Covid wave started earlier than expected here

As I said we still wear masks ( as do other family members too) and I have to say we have seen a recent increase in them being worn here. Surprisingly a lot more younger people are wearing them now too. We are close to 3 Universities so perhaps that's why.


I agree though it's up to individuals to decide for themselves whether to wear them for not.

 

Schools and universities, probably the big breeding grounds.

I have a very elderly Aunt in a care home in Australia and they have been confined to their rooms for a few weeks at a time with various virus outbreaks.
Its happening all over the world.

 

They made it clear during the height of the pandemic that wearing a mask helps you avoid infecting others but doesn't affect others infecting you. Whether that is still the official line or not I do not know. I wear a mask when required to do so but not at any other time. Neither I nor my wife has ever had Covid.

 

Got a new pack of quality masks in the glovebox if i need them. Flu jab booked. No more Covid jabs for me though.

Everything really depends on China right now, new strains etc.

If it all goes pearshaped there wont be any ambulances to help and the hospitals are maxed out already.

 

Surely wearing a mask must protect the wearer to some extent.

 

The thing that clearly not enough people thought about or cared about when we were all wearing masks is the environmental impact.

On our local beach, during the height of the pandemic, there were masks everywhere. Rubbish always seems to end up in the sea, and a measure of how much is in the sea can be guessed based on how much washes up onto the beach. It's not that people were discarding their masks en masse on the beach. Rubbish seems to get everywhere. Some of it finds it way into the rivers, and eventually out at sea.

I'm not saying people shouldn't wear masks if they want to or are asked to. I'm just saying that we need to consider all the impacts. Pre covid, the popular issue of the day was the environment. People acknowledged climate change and the plastic problem. Many acknowledged that the environmental concerns were not just about keeping the place nice, but about preventing an environmental disaster that will ultimately costs lives. Then came covid, and beaches littered with discarded masks. Cleaning regimes were implemented in workplaces. At my company, in head office alone, we were using and then discarding a minimum of 8 disposable plastic blue cloths per day. This on top of all the other covid related plastic waste. Same places insisted on regular covid tests. Discarded covid test kits were also easy to spot down the beach. How many millions of bits of plastic waste did covid generate I wonder.

Of course we had to take precautions. And I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here. But my point is I hope people consider all relevant impacts as they make their personal decisions.

 

There is only one answer to this ... educate people not to be slobs! Sadly, this is probably more difficult however and a non-event from the start!

 

Yes ..that why we don't use disposable masks. Each mask is taken apart and sterilized after each use , vents are taken apart and also soaked in sterilizing solution and left to air dry.

I do agree though and have seen loads of discarded paper masks everywhere.....utterly irresponsible and disgusting behaviour....makes you wonder how these people were brought up!!

 

Vicky we cross posted.....utterly agree.

 

Unfortunately in Britain its inbred now.
I think its gone on so long that there has been a few generations teaching the next how to be a slob.
Masks were all over supermarket car parks at one time.

My biggest hate though is the half drank bottle of fizz being just tossed in the air or over someone's garden fence, if you dont want it, dont buy it.

 

I don't understand why it doesn't....when the virus is going through the same number of layers of the same materials, in whichever direction.

 

I don't think it's exclusively slobs. It's more than people don't know or care what happens to their rubbish even if they dispose of things properly.

Step 1. it goes in the bin. A bin lorry empties the bin.

Step 2. all the rubbish gets transported to the recycling centre. The nearest one to us has a farm directly over the road. That poor farmer must be livid. Their field is constantly full of litter, presumably either blown off the trucks, or blown out of the skips.

Step 3. the rubbish, having been sorted, is transported to land fill or the incinerator. More opportunity for some of it to blow away.

Some of it ends up in the rivers, then out to sea, and all over the beaches.

I have no doubt there are some disgusting people that simply drop their litter, but I think the majority is just stuff that escapes on the wind and/or is spilled while being transported after being disposed of properly.

I agree that education is the answer, but not to stop people being slobs. At our local recycling recycling centre, kids aren't allowed in. I took my son once anyway to give me a hand. He was absolutely shocked at the level of activity of full skips being taken away and replaced with empty ones several times in the short time we were there. The conversation on the way home was all about just how much rubbish we collectively produce. I think he was genuinely a bit upset having seen the scale of our impact on the environment just from normal activity, and ever since he's been like the plastic police, constantly looking for ways to reduce our impact. I think if schools organised trips to watch the recycling centre in action, I think that would go a long way to reducing the amount of rubbish we collectively put into the environment.

 

I'm sorry but I have to say that I really don't agree with your opening remark @Clueless 1 v2. Unless your country has zero articles written/published in everydayman news sources, no one in this day and age can possibly think that littering is just fine. These are real nasty sun on the beaches that litter and they should be called out if seen doing it! Good for your son being mindful of his footprint.

We will always produce rubbish and as long as we keep progressing in our means of processing it to mitigate the long term destructive consequences land, we are at least moving in the right direction.

On the other hand, some won't be happy until they see us eating our own rubbish.

I think you should show your son the videos of those over in Asia who simply bull doze their rubbish into the sea. Then he will have his eyes opened.

Now back to the subject. I have seen masks lying about and have thought about picking them up to put them in the garbage but the yuk factor kicks in my mind. If this person is such a slob, just how dirty are they in their personal hygiene? What scum would I be handling?

I am still pondering whether to get my 4th shot/booster or not. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment if it was declared that the shot would be the total protection against all variants but nope, it's just a "shot in the dark" as far as I'm concerned.

 

Sorry, despite reading my post back in case I'd made a grammar faux Pas that might have inadvertently changed the meaning, I can't see where I said it was ever ok to litter.

 

Oh heaven's @Clueless 1 v2 I wasn't referring to you as being ignorant, I was a little surprised that you think other people are still in the dark...

"It's more than people don't know or care what happens to their rubbish even if they dispose of things properly."