Will you continue to wear a mask?

they’re much less dehumanising than being incubated in an ICU.

Wear a mask, don't wear a mask. Its up to you (if you're in England).

In Scotland, we'll still be wearing them.

But can we please not start on against with the if you don't like masks you won't like being intubated thing? Wearing masks is not a small thing; they impede communication and they are unpleasant and they make me breathless. I wear them because it makes sense to do so for now, but I will not be wearing them indefinitely and I will not be wearing them on the bus in 2025 to stop me or anyone else getting the sniffles.

Some proportion, please.

I'll always have one on my person but will wear it with discrimination.

Only if I'm forced to. I have never got used to them. My glasses steam up, even with FFP3 ones. They make my nose run (everything makes my nose run) and itch. They cause severe pain at the top of my right ear (pressure on a nerve? No idea really).

The glasses steaming up thing I found out about years ago because I started using FFP3 masks while strimming and while wearing tight-fitting goggles. The goggles steamed up as well. Had to give up the masks just so I could see what I was doing, and put up with the subsequent rhinitis.
If I pushed my glasses down my nose to hold a wired cotton mask down I got neck-ache from having to lift my head to awkward angles to be able to read labels in food shops, thanks to varifocal lenses. I even tried hanging a magnifying glass round my neck while food shopping. MrB now does nearly all the food shopping.

I solved the ear problem by tying the ear loops together across the back of my head with some more elastic. That works but the runny nose problem still exists to the extent that I have to pull a mask down at frequent intervals to blow my nose.

And then there's the low lung capacity. I just find it harder to breathe through cloth. Three separate GPs have diagnosed me as asthmatic over the years. I'm not asthmatic; they only thought so because my peak flow is so low but it doesn't change or respond to inhaler treatment.

So my anxiety levels went up too.

Of course I believe people who say they've just got used to wearing a mask. I just don't know how because I can't. It's not as if I didn't try. I even made batches of masks for family and friends right at the beginning so it wasn't unwillingness.

But now, I avoid mask wearing as much as possible. I'm really settng this out as support for other mask haters. I can fight my own corner, and have.

yes, I shall continue to wear a mask when I use public transport, toilets and shops...look after my own health....

Lucca

LilacChaser

Nooooooooooooooo. Continue? I never started.....

I think we know all about your views.

I didn't and don't know about your views, lilacchaser. Gotta do something else now but will come back and have a look.

I have been to the optician and the supermarket so far today. The majority are wearing masks. I think less people will wear them as the weather gets warmer. It is nice to keep your nose warm.

Wore ours this morning, as did most other people. Only wear it in crowded places though. Won't be going into crowded pubs and restaurants for a while, but when it's warmer we'll go to places where we can sit outside. We have three nice local pubs where we've always sat out in the garden anyway, because it gets so noisy inside. With the exception of wearing masks sometimes our lives have been back to normal for some time now but then we are both healthy and I appreciate that 'back to normal' for some people is a bit riskier.

No I will not be wearing mine, apart from very occasionally. I am going to the dentist this afternoon and they request you wear one. In his instance I will.

Yes, although I don't have the choice as they are still required here. I'm quite used to them now and they don't bother me once I get my glasses unsteamed!

For those who are dismissive of wearing masks and think it's all over, here is an extract from a letter I received this morning from the Chief Medical officer in Scotland.

As someone who is exempt from wearing as mask, due to COPD and other chronic lung problems, I still wear them and will continue to do so. I do struggle wearing a mask and yes it is a nuisance that my glasses steam up, but it is a small price to pay to stay safe.

I had already made my mind up a while ago to continue wearing a mask, certainly until the beginning of March. I have been in town this morning and most people seemed to be continuing with the practice. It is no real hardship.

Definitely will continue mask wearing and of the FFP2 variety, which are more effective and now readily available. Not outside unless very crowded.

Exactly, Marydoll, it's a small price to pay to stay safe, and to help to protect other people as well. I feel that wearing a mask is a sign that we are remembering that there is a problem and that we have to watch out for each other and for ourselves. It can be so easy to forget to keep a bit of distance, but a mask helps as a reminder.

Mask wearing is very common in Japan, where it is considered bad manners not to wear one where there are others about, indoors or outdoors.

As of the end on January, there were only 18,601 deaths from covid in Japan compared to over 155,000 covid deaths in the UK.

Like the UK, Japan is an island nation, technologically advanced and even more densely populated with a population of 125.8million - almost twice our estimated 67 million.

So our covid death rate is over 15 times that of Japan.

Mask wearing in Japan seems to have been a very good idea.

By the way, the letter also advised me on how to obtain one of the new Keep a safe distance lanyards.

I watched the us that goes via the University go past today-full of masked folk, students and others. I went to the local supermarket and everyone had a mask except for the staff on the deli counter who just wore lanyards.
I have to wear one in work and I guess I’ll wear it in shops and on transport for a while.

Us=bus!

My nose runs as soon as I wear my mask. Wearing one is still mandatory in Scotland which I fully agree with, so, I always have a tissue at the ready to discreetly dab until I can take my mask off outside.

I remember last time this restriction was eased - 19th July last year - etched in my mind. At first, it seemed as if nobody had noticed, everybody kept on wearing them, but then, very gradually, people stopped wearing them, which was lovely to see.

I think the same will happen this time (until such times as another variant appears and the panic resumes).

Yes, of course

‘It was lovely to see’. Give me strength.

Germanshepherdsmum

‘It was lovely to see’. Give me strength.

You are flogging a dead horse, GSM. I suspect LilacChaser is enjoying winding us up. Not very pleasant at all and extremely insensitive, to say the least.

Of course I will, in all public places (not outdoors where distances can be kept) and the UK seems to be the only country in Europe which is currently giving up on masks and other restrictions.
A massive gamble!

England. Not the UK.

And I've already posted on another thread about Denmark getting rid of all restrictions next week.

grandMattie

Not likely unless asked to. Probably on public transport though.
I wonder what will happen in church…

Seen on our weekly church news it is still asking you to wear masks, as per CofE guidelines apparently, but no longer having to do track and trace.