Mask choices

[rayard]

There were discarded gloves and a mask in the supermarket trolley I was going to use. It's getting pretty disgusting, they are everywhere now. I don't see a need for gloves if sanitiser is used but then again a lot of people aren't bothering to wipe the trollies or use the sanitisers provided.
I bought a visor but I wasn't very happy with the visibilty until i realised it had a protective film over it!!!
rayard.

[jillruss]

What exactly will shop assistants be called upon to do with customers not wearing a mask? Call the cops? Make a citizen's arrest? I can't see that going down very well with some of the bruisers you get in these places (e.g. the toilet roll fiasco!). It seems a lot to put on to the humble shopworker who is probably paid just the minimum wage.

[Gadget]

I gather in interviews this morning,  Gove said  that wearing masks in shops in England would not be mandatory but they would trust in people's common sense.

I didn't hear the morning interviews today so it's only from reports.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53381000

[Milliepede]

but they would trust in people's common sense.

Therein lies the problem    Some people simply don't have any and the people who suffer are the ones that do and are trying to do the right thing.

I wish said government would actually visit some of the shops we have to endure and see for themselves what it's really like. 

[jillruss]

What a pity Mr Gove and Mr Johnson couldn't put their heads together and come up with a coordinated version. Yet again, it seems that right hand doesn't know what left hand is doing or saying.

This is their basic problem: they don't seem to have anyone in charge. I don't know what Boris is doing but he certainly doesn't seem to be running the show. All those things that the anti-Boris brigade were saying before he was elected seem to be proving true. He seems to have either no eye for the detail or no desire to read and absorb it all.

Have we landed ourselves with Trump Mk2?

[Maiden Stone]

Most disposable surgical masks are not biodegradable, contain plastic and are expensive. Litter louts aside, there is no need to add to the problems of plastic waste.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/coronavirus-masks-gloves-oceans-pollution-waste-a9469471.html

Regards Margaret

Metal is another component of some masks.
In olden times (last year), I used to help with the annual beach-clean in Spring and litter-picks in other public local greenspaces and streets. I collected loads of micro-plastics on the shore last year; picking them up took ages.
People discard plastic -fish eat plastic - people eat fish - people eat plastic. 

[Maiden Stone]

I do worry about two things: firstly the cost of these masks, if required over a long period.  They're not cheap, unless you make them yourself.  Secondly the amount of waste generated, not just from the general public, but principally from hospitals. 

We should stop calling them masks and instead refer to them as face coverings. The get-up I wore yesterday resembled a niqab.
Some people are struggling to afford food.

[River Tyne Lass]

Actually a local bus station also refers to these as face coverings and not masks.

I suppose it might be said to be more than a guideline if it is compulsory as stated now.

[Erato]

I'm shocked at how irresponsible people are in the US [and the UK?].  Probably a lot of the masks people are using in Ecuador are poorly made and not very effective but at least they're trying.  Everyone wears a mask.  On the TV news, I see lots of non-social distancing, especially at the big markets.  But not in my neighborhood, which isn't a particularly classy one.  At the neighborhood shop, it's one person at a time and they've got a plexiglass shield. Hand sanitizer and alcohol are on the counter and they spray the coins and bills they give you as change.  On the street, people keep their distance and so do the delivery people.  And they're friendly about it, reminding you to be careful, keep safe, keep your spirits up.