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Will you continue using a face mask after 19 July?

Will you continue to use a mask in certain situations after 19 July?

  • Yes

    Votes: 213 88.4%
  • No

    Votes: 14 5.8%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 11 4.6%
  • Don't know

    Votes: 3 1.2%

  • Total voters
    241
I'm going back to work at my college on Thursday. Students and I'm guessing a lot of staff won't have masks. Anyone think it's an idea for me to change from a mask that protects others to one more likely to protect me?

it’s definitely an idea!
 
I'm going back to work at my college on Thursday. Students and I'm guessing a lot of staff won't have masks. Anyone think it's an idea for me to change from a mask that protects others to one more likely to protect me?
Definitely. They’re not in short supply now aiui.
 
Fascinating, many thanks for that!


ETA; got bit confused about East Liverpool & East Palestine (they're in the US, not UK, obviously)...
Cheers and yeah sorry about that, I was not at all careful about where in the world the quotes were from, I was too giddy with some of the parallels between then and now that the article revealed.
 
i've got used to that now, although I hate it and it makes me gag everytime. :(
For a while I had high hopes that easier forms of testing such as saliva testing might be proven to be accurate enough to replace the swab-based stuff, but that hasnt happened.
 
What should I be looking for, then? I've been using the disposable black ones for ages

What you need is an eye cover, basically. With all the to-do about masks, it's rarely mentioned that in order to avoid catching an airborne virus, an eve covering can be as effective as a mask.

Any goggles would do, but full-face visors are very effective, and common eg. in care settings. I still see people in shops with those, either with or instead of masks . They are less restrictive on the wearer than a mask IMO, and I usually recommend them to people who have trouble with masks but want to stay safe.

foster-partners-face-shield-prototype_dezeen_2364_sq_2-1-1472x1472.jpg
 
What you need is an eye cover, basically. With all the to-do about masks, it's rarely mentioned that in order to avoid catching an airborne virus, an eve covering can be as effective as a mask.

Any goggles would do, but full-face visors are very effective, and common eg. in care settings. I still see people in shops with those, either with or instead of masks . They are less restrictive on the wearer than a mask IMO, and I usually recommend them to people who have trouble with masks but want to stay safe.

View attachment 282686

If worn without a mask face, they are next to useless, IIRC about 2% protection.
 
What you need is an eye cover, basically. With all the to-do about masks, it's rarely mentioned that in order to avoid catching an airborne virus, an eve covering can be as effective as a mask.

Any goggles would do, but full-face visors are very effective, and common eg. in care settings. I still see people in shops with those, either with or instead of masks . They are less restrictive on the wearer than a mask IMO, and I usually recommend them to people who have trouble with masks but want to stay safe.

View attachment 282686

They have been found to offer 2% protection against covid. Almost the same as doing nothing.
 
Yeah, I want a mask for passing through communal areas

Then a 'normal' mask + visor is enough, probably. That's what social care staff work with for general stuff (not with confirmed covid cases, where there's a lot more to wear)

[ EtA, I want to add - a face visor without a mask may not 'be' a lot safer than nothing .. I did know that .. but for some people the point is that it 'feels' safer than nothing, so their anxiety levels are less (even if actual risk to self isn't). I work with people who have learning disabilities and/or mental health conditions, and sometimes 'something small' to mitigate risk and/or fear is better than nothing. We as a species are not only into logic, sometimes we have to accept and work with the fact that we are also into feels. ]
 
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A few data points as I haven’t been out of the house most of the week except for medical appointments

Petrol station - Bagshot 25% of punters wearing - can’t remember staff

Travelodge - Andover - didn’t see anyone wearing one apart from me but I wasn’t lingering in reception. Sign asking you to wear when moving around hotel. Lots of disease vectors children in the hotel it seems.
 
Was out in Cambridge city centre briefly this lunchtime. Crowds everywhere, impossible to social distance (and nobody bothering to anyway), and not all that many mask wearers, even indoors.
 
Another (unplanned) visit to Aldi ... once again I needed assistance on the scab till and none of the staff were wearing masks .. on this occasion I just stood back and said nothing ... it probably helped that I was feeling chilled-ish - listening to music on earphones and being on my way to the park for my daily sunshine exposure ... I was wearing my FFP2 shopping mask ...
 
Another (unplanned) visit to Aldi ... once again I needed assistance on the scab till and none of the staff were wearing masks .. on this occasion I just stood back and said nothing ... it probably helped that I was feeling chilled-ish - listening to music on earphones and being on my way to the park for my daily sunshine exposure ... I was wearing my FFP2 shopping mask ...

Yeah I noticed similar in my local supermarket over the weekend. Of the staff on the shop floor either at the tills or stacking shelves I'd say maybe 20% were wearing masks.

Bar staff wearing masks is as rare as rocking horse shit.

It does make it difficult to be pissed off at people who are choosing to not wear masks in shops and bars when so many of the staff don't either.
 
I'll probably get grief for this but in short, as of Friday, I've given up wearing masks in shops. Practically no one else is. Transport, taxis, sure, will and have continued, no problem.

But with cases unlikely to go much lower for the foreseeable, I've arrived at, well if I don't stop wearing one now, when will I. It's only a face covering type I've got and yes could protect other people if I'm asymptomatic but when does that line of thinking end. Next year, 2 years down the line, never...
 
So...any recommendations? This would be for a mask for being in public spaces at college. In class I'll just distance and ventilate

An N95 mask. But you'll need one a day at least.
It will offer you very good protection as it will filter 95% of air borne particulates and droplets
 
I'll probably get grief for this but in short, as of Friday, I've given up wearing masks in shops. Practically no one else is. Transport, taxis, sure, will and have continued, no problem.

But with cases unlikely to go much lower for the foreseeable, I've arrived at, well if I don't stop wearing one now, when will I. It's only a face covering type I've got and yes could protect other people if I'm asymptomatic but when does that line of thinking end. Next year, 2 years down the line, never...

People wear them and have worn them in some parts of the world for years.

The public health group here are telling fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks indoors so that the virus does not spread as there is clearly concern that spreading creates new variants.
This is despite 80% of adults being fully vaccinated and a significant number of teens. They're now vaccinating the 12 to 15 yr olds. No talk of vaccination for under 12s. So primary schools will be areas where covid will start spreading as soon as the kids return to school.
 
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