Face masks

[everydayupsanddowns]

I found these two graphics helpful about masks. And I agree with those saying that they are mostly about protecting others from anything YOU might be asymptomatically breathing out. And you receiving protection in return.

From Trish Greenhalgh (Oxford) via Dr Partha Kar



and also this which summarises the level of protection offered

 

[HenryBennett]

 

[mikeyB]

View attachment 14861

So how do you get the message across to ladies?

 

[Ian Brown]

From my way of thinking wearing a mask doesn't offer much protection from getting the virus but does offer loads of protection for anyone with the virus spreading it..on the sims its amazing how far a sneeze or cough travels and also even when your talking naturally, minute drops of spittle still comes out your mouth and a mask will help stop the spread that way.

That's my understanding too.... if we all do it it'll help. I saw an article today claiming about 50% of people who had tested positive for Covid19 were asymptomatic......

 

[Ljc]

I had to speak to my mums carers that were doing that,I did feel sorry for a couple of them that said they were doing it as the masks make their glasses steam up,which is true,but I said sorry this needs to be done the right way so we're ready for when it's widespread

Hope this helps.
if they polish the the lens with a minute drop of washing up liquid ,this stops them steaming up.
Another thing that can help is, take your glasses off then put the mask on , pinch the nose wire if it has one so it fits better then put your glasses back on.

 

[nonethewiser]

Wore mask last week in shops, didn't like it felt like couldn't breath, ended up with spot on face afterwards. Today different story, felt fine wearing it plus no spots.

Do feel safer wearing one.

 

[MarkGeordie]

I’ve had to invest in one of those hidden disabilities lanyard to wear because even though I can wear a mask there has been fines when I’ve had to take it off.

I’m registered partially sighted so depending on various factors including if I have anyone with me (as not always possible), the sunlight, the way the shop is set up, or just generally how bad my eye conditions are generally affecting me, dictates if I have one on or not.

So I try my best but not always possible, so thought the lanyard might help others understand.

 

[PhoebeC]

It's gonna be interesting at work from tomorrow. We're still waiting for guidance to see if we have to wear them or not. The visors issued were uncomfortable for a whole shift. I've got a nice collection going now and have been wearing them in shops to get used to them. As long as I tuck the edge under my glasses they don't steam up.

I not sure what job you do, but I have read on the bbc this morning that it’s not mandatory for staff in these places, it is upto the employer and they must provide them for staff if staff needs them. I work for a cinema and we have provided different sorts for our staff, and it’s optional if they wear them or not. We also sell them for customers.

 

[PhoebeC]

Wore mask last week in shops, didn't like it felt like couldn't breath, ended up with spot on face afterwards. Today different story, felt fine wearing it plus no spots.

Do feel safer wearing one.

I’ve been more spotty recently I thought it could be this.

 

[Stitch147]

I not sure what job you do, but I have read on the bbc this morning that it’s not mandatory for staff in these places, it is upto the employer and they must provide them for staff if staff needs them. I work for a cinema and we have provided different sorts for our staff, and it’s optional if they wear them or not. We also sell them for customers.

I work in my local M&S foodhall. The visors they provided are not comfy for a whole 7 1/2 hours of work. We don't have to wear them it's down to individual choice. I'll be carrying a mask with me in my pocket and see how things go.

 

[belugalad]

Hope this helps.
if they polish the the lens with a minute drop of washing up liquid ,this stops them steaming up.
Another thing that can help is, take your glasses off then put the mask on , pinch the nose wire if it has one so it fits better then put your glasses back on.

Thanks

 

[SB2015]

We were out for our evening walk and remembered we needed milk. It was fortunate that I had my mask in my bag. We just need to get in the habit of having one with us all the time. I am getting used to wearing them now.

I wore one for the first extended period when I had a podiatrist appointment. I felt very odd. Eventually checked BG. 19!! My pump had not delivered my insulin for the cheese scone. I had not spotted it had switched to manual delivery. Oooops.

A friend made hers in some silk (from an old scarf). She found it a lot better than earlier ones she had made in cotton It is a very tight weave it works well with three layers but is still light.

 

[Lisa66]

So how do you get the message across to ladies?

Maybe like this ?

 

[Pandora71]

I am pro choice on the mask issue. I have to wear a face covering at work and have found the see through visor to be a more humane solution in that I can smile at people.
I have read what science there is (there is only 1 clinical trial of cloth versus surgical masks and this said that the cloth masks were much less useful than the surgical variety). Of course we are not all wearing well fitted and clean masks. The other science is very hypothetical and the fact that both the government and WHO have flip flopped on the issue without any new science being done makes me sceptical. When we breathe out our breath has to go somewhere and it cannot go through the front of the mask it merely escapes from the sides or through the cloth (mosquitoes do fly through chain link fences quite easily).
We should also be aware that the actual risk of being infected is minute e.g. 1 in 2000 and still you'd need to be in close contact i.g. not passing them in a shop to catch it.
Then there is the fact that even with diabetes the virus is not very potent. As type 1 I seem to have a 9.8% risk of dying but again that risk is vastly concentrated in the elderly with co morbidities.
I note there is barely any discussion of these issues permitted on this forum. The Diabetes.co.uk forum allows for some robust free discussion of all issues pertaining to Covid 19! And no most people do not agree with me there either.

 

[Robin]

I note there is barely any discussion of these issues permitted on this forum. The Diabetes.co.uk forum allows for some robust free discussion of all issues pertaining to Covid 19! And no most people do not agree with me there either.

Permitted? That smacks of censorship. I don’t think discussion, unless it’s offensive or otherwise breaks forum guidelines, is 'not permitted', maybe it’s just not something that members here have thought about airing their views about. If you think that there is something that ought to be discussed, start a thread on it!
My own take on the 'pro choice' issue, is that an individual choice not to wear a mask may be overridden by a collective wish not to be breathed over by a Covid-infected person, (probably unwittingly, as infection starts before symptoms).

 

[trophywench]

Well yeah, precisely Robin! Like drunk drivers actually. Please feel free to kill yourself at any time - but if you happen to injure or kill anyone else or damage third party property, I rather believe you should be at least castrated/sterilised if not hung/shot, at the very least to remove you from the gene pool.

We each have to take full responsibility to respect other people's space, and ours is 2m from any point on either of us.

That's because we are both apparently clinically exceptionally vulnerable - but as the NHS hasn't provided us with any form of ID to wear to inform anyone else of that fact - then it is down to all & sundry to assume that everyone else is so designated, and respect us.

Over to you.

 

[Pandora71]

Permitted? That smacks of censorship. I don’t think discussion, unless it’s offensive or otherwise breaks forum guidelines, is 'not permitted', maybe it’s just not something that members here have thought about airing their views about. If you think that there is something that ought to be discussed, start a thread on it!
My own take on the 'pro choice' issue, is that an individual choice not to wear a mask may be overridden by a collective wish not to be breathed over by a Covid-infected person, (probably unwittingly, as infection starts before symptoms).

The Covid 19 part of this forum does not allow any further posts than the official ones.
As for my breathing over someone and infecting them what if I'd done that in a bad flu season? We all take a risk when going out anywhere e.g. crossing the road, getting flu both of which are equally as likely to kill us as this rather feeble virus. I note we did not stop people going to school or muzzle them in shops in 2017/18 when 50,000 excess deaths also occurred.
Also a non symptomatic Covid person (aka a healthy human) is unlikely to actively transmit a virus to you in a shop. You'd need to be in front of them or behind them being coughed at or at home together in close contact. If I were actively ill with a cough/fever of course I would not be going into a shop or anywhere in public for that matter.
Your view also assumes that masks work which may seem intuitively right but is very much unproven by the evidence or lack of it.
No account has been taken of the risks of wearing the mask either and I find them a depressing sight. Rather dehumanising and likely to make us all more anxious or germ phobic.

 

[Bloden]

So how do you get the message across to ladies?

Boobies!

 

[Bloden]

I’ve been more spotty recently I thought it could be this.

At least the mask’ll cover the spots!

 

[Robin]

The Covid 19 part of this forum does not allow any further posts than the official ones

Ah, do you mean the pinned thread at the top of the General Messageboard, headed 'Coronavirus/Covid Information'? This, like other 'information' threads, is closed to replies so the information contained in them doesn’t get lost among pages of replies. Just like the 'info for Newbies' at the top of the Newbies section. But if you look on the General Messageboard, or the 'In the News' section, or search for a term like 'Face Masks' in the search function, you will see that there has been and continues to be a lot of lively debate about Covid, which you could join in, if you were so minded.
As to mask wearing, I'll happily wear one as a matter of courtesy even if not conclusively proven to help, because the balance of probabilities seems to suggest it might stop me spreading Covid before I know I’m infected. As I said above, symptoms don’t appear until a couple of days after you’ve started shedding the virus.