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Not any less irrational in Europe. The countries I’ve visited recently that still require masks rarely have them available anywhere. I’ve walked into so many b

by rosndo 5y ago

Not any less irrational in Europe. The countries I’ve visited recently that still require masks rarely have them available anywhere. I’ve walked into so many businesses in France and Spain that insist I should wear a mask, but yet don’t have any available for customers. A bizarre situation, especially as WHO recommends that masks shouldn’t be worn for more than 4 hours at a time and that disposable masks should be thrown away after weraring. What are people supposed to do? Walk around with a big box of masks? At least in the UK ~all businesses (used to) offer free masks to customers. If the government wants everyone to wear masks indoors, it shouldn’t be hard to supply all businesses with loads of masks to hand out.

detaro 5y ago
That random businesses don't hand them out isn't a policy issue. And by now also something that's rarely needed: you can get them all over the place in shops, so ~everybody already has them, so ~nobody needs to get one in a specific restaurant or whatever. I seem how it could be occasionally convenient, but doesn't seem like a big problem.
- rosndo 5y ago
  Of course it’s a policy issue, if the government wants everyone entering random businesses to wear masks then the government should supply the masks. Now they’ve just created a situation where random businesses will use government policy as a cover to extort multiple euros for a mask that didn’t cost them even a cent. > you can get them all over the place in shops, so ~everybody already has them, so ~nobody needs to get one in a specific restaurant or whatever. This isn’t true though. Very few people actually carry multiple masks with them, and you shouldn’t wear the same mask all day long.
  - detaro 5y ago
    Businesses making these things available at scale has worked way better and efficiently than governments trying to do so (same with rapid tests), given that I don't think it would be a good policy to have the government do it. I guess you could by policy require most businesses to have them at hand as a compromise.
    - rosndo 5y ago
      It’s worked in places where it has worked, such as the UK as far as I can tell. It certainly hasn’t worked in France or Spain. > given that I don't think it would be a good policy to have the government do it. At the very least the government could mandate random businesses to provide free masks, no? Surgical masks cost almost nothing at scale, but as it stands there are tons of businesses extorting multiple for basic surgical masks. This is a clear government policy failure.
      - detaro 5y ago
        > It certainly hasn’t worked in France or Spain. So you can't just get them there by the box at corner stores, supermarkets, ...? That's how its here in Germany and that's IMHO enough. (early on, when they weren't as widely available, the government tried to give a few FFP3s to people in need and that was an embarrassing clusterfuck of ... I don't even know. Probably corruption.)
        rosndo 5y ago
        Are people supposed to carry boxes of masks with them now? Perhaps easy to do if you carry a purse. Realistically most people won’t do this, and people will just end up wearing the same mask for excessive periods of time. Contaminating it over and over, taking it off, stuffing it in a dirty pocket with money, keys, whatever and putting it back on. That’s a big policy failure.
        cycomanic 5y ago
        It was just written earlier you shouldnt wear a mask for longer than 4 h. So even if you walk around for 24h that's 6 masks, they take up literally less space than your phone. Are you comaining that it's impossible for you to carry your phone or wallet around with you? This is clearly getting ridiculous, its too difficult to carry 6 masks on you?
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
  - cycomanic 5y ago
    What sort of argument is that. Government require all sort of things without supplying them. They don't supply seat belts for example, even though you are required to wear one. Or take the "no shoes, no shirt, no service" signs common in the US, should the businesses supply you with shoes or a t-shirt?

by rosndo 5y ago

detaro 5y ago

That random businesses don't hand them out isn't a policy issue. And by now also something that's rarely needed: you can get them all over the place in shops, so ~everybody already has them, so ~nobody needs to get one in a specific restaurant or whatever. I seem how it could be occasionally convenient, but doesn't seem like a big problem.

rosndo 5y ago
Of course it’s a policy issue, if the government wants everyone entering random businesses to wear masks then the government should supply the masks. Now they’ve just created a situation where random businesses will use government policy as a cover to extort multiple euros for a mask that didn’t cost them even a cent. > you can get them all over the place in shops, so ~everybody already has them, so ~nobody needs to get one in a specific restaurant or whatever. This isn’t true though. Very few people actually carry multiple masks with them, and you shouldn’t wear the same mask all day long.
- detaro 5y ago
  Businesses making these things available at scale has worked way better and efficiently than governments trying to do so (same with rapid tests), given that I don't think it would be a good policy to have the government do it. I guess you could by policy require most businesses to have them at hand as a compromise.
  - rosndo 5y ago
    It’s worked in places where it has worked, such as the UK as far as I can tell. It certainly hasn’t worked in France or Spain. > given that I don't think it would be a good policy to have the government do it. At the very least the government could mandate random businesses to provide free masks, no? Surgical masks cost almost nothing at scale, but as it stands there are tons of businesses extorting multiple for basic surgical masks. This is a clear government policy failure.
    - detaro 5y ago
      > It certainly hasn’t worked in France or Spain. So you can't just get them there by the box at corner stores, supermarkets, ...? That's how its here in Germany and that's IMHO enough. (early on, when they weren't as widely available, the government tried to give a few FFP3s to people in need and that was an embarrassing clusterfuck of ... I don't even know. Probably corruption.)
      - rosndo 5y ago
        Are people supposed to carry boxes of masks with them now? Perhaps easy to do if you carry a purse. Realistically most people won’t do this, and people will just end up wearing the same mask for excessive periods of time. Contaminating it over and over, taking it off, stuffing it in a dirty pocket with money, keys, whatever and putting it back on. That’s a big policy failure.
        cycomanic 5y ago
        It was just written earlier you shouldnt wear a mask for longer than 4 h. So even if you walk around for 24h that's 6 masks, they take up literally less space than your phone. Are you comaining that it's impossible for you to carry your phone or wallet around with you? This is clearly getting ridiculous, its too difficult to carry 6 masks on you?
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- cycomanic 5y ago
  What sort of argument is that. Government require all sort of things without supplying them. They don't supply seat belts for example, even though you are required to wear one. Or take the "no shoes, no shirt, no service" signs common in the US, should the businesses supply you with shoes or a t-shirt?