MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 18/05/2020 16:42, wrote:
On Mon, 18 May 2020 15:34:18 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52708757

Some rather surprising inclusions and omissions:

I wondering if this country has lost its collective sanity. If you need to get
to work you need to get to work - telling people to avoid stations is absurd.
As for "social" distancing on public transport, give me a break. Adults should
be able to decide for themselves if they want to risk it, not have some nanny
state nonsense make everyones life difficult.

Precisely. It's like this insane business of telling people they should
wear face masks on public transport and in shops. My other half's sister
is an operating theatre manager and she says they're a waste of time for
the general public. You have to know how to put them on and take them
off, and *not* to touch or fiddle with them while they're on. Unlike the
numpty we saw behind the deli counter at one of the local stupid markets
the other day.

I'd rather believe her than some fool government spokesman, I don't
always agree with her on everything, but in medical matters I like to
think that she knows what she's talking about.


Masks worn by the public are NOT meant to protect the wearer. They're not
PPE, and they don't perform the same function as the gear that operating
theatre staff wear to protect themselves from infection. So your ohs's
comments are irrelevant in this context.

The masks that the public may choose to wear on the bus, train, plane or
shop sole purpose is to protect *other* people from the wearer's saliva,
should they be infected. So it doesn't matter in the slightest if they don
or remove them properly, and they don't need to wash them at 60°C. The
masks don't need to fit perfectly, just well enough to stop droplets of the
wearer's saliva from being sprayed around. Without a mask, a sneeze,loud
conversation or cough can spray droplets for several metres, and they'll
linger in the air; with a mask, even a home-made, two-layer, crude one, the
droplets won't get very far. And that's the only reason to wear one.

Just remember, when you wear a mask, you're saving other people from
contamination by *you*, not protecting yourself.