Should I still wear a mask?

I went to Sainsburys on the way home from work yesterday and there wasn't a single customer not wearing a mask!

I'm supposed to be going to see a stand up comedian on Friday night and I've actually asked for a refund, which is a bit sad but we have been so careful that I just think I'll do what I HAVE to do and limit things I don't have to do iykwim. I think also I'd rather go out for a meal than to a show.

Being a mask phobic, the last 18 months seems more like 18 years.
Deep down, I don't believe they prevent you from catching anything, and passing it on is a bit hit and miss. Keeping your distance has really been the game changer.
Saying all of this has not changed the fact that I have masked up when required to do so, fought the rising panic, and carried on with what I needed to do.
Now I only where a mask in medical situations or on a bus. I respect your wish to wear one as I expect you to respect my wish not to.
I have no desire to go to concerts, go on a plane, or do anything with loads of people.
Seeing people wearing masks outside, huddled away from everyone else makes me concerned for their well-being now. Wearing them in your car, on your own is particularly concerning.
I don't believe we are at the end of masking up as it will be a way to comfort the nation.
I also believe that some people will continue to wear them forever as it makes them feel safer. If it helps them, I am pleased.

Thanks for the link, growstuff. It syas what other experts have been saying and what I've been guided by.

I've never worn a mask out of doors, but then, I've never been in a real close packed crowd out of doors. I'd certainly wear a mask in that situation.

I wear a mask in all indoor places. What I'm finding a problem at the moment is my volunteer work at a local visitor attraction. While most staff and volunteers wear masks, some of them wear them as chin guards or exposing their noses, which is totally useless. Also some wear visors instead, which is also useless as the aerosols can just escape round the wide open edges. We do ask our visitors to wear masks, but clearly can't force it and although the building has high ceilings and lots of space I'm not confident that the airflow is good enough to disperse aerosols rapidly. It's really quite a dilemma for me; to continue in what might be a risky situation or to give up for the time being.

I really wish the government hadn't washed its hands of covid...

As much as I hate them and avoid going anywhere crowded I would still wear one on public transport or crowded shops
I no longer bother in a restaurant ect can see little point in wearing one until seated
When and if infection rates drop I will dump the mask quite happily

MaizieD at our bar we insist people coming up to the bar to be served wear a face mask. We provide them if someone doesn’t have one with them. Some complain it is no longer compulsory. Our reply is that we don’t have to serve them and without it we won’t. Surprisingly enough they soon comply. Most are happy to conform however.

25Avalon

MaizieD at our bar we insist people coming up to the bar to be served wear a face mask. We provide them if someone doesn’t have one with them. Some complain it is no longer compulsory. Our reply is that we don’t have to serve them and without it we won’t. Surprisingly enough they soon comply. Most are happy to conform however.

All I can say is that you are very lucky (and wise) to be able to do that. Our 'management' has an eye to the commercial value of visitors which IMO overrides scientific, and common, sense.

I still wear one at the supermarket and on the bus I occasionally catch. Don’t wear the occasional times I go to the pub or cinema. Don’t usually socialise except my immediate family. I work one to one with people no masks but in a room with open windows and space between us . Fingers crossed am ok so far ( obviously double jabbed) and will take my booster when it’s offered

MaizieD we are the facilities management company so we make the rules which our staff follow. The bar is covered by CCTV so we can check what is happening.

I have had my flu jab this morning and the nurse advised me to wear a mask, wash my hands thoroughly and frequently and to take Vitamins C & D during the winter months. All of this I happily do and will continue as Covid has not gone by any means.

I will be wearing one now all the time been so ill for 7 days with a nasty Virus not Covid but awful. Grownup Son brought it home from a footy match

I will continue to wear a mask where ever I go to outdoors the past two winters I have had no winter flu symptom's and even if we do ever manage to get over this dreaded Covid 19 I shall always wear a mask to look after my own wellbeing and not be infected or infect anyone else.

Interesting to read that many posters say they don't bother putting on their mask when in a cafe or restaurant and they get up to go to the loo.

Toilets are certainly where I always wear a mask. They are usually totally enclosed, windowless and can have loads of people through them before being cleaned. So I mask up and use hand gel on leaving.

I dislike it but when among others ie shops,hairdresser (I don't use public transport) then I do wear a mask.

Only a few mask wearers in our Sainsbury's this week (about 5% of shoppers). I haven’t worn one all week since being back home. None wearing them in the bars, restaurant or Boots chemist I’ve been in. I asked at the door of our independent bookshop (no indication on the door) and the owner shook her head & smiled so in I went.

The figures for Trafford where I live are minuscule. I’m not worried.

Wonder if figures may rise in the winter as the vaxx wears off? Who knows when our protection will wane & booster shots become available.

I went to our local theatre last night. Really looking forward to it. It seats about 250.

There was no spacing and I was the only person(apart from the ushers) wearing a mask. ? I’d honestly thought everyone would in that enclosed space.

I left straight away. I thought it was just asking for trouble.

Peasblossom So sensible, I would have done the same

I’ve never been worried, concerned, anxious about covid. Don’t ask me why, how, I don’t know, I just haven’t.
So needless to say the mask was relegated in July.
My doctors surgery aren’t stipulating the wearing of.
Some weeks ago I was in our local hospital for 24hrs. Nobody in the blood test department had masks on.
From there I went to A&E, no masks on there. Being monitored in A&E for 6 hrs, no masks.
Taken to a ward by orderly, no masks.

I forgot that last Saturday I went to a private clinic to have my ears cleaned. 2 nurses, I doctor and myself in a relatively small room. Not one mask being worn.

We have noticed the number if people wearing masks in our town centre declining week by week. We still wear them in shops and supermarkets and for the past two weeks I have been catching the bus twice a week to go to town, this week very few people had masks on and last Wednesday I travelled to Birmingham on the train to meet my sister-in-law, there were very few people wearing masks on the train and even fewer in the shops. DH had a hospital appointment last Thursday and was required to wear a mask, not his own but a new one supplied by the hospital. We haven't had our booster vaccination yet so we are being cautious but we are definitely in the minority.

MerylStreep

I'm just like you in that I haven't been worried about Covid-19 - it's like that poem by Rudyard Kipling "If you can keep your head when all about you...Are losing theirs" I've just not got the fear or panic, and have felt totally alone in this.

Face masks have driven me mad, though, and I had a burning ceremony back in July together with a vow never to wear one again.

Just to take up one of your points 'My doctors surgery aren't stipulating the wearing of'. I've looked into this and it turns out that medical people aren't allowed to refuse treatment of any kind to people who don't wear masks. It's unethical, discriminatory and possibly illegal. I've yet to put that into practice though, when I go for my booster jab, because our doctor's surgery do stipulate it. It will be an interesting exercise.

Masks are now mandatory on the school bus and in corridors at my grandsons school because they’re going down like flies with covid. These children should have been vaccinated before going back to school. I don’t know what effect having the vaccine when someone is incubating covid is or if the lateral flow test will pick up on it at that stage? My MP told me freedom day wasn’t about herd immunity but I think they’re using schoolchildren to achieve that. DD wants to drive her children to school to slightly reduce their risk but she can’t get petrol. I’m beyond furious about all this. Yet again the government is totally reactive. No, I lie, they’re not even reacting. They don’t seem to be bothered. These are children’s lives and health we’re talking about. imo schools will be shutting down again at this rate. Freedom day was anything but.

We went to the theatre last night (Glasgow). Everyone I saw entering was wearing a mask but most removed their’s once seated similar to the routine in bars an restaurants here. The introduction to the show involved the instruction that masks should be worn in the theatre at all times. Most people masked up but 30 mins later very few were still complying. I couldn’t bear it after 15 mins which makes me wonder how I will cope with an 11 hr flight to see my grandchildren in November.
When in the theatre toilet everyone was masked up so people were happy to comply when moving about but not when seated.

I should have said that compliance in shops, restaurants and public transport is very high in Glasgow. Don’t know about pubs.

We still wear masks in shops. We went into an Aldi mid morning yesterday and most people were still wearing masks.
If we were going on public transport we would wear masks.
I don't wear one outdoors or on the school run when I collect the DGC. People are still socially distancing out and about. Lots of 'giving way' walking along the pavement.

No masks are worn in my grandchildren’s school.
I’ve no idea what the rate is here. I don’t look.