Masks!!

Post by **rambo1** » 03 May 2020, 07:37

With the next stage of un-lockdown possibly being the recommendation or mandatory wearing of masks outdoors, how are Royal mail gonna be able to supply us with enough masks? Just one mask per day per postie would be 3/4 million masks per week and one a day is insufficient. Ironically with all thats going on behind the scenes with Rico's plans, this could be one government instruction that brings royal mail to a halt. Thoughts....

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 08:18

rambo1 wrote:With the next stage of un-lockdown possibly being the recommendation or mandatory wearing of masks outdoors, how are Royal mail gonna be able to supply us with enough masks? Just one mask per day per postie would be 3/4 million masks per week and one a day is insufficient. Ironically with all thats going on behind the scenes with Rico's plans, this could be one government instruction that brings royal mail to a halt. Thoughts....

Thoughts are it won't be mandatoty outdoors. Can see you having to wear one to use it for public transport but the reports i've seen have all said it's to make the public feel safer and is a confidence thing rather than medical neccessity.

citypostie · Post by **citypostie** » 03 May 2020, 08:31

Can see them giving us masks and saying we can share vans again

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 08:38

citypostie wrote:Can see them giving us masks and saying we can share vans again

Masks are better than nothing but are not a solution for van shares

GRS · Post by **GRS** » 03 May 2020, 09:07

A2B wrote:
citypostie wrote:Can see them giving us masks and saying we can share vans again
Masks are better than nothing but are not a solution for van shares

Why not though. If masks are seen as the way forward for public transport then surely they’re the answer to van sharing.

spen · Post by **spen** » 03 May 2020, 09:17

You would need to change mask about every half hour as they become saturated with moisture which just breeds more bacteria

spen · Post by **spen** » 03 May 2020, 09:17

You would need to change mask about every half hour as they become saturated with moisture which just breeds more bacteria

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 09:23

Because they don't prevent the spread of COVID19 would be the main reason. Nobody is saying that using masks on public transport will prevent you from catching COVID19 they are saying it will give you confidence to travel which is a totally different thing

grchpo · Post by **grchpo** » 03 May 2020, 09:36

Thought they were saying that masks stop you spreading virus, so if passenger & driver wear it they should be safe, problem solved.

chickenwittle · Post by **chickenwittle** » 03 May 2020, 09:36

I have been wearing a mask inside the office for weeks and take it off when I’m out on delivery .Social distancing in the office is virtually impossible and that’s where the main danger is in my opinion.

cpsteve · Post by **cpsteve** » 03 May 2020, 09:58

chickenwittle wrote:I have been wearing a mask inside the office for weeks and take it off when I’m out on delivery .Social distancing in the office is virtually impossible and that’s where the main danger is in my opinion.

I would agree its hard to work outside wearing one i found it hard to breathe and my glasses steamed up maybe a better mask would help with that., if wearing a mask is what needs to be done to use public transport then van share with masks should be the first step back.

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 03 May 2020, 10:39

In Spain they've just made it mandatory to wear a mask on public transport

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 03 May 2020, 11:03

From the lancet https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... S0140-6736(20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)30918-1/fulltext

First, controlling harms at source (masking) is at least as important as mitigation (handwashing). The population benefits of mass masking can also be conceptualised as a so-called prevention paradox—ie, interventions that bring moderate benefits to individuals but have large population benefits.16
Seatbelt wearing is one such example. Additionally, use of masks in the community will only bring meaningful reduction of the effective reproduction number if masks are worn by most people—akin to herd immunity after vaccination. Finally, masking can be compared to safe driving: other road users and pedestrians benefit from safe driving and if all drive carefully, the risk of road traffic crashes is reduced.

If my reading is correct wearing the mask does not protect the wearer, but helps cut down cross-contamination from infected individuals who are not showing signs.

spen wrote:You would need to change mask about every half hour as they become saturated with moisture which just breeds more bacteria

In this scenario, I would, of course, prefer replacement masks, but if the lancet is correct, the barrier of the mask will still reduce cross-infection.

Also as Covid19 is a virus rather than a bacteria, I guess its a case of balancing the risks from both and deciding for yourself which is the higher risk:
Wear risk from bacteria.
Don't wear risk from Covid19.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 03 May 2020, 12:03

Latest thoughts regarding dropping restrictions seem to be that the children will go back to school after what would have been the Spring half term break at the end of May. Most other countries seem to be going with wearing face coverings either to stop fallout from coughs & sneezes or as a confidence booster. Seems to be a worry in the UK that people have gone all 'nanny state' and are worried or even paranoid about going back to work. If the government had not adjusted the daily death figure we would be in a better position regarding getting ready to go back. The other day the former figure was 350 but the adjusted figure was 300 more.
I still cannot get my head around most other vehicles having multiple people in them but us posties not being allowed to get into a van together for five minutes to get to the first drop off point. We are just making our lives harder than they need to be.

grchpo · Post by **grchpo** » 03 May 2020, 12:10

The correct figure was 650, you can't fiddle the figures to please you