had made masks mandatory and the date that it was introduced but instead of the names of the countries it just showed their nations, flags and I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to flags !

MayBee70

I think you’ll find that it was just this country and the USA that didn’t advise the wearing of masks months ago and you only have to look at the death rate in both countries to realise what a mistake that has been.

I thought that as well, *MayBee70", but was surprised to learn that they're not mandatory in France yet.

dr bharat pankhania gives very good clear advice on all this.

I think you’ll find that it was just this country and the USA that didn’t advise the wearing of masks months ago and you only have to look at the death rate in both countries to realise what a mistake that has been.

From a personal point of view, I absolutely dread it. I have never been claustrophobic, but this has completely thrown me. Within literally seconds of wearing one I feel like I'm being smothered and I am feeling like clawing it off my face. Two minutes wearing it in a shop and I'm panicking to get outside. I am due to resume my job as a flight attendant very soon and I will be required to wear one in a very confined space for hours on end, and I can't tell you the anxiety this is causing me. I am also not convinced of their efficacy- at all - I think the science is very sketchy at best and the goalposts keep changing to suit the narrative. If they are that important why wasn't the ruling brought in earlier? I can't be the only person who remembers the government's scientific advisors saying masks were useless? And why is the "enforcement" of it still a week away? Does the virus know to "hold back" on spreading until next week? ? Once again, this move is about 4 months too late. After researching, it seems that cloth masks are about as effective as a wire fence being erected to stop a mosquito. Breathing your own CO2 back in can also cause hypercapnia. Toxins are expelled in our breath for a reason, to rid our body of impurities....so to me, this is equivalent to peeing your urine back inwards. The moisture trapped in the mask is also not a healthy environment and can compromise our immune systems. Something we really don't need to happen in our bodies right now. I just wonder where will this all end? What further "instructions" will we all willingly comply to before we realise something doesn't seem quite right? Who would have even thought in March, that we could actually be fined a 3 figure sum for refusing to cover our face in a local shop? It's all so bizarre.

WoodLane7 - you were obviously listening to LBC, as I was, when Shelagh Fogarty made that comment about condoms - she has a sense of humour & is always worth listening to.

If you have trouble with glasses steaming up you can try various things. Wipe the lenses with a tiny drop of liquid handwash - not washing up liquid, it can damage the coating - and wipe dry with a spectacle cloth or microfibre cloth, not paper towel as that will scratch. You can wipe the lenses with a drop of hand santitiser gel. You can get anti-fog spray from Amazon, or probably from your optician, maybe chemists sell it.

If the mask has a nose wire, pinch it close to your nose and wear your glasses over the top. It helps to fold the top half-inch of the mask inwards, you can still pinch it onto your nose. Or take a strip of paper tissue and tape it along the top edge of the mask with micropore or sellotape.

If you're worried about feeling claustrophobic take it slowly, wear a mask for five minutes at a time around the house. You won't need to wash or replace it each time when it's only for a few minutes. Build up slowly. You only need to wear them on public transport or inside stores, carry it in a clean plastic bag and put it on just before you go through the door. How long does it take to do a supermarket shop? Half an hour? Surgeons wear them for hours in theatre, it honestly isn't going to be as bad as you imagine.

Remember if you dread a mask, you're really not going to want to wear a ventilator.

#MawB there is a big difference between wearing a beesuit and a face mask. I'm a beekeeper and the hood stands well away from your face. A face mask sits tight to your face and I can't wear one. I'm claustrophobic and I've tried and panic after 30 seconds as I feel I can't breathe. I have now started shopping online as I can't stand anything on my face. My OH suggested I wear my beesuit to the supermarket but I'm not sure that comply with the face mask criteria or I would and have no prob;em doing so.

I’ve been wearing disposable masks but didn’t like to think of the wastefulness of them. Now I have 3 homemade cotton ones so will be able to wash one and wear one, and one to spare.

There’s an informative article on the BBC news website today. A User’s Guide to Wearing a Face Mask
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53395513

We were advised at teh daily briefing at the end of April that masks should be worn in shops and other busy areas.Advise ..not compulsory but a lot of people local to me wore them from then in supermarkets .We had quite a high rate which is almost at zero ..Scotland has had NO deaths for 7 days and only 2 people with confrmed CV19 in intensive care for the apst 3 days .If wearing a mask means we can get back to "normal" then masks it will have to be .I dont understand all the civil liberties nonsense ...surely by protecting yourself and others you're protecting civil liberties for all

I wonder if those with difficulties can manage visors better? I
think they mainly offer protection to the wearer, not for others so much.

These are the reasons you don't have to wear one:

"Face coverings exemptions

The requirement to wear a face covering on TfL's public transport stations, platforms and services does not apply to:

Children under the age of 11
Employees of, or persons providing agreed services to, TfL
Police constables (including British Transport Police officers) acting in the course of their duty
Members or employees of the emergency services responding to an emergency

You also do not need to wear a face covering if you have a good reason not to; such as:

If you have a physical or mental illness or impairment, or a disability that means you cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering
If putting on, wearing or removing a face covering would cause you severe distress
If you are travelling with, or providing assistance to, someone who relies on lip reading to communicate
If you are travelling to avoid injury or escape the risk of harm, and you do not have a face covering with you
If you need to remove it during your journey to avoid harm or injury or the risk of harm or injury to yourself or others
If you need to eat, drink, or take medication you can remove your face covering
If you are asked to remove your face covering by a police officer or other official, for example to check your railcard"
From the TfL website

They are a bit vague, who is going to prove whether your distress at having to wear one is severe?

For those with a genuine mask phobia, sadly there are some, or if you feel you fit one of the criteria above, you can download an exemption card tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/face-covering-exemption-card.pdf

I will wear one in shops, but stable doors and bolting horses spring to mind.

I have serious lung problems and couldn’t breathe when I tried a disposable mask.

I have made some masks from a cotton pillow case. They come high on my nose to under my chin and I can breathe in one ok. My glasses did not steam up.

I haven’t been in a shop for about four months but will have to eventually.

A disproportionate number of retail assistants have died in this Pandemic, presumably because of their interactions with the public so it makes sense.

Staff apparently don’t have to wear masks, I guess they would need to be changing them frequently, but you’d think visors would give some protection.

Hancock said yesterday that mask wearing was to protect shopkeepers.

That is so funny Narrowboatman.

I have seen even professionals in various settings fiddling with masks.

There are quite a few people wearing them with nose
protruding! Once you touch the front of the mask you should really take it off, gel your hands and apply a fresh one..............

Mollygo I watched that clip. If it were not so tragic, it would be funny. Florida now has more victims of the virus than any other state in the US although, this is not just because of the refusal to wear masks.

jusnoneed You are quite right about fiddling with masks. I think we should have more public information thrown at us about the correct and safe way to wear a mask.

One thing I always notice when you see people talking to others who are wearing masks is how much they fiddle with the things, always pulling them back up or down. If, as is sometimes said, the fabric is damp from the wearers breath after about 15 minutes surely they will spreading any germs via their hands.
I will only be using one for inside the supermarket once a week and will stay away from any other shops. I think a lot of people will do the same so the bit of footfall that was starting may be affected once again.