Should masks be worn by all food handlers in the future?

Buffybee

Perhaps I should have said that most people were scared, afraid, worried about catching Covid, which could possibly see you hospitalised, ventilated and die suffocating.
Apart from you, growstuff, who thought it just a problem which required mitigation and precautions.
The majority of people certainly didn't feel as you supposedly did,
everyone I have spoken to have certainly been at the very least worried about catching it, as no one could know how badly it would affect them.
Disclaimer! Apart from growstuff!
Well bully for you!

How do you know how the majority of people felt? I wasn't by any means the only one who wasn't "scared", but understood how to keep myself safe. Of all the people I have been in contact with (online via Zoom or WhatsApp, etc) over the last year, not one has said he/she is "scared". It's been inconvenient and I don't suppose anybody has liked it, but they've adapted and understood what needed to be done.

Why should any deed be heroic, if it requires no particular effort to do it?

Brave people are those that go ahead even though they know they may be putting life or limb or health at risk.

All those NHS staff that worked in COVID wards throughout the pandemic, knowing that every shift could give them the disease and possibly kill them, of course they were afraid, they said so in interviews, but they still went in for each shift. That is heroism. Climbing a high dangerous cliff, just because you like the challenge is not.

If your not scared then you are just like all those adventurers that go and do daring deeds and make tv programmes.

Perhaps I should have said that most people were scared, afraid, worried about catching Covid, which could possibly see you hospitalised, ventilated and die suffocating.
Apart from you, growstuff, who thought it just a problem which required mitigation and precautions.
The majority of people certainly didn't feel as you supposedly did,
everyone I have spoken to have certainly been at the very least worried about catching it, as no one could know how badly it would affect them.
Disclaimer! Apart from growstuff!
Well bully for you!

M0nica

Being scared is not the same as being a coward. Most heroes were scared. That is what made them heroes.

Wrong! There is nothing in the definition of "hero" which includes being scared.

I most certainly won't stop wearing a mask just because you say I should. I shall continue to wear one for a few months yet and haven't really thought about what I'll do after that. I can't say I like wearing one, but they're not a big deal.

The mantra "get back to normal" is getting wearisome. The country won't be back to a pre-Covid situation for years - and nor should it be. With a bit of luck, the pandemic has highlighted some of the weaknesses and inequality in the country's systems.

I resent what you've written - again.

You've done again and said "we've all been scared". No, we haven't.

Sorry to disappoint you Buffybee but "scared" has never been a word I could use to describe my reaction to Covid. As far as I'm concerned, it's been a problem which required mitigation and precautions - and I've taken them. I also have health conditions which put me greater risk of being seriously ill if I were to be infected and I've just done what I always do, which is to face the issues and deal with them.

growstuff, we've all been scared of this dreadful virus, myself, very much included, as I have Asthma.
I have followed every Government guideline to the letter and wear a mask, even though it makes me very breathless and I could be exempt.
I you re-read my post, I included myself in being scared, I said, "not carry on being scared of OUR own shadows", not YOUR.
So, I was not accusing anyone of being a coward and I resent you implying that.
I do think that when everyone has been vaccinated, and the virus has died down, we should stop all the mask wearing and get back to normality, not try to find other uses for masks, as in, requiring foodhandlers to be required to wear them in the future.
Quite honestly, if I never see another mask for the rest of my life, I will be very happy.

Being scared is not the same as being a coward. Most heroes were scared. That is what made them heroes.

Buffybee

I’m with Monica!
Please let’s not go down the road of suggesting permanent mask wearing.
We need to get back to normal as soon as possible, not carry on being scared of our own shadows.

Who said anything about permanent mask wearing? It might be something some people might consider, because it does seem that the incidence of respiratory illnesses has reduced overall, but that should eventually be a personal choice.

I wish people would stop accuse others of being "scared". They're implying people are cowards, whereas they are just being reasonable. People who are "scared of their own shadows" probably suffer from some sort of anxiety anyway. They don't need taunting - they need reassurance. It's ironic really because the same people who are accusing others of being scared are often the same ones who express anxiety over being vaccinated for irrational reasons.

As far as mask wearing for food handlers is concerned, I'd like to see some more scientific evidence about whether they would serve any purpose.

Lastly, I don't see why we do need to get back to normal. In some ways, maybe it's a good time to re-evaluate what is considered normal.

No one ever suggested that masks would stop the transmission of the virus, but that they would help to limit and slow down the spread combined with measures like lockdown and distancing.

I do wish those opposed to all the lock down measures would stop dramatically proving the errors of statements that they have made up in their fevered minds.

By the way Biscuitmuncher if you are quite happy for me, to come and sneeze all over your shopping when you go to the supermarket this week, I am always willing to oblige, I am particularly prone to sneezing at the moment.

I am vaccinated, but I could pass COVID on. Are you vaccinated?

I’m with Monica!
Please let’s not go down the road of suggesting permanent mask wearing.
We need to get back to normal as soon as possible, not carry on being scared of our own shadows.

Biscuitmuncher

*Chestnut * were not in a pandemic anymore. And if masks worked the virus would have never left China

Do you actually understand what a pandemic is? Just because a pandemic is no longer declared, it doesn't mean that the virus has disappeared.

Your argument about masks and the virus leaving China doesn't make sense. It left China because people were able to travel from China to other countries. They might very well have worn masks in China, but didn't when they left the country.

Chestnut

^COVID is not transmitted by touch. We have been told that again and again, it is breathing in the infection that passes on the illness^
So why are we washing our hands?
Recent research evaluated the survival of the COVID-19 virus on different surfaces and reported that the virus can remain viable for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, up to four hours on copper, and up to 24 hours on cardboard.
So the virus can easily be passed on money handled by food workers who touch the food.

Good question! Why are some people obsessively washing their hands?

Grandmama

I'm with Monica. The value of wearing of masks is controversial. I think the WHO disputes their value. I wear a mask only when I have to, I can't wait to be mask-free. And hopefully eventually not see them littering the pavements which must be a danger in itself.

The WHO initially disputed the value of masks, but no longer.

mokryna

I agree with MOnica

If we didn’t build up an immunity we would become like a long-isolated Amazon tribe which isn’t resistant to even the normal common cold.

What evidence is there that anybody can "build up" immunity harmlessly from community transmission of Covid?

Greeneyedgirl

If Covid19 was mainly caught by being ingested rather than inhaled we’d all have died like flies by now. Just think of the people who constantly fiddle with masks whilst wearing them, for example.

It appears now that Covid is primarily caught by breathing in aerosol droplets, but of course clean hands and normal hygiene are important when food handling.

Unfortunately, people still don't understand the difference between viruses and bacteria.

Biscuitmuncher

Lucca very anti lockdown. And I hate the absolutely pointless masks

They're not pointless.

Many of the food poisoning incidents on this thread are spread by bacteria, which are more likely to be on food from infected hands, infected fertiliser or poor storage. Masks wouldn't prevent that. The most common viral food infection is norovirus, which is relatively rare.

effalump a lot of people did die from food poisoning. That is why we have all the rules about food hygiene now and restaurants have their cleanliness score on the door nd most supermarket food is pre-packed.

The food poisoning incidents now happen further up the chain, often with cheap chicken products. It is estimated that nearly 2.5 million people in the UK suffer a food poisoning episode each year

As recently as February this year the Food Standards Agency issued a series of recalls for suspect processed chicken available at Sainsbury, Morrisons Lidl, Aldi, and Iceland.

Sorry, but this made me laugh. I remember, as a child, going to the corner shop for 1/4lb of ham for sandwishes for mum. The corner shop where, in summer, bluebottles flying all over the place, shop keeper slicing up the meat with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth with the ash flicking everywhere as she spoke. Amazing how we didn't all die from food poisoning.

Biscuitmuncher

*Chestnut * were not in a pandemic anymore. And if masks worked the virus would have never left China

The pandemic is over? Did I miss the celebration parties?

Keffie12

In Japan and China its part of the norm to wear masks. They do it to protect each other from any viruses they are carrying.

Personally as irritating as masks can be I would personally like to see them carry on in enclosed public spaces. Won't happen though

Have you ever been to China? I have. I didn’t see the sun for 3 weeks. That wasn’t anything to do with bad weather, just horrendous pollution ?

InnChina and other southern Asian countires, masks are worn because the air pollution is so bad. It comes from forest burning in Indonesia and the use of brown coal and the lack of clean air regulations in China.