Exactly. The only time I go out without wearing a mask is walkies in the local lanes or the beach and even so we had to wear them on the beach for a spell last year.
All shop staff wear masks, some SM checkout staff wear fine protective gloves. No entry allowed to any shops without a mask and without using the hand sanitiser at the entrance. There are plastic gloves for customers to wear when picking loose fruit and veg. Supermarket trolleys in my usual store are disinfected between each use.
Junior and secondary school children wear masks in the playground as do their teachers. Infant school and nursey age don't but their teachers do.
We are instructed to leave home only for essential shopping and services such as car maintenance and health care or to help people who can't do their own shopping or fetch medicines or to go to work if it can't be done from home.
We have had clearly defined limits on how far we can go from home for exercise at various stages of the lockdown - 1km when severe or 20kms when more relaxed. We expect a review of the situation and future measures to be announced on the 20th.
Infection levels and deaths are relatively low in this area at the mo but we're waiting for the aftermath of gatherings at Xmas and NY.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
As @Obelixx says, wearing a mask has become a way of life here, it has become a habit, a bit like all habits, the more you do it....... rather like putting on your seat belt in the car.
What point do gloves serve in a public environment? I saw a shelf stacker, wearing gloves, in the first lockdown start coughing (pre mask) - they quite rightly covered their mouth BUT with their hand and then continued to stack the shelves.
In a SM wouldn't you have to change gloves every time you touched anything that wasn't 'safe' (ie that you know isn't contaminated) - and isn't that then everything? - and that assumes your gloves are safe in the first place - as gloves don't act as a virus break AFAIK and can move the virus from one surface to another. Do the people sanitise their hands before putting on the gloves to pick the veg and do they then dispose of the gloves sensibly and re-sanitise their hands after taking the gloves off? Is the glove box open and has someone touched the top glove already?
Glove and mask wearing work in controlled environments with controlled protocols - I'm still not sure in public environments where protocols aren't followed.
@steveTu nobody does that. Almost nobody uses masks correctly and most people are much more likely to come close when wearing a mask. That’s my experience in a busy pharmacy. But of course the government tells us that without masks the NHS will be overwhelmed and cases will increase, obviously that is not happening is it? All hail the mask!
Some folk may not be wearing their masks correctly, and of course, that's wrong ... but as the supermarkets tell us, 'every little helps'. Just because one person disobeys the rules it doesn't mean we all should ... otherwise what's the use of speed limits?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My girls are sick to death of the constant abuse and lack of compliance. Fortunately, the managers are all on the ball where they work, but it doesn't stop dumb folk removing masks, licking their fingers, and the handing over cash. Interestingly, they've just been discussing this item on the radio. It's a problem all over the country. People are going to supermarkets to meet their friends. Words fail me.
Is it so much to ask that people observe a very simple rule for twenty minutes in a shop?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@steveTu nobody does that. Almost nobody uses masks correctly and most people are much more likely to come close when wearing a mask. That’s my experience in a busy pharmacy. But of course the government tells us that without masks the NHS will be overwhelmed and cases will increase, obviously that is not happening is it? All hail the mask!
We have no way to know how much worse the situation would be without masks. Short of using geographical areas as guinea pigs by telling everybody in those areas not to wear masks, there is no way to prove or disprove the theory. Definitely a case of better safe than sorry - or not being around to "Sorry I was wrong, masks do make a difference. Please put that on my tombstone"
To me, one of the most compelling statements was made earlier this week. It was along the lines of "Don't look for ways to stretch the boundaries of the rules, just comply with them to the best of your ability"
There has been a fair bit of research suggesting that surface transmission may be less (less, not zero) of a risk than originally thought - that the virus is predominantly airborne. I have several masks, and wash/wear on rotation. Touching a mask which has been washed is no more risky than touching my hat or scarf.
There's still a lack of knock-out evidence about how much masks reduce Covid transmission, but it seems pretty logical to me that if you exhale while wearing a mask, your breath isn't going to project as far as it would otherwise. So as a pretty simple measure as part of the overall effort I think it makes sense.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
And me. I'm not saying I don't have an occasional lapse and touch my mask without realising I've done it, but I do try. I usually have several washable masks in my bag or pocket so that I can change if I need to, and a small plastic bag to put the used ones in.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Posts
All shop staff wear masks, some SM checkout staff wear fine protective gloves. No entry allowed to any shops without a mask and without using the hand sanitiser at the entrance. There are plastic gloves for customers to wear when picking loose fruit and veg. Supermarket trolleys in my usual store are disinfected between each use.
Junior and secondary school children wear masks in the playground as do their teachers. Infant school and nursey age don't but their teachers do.
We are instructed to leave home only for essential shopping and services such as car maintenance and health care or to help people who can't do their own shopping or fetch medicines or to go to work if it can't be done from home.
We have had clearly defined limits on how far we can go from home for exercise at various stages of the lockdown - 1km when severe or 20kms when more relaxed. We expect a review of the situation and future measures to be announced on the 20th.
Infection levels and deaths are relatively low in this area at the mo but we're waiting for the aftermath of gatherings at Xmas and NY.
When wearing a face covering you should:
When removing a face covering:
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Interestingly, they've just been discussing this item on the radio. It's a problem all over the country. People are going to supermarkets to meet their friends. Words fail me.
Is it so much to ask that people observe a very simple rule for twenty minutes in a shop?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
There's still a lack of knock-out evidence about how much masks reduce Covid transmission, but it seems pretty logical to me that if you exhale while wearing a mask, your breath isn't going to project as far as it would otherwise. So as a pretty simple measure as part of the overall effort I think it makes sense.