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Face coverings to become mandatory in shops in England (includes poll)

What is your view on wearing face masks in shops?


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SouthEastBuses

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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-make-facemasks-compulsory-22340073

Facemasks [could] become compulsory in shops and confined spaces in an government announcement expected later this week.

Boris Johnson is preparing to tell the Commons the move is necessary to encourage a swifter shift towards “more normal” living.

The aim is to prevent a surge in the spread of the coronavirus as Ministers encourage more people to return to work.

But the PM has been blasted for delay and confusion about what people should do when they leave the house amid signs of localised increases in the infection rate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53365062

Making face coverings mandatory in shops in England is being considered by the government to slow the spread of coronavirus, senior sources have said.

According to an article by The Mirror which I just read, face coverings / face marks may become mandatory in shops and "confined shops" in England.

We do not know when exactly when, or if they will become mandatory, though.

So what does everyone think? Good or bad idea?
 
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SouthEastBuses

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For me, it's a good idea. About time they became mandatory in shops and confined spaces, because the risk of being infected is just the same as in public transport.

I always wear a mask whenever I go shopping.
 

Huntergreed

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For me, it's a good idea. About time they became mandatory in shops and confined spaces, because the risk of being infected is just the same as in public transport.

I always wear a mask whenever I go shopping.
I’m of the opinion it should be encouraged and people should be allowed to wear them, but mandating them given the weakness and ambiguity of the evidence in support of them isn’t justified in my opinion. This, combined with the abuse and discrimination against those genuinely exempt that I’ve witnessed in Scotland make me think that it’s simply not a good idea.
 

adc82140

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Will they educate people how to wear them properly, or are they just paying lip service.
 

westv

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So basically face coverings from getting up to going to bed.
 

Yew

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There's no robust evidence of their effectiveness. Recommending and providing them at key points is reasonable, mandating them based on the strength of the current evidence is clearly disproportionate.

(As an aside, that article is a confusing mess, that seems to be at least 50% speculation)
 

Bletchleyite

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Keeps the bedwetters happy, and quite frankly that's all that matters now. When did you last catch a virus in the middle of summer?

I've currently got a nasty chest infection, which I thought was COVID sufficiently to get a test yesterday which was negative. Making my asthma flare up something rotten, though, I can barely walk upstairs without heavy breathing.

So, when did I last catch a virus in the middle of summer? Some time last week, it would appear.
 

packermac

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Excellent idea, I would be happy if it was mandatory outside of your own property.
Went on the Sandbanks Ferry last week and despite a notice about every 20 ft that says roofs must be closed and no passenger window can be open the vehicle next to us has the front passenger window open, not the only one either.
The public just cannot be trusted to be responsible. We also need some decent fines for non compliance with laws like they had in Spain, not the worthless amounts in the UK
 

Richard Scott

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I've currently got a nasty chest infection, which I thought was COVID sufficiently to get a test yesterday which was negative. Making my asthma flare up something rotten, though, I can barely walk upstairs without heavy breathing.

So, when did I last catch a virus in the middle of summer? Some time last week, it would appear.
Chest infection likely to be bacterial infection, it's the one thing I'll get if going around and need antibiotics.
 

adc82140

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No country in the world has had mandatory masks outside your house. Would you want solitary fellwalkers wearing them for example?
 

Bletchleyite

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Some people go out to work.

I doubt many people get up, go to work, come home and go to bed, though, as the only structure to their day, without spending any working hours at home at all. And if they do they need to look at their work/life balance as it's not healthy.

No country in the world has had mandatory masks outside your house. Would you want solitary fellwalkers wearing them for example?

That's because spread is much reduced outdoors (and they can cause issues when exercising). But last time I checked a mountain wasn't a confined space or indoors.

It does seem in some US cities there is a lot of vigilanteism surrounding this, though.


Chest infection likely to be bacterial infection, it's the one thing I'll get if going around and need antibiotics.

True, could be, if it lasts more than another few days I'll go to the doc's, it's quite nasty. At least it's not COVID, but plenty of chest infections are viral. I do have acid reflux issues, though, so it's quite possible it's some sort of stomach bacteria that have got in.
 

packermac

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No country in the world has had mandatory masks outside your house. Would you want solitary fellwalkers wearing them for example?
I did not say they had but I would not have a problem if they did. It would be a clear law rather than you need one in this location but not a different one.
 

Weekender

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I've currently got a nasty chest infection, which I thought was COVID sufficiently to get a test yesterday which was negative. Making my asthma flare up something rotten, though, I can barely walk upstairs without heavy breathing.

So, when did I last catch a virus in the middle of summer? Some time last week, it would appear.
Do you not think the asthma could be linked to wearing a mask against medical advice?
 

adc82140

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I did not say they had but I would not have a problem if they did. It would be a clear law rather than you need one in this location but not a different one.

If they passed a law obliging you to hop on one leg and do a silly jig whenever you went out would you follow it? Because there's as much evidence published that doing that will protect you from a virus away from busy areas as a ratty piece of cloth tied round your face.
 

Non Multi

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Ask the thousands infected in Arizona about that where it is over 40 Celsius
It's well past its peak here and won't be a threat again until cold and flu season in October, the proper '2nd wave'.

I look forward to seeing people being harassed in the shops by the self appointed Warden Hodges of the world, as they are over the border.
 

talldave

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Excellent idea, I would be happy if it was mandatory outside of your own property.
Went on the Sandbanks Ferry last week and despite a notice about every 20 ft that says roofs must be closed and no passenger window can be open the vehicle next to us has the front passenger window open, not the only one either.
The public just cannot be trusted to be responsible. We also need some decent fines for non compliance with laws like they had in Spain, not the worthless amounts in the UK
But you were 2m apart? WHO recommends 1m. So what exactly was the problem?

I consider masks in shops pointless and when some proper research has been done I'll no doubt be proved right. How shopping ever creates the 15 minutes of close contact we're told about I fail to understand.
 

Bletchleyite

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But you were 2m apart? WHO recommends 1m. So what exactly was the problem?

I consider masks in shops pointless and when some proper research has been done I'll no doubt be proved right. How shopping ever creates the 15 minutes of close contact we're told about I fail to understand.

NHS Track and Trace are interested in 15 minutes within 2m, or any length of time within 1m, which could quite possibly happen in a supermarket.

I note that there has been a pronounced uptick in cases today. If it's this or shut the pubs again...
 

Weekender

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I very much doubt it. In any case, the advice isn't blanket in the way you suggest, it's that asthmatics are exempted if they find it an issue.
Like you I have mild asthma I bought a mask this morning, intending to wear it on a 50 minute train journey tomorrow. I wore it in the house this afternoon and it has had a negative effect.
its not that i don’t want to wear a mask but i am concerned about the long term effect.
 

adc82140

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I'm still waiting to see the evidence that an old piece of cloth wrapped round your face makes a difference. All research published refers to surgical masks, which due to government incompetence the public are not allowed to have.
 

Skymonster

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Abject stupidity to mandate masks in shops at this stage... What evidence is there (e.g. from track and trace) that ANY virus infections have been contracted in shops? It’s just Boris kowtowing to the coronamoaners again.
 

yorksrob

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NHS Track and Trace are interested in 15 minutes within 2m, or any length of time within 1m, which could quite possibly happen in a supermarket.

I note that there has been a pronounced uptick in cases today. If it's this or shut the pubs again...

Anything but shut the pubs again,as far as I'm concerned. I'll wear a facemask on my own toilet if it stops that !
 

Non Multi

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I recently watched a live stream video on Reddit of someone going on a evening walk through a busy Japanese city arcade. Everyone wore one, but a number wore theirs below the nose. If they can't get it right, what hope do we have here?
 

MDB1images

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Will they educate people how to wear them properly, or are they just paying lip service.
It really needs some educating or else left unchecked this will see people infect themselves if we ever get a second wave as so many are unaware or have developed bad habits.
 
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