Face coverings mandatory on public transport from June 15th

[Fambo Number Mive]

I assume that the 10 day delay is to allow bus and train companies to get their policies in place and allow the public time to make or buy face masks.

They should have made them compolsory a long time ago. I don't know how they will enforce this though. I suspect some people will refuse to wear them still.

[Bazooka]

Can't supermarkets donate reduced slices of ham to the train companies to act as face coverings, I think everyone would be on board.

[idunnosomename]

you're only supposed to wear these facemasks for like 5 hours. how will i take a northern train to liverpool from formby!!! hahah!!!! trains are shit

[shiftwork2]

you're only supposed to wear these facemasks for like 5 hours. how will i take a northern train to liverpool from formby!!! hahah!!!! trains are shit

Hang on you're from Formby?  This explains a tremendous amount.

[DistressedArea]

Edit: Never mind, sounded a bit too much like a real opinion an idiot might have.

[BlodwynPig]

Face masks should have been compulsory from March for everyone in public. I'm not sure how uncomfortable they are, but what is the big deal? Why is caution so bad at a minute cost of slight discomfort? It's because Boris doesn't think its British to do it. Stiff upper lip, suffocating to death in an ICU, tally ho!

[confettiinmyhair]

My hunch is that bringing in masks would somehow have led to a resurfacing of Johnson's comments against religious face coverings and how any kind of mask prevents good surveillance, see the recent protests. So he avoided it until it has got to a point where the government has lost control of its health policy and concede that maybe masks were a useful way of reducing transmission after all.

[BlodwynPig]

the issue with masks is that they must uniformly be worn by everyone in a public space and, depending on their type, be replaced every few hours or if you touch them with your hand. It is only one the many co-measures that need to be enforced.

[Zetetic]

I'm not sure that the face masks thing is an entirely political issue. I wonder if it also reflects biases in how SAGE etc. evaluates interventions with only fairly "low quality" evidence.

Was there UK Gov scientific advice pushing for face masks that was ignored?

[Sebastian Cobb]

I wore mine to the shop, it rode up my face, eventually poking me in the eyes and my glasses slid down, so i could see fuck all.

Adjusting it would've caused me to put my hands, which may have been contaminated by that point, up to my face.

[Butchers Blind]

Time to find that video again of the woman making a mask out of a sock.  Remember to wash them first.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Time to find that video again of the woman making a mask out of a sock.  Remember to wash them first.

I tried doing this:


But getting the top to fit around my glasses was causing me issues. It'll work for people who aren't speccy twats though.

[Jumblegraws]

I started wearing face coverings in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago because the weight of evidence was tipping in favour of it being a worthwhile precaution to prevent myself infecting other people if I was carrying the virus. Prior to that, I'd been following the (now updated) WHO line that wearing a covering would probably just be introducing another surface to be contaminated into my routine, and that the risk that I might mishandle the covering, through laziness or absent-mindedness, wasn't worth the benefit. Was I a dolt for not wearing coverings from the beginning?

[Dex Sawash]

I tried doing this:


But getting the top to fit around my glasses was causing me issues. It'll work for people who aren't speccy twats though.

Saw a man the other day who had done a Cornholio sort of thing with his tshirt. Had his arms out the bottom and the sleeves tied behind his head, neatly arranged to have multiple layers of cloth over his  ohfuckitpix



He looked a lot cooler though. Extra style points for not using an extra shirt.
Was buying a toilet plunger.

[chveik]

Face masks should have been compulsory from March for everyone in public. I'm not sure how uncomfortable they are, but what is the big deal? Why is caution so bad at a minute cost of slight discomfort? It's because Boris doesn't think its British to do it. Stiff upper lip, suffocating to death in an ICU, tally ho!

they are quite uncomfortable if you have to wear it all day while working. if it's just for your shopping and transporting it's fine.
they are very expensive now though and should be given for free, a lot of people can't afford to have a dedicated mask budget.

[The Bumlord]

Where are people getting those black face masks with the filter?

They look sweet af

[bgmnts]

Face masks are uncomfortable if you have facial hair but beyond that they are absolutely fine.

[Captain Crunch]

...unless you've got skin problems, breathing problems, anxiety problems... yeah absolutely fine. 

On the other hand:

[bgmnts]

I've got all those issues and I found them very comfortable and bearable, considering what they were protecting me from.

Just my own experience I suppose.

[Pranet]

I started wearing face coverings in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago because the weight of evidence was tipping in favour of it being a worthwhile precaution to prevent myself infecting other people if I was carrying the virus. Prior to that, I'd been following the (now updated) WHO line that wearing a covering would probably just be introducing another surface to be contaminated into my routine, and that the risk that I might mishandle the covering, through laziness or absent-mindedness, wasn't worth the benefit. Was I a dolt for not wearing coverings from the beginning?

If you are a dolt then so am I because that is pretty much my experience. So thinking about it you probably are, sorry about that.

Felt like a bit of a doofus at first as I am in minority but less so now.

[ollyboro]

Can the virus get through pool balls and leather strapping?

[Cloud]

At least Muslim women will get a bit of appreciation.... oh who am I kidding :D

Would be interesting if for whatever reason you're out and about maskless and need to catch a bus.  "Will you let me on if I take my shirt off and wear that as a mask?" - I wouldn't let me on, not with this dadbod.

[MojoJojo]

Face masks should have been compulsory from March for everyone in public. I'm not sure how uncomfortable they are, but what is the big deal? Why is caution so bad at a minute cost of slight discomfort? It's because Boris doesn't think its British to do it. Stiff upper lip, suffocating to death in an ICU, tally ho!

Considering there's still a shortage for health professionals, I suspect requiring the rest of the population to wear them when they leave their homes might not have been a good idea.

[dissolute ocelot]

The government should definitely provide them. Buying online seems to be a massive lottery as you've no idea what they're made of, what kind of quality they are, whether they'll be in a sterile package or just shoved inside a dirty envelope. Amazon's masks are a shit-show of fake good reviews and bad reviews that feel equally cut-and-pasted. As with hand sanitiser, somebody's obviously making a shitload of money off it by selling total crap. And if you make them compulsory without providing a ready supply then you'll end up with people reusing them without washing them, sharing them, or similar unsanitary practices.

It also seems astonishing the lack of scientific research, especially in real-world contexts. This not only means it's unclear whether they're any advantage in wearing one, but also that it's not clear whether the quality of masks matter: whether wrapping a scarf round your face and adjusting it every 5 minutes is nearly as good as wearing a medical-grade mask, or you may as well be licking door handles.

And then there's the issue of spectacles getting steamed up. I can't help thinking that if your spectacles are getting steamed up, that's because your wet, virus-filled breath is going straight up between the mask and your face rather than being filtered at all. So we should probably lynch anyone who complains about steamed-up glasses.

[BlodwynPig]

The government should definitely provide them. Buying online seems to be a massive lottery as you've no idea what they're made of, what kind of quality they are, whether they'll be in a sterile package or just shoved inside a dirty envelope. Amazon's masks are a shit-show of fake good reviews and bad reviews that feel equally cut-and-pasted. As with hand sanitiser, somebody's obviously making a shitload of money off it by selling total crap. And if you make them compulsory without providing a ready supply then you'll end up with people reusing them without washing them, sharing them, or similar unsanitary practices.

It also seems astonishing the lack of scientific research, especially in real-world contexts. This not only means it's unclear whether they're any advantage in wearing one, but also that it's not clear whether the quality of masks matter: whether wrapping a scarf round your face and adjusting it every 5 minutes is nearly as good as wearing a medical-grade mask, or you may as well be licking door handles.

And then there's the issue of spectacles getting steamed up. I can't help thinking that if your spectacles are getting steamed up, that's because your wet, virus-filled breath is going straight up between the mask and your face rather than being filtered at all. So we should probably lynch anyone who complains about steamed-up glasses.

The correct response would have been to already have this knowledge in January and to plan accordingly. Too late to be reactive now.

So, the next step is a national roll-out of masks like they do in other countries. Volunteers handing out 2 masks per person at key transport hubs and in city centres.

Whaddayamean we don't have the resources?

OK, then stay at home, lockdown until you do.

[Zetetic]

Trisha Greenhalgh's stuff has been interesting:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jep.13415

It also seems astonishing the lack of scientific research, especially in real-world contexts. This not only means it's unclear whether they're any advantage in wearing one, but also that it's not clear whether the quality of masks matter: whether wrapping a scarf round your face and adjusting it every 5 minutes is nearly as good as wearing a medical-grade mask, or you may as well be licking door handles.

I think we're at a point where there's good enough evidence to support wearing the most basic Blue Peter-ish masks to reduce spluttering and spitting all over other people.

Which has the advantage of not impinging on supply to healthcare.

[steveh]

The Lancet published a meta-analysis which suggests that while there needs to be much better research there was low-quality evidence for the use of masks and that there wasn't that much difference in effectiveness outside healthcare environments.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext

[olliebean]

What worries me is if I wear a mask made out of a T-Shirt like the government recommend, and someone with the virus coughs in my vicinity and droplets of it land on my absorbent cotton mask, aren't I then breathing through a contaminated piece of cotton? I know they're not intended to protect the wearer, but that feels like I might actually be increasing my potential exposure to the virus by wearing it.

[Zetetic]

The alternative in that scenario seems to be someone coughing on to your face.

[olliebean]

The alternative in that scenario seems to be someone coughing on to your face.

Yes, but the difference is momentary exposure vs sustained exposure. I don't know entirely how contagion works in this context but it seems possible that if your mouth is closed and you're exhaling through your nose at the moment when droplets come near, that might be a better situation than continuous breathing through a contaminated cotton mask.

I've seen lots of mask-making tutorials that suggest inserting some sort of filter - even if it's only a coffee filter - into the mask, but the government's version doesn't include anything like that.