Wearing Masks Out In Public

The reason usually given for advising folk to wear masks, is to prevent droplets being broadcast to those around.
Not much point in wearing a mask when out and away from people /objects. After all, the government advice is to ventilation to disperse any aerosol particles which might carry the virus.
In my case a mask is very likely to dislodge one or both my hearing aids (Ended up on hands and knees in the entrance to a motorway services area trying to find aid and battery without people falling over me or treading on hands. DD gave me a snood (black) which is what I now wear when needed.
Caused laughter, last time in the bank, by saying "If I'd come in here, looking like this a year ago, I'd be locked up"

BlueBelle

I don’t think we should wear masks outside on walks in secluded areas ie country walks beaches empty parks etc but in shops, transport and if asked to, the main streets
But
I don’t think any people should be exempt there is too much fiddling, if you’re not well enough to wear a mask, wear a shield if you can’t wear either stay at home it muddies the water far too much because we all know some people are cheating on this one

Totally agree bluebelle, especially with the exemptions...

Been saying this for ever. I dont like wearing one but if I'm near people I do in addition to shops (dont go anywhere else). I might keep doing it after I dont much want any pathogenic airborne organisms transferred to me from anyone else.

Obviously if there is nobody about you don't need a mask but in areas of high traffic I think wearing one is sensible. Surely this is just common sense?

Some shops don't have an issue with couples shopping together, and it's always been acknowledged that some people can't shop without assistance.

dahlia, it is recommended that couples do not shop together any more, singles only! I mention it just in case it had escaped your notice.

I agree with more emphasis on 'Hands, Face, Space' Hejira. Mr. S. and I have both noticed that people generally give me more space because I'm wearing a lanyard, than he's given because he wears a mask.

I don’t wear one for walks around the housing estate, fe people so I cross the road. But if I’m out in the car it goes on when I get out, off when I get back in.

In "The Times" yesterday it rated being infected outdoors as 5% of the risk of being infected indoors, and advised maintaining the required distance as the correct behaviour. Public transport and taxis were the highest risk, being enclosed and used by many people, indoors anywhere was also not advisable without a mask/social distancing. I wear protective gloves at the supermarket, clean down the trolley (we only go once a week) and DH uses steriliser provided. We both wear masks. It's still amazing how many believe wearing a mask will protect the wearer, whereas it's to protect everyone else from your bacteria.

I wear a mask these days when I leave the house even if it's just to post a letter. I live in a fairly busy town so I think it's better to be safe than sorry. Initially I thought that masks were next to useless but I stand corrected. I have got used to them now but will be glad when we can eventually see the back of them.

I would like some more clarity and statistics on random transmission, the odds of being infected by a total stranger passing by in the street for a second or two. Wasn’t the advice early on that contact would need to be between people sharing a space for 15 minutes or more? How quickly does the virus dissipate in the open air and/or fall to the ground? If I walk in an outdoor space that an infected passer-by had just breathed out into, how likely am I to be infected? What size of viral load is necessary to become ill? We have been told that variant B117 transmits more easily but how?

Everyone I know who had either had Covid themselves or knows someone who has had Covid seems confident of where or from whom they caught it. It is always close indoor environments: either in-hospital transmission, care homes, places where people have to work in close proximity to one another or the family home itself catching it from someone who brought it into the home from work, school or an illegal gathering. I have yet to speak to anyone who has no clue where they, or whoever they know, caught it from. Others may have different anecdotal evidence.

As I posted in another thread, I'd like to see more emphasis on the hands element of Hands, Face, Space. I see most people wearing masks in my local small supermarket but almost no-one stopping to sanitise basket and trolley handles and their own hands.

Not being able to wear a mask and therefore being exempt doesn't necessarily mean that you have a physical illness Bluebell.

I can't wear one and see no reason why I should have to stay at home because there are some people "fiddling" the system. Easy to say if you're not going to be personally affected if the rules change.

I don’t think we should wear masks outside on walks in secluded areas ie country walks beaches empty parks etc but in shops, transport and if asked to, the main streets
But
I don’t think any people should be exempt there is too much fiddling, if you’re not well enough to wear a mask, wear a shield if you can’t wear either stay at home it muddies the water far too much because we all know some people are cheating on this one

I am classed as clinically extremely vulnerable and have been shielding for most of the last 11 months ... for example I haven’t been in a shop/supermarket since February last year.
I am medically excused from wearing a mask but have always worn one to medical appointments, getting a takeaway coffee etc. Now I am wearing one on my daily walk, which isn’t much fun.

I walk to my local park, each day and it’s about a mile. It’s a quiet walk and I may pass 5 or 6 people on each walk. So I could be in relatively close proximity to about 50 people per week. The pavements narrow where there are street trees and some people get quite close, maybe 3 or 4 feet away.

The infection rates in London are so high, I can’t believe I am not coming into proximity with infected people.

I was walking quite a distance behind a person who was smoking the other day. I was continuously walking into their exhaled smoke. I slowed down to increase the distance between us but continued walking into their smoke. I crossed the road to get away from them, but it made me think about how far breath, smoke, coughs and sneezes can travel.

I think we should all be masked outside, at all times.

Masks worn in the street , or where lots of people are milling about , would be a big help , just think how cigarette smoke hangs in the air , same with the virus that is exhaled

We don’t go near shops or areas where we are likely to meet people.

We do however take a mask with us and put it on if we are going to walk pass anyone - always making sure at least 2metres minimum between us.

I do find it's a welcome relief to take the mask off to breathe a little easier once outside a shop. Just for a moment, and away from others, then I put it back on again.

So people walking on deserted moors should be masked?
Sorry I don’t agree with that.
In shops yes, and I’m pleased supermarkets are enforcing it (why haven’t they always done this?) but to be masked outdoors in the open air where we are much safer anyway is a step too far.

Don’t forget, the government is relying heavily on our compliance and if the regulations toughen up too much, people could start to ignore the ones which really matter.

Perhaps masks should be kept on whilst in the vicinity of the shop? Many get taken off as soon as people exit but they are likely to pass others in the car park or the adjoining streets.

I don’t suppose there will be any choice. Morrison’s are now saying “no mask, no entry”. Sensible solution. No coincidence that the occasional person not wearing a mask is the one who tries to come up close and peer over your shoulder instead of leaving space.

My sister lives in a busy area, so always wears one to go out. I always have one with me now. It’ll be difficult, when there are still mask-refusers going shopping.

Totally agree with masks in High Streets but I hope we won't be expected to wear them on dog walks.

We go to the woods after dark and rarely see a soul.

I reckon we'll be safe to go maskless down there.