I think the last bit is a tad harsh Sue, where does personal choice/comfort come into this?
Some shops, say it’s obligatoire, plenty don’t.
The manageress in our local Utile supermarket which is very busy and has remained open and fully stocked throughout the lockdown, doesn’t wear a mask, though her staff do.
She must have encountered hundreds if not thousands of people who carry the coronavirus because she is almost always at the checkout, and handles the purchases that we put on the conveyor, and the money.
Maybe she’s had Covid 19 and believes herself to be immune, or has otherwise thrown caution to the winds. Heaven alone knows, but she is worth her weight in gold, and her team.
I have some sympathy Tim - but forgive me - not much! To some extent it’s just a matter of getting used to them. When I first wore mine I used to rip it off the minute I got back to my car. These days I can be driving along and suddenly realise I’m still wearing it.
How would you feel if your dentist, hairdresser, doctor, vet took that attitude in these current circumstances? And they are having to wear them all day. What about an orderly in intense care who took that attitude?
There are different shaped masks. And discomfort for us is merely an hour or so round a supermarket.
OH doesn’t like the ones builders use. Whereas I do. He prefers the fabric ones. My friends have a daughter who needs special protection who cannot bear to have anything over her face - I suspect from the days she was in a coma in hospital, so for her they have got one of these clear acrylic ones - better than nothing. I’ve seen several people round our supermarket wearing them. There are now patterns for masks that allow ample room in front of the nose (I posted a link elsewhere on this).
New shapes/options are being developed all the time. I have a deaf friend who is a skilled lip reader who is brutally handicapped in these current circumstances. There’s research now going on developing masks that are clear over the mouth to help people like her.
Maybe you have friends/family/loved ones who are more vulnerable. How would you feel if they became ill because someone mask-less standing next to them used the excuse wearing a mask is not comfortable?
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That’ll do for me, no need to read anymore. 
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If there were credible evidence that the general public wearing masks was useful in preventing spread of the virus then the government would make them compulsory as it is such a simple matter. As they don’t I think we can conclude that they are not useful & on the contrary by giving people a false sense of security actually make transmission worse. The WHO doesn’t recommend them https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks
I don’t think there is much “standing around” other people at the moment. Most people are acutely aware of life’s problems now, and there is often much awkward movement in supermarket aisles, and sometimes outside, as people try to avoid getting too close. Your example from the supermarket is very specific and didn’t seem very realistic to me. I’m pretty sure I always know if I am going to sneeze before it happens, and I would run a mile to avoid doing it near anyone else, dropping the tomatoes and shopping if need be. I also think that you would have to have a pretty good mask that didn’t spray some droplets out of the side if you coughed or sneezed in it.
Debate aside, I find my level of anxiety is because I am not totally sure that the way I behave out of the house ensures that I have little chance of being infected.
Watching BFMTV this morning, there was an explanation that the app will only flag up a potential risk if you have been in close proximity to an infected person for at least 15 minutes. The app doesn’t flag up anything if you just happen to pass by an infected person. Additionally, if you are using the iOS version of the app, it won’t signal anything if you keep your phone in your pocket as Apple’s iOS is programmed to switch off Bluetooth wireless communications in such circumstances…
So Alex, an Apple a day may not keep the doctor away 
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My iPhone continues to access an external speaker via Bluetooth when it is in my pocket.
This is the same WHO that at the beginning said there was no clear evidence of transmission of COVID-19 between humans.
Am merely reporting what was reported. As I don’t have an iPhone, I can’t say which is true either way. I know that older versions of iOS had a default Bt ON setting that allowed malicious users to photobomb other users phones, and that was reportedly corrected in a later OS security update, but perhaps the issue is more one of whether the option is “ON” by default, or whether a user has to voluntarily activate the function ? As we all know, some TV reporting from mainstream news feeds can be a little less than 100% accurate…
That’s the trouble with science, there’s no evidence until there is.
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My post was just an observation. It’s something that I often do.
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There is no contradiction there as at the time there was no evidence but now there is. That’s the way science works.
I find it hilarious that various well meaning amateurs think they know better regarding masks than the WHO & governments.
I wear a mask all day at work & am horrified to see the way the public wear & remove their masks so that they are worse than useless just like they wear gloves imagining they are protecting themselves but in reality are just spreading any virus.
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French Govt HAS made wearing masks obligatory in certain situations… like restaurants where the masks may only be taken off by diners, while at the table…
France Govt has only “recommended” in other situations (leaving it to the folk present to make their own decision, depending on situation at the time/place)
There is no “one answer covers all” for the “recommended” situations … there are so many variables… 
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I wish I had your faith but I think the UK government is quite capable of ignoring scientific advice if it knew, say, that capacity for PPE would be overrun.
They have form - they shut down the initial tracing programme because of lack of testing capacity, not lack of usefulness and they set the criteria for referral to hospital by 111 very strictly just so that they could claim the NHS was not overwhelmed.
That said - if you know people won’t be able to get masks anyway is it better to tell them they don’t need them and avoid panic when they can’t, especially if it is hard to find concrete evidence that they are of benefit?
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I was referring to the French government not making masks compulsory in general as the discussion related to complaints about people not wearing masks in French supermarkets.
So of course Paul’s comments only apply to the UK and it’s all different in France then? Well that’s a good job.
Perhaps you haven’t come across this then about shortage of masks in France? From The Times:
"As coronavirus arrived in France this winter, staff at an army base in the east of the country were dutifully burning hundreds of thousands of facemasks.
The incinerations were part of a money-saving programme to run down the state’s stock of 1.7 billion protective masks that had reached a peak in 2011.
Neither ministers nor MPs had questioned the initiative, which would almost certainly have escaped attention altogether if the pandemic had never struck."
If you feel happier wearing a mask the go ahead but you have no right to expect others to wear masks when there is no evidence that they are of any use & may in fact be counterproductive.
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WHO advice:-
- If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19.
- Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
- Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
- If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.
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