UK face coverings discussion

[trebor79]

At that point I'd be asking for the PCSO's number and suggesting that was the end of the conversation unless he/she wanted to have a no tea and no biscuits meeting with their senior officer.

 

[trainophile]

Nobody can breath properly with a mask on (or is it just me?). By that token we are all exempt.

 

[birchesgreen]

Depends what you are doing i've found, normal breathing is fine though if you exert yourself (and so need to breath harder and faster) then a mask can cause issues.

 

[The Ham]

Intuitively, the viral load argument doesn't seem to make sense.

Sure, it makes a bit of sense for the first breath/sneeze/cough after you put the mask on for the first time. But what happens after that? The virus 'caught' by the mask has to go somewhere. Seems it will just shoot out in subsequent breaths/sneezes/coughs - and as no longer 'contained' in a relatively heavy droplet which will have since evaporated on contact with the skin, will probably go further or faster.

Or there is this thread I linked to earlier in the week.

https://twitter.com/Kevin_McKernan/status/1320032362550464516

However in the Nature article that I linked to within the last few days the nebulising affect only happened with certain fabrics (IIRC fleece and single layers of stretchy fabric) however most resulted in the range of the droplets being reduced.

 

[sheff1]

Wearing outside all the time seems to be becoming more common unfortunately - around here at least. Probably not the majority (yet) though.

I see some people in the high street shopping area with coverings on 'all the time' as they are moving between shops. This is the correct behaviour as you are not supposed to keep taking the covering off and putting it on again a few minutes later.

Away from that area, the number of people covered is minimal. On my daily walks along one of the local rivers or across the commons I don't remember ever seeing anyone covered.

 

[DustyBin]

Depends what you are doing i've found, normal breathing is fine though if you exert yourself (and so need to breath harder and faster) then a mask can cause issues.

I’m very fit but even I find this. If I’m running a bit late and need to walk briskly to my local station and then get on a nice warm train I find wearing a mask very uncomfortable, they have a suffocating effect. I wouldn’t try and argue a medical exemption because of it, but it’s really unpleasant.

 

[birchesgreen]

Yes though in my case i wonder if it is partly psychological.

 

[MikeWM]

I see some people in the high street shopping area with coverings on 'all the time' as they are moving between shops. This is the correct behaviour as you are not supposed to keep taking the covering off and putting it on again a few minutes later.

Well, yes. As the alternative is the 'whipping' on and off that I moaned about being very unhygenic a couple of days ago, so I don't disagree particularly with that.

Away from that area, the number of people covered is minimal. On my daily walks along one of the local rivers or across the commons I don't remember ever seeing anyone covered.

Round here (Ely, and also Cambridge) it is far from unusual to see people walking down the street or in the park with them, nowhere near anywhere that you're required to wear one. Probably up to about 25-30% or so now, at a rough guess. Though less so in the actual countryside itself.

 

[Scotrail12]

I'm at my wits end with face nappies. Sorry but these things are really unhygienic and make me feel nauseous every time I wear one to take a train or do whatever else.

And I don't believe that some thin and smelly piece of cloth actually protects against the virus. Medical masks - sure but they are rightly used in medical venues.

 

[bramling]

I'm at my wits end with face nappies. Sorry but these things are really unhygienic and make me feel nauseous every time I wear one to take a train or do whatever else.

Yes the damp weather makes them even more disgusting than before. A perfect receptacle for mould to grow on, just what we really don’t want to be breathing in.

(But of course who cares about that as it’s not Covid...)

 

[Scotrail12]

A perfect receptacle for mould to grow on, just what we really don’t want to be breathing in.

Oh yikes...

 

[trainophile]

So if you get off a train where you've been wearing a mask, and need to walk half a mile to the shopping centre or whatever, you're not supposed to touch it to take it off? S** that.

Also if you have poor eyesight such that you rely on glasses to make your way anywhere, would you be exempt because if they mist up you are effectively blind?

 

[packermac]

Yes the damp weather makes them even more disgusting than before. A perfect receptacle for mould to grow on, just what we really don’t want to be breathing in.

(But of course who cares about that as it’s not Covid...)

I thought it took about a day for mold to start growing. Face coverings should only be worn for a maximum of 4 hours and then washed or disposed of.

 

[DB]

I thought it took about a day for mold to start growing. Face coverings should only be worn for a maximum of 4 hours and then washed or disposed of.

Yes. Wonder how many actually do that...

 

[Richard Scott]

I thought it took about a day for mold to start growing. Face coverings should only be worn for a maximum of 4 hours and then washed or disposed of.

In the real world this isn't it what happens so they're probably contributing to problems rather than helping?

 

[island]

In the real world this isn't it what happens so they're probably contributing to problems rather than helping?

Exactly.

 

[MikeWM]

Just did one of these for France, so thought I'd quickly do a UK one too. Another example of ever-increasing mandatory masks really helping to 'control the virus'.

 

[bramling]

I thought it took about a day for mold to start growing. Face coverings should only be worn for a maximum of 4 hours and then washed or disposed of.

Should. How many people are actually doing that in practice?

 

[STINT47]

In France children aged six and over now have to wear face masks in the classroom, previously it was children over 11.

France has made masks compulsory in nearly every situation. So if they stop the spread why are they entering into a month long lockdown?

 

[trainophile]

One worn each day, however many times I need to put it on or off. Washed (under hot tap with liquid soap) every night and dried on the radiator. Probably about ten things wrong with that, but I bet I'm not the only one.

 

[DB]

One worn each day, however many times I need to put it on or off. Washed (under hot tap with liquid soap) every night and dried on the radiator. Probably about ten things wrong with that, but I bet I'm not the only one.

I'm sure that will be much better than many are doing!

 

[The Ham]

One worn each day, however many times I need to put it on or off. Washed (under hot tap with liquid soap) every night and dried on the radiator. Probably about ten things wrong with that, but I bet I'm not the only one.

Masks should be washed at quite a high temperature, not because of Covid-19 but rather due to other pathogens.

 

[Bikeman78]

I'm sure that will be much better than many are doing!

Mine's been carted around in my coat pocket for two weeks and only emerges occasionally to go into a shop!

 

[BJames]

In France children aged six and over now have to wear face masks in the classroom, previously it was children over 11.

France has made masks compulsory in nearly every situation. So if they stop the spread why are they entering into a month long lockdown?

Very true. But pro-mask wearers will ignore this and instead say that the evidence says they work.

I remain relatively unconvinced of their effectiveness inside other than as a reassurance to the terrified public, but I am completely unconvinced that they do anything outside - transmission is clearly lower outside with ventilation so there's no need to wear a mask too.

One worn each day, however many times I need to put it on or off. Washed (under hot tap with liquid soap) every night and dried on the radiator. Probably about ten things wrong with that, but I bet I'm not the only one.

I've washed mine twice this week. Previously it had been at least 2 weeks since I had washed it. Not nice, yes, but I always forget and I can't afford to keep buying lots of those disposable ones. Most people I know say they've only washed it a couple of times since buying it a few months ago.

 

[SJN]

There was a report on masks on tv this week. They tested the bacteria on a mask that had been worn for an hour and not washed. It was horrible. There was loads on there.

 

[MrTurbostar170]

The two masks I own have only been washed twice since I got them in May and June.

I try wear them as little as possible, because I don't agree with the idea. Never wear them on the railways and if it's anywhere else it would depend on the general attitude of whatever company is taking my business.

 

[KevinTurvey]

I rested my head against a cold window this morning whilst wearing a mask. This demonstrated that the filtration effect of the mask material (one of the 5 for £5 type that is popular) is almost zero, as the bulk of the exhaled air just pours out of the top and sides.

When I also think of the amount of regulation around asbestos removal, including respirators and pressure tents to control particles/fibres much larger than a virus (I understand the coronavirus particles are around 80-100nm) the mask argument and benefits seem weak.

I am actually more concerned about a mask collecting and concentrating a pathogen. In the construction industry masks have only just started to be made compulsory in the last few weeks, and locally infections are now starting to be recorded, the first time so far this year.

 

[The Ham]

I rested my head against a cold window this morning whilst wearing a mask. This demonstrated that the filtration effect of the mask material (one of the 5 for £5 type that is popular) is almost zero, as the bulk of the exhaled air just pours out of the top and sides.

When I also think of the amount of regulation around asbestos removal, including respirators and pressure tents to control particles/fibres much larger than a virus (I understand the coronavirus particles are around 80-100nm) the mask argument and benefits seem weak.

I am actually more concerned about a mask collecting and concentrating a pathogen. In the construction industry masks have only just started to be made compulsory in the last few weeks, and locally infections are now starting to be recorded, the first time so far this year.

That misses the point, mthat are supposed to limit the range of your breath not contain it entirely. As such it going out sidewise is perfectly normal.

What you would find if trying to feel the speed of the air is much slower (as a good example try blowing a candle out wearing a mask and it'll be much harder to do).

The problem is that both sides of argument (those who think that masks protect them 100% and those who think that this proves that masks do absolutely nothing) often miss understands this.

 

[trainophile]

Masks should be washed at quite a high temperature, not because of Covid-19 but rather due to other pathogens.

I'm not putting the washing machine on every day just for one mask!

 

[birchesgreen]

Cost implication in all this too, i am guessing people already struggling to pay their bills and food don't have a lot to spare for masks.