Poll - COVID-19 Mask-Wearing

[S. aureus]

Almost everyone wears a mask around here all the time if outside their house, the only real exceptions are very young kids, people eating/drinking, or joggers and cyclists (and even some of these keep the masks on). That being said it's not unusual to see the mouth but not nose covered, and occasionally one can spot the rarer chin-guarder (where both mouth and nose are exposed). I don't remember the last time I saw someone indoors without a mask, though again not always properly worn - the worst offender was the guy in RiteAid who'd lower his mouth to speak, then re-cover his mouth when he was done talking (relatedly, I was horrified when my daughter took her mask off to sneeze a few weeks back, at least that was outside). In the rural parks people slap the mask on when approaching other people if walking, but not if running or cycling.
A co-worker went to Modesto to get vaccinated this past weekend and reported that masks there were basically non-existent.

[Gerontophile]

In my local area, compulsory indoors, negligble outside. Nobody except me walks anywhere here, so I don't encounter people that often, which is nice. I don't wear mine outside, except at times where I am in a strip mall, and then it's usually as a chin bra. Which looks stupid, but handy.

Fashion-wise, I have 3 Golden Knights masks, which I wash regularly, a Janey Godley (which confuses the fuck out of people), and a couple of nifty tartan jobs. All of them need a filter, and all of them steam up my glasses until I discovered the shaving foam/soap trick. (Apply, let it dry, rub it off with a tissue, ooerr missus.) *I will have to try the surgical tape trick, but that would mean being indoors, elsewhere, for a period of time, and I'm not sure I want to be around anyone that long.

Haven't been in a casino. They are currently awaiting guidelines for full reopening, but our Governor has been mostly sensible about all that, which pisses off the gun-toting yeehaws we have in abundance here (but I fortunately only encounter on the cesspit known as Reddit.) I've been on the Strip once or twice, and it's about 95% compliance outside, mainly because everyone walks so fucking slowly.

Friend in Georgia turns out to be an anti-vaxxer (shock, horror), but is so riddled with Agent Orange, it probably won't matter.

[ursus arctos]

Our neighbourhood is essentially the same as S. aureus in this respect.

Masks remain obligatory in shops and are required in all public areas of our building. I expect that they will be much more visible here afte the pandemic than they were before (when they were almost exclusively limited to East Asians with a cold).

[caja-dglh]

Gerontophile I am struggling to keep up with your jet set lifestyle.

[ursus arctos]

I've seen at least one NYCFC mask " in the wild"

[Balderdasha]

On the very first page of the main Covid-19 pandemic thread, back in January 2020, Guy Profumo had this to say about masks.

"Saw a group of (Chinese?) students this morning wearing facemasks.
FFS, grow up you nesh tossers"

Wonder if he's changed his opinion?

[Amor de Cosmos]

In my local area, compulsory indoors, negligble outside.

Same here. Though at malls too they're compulsory. Locals I never see wearing masks on the beach or in the park. Weekends visitors stand out because many of them do. We don't wear masks at home, unless someone calls.

I've five cloth masks, each with a replaceable filter, they get washed with the regular laundry. I've also a box of paper masks in the car.

[Sam]

One thing that came to mind in Istanbul was the fact that I have yet to see a mask in football colours. Anyone familiar with the city will know that wearing the colours of one of the big three teams there is pretty common...and yet I noted that I have yet to see anyone in any form of football-colour mask anywhere. Do these exist anywhere? Do you in your city, wherever you may be, see people walking around in football team branded masks?

Ooooh yes.

[Guy Profumo]

On the very first page of the main Covid-19 pandemic thread, back in January 2020, Guy Profumo had this to say about masks.

"Saw a group of (Chinese?) students this morning wearing facemasks.
FFS, grow up you nesh tossers"

Wonder if he's changed his opinion?

No.

I wear masks in shops and on public transport


The masks are to stop you passing on contagion
Not to protect yourself, and wearing a mask outdoors will have no effect whatsoever.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I'm a little surprised at the reports of extensive outside masking. Where I am there's very little of that but virtually everyone puts a mask on when they go into a shop or gets on public transport, which all seems very sensible to me.

The one thing that I've noticed that I do find odd is the number of people in client-facing roles that don't wear masks, mainly shop-workers but occasionally bus drivers and rail employees. They're the ones most vulnerable to a build up of viral load in their indoor workplace, much more so than someone popping into a shop for a few minutes.

[ursus arctos]

The very large majority of people here know at least one person who has been in hospital. Many know more then one who has died.

It has an effect on behaviour and peer pressure. I also find it easier to just leave my mask on as I walk from shop to shop while marketing. I wouldn't do that if I was driving from place to place, but no one here drives to local shops.

[Guy Profumo]

I'm a little surprised at the reports of extensive outside masking. Where I am there's very little of that but virtually everyone puts a mask on when they go into a shop or gets on public transport, which all seems very sensible to me.

The one thing that I've noticed that I do find odd is the number of people in client-facing roles that don't wear masks, mainly shop-workers but occasionally bus drivers and rail employees. They're the ones most vulnerable to a build up of viral load in their indoor workplace, much more so than someone popping into a shop for a few minutes.

Bus drivers are already screened behind plexiglass anyway.

Another mask isn't really necessary.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Bus drivers are already screened behind plexiglass anyway.

Another mask isn't really necessary.

I don't think a sheet of plexiglass gives them anything like the protection that a mask would, though masks are admittedly more about stopping an infected person transmitting the virus to others than protecting the wearer, per se.

[Sporting]

I also find it easier to just leave my mask on as I walk from shop to shop while marketing

Yes, my take too.

The one thing that I've noticed that I do find odd is the number of people in client-facing roles that don't wear masks, mainly shop-workers but occasionally bus drivers and rail employees. They're the ones most vulnerable to a build up of viral load in their indoor workplace, much more so than someone popping into a shop for a few minutes.

Everyone here at work wears a mask, indoors or outside.

[Guy Profumo]

I always take the mask off as it interferes with my breathing and makes breathing uncomfortable.

[Sporting]

I always take the mask off as it interferes with my breathing and makes breathing uncomfortable.

Where do you take the mask off?

I do get the breathing difficulty issue, by the way.

[Mr Delicieux]

My wife and I have been buying the disposable masks for a year now, I don't wear them outside when walking to/from bus and metro stations and on the way to our local shopping centre, but put them on when about to enter. I'm asthmatic with a heart condition, so find filling the lungs with fresh air helps get me around when entering buildings, because it does restrict breathing to a degree, but I've found that my lungs have gradually adapted to this as I found myself becoming quite light headed when initially wearing them, a problem that has greatly dissipated over time.
The body really is remarkable at adapting.

[Lang Spoon]

Bus drivers are already screened behind plexiglass anyway.

Another mask isn't really necessary.

That's a really really bad take. Plexiglass isn't doing much at all really in places that aren't well ventilated, the virus builds up much like cigarette smoke. You don't need someone coughing at you or being within two metres of you to catch it indoors. Always wear a mask indoors.

[Lang Spoon]

Also, there is some protection from wearing a mask, esp if everyone else is wearing one too. And especially if wearing FFP2 type masks.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Only my POV but masks restrict communication which I find very difficult. I often can't hear people clearly, and with only their eyes visible, there's limited facial expression to help. I generally take my mask off as soon as I'm out of the store/mall/restaurant. Oddly I consistently forget to put it on too. This is not at all intentional but can't help but feel it's a subconscious protest.

[Satchmo Distel]

I suspect I'll have to wear a mask when teaching in the Autumn (from late August). This will not be easy and I expect I'll have to go slower and be more stationary than my usual style, to avoid overheating.

[scratchmonkey]

To check in from the other thread, mask usage is at just about 100% indoors and is required at basically all businesses. I can't think of the last person I saw in an indoor public space without a mask on. Mask usage outside is probably around 70-80%.

[ursus arctos]

Extraordinarily anecdotal, but in my walk today I perceived more people coming out of the park without a mask (or with one under their chin). Still fewer than 25 percent, though.

[Sporting]

More anecdotal evidence: a week since masks ceased to be obligatory here when outside perhaps around 75% of people are still wearing them. Yesterday I was speaking to a Spaniard on holiday in Alicante and he confirmed my rough estimation while adding that tourists, predominantly British and Germans, were maskless.

[ursus arctos]

It's changed considerably here over the two months since my last post.

I would say that the majority of people on the street are not wearing their masks, only putting them on to enter stores, public transport, etc. Our building is still requiring masks in common areas, but some residents are taking them off as soon as they are on the sidewalk.