Poll: Do you still wear a mask in shops?

[daveh]

I was at a concert Sunday, quite a high churchy space but no specific ventilation afaik. Most of the time I wore my mask, but even though the audience and the performers were mostly oldies, few others did.
At Waitrose, masking has plumetted.

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

V8

Yes even here in Scotland there are now very few people wearing masks. I voted yes always, which was true at the time, but that is down to only occasionally. I try and have a mask with me in case shops are requesting masks be worn or if somewhere is very crowded.

[Dod101]

I was at a concert Sunday, quite a high churchy space but no specific ventilation afaik. Most of the time I wore my mask, but even though the audience and the performers were mostly oldies, few others did.
At Waitrose, masking has plumetted.

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

V8

Yes even here in Scotland there are now very few people wearing masks. I voted yes always, which was true at the time, but that is down to only occasionally. I try and have a mask with me in case shops are requesting masks be worn or if somewhere is very crowded.

I was in both M & S and Tesco yesterday. Very few were wearing a mask although at least of those shops I noticed had a notice on their door saying something like 'Please wear a mask if you can. Better to be on the safe side'. I did not have one on me and doubt that I would have worn it anyway.

Dod

[Lootman]

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

Ah, but is it over because it is out of the news? Or is it out of the news because it is over?

[servodude]

I was at a concert Sunday, quite a high churchy space but no specific ventilation afaik. Most of the time I wore my mask, but even though the audience and the performers were mostly oldies, few others did.
At Waitrose, masking has plumetted.

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

V8

Yes even here in Scotland there are now very few people wearing masks. I voted yes always, which was true at the time, but that is down to only occasionally. I try and have a mask with me in case shops are requesting masks be worn or if somewhere is very crowded.

I was in both M & S and Tesco yesterday. Very few were wearing a mask although at least of those shops I noticed had a notice on their door saying something like 'Please wear a mask if you can. Better to be on the safe side'. I did not have one on me and doubt that I would have worn it anyway.

Dod

If you were still on your holidays it sounds like we're returning to the days of "Restless Natives"?!

I'd love to have seen someone stress the mask mandates in the courts with a wolfman.. or clown! And I've been meaning to get myself a Mexican wrestler mask (like Los Straitjackets who hang about with Nick Lowe these days)

[Hallucigenia]

It's dropped out of the news, so it must be over, seems to be the attitude.

Ah, but is it over because it is out of the news? Or is it out of the news because it is over?

ONS reckon there's still 1.5 million cases in the UK at the moment, and around 9% of those will go on to develop long Covid.

As a taste of what's coming, the BA.4/5 subvariants seem to have 11-12% growth advantage over "classic" omicron and have overtaken it in places like South Africa and Portugal. It looks like South Africa's fifth wave is starting to peak at about a third of the cases recorded at the height of their omicron wave before Christmas.

And the health system could really do without having to firefight all the time - average ambulance times for category 2 (strokes, chest pains etc) is now at 52 minutes compared to a target of 18 minutes, it was close to 2 hours in the southwest a few weeks ago :

https://www.independent.co.uk/independe ... 79903.html

[richfool]

I'm a firm believer in the old saying: "Better safe than sorry".

[Dod101]

I'm a firm believer in the old saying: "Better safe than sorry".

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask? Especially if the shop in question is not very busy anyway. I enjoy the freedom of not wearing one I must say, although I would I think wear one on a train or bus and certainly if it was crowded. Maybe also sitting in a concert hall, next to a stranger for a couple of hours.

Dod

[Lootman]

I'm a firm believer in the old saying: "Better safe than sorry".

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask? Especially if the shop in question is not very busy anyway. I enjoy the freedom of not wearing one I must say, although I would I think wear one on a train or bus and certainly if it was crowded. Maybe also sitting in a concert hall, next to a stranger for a couple of hours.

Yes I think for most people the conventional wisdom has moved from "always wear a mask" to "only wear a mask where the perceived threat is significant".

So I will cover my face in a situation where there are other people uncomfortably close to me in an unventilated setting, but not otherwise. I am visiting pubs and restaurants like it was 2019.

[Hallucigenia]

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask?

Yes. And so are other people. Masks are not "just performative", see eg :

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm


https://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/

[Dod101]

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask?

Yes. And so are other people. Masks are not "just performative", see eg :

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm


https://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/

RECEIVER is wearing nothing has always intrigued me.

Dod

[servodude]

I certainly would not argue about that but are you any safer wearing a mask?

Yes. And so are other people. Masks are not "just performative", see eg :

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm


https://www.acgih.org/covid-19-fact-sheet-worker-resp/

RECEIVER is wearing nothing has always intrigued me.

Dod

It means wearing "NO Facemask" Dod!
You filthy cretin

[88V8]

This is the reusable mask I'm using https://airpophealth.co.uk/products/pocket-mask.
Comes with a hard plastic carry case.

V8

[Mike4]

RECEIVER is wearing nothing has always intrigued me.

Dod

It means wearing "NO Facemask" Dod!
You filthy cretin

And all the others are wearing only a face mask?

[DiamondEcho]

I don't think gut-feel on perceived risk is a useful guide, for example not using protection walking down a busy high street or amongst other people in proximity, but putting a mask on the moment you walk into a shop. I'd thought I was navigating that ok too.

I also understand that infection rates are waaay higher ('don't I know it') than official reports might suggest. Apparently, based upon a 'triage'/NHS Covid nurse this week it is because 'People aren't willing to test anymore now tests aren't free. Neither are schools nor workplaces testing'.
My tip: Don't get at all complacent, I wasn't and still it got me... then for the initial days it felt like daily Russian Roulette over your symptoms vs LFT test results, something I'd suggest you really don't want to get into.

[No 'kind words' on my obituary yet thx folks, I believe I'm now almost through it. But my point is a serious one and I hope it is a useful experience into the mix].

[daveh]

I don't think gut-feel on perceived risk is a useful guide, for example not using protection walking down a busy high street or amongst other people in proximity, but putting a mask on the moment you walk into a shop. I'd thought I was navigating that ok too.

I also understand that infection rates are waaay higher ('don't I know it') than official reports might suggest. Apparently, based upon a 'triage'/NHS Covid nurse this week it is because 'People aren't willing to test anymore now tests aren't free. Neither are schools nor 1workplaces testing'.
My tip: Don't get at all complacent, I wasn't and still it got me... then for the initial days it felt like daily Russian Roulette over your symptoms vs LFT test results, something I'd suggest you really don't want to get into.

[No 'kind words' on my obituary yet thx folks, I believe I'm now almost through it. But my point is a serious one and I hope it is a useful experience into the mix].

The best stats now for the rate of covid infections is the weekly ONS survey. Last data I've seen was about 1:50 infected in England, 1:45 in Scotland.

[Gersemi]

The best stats now for the rate of covid infections is the weekly ONS survey. Last data I've seen was about 1:50 infected in England, 1:45 in Scotland.

The latest stats are at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... stinsights , published on 20/05/22. Currently in England 1:55 are infected and 1:45 in Scotland. It is noticable that the rates are now levelling out.

Particularly interesting is the page on vaccinations at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... s/vaccines . This shows that the people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.

[9873210]

Particularly interesting is the page on vaccinations at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... s/vaccines . This shows that the people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.

If you are referring to the section Vaccine effectiveness Unvaccinated people were more likely to be admitted to critical care with COVID-19 it does not show that people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated. It shows that an individual who is unvaccinated is overwhelmingly more likely to end up in critical care. Whether the majority in critical care are unvaccinated depends on the fraction of the population that is unvaccinated.

The page does not directly give the "at least one dose" vaccination rate, but it does show that at least 97% of the 65+ population is triple vaccinated. While it is likely that the unvaccinated are a majority of those in critical care, it won't be anywhere as overwhelming as the 90:1 odds ratio.

I mention this mainly because I have seen arguments that "the majority of new cases are among the vaccinated, so vaccination is harmful." The predicate is often true, but the conclusion is wrong.

[Gersemi]

Particularly interesting is the page on vaccinations at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulation ... s/vaccines . This shows that the people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated.

If you are referring to the section Vaccine effectiveness Unvaccinated people were more likely to be admitted to critical care with COVID-19 it does not show that people in critical care are overwhelmingly unvaccinated. It shows that an individual who is unvaccinated is overwhelmingly more likely to end up in critical care. Whether the majority in critical care are unvaccinated depends on the fraction of the population that is unvaccinated.

The page does not directly give the "at least one dose" vaccination rate, but it does show that at least 97% of the 65+ population is triple vaccinated. While it is likely that the unvaccinated are a majority of those in critical care, it won't be anywhere as overwhelming as the 90:1 odds ratio.

I mention this mainly because I have seen arguments that "the majority of new cases are among the vaccinated, so vaccination is harmful." The predicate is often true, but the conclusion is wrong.

You are of course right, I didn't read the title of the graph carefully enough.