Discussions

There are medical reasons to not wear masks. I would assume it’s a medical reason and keep six feet away.

You hardly see anyone wearing masks! Even in Walmart there was lots without and I thought was mandatory. There was one whole family in there without. You can’t tell me that the WHOLE family had medical reasons to go without?!! I was impressed when we went to Brandon that most people had masks on.

If you wear a mask and it does nothing, what have we lost.  
If you wear a mask and it does work, look at what we have gained.  
One thing we know for sure is that it is like other covid viruses, it is an air borne respiratory infection, we are on the rise again because we stood down, to win any battle you need to stand the line.

In the technicality, masks aren't required inside in the Prairie Mountain region. Most businesses kept the requirements however. Ultimately its up to businesses not their customers playing KAREN to enforce the rules.  
 
Edited by alight, 2020-10-24 20:36:48

That is ridiculous. It is the responsibility of every able individual to do their part to prevent the spread of covid19 including the wearing of masks if one is able to.

Aware of the medical reasons for not wearing a mask , but like a previous post mentioned this was a family I noticed and people just together shopping.  
I think respect for other people around you is important, and with that being said I stayed well away

As I only shop every other week have been impressed with the numbers of people that I see wearing masks. I thought once the mandatory wearing had been lifted that people would quit wearing them. Maybe it has become a habit like seat belts in a vehicle. The stores that I frequent I think are still mandatory masks Peavey, Coop, Walmart, Giant Tiger and Fabricland.  
 
I do remove mine as soon as I am out of store and away from people in the fresh air as I am usually starting to get dizzy.  
 
Still frustrated by the ones that go up and down marked aisles the wrong way. One aisle is an honest mistake but have met the same people up to 3 times the same day going wrong direction. Intentional? Wonder if they drive a car down one way streets the same way.

It is not ridiculous. Let the business deal with the person who is not following their rules , not the customer. The customer is not getting paid by the business to enforce their rules. Its not complicated. Carry on safely.

I don't think he's saying the customers should be enforcing the rules, but that each person should take responsibility for doing what they can to slow the spread of the disease, including wearing masks.  
 
Even if they aren't mandatory, they are still STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. That should be enough for most people to wear one if they are able.  
 
Keep in mind too that sometimes entire families won't wear one for good reasons. If one parent is hard of hearing, for example, and relies on partially lip reading, their loved ones wearing masks impedes their ability to understand them. And I'm okay with that. Just because we can't see the reasons why doesn't mean they don't exist.

We are constantly at risks as far as viral,bacteria, fungal or other types of pathogens.  
Strep or staph infections are always present, but very seldom do they take the course of life threatening conditions such as flesh eating disease or spinal meningitis, and with the covid viruses, the usual outcome is a cold or respiratory infection that is not life threatening to many. The difference with covid 19 is the course the virus takes, it has a higher level of medical complications as compared to a normal covid virus, and some of the complications are not even known.  
In the beginning people said that influenza takes more lives, that soon fell by the wayside, then it was compared to drug overdoses, at the present time we have a threefold rate as compared to drug overdoses.  
The death losses are something to be concerned about, maybe not in a big way, but if one looks at it with the idea that many of those lives might not have been lost by wearing a mask, it is disturbing.  
This is not over by any means, it is not something to be feared, but it is something that should be respected.

I have yet to hear of any medical reason that would prevent someone from wearing a mask for a short trip into a store.  
 
Edited by bigmoe, 2020-10-24 22:58:29

City businesses that don't require customers to mask up before entry into their establishments should be avoided until they show some common sense. Perhaps a city bylaw needs to be passed quickly and enforced.

Agreed. It would be even better if the law was at least province wide, at best country wide.  
It’s time to stop making excuses otherwise we are heading fast into a complete lockdown. Small sacrifices by all of us as individuals now can make a huge difference, save lives and prevent suffering.

I see alot more mask wearing within brandon than I have in the smaller towns. I almost never see mask wearing by anyone who appears under age of 50 in the rural areas anymore. Even store employees seem to have done away with them largely.

I am amazed at the lack of comprehension by some.

I agree that is an accurate assessment in our rural town here. It seems that often I am the only one wearing a mask (am under 50) and so do the staff in the two CO OP stores here but few others seem to bother. Many people have become lax. Also recently the RCMP had to be called to a local gas station because a customer was shouting and swearing at other customers that WERE wearing masks. And we are still seeing vehicles with American licence plates here on a regular basis which is worrying!  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2020-10-25 09:12:35

I was at Giant Tiger on Friday and everyone was wearing a mask except for a mother and two teens. They went around laughing at everyone and they thought it was quite funny.

If a store doesn't mandate masks and/or doesn't enforce their wearing, it contributes to me feeling unsafe. Why would I visit a store that makes me feel unsafe? And if the businesses in question are not complying with the STRONG RECOMMENDATION that everyone wear masks, then it will fall to the government to mandate it.  
 
It's because people don't follow the recommendations that they have to mandate things.

Agreed. It’s everyone’s responsibility to prevent spread in whatever way they can.  
It is in the interest of all businesses to take the lead on this otherwise there will be a mandated and enforced shut down, and we want to try to avoid that.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2020-10-25 10:18:13

..... that wears them regardless of whether it is mandatory or not. Since I have no way to confirm day to day whether I am asymptomatic because I am virus free or just not having symptoms while shedding the virus, it seems prudent.  
 
In my retail job 98% of customers are wearing masks and I am sure to thank many of them when it’s appropriate. To those who are not, I still offer service but make it obvious that I am working to maintain distance.  
 
If I had my druthers I would make it mandatory and have a huge day or two of enforcement in order to get the massage across.

you go to a shop, whatever it may be, restaurant or retail, if the person waiting on you taking your order or your money is wearing a mask to protect YOU, why would you not do the same and wear a mask to protect THEM? If you're not wearing a mask you're not showing any respect!  
At least we as consumers are not forced to wear the masks for a possible eight hour shift working to supply someone with goods or services.

Unfortunately some people don’t get it and never will. Mostly because they don’t want to or they think they are better than the next person. Wait til you have a friend or relative that actually dies from it. Sadly that’s what is going to have to happen before these people change their tune. Not only that, you may find out in the end that you the maskless one were the cause of their death.

"Scientists" lol  
I don't know why people go to medical school at all. We should just have people practice based on garbage they read on Facebook.

People complain that they do not wish to be treated like sheep and then they act like sheep waiting to be told what to do. This amazes me.  
 
If you decide to wear a mask, good on you. I respect that.  
 
If you are uncomfortable with a place where masks are not mandatory, don't go there.  
 
If you mask, take a wide berth around someone without one.  
 
If you are mad at the government or a store for not kicking someone out because they are not masked, keep in mind that person might be asked to justify not wearing one but cannot be asked to prove same.  
 
If you choose not to mask, I respect that as well.  
 
If you don't mask, don't go into a place where masks are mandated as store policy.  
 
If you don't mask, worry about yourself and don't ridicule anyone that does.  
 
Control your actions and leave others be.

the answer is to make all the people who choose not to wear a mask when capable of so doing, that is those who do not have a medical reason, sign a register or carry a card that says "please do not treat me if I fall ill with Covid 19".  
If they choose to ignore medical advice now why should they get it when unwell.  
I'll now sit and wait for the avalanche of bricks etc.

But can those unable to wear a face mask not wear a clear visor as an alternative ? Would that not be an acceptable compromise?

Those visors help if used with tandem with face masks. Alone, they're almost as bad as wearing nothing, especially if there's any sneezing or coughing going on. They stop precisely 0% of areosols, which is increasingly thought to be a important infection vector.

Fair enough then. The only solution is to mandate and enforce wearing of face masks and to introduce curfews and movement restrictions and their enforcement.

This literally just came up in my Twitter feed after I posted above:  
 

Room Rater PSA from Canada and @brittlestar. How to deal with anti maskers. #PathologicalIgnorance 10/10 pic.twitter.com/wcaC87DdEs

&mdash: Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom) October 25, 2020