More about masks and Covid - get a set of FFP2 masks, wear them consistently and get out more. Just make sure your nose is covered too!!!

[PMRpro]

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

This study has shown that wearing masks DOES make a big difference. I wear one whenever outside and people are around, I go shopping and feel I am well protected, it has worked so far.

[Bcol]

Tiz what we do

[jinasc]

Me too 👍

[TheMoaningViolet]

I wear mine on London Underground and any indoor spaces (other than my workplace) and so far so good. 🤞

[Rugger]

Just what I do too and so far, so good. I bought a pack of 20 FFP2 masks, so they should last a while.

[whitefishbay]

I wear an ff2 on the buses to/from work. Many older people keep eating masks on buses I’ve noticed.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to whitefishbay]

It's the ones who think they don't breathe through their noses that get me!!!!

[MrsNails in reply to PMRpro]

And those that wear them under their chin!

[autumnlass in reply to whitefishbay]

🤣🤣🤣🌈

[MrsNails]

I’m getting FFP2 Masks to fly to France 🇫🇷 but we wore Surgical Masks 😷 all through Covid. When we went on our Cruise everyone wore Surgical Masks but the Crew & Staff wore FFP2 but everyone was at least double vaccinated & tested before boarding.

We went to a Wedding on Saturday & to prevent anyone hugging or kissing me - l wore gloves & proffered my hand to shake or kiss 😘 once we’d said hello l dropped them into a poly bag to be washed when we got home…..

I felt quite comfortable & confident as l’ve had Four Vaccines 🙏🏼

I understand many people are still very afraid & l think everyone has to decide what’s best for them.

[Longtimer in reply to MrsNails]

Yes, we know our problems and that we have to protect ourselves.....more so I think since rules have gone....Nice to hear you are able to get out and about.....

[MrsNails in reply to Longtimer]

Just had a Message Charlotte has Chicken Pox 🤦🏻 so that’s us avoiding them until she’s better. Thank goodness it wasn’t last week - she was a Flower Girl at The Wedding 🌸

And they all had Covid while we were away!

Think someone’s on my side (for once) 🙏🏼

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to MrsNails]

When did the first spots appear? Most infectious/contagious in the 24-48 hour before. Must have been nearies!

I don't like the surgical masks - don't fit well enough. It is the fit that matters.

[MrsNails in reply to PMRpro]

They’ve just come out - sent home from Nursery earlier…..

[Longtimer in reply to MrsNails]

Thank goodness for that..lots of chicken pox about here. Didn't have it as a child, got it at 21, it was horrendous....

[MrsNails in reply to Longtimer]

Me too - Martin caught it, then Baby James then me 🤯 it was beyond awful 😣

[Longtimer in reply to MrsNails]

Yes, not something you forget.....

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Longtimer]

Not something to have as an adult

[Rose54]

I have been so carful but still got COVID although everyone else is fineIt is a case of learning to live with it so wish me luck I am off to Norfolk next week .I am nervousness but the thought of not seeing my Grandson growing up as this is not going away Bus . Ferry Train and tube I'm just going to think about the big hug I will get at the end and hope for the best .

Bag full of gel ,mask and wipes

[Pixix]

I like a range! Dropping off my delivery from supermarket to the village hall for Poland (refugees) took two minutes max, in & out four times, drop & go, surgical mask. Hall had about 20 people in it, sorting & packing, not a single mask in sight! Doctors surgery for blood tests, injections, FFP2. Hospital long appointments, FFP3! Worked for a US fine filtration company for 20+ years & don't understand how they expect surgical masks to do the job of the others! We hang them up in the motorhome for the virus to die off for days, sometimes a week…then wipe them with bacterial killer stuff! We don’t go places yet, but soon we will…Spring is coming, plans are blooming! S x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

No - FFP2, simply because they are so much more comfortable than the useless surgical masks! And come in pretty colours ...

[Pixix in reply to PMRpro]

For some people, the leap in price to FFP2 & the ease of which you can dump a used surgical mask makes their choice different to ours!! Not sure I’ve seen FFP2 in anything but white, but the market in Italy, because I think you have to wear FFP2, means the manufacturers are using colour to entice purchase!! S x

[MrsNails in reply to Pixix]

I’ve just been looking FFP3’s for Flying to France - some would make me look like Darth Vaders Mother - especially when l get puffed walking at the airport! Think l’ll settle for the White Ones 😷

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to MrsNails]

What's with the WALKING at the airport? I do if it is Innsbruck sized - otherwise it is airport assistance!

[MrsNails in reply to PMRpro]

I know BUT they never let me go to Duty Free & the last time l had it the guy in Toulouse nearly tipped me out. He achieved tipping the other lady out! What a Fracas! Actually, l think l better book Airport Assistance - Terminal 5 at Heathrow is a long walk!…..

I forgot really, it’s such a long time since we last flew…..

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to MrsNails]

How mean - all mine ever wanted to know was what I wanted to do! Not that DF is worth it really!

[Pixix in reply to MrsNails]

It’s difficult, I do have a couple of Darth Vader ones, but it does give a better percentage filtration than the FFP2…quite a bit dearer, though. I will travel in FFP3 when we fly & airport again, but I’m allergic to perfume & it will be a pleasure for me to wear it in Duty Free, instead of running through there, LOL!! S x

[MrsNails in reply to Pixix]

Running?!? 😉😷

[Pixix in reply to MrsNails]

OK…walking fast!! When I was well enough to run, I found you attractive security attention if you run these days! When I worked all round europe I always caught the last plane home…BA wouldn’t pay for the inner gates at Paris & it was always Gate 118…the meeting would run late, the taxi would be caught in the traffic…ooh la la…run, or miss it! Stressful, or what! French boss at the time. I arrived 30 mins late for a meeting one morning, got up at 3am, caught first plane out…as we came into land the pilot realised there was a plane on the runway & we aborted really, really late & screeched into the sky! Told the other assembled meeting directors, they were horrified, but the boss just said ‘it serves you right, should have flown Air France’! They were fun days, though, I had a family in every euro city!! S x

[CricketMonkey in reply to Pixix]

My challenge was always to breathe in before the perfume section at Bristol, and make that breath last until I was safely out the other side (no other (publicly available route) way out of Security!)

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to CricketMonkey]

I can cope with D/F - I can't walk past a soap or candle shop though!!! Even outside - have to cross the road or hold my breath,

So nice to know I'm not alone

[Pixix in reply to CricketMonkey]

Quite agree! They changed the Heathrow one so you have to walk all the long way through the middle, with perfumes on either side & the row of ladies asking you to try them! I worked in marketing, & can see how great it is that there’s no choice but to walk through, but for those of us who take one breath in & sneeze the whole flight away, with noses dripping like taps, LOL!!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

I have shocking pink and dark green which are good fitsl The blue one isn't quite a good but infinitely better than a surgical mask. There is black - and that is just at the chemist in the village!

Price is the least of my worries - the idea is NOT to get Covid!

[Pixix in reply to PMRpro]

Hmmmm, will have to watch for colours! Price is the least of your worries…I was gently saying that for some people the price difference between disposables & FFP2 may be a lot! S x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pixix]

Not when not wearing one might be the difference between being able to go to work or not. And while surgical masks are reusable (or shouldn't be) FFP2s can be used repeatedly as long as they are dried out between wearings ...

[Sharitone in reply to Pixix]

I got pretty FFP2s from Big A - price reasonable too! Not sure about the yellow though!

[Pixix in reply to Sharitone]

Cool…I’ve never looked for coloured ones, tbh! But I will now!

[Sharitone in reply to Pixix]

75p each, and reasonably reusable!

[HeronNS]

Apropos of nothing really ... I find the related posts to this one today quite a fascinating variety! 🤣

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

Yee-ees - interesting!!!

[HeronNS]

This reply will apply more to North Americans than Europeans, but with a global market may still be relevant. We all need to make sure our masks have authentic certification. Apparently there are quite a few counterfeit ones which do not meet the standard we are expecting. We were warned (in Canada) that ones with FDA certification allegedly from the US is not authentic, for example. Or packages with no branding on them. Tests showed that some masks claiming to be KN95 (Chinese version of N95 or FFP) were actually only filtering to about 60 or even in one case as low as 19% rather than the 95% expected.

cbc.ca/news/canada/mask-fil...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

It was a major problme here early on during the rush for the scare products. A lot of the Chinese imports were checked here and found to be lacking. But too late to avoid a lot of good money being spent on them. The FFP2 masks that arrived here were about the same as surgical masks but the surgical mas were rubbish and/or didn't fit so not a lot of use.