[GBR1]

It looks like face masks will become the norm for public transport, i think for many years we have all looked at the Chinese tourists a little strangely but now being in a shop with someone wearing one doesn't feel un normal especially in these times.

So should we all be wearing them in public?

If so where does the line get drawn, public, being on the tube or in a big office?

Thoughts?

[R0B]

I'm pleased you've asked this. As a London commuter I am starting to think about what to do when we return.

Personally, I intend to get one. I am under no illusion that it'll stop me catching CV if that's the way it's going to go. But if it can reduce the risk by some margin, and therefore reduce the risk when I may be unknowingly infected, then I think it makes sense to wear something.

I speak as a commuter on a particular line where it's largely standing room only and I can feel people breathing.

[mikeoz]

I think we will end up wearing them. Many people are already. Given that we have been late and dragging our feet on this pandemic so far, i expect we will eventually copy everyone else. Unsure the effectiveness on a lot of the masks but guess it cant do no harm..?

[JustChris]

Cities and public transport. Probably yes.

Elsewhere, no.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Cities and public transport. Probably yes.

Elsewhere, no.

when serving the public in any establishment, when being served in any establishment? who knows but getting them is going to be a real bun fight and no doubt prices will reflect that.....

On the plus side, if bars restaurants and hotels are in phase 3 of the reopening plan we wont need many by the time we reopen what is left....

[DB118D]

The only type that will apparently provide any meaningful protection are FFP3 respirator masks that should be face-fitted prior to use

Anything else won't stop you from getting Covid

[Cilonen]

Should we all be wearing them in public - NO!

1. There just isn't the supply of masks available for public use at this time - everything is needed for front line medical care, even if it isn't the required standard (FFP3)

2. The masks that are available, that you see people wearing in public (standard surgical), will NOT prevent infection

3. They will reduce the risk for a SHORT period - 20 minutes of wear, then they are near useless! This is why medical & dental staff change them frequently.

4. If they get damp/wet on the outside, they are IMMEDIATELY useless - no wearing in the rain, or mist/fog

5. They are utterly useless if you keep touching them, and transferring bacteria/virus particles onto their surface. This will just concentrate the particles next to your face, and also back onto your hands when you take it off (it takes Dr's, dentists & nurses months to get used to wearing such masks w/o touching them - I know, being a dentist & having taught students for years).

6. If you did get hold of FFP3 masks:
a) give them to your local hospital - they need them more than you do!
b) they are useless unless professionally fitted, by trained personnel - which you are not!


END OF RANT!

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by DB118D

The only type that will apparently provide any meaningful protection are FFP3 respirator masks that should be face-fitted prior to use

Anything else won't stop you from getting Covid

This^^^and they don't last long either.
Far better to wash wash hands properly.


It will be inserting to see how the anti - burka mob accept these as one is apparently a terrorist risk and the other not so much.

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by Cilonen

Should we all be wearing them in public - NO!

1. There just isn't the supply of masks available for public use at this time - everything is needed for front line medical care, even if it isn't the required standard (FFP3)

2. The masks that are available, that you see people wearing in public (standard surgical), will NOT prevent infection

3. They will reduce the risk for a SHORT period - 20 minutes of wear, then they are near useless! This is why medical & dental staff change them frequently.

4. If they get damp/wet on the outside, they are IMMEDIATELY useless - no wearing in the rain, or mist/fog

5. They are utterly useless if you keep touching them, and transferring bacteria/virus particles onto their surface. This will just concentrate the particles next to your face, and also back onto your hands when you take it off (it takes Dr's, dentists & nurses months to get used to wearing such masks w/o touching them - I know, being a dentist & having taught students for years).

6. If you did get hold of FFP3 masks:
a) give them to your local hospital - they need them more than you do!
b) they are useless unless professionally fitted, by trained personnel - which you are not!


END OF RANT!

But, as anything up to 50% of sufferers are asymptomatic then a mask may well help keep it in, rather than out.

There are certainly reports from South Korea suggesting that it helped with their strategy.

Yes, you can use them in the wrong way. You can wash your hands incorrectly too, but it doesn’t mean the advice is to stop washing your hands.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by GBR1

It looks like face masks will become the norm for public transport, i think for many years we have all looked at the Chinese tourists a little strangely but now being in a shop with someone wearing one doesn't feel un normal especially in these times.

So should we all be wearing them in public?

If so where does the line get drawn, public, being on the tube or in a big office?

Thoughts?

I currently wear an n95 equivalent mast on supermarket visits. The most important thing is to remember not to touch the mask again after putting it on your face properly until you thoroughly wash your hands first, and remove the mask in the correct way from the straps at the back of your head.

I think wearing masks will become the norm on public transport at least once lockdown measures are relaxed a lot.


Here’s a good reason to wear one if you have one..
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...arket-11971373

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by Goneinsixtyseconds

Yes, you can use them in the wrong way. You can wash your hands incorrectly too, but it doesn’t mean the advice is to stop washing your hands.

Classic Alex. All crows are black therefore all black things are crows.

[Straitkash]

I'm in LA, so it's pretty much mandatory to wear a mask now when you are out in public. I don't like it, but I follow instructions and understand why its required. You can call me a sheeple. I'm an Engineer, so I know what it means when you deviate from specifications set forth by prior research and study.

[TouringPleb]

Isn't it kind of late in the day to be having this discussion?

Surely we should have done it right at the beginning rather than start as numbers of infections and deaths are starting level off/come down?

[RickLS7]

Exactly, the government were only concerned with the impact on the economy.

Well, the economy's buggered now!

[Straitkash]

Originally Posted by RickLS7

Exactly, the government were only concerned with the impact on the economy.

Well, the economy's buggered now!

My company makes valves for hospital beds and oxygen equipments, so our sales are increased and we have to hire more Temps to meet the demands.

What I'm getting at is that the people actually making these valves have to come in and work on the assembly line. They can't take the parts home and do it in their backyard. Some people in the office and all upper management are working from home.

How is that fair!? These people that came in deserve hazard pay, but all these workers were told that they were essential and helping with a greater cause. If we don't keep it moving, the supply chain will collapse, and everyone on that chain including the customers will have to shut down.

I get that, but it's the people actually keep everything moving get the short end of the stick. I hope my company pay them extra which I'm not aware of.

[flashollie]

If Joe Public have the right FFP3 masks and this should only be the case once the front line workers have an adequate supply, if they are instructed correctly how to wear them and take them off correctly and not touch face or mask and continue to wash hands and social distance whenever they can, then masks bring some benefits.
I would suggest frontline workers is extended to include people like bus drivers, shop workers to protect them, where there is some element of training and management around PPE from their organisation.

The problem is that the general public can't use them correctly. They bring a false sense of security. It may even make it worse for some groups and scenarios.

I see this time and again with most forms of PPE we issue students at universities. We have staff walking about the labs telling them how to use different PPE and various safety products and they just don't get it.

These are graduates of the future intelligent people but safety is taken complacently by this group of society and I have no reason to think his won't be the same for other societal groupings.

[RickLS7]

Originally Posted by Straitkash

My company makes valves for hospital beds and oxygen equipments, so our sales are increased and we have to hire more Temps to meet the demands.

What I'm getting at is that the people actually making these valves have to come in and work on the assembly line. They can't take the parts home and do it in their backyard. Some people in the office and all upper management are working from home.

How is that fair!? These people that came in deserve hazard pay, but all these workers were told that they were essential and helping with a greater cause. If we don't keep it moving, the supply chain will collapse, and everyone on that chain including the customers will have to shut down.

I get that, but it's the people actually keep everything moving get the short end of the stick. I hope my company pay them extra which I'm not aware of.

I work in motorsport and my company is involved in machining respirator parts as well as 3D printing PPE for the local hospital. I feel sorry for the machinists etc. that have to go in, the company is doing what it can to protect them but one of my workmates died of C19 last week.

I am incredibly 'annoyed' at the governments tardy & amateurish response to this crisis, will leave it at that.

[Tengocity]

I thought the face mask benefit was more to stop one potentially spreading it, rather than to help the wearer avoid picking it up, and that this doesn't require the medical grade PPE type.

If this is the case then it probably should become common use. Even if the benefit is only a few percent, that adds up across millions of people.

And as there are more mingers about than good looking folk, there's added benefit there too! Though maybe that say more about where I live.

[Straitkash]

Originally Posted by RickLS7

I work in motorsport and my company is involved in machining respirator parts as well as 3D printing PPE for the local hospital. I feel sorry for the machinists etc. that have to go in, the company is doing what it can to protect them but one of my workmates died of C19 last week.

I am incredibly 'annoyed' at the governments tardy & amateurish response to this crisis, will leave it at that.

Wow, I imagined you would have to shut down if one of your employees is diagnosed with COVID-19. How can they be sure that no one else is also infected.

It boggles my mind.

[RickLS7]

Sorry, he didn't catch it at work and nor had he been there for the last 3 weeks.

Just brings it home when someone you know dies.

[RobUK]

I would not be as hasty as to claim masks offer no benefit at all. In the main Wuhan Coronavirus thread I posted a link to some research that was carried out analysing interventions used in the SARS outbreak which concluded that just simple (non-medical grade) masks were actually more effective (68%) at reducing transmission than hand washing (55%) although not as effective as medical grade masks (95%).

Of course definitive figures around most things to do with coronaviruses are always up for debate, but I'd say that on the strength of that report plus advice from the CDC and other governments, ordinary face masks have a role to play. Remember, any infection starts with an infected person releasing their body fluids.

Naturally there are challenges, first and foremost of which is to ensure that advice to the public in no way impacts supplies of masks to frontline staff in hospitals, care homes, etc.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by TouringPleb

Isn't it kind of late in the day to be having this discussion?

Surely we should have done it right at the beginning rather than start as numbers of infections and deaths are starting level off/come down?

I think that was straightforward - "if we tell them they need masks, they will strip the country bare of them in 24 hours." Most would have no masks and a few would have thousands. Look what we did with a small flap about toilet roll.

Ergo, tell the public that they don't need masks. Net benefit as you can secure some supplies for the people that really need them.