There is no distinction between shops/supermarkets and any other indoor location. The main principle is that the virus will spread more easily in any indoor area. The more enclosed or cold the indoor area is the greater the transmissibility. This will be compounded in winter when people are coming in from the cold and wiping their runny noses and coughing more. The more ventilation and higher the ceiling the less transmissibility.dsr wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 9:22 amFuzzy logic again. Wearing masks at the start of the outbreak saved lives in Korea etc. Does wearing masks when the outbreak is fizzling out (which, at least temporarily, it is) have the same effect?
You have to be careful about drawing conclusions from a different set of circumstances. A few years back, doctors discovered that poorly babies recovered better if they were put to sleep lying on their front. So the wisdom and common sense of ages was discarded and mothers were recommended to put healthy babies to sleep lying on their front.
Evidence that something would have been a good idea four months ago is not proof that it's a good idea now.
The time to implement wearing face masks is as soon as you realise they work. Better late than never. The evidence is that COVID-19 is still around and will quickly form clusters if given the right environment and not quickly dealt with. The seven day moving average for UK daily case rates has risen for the last five days. It has been around the 600 mark since July 6th. The government track and trace are dealing with over 100 local clusters per week. Without measures these would soon break out into communities (e.g. Leicester).
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic the government has arrived at a reasonable 'containment policy'. Face masks, social distancing and track and trace are the bedrock of such a policy. The government app when/if it is available should make the policy even more effective.
We can't afford to go into a second lockdown and borrow money to pay people to do nothing for another three months.
I don't know of any particular evidence on supermarket/shops mask wearing. The evidence of general mask wearing is good enough. Masks will help stop virus particles in all locations - supermarket, shops, take away food joints, and any other location. There is no reason to suggest that they will work in a clothing retailer and not in a supermarket. That is illogical.
The Evidence
"Seven types of face masks were put to the test by the University of Edinburgh, including surgical masks, respirators, lightweight and heavy-duty face shields, and handmade masks.
Aside from those with a valve, all of the face coverings were found to reduce the forward distance travelled by an exhaled breath by at least 90%.
A study by Cambridge University says even basic homemade masks can reduce transmission - and could even help to prevent a second wave. It said population-wide use of masks would keep the COVID-19 reproduction number (R rate) below one.
An international report published in The Lancet, which analysed data from 172 studies in 16 countries, found that by wearing a face mask there is just a 3% chance of catching COVID-19.https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus- ... s-11931121
The UK government, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA, have all shifted their position on wearing masks during the pandemic...Numerous studies have shown that wearing any type of face covering (not surgical grade, which should be left to medical staff) over the nose and mouth, can help in reducing spread of viral droplets when a person coughs or sneezes.
On 8 July, Oxford University's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, published a study, with the message: "Cloth face coverings, even homemade masks made of the correct material, are effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 - for the wearer and those around them" and warned "face masks and coverings work - act now". https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 17666.html
"Face coverings made compulsory after Oxford COVID-19 study inspires debate
OXFORD SCIENCE BLOG
14 Jul 2020
Face coverings in shops will be made compulsory from 24 July, and the prohibition may be extended to other indoor spaces. The move follows last week’s COVID-19 face coverings study from Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science on behalf of the Royal Society and British Academy" https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/ ... es-debate.
Countries that have used face masks from the beginning of the pandemic have had a small fraction of the cases and fatalities of those countries who have resisted face masks. They continue to use face masks even though their case rates are now almost zero (the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance down below).
Countries that have resisted face masks have been the worst affected by the pandemic. Even president Trump has now started to wear a mask in partial settings.
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