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Explainer: Everything to know about new face covering regulations

You have to wear a face covering in most shops from today.

PEOPLE ARE REQUIRED to wear a face covering in most shops and other indoor facilities under new legislation in place from today. 

This comes after the wearing of face coverings on public transport was made mandatory by the government last month.

Failure to wear a face covering on public transport or in certain indoor shops and refusal to do so runs risk of a fine and potential imprisonment. 

There are exceptions to this, however, and some people are not required to wear them for a number of reasons. 

Here’s everything you need to know about wearing a face covering at the moment as the new requirements kick in today. 

What has changed from today?

The 1947 Health Act has been amended to include a mandatory requirement to wear face coverings in certain indoor premises.

This will stay in place until 5 October.

The move was agreed by members of the Cabinet several weeks ago but is only enforced by law from today. 

It means that customers and staff must now wear face coverings in shops, shopping centres and other indoor facilities in most circumstances. 

People who do not wear a face covering or anyone who ignores a request to wear one can face a fine of up to €2,500 and/or up to six months imprisonment. 

So where do I now need to wear one? 

  • Most indoor shops
  • Shopping centres
  • Libraries
  • Museums
  • Cinemas
  • Theatres and concert halls 
  • Bingo halls
  • Hairdressers
  • Licensed bookmakers
  • Nail salons
  • Tattoo and piercing services
  • Travel agents and tour operators
  • Laundries and dry cleaners

What are the exceptions?

Children under the age of 13, people who can’t wear a face covering due to disability or illness and people who need to communicate with somebody who has difficulty communicating are some of those exempt from the new requirements.

Staff must wear face coverings unless a partition or a two-metre distance is in place between customers and workers in a facility.

Customers who remove a face covering at the request of a worker in order to show their full face for identification in the purchase of items like alcohol are classified as having a reasonable excuse to not wear a face covering at that time.  

Are any indoor settings excluded from this? 

Yes, a few indoor places don’t fall under the requirement to wear coverings.

Post offices, credit unions and banks do not fall under the regulations. Indoor facilities that include any of these three services are also exempt from the requirement. 

Anywhere that sells food or drinks for the principal reason of being consumed on the premises, such as restaurants, is also excluded. 

Places that mainly provide medical, dental or a few other healthcare services do not have the requirement. 

The managing director of retail industry group Retail Excellence, Duncan Graham, said retail will take its “responsibilities seriously and will be looking for the support of the public to help make shopping safe for all”. 

Where is it recommended, but not required, to wear one? 

The government recommends that people wear face coverings in situations in which social distancing is difficult. 

These include visits to people who are cocooning and when in other indoor public settings.

What is the proper way to take on and off a face covering?

Under the regulations, a face covering is defined as any type of covering that covers somebody’s nose and mouth. 

Wash your hands before putting on the covering and avoid touching it while you are wearing it. 

If you do accidentally touch the front of the mask while wearing it, it is advised to wash your hands straight away. 

The covering should be tied securely and fit snugly against the side of your face and fully cover your nose and mouth. 

The government advises to keep spare, washed face coverings and masks in a clean waterproof bag such as a ziplock bag. 

A similar bag should be used for face coverings you have worn so you can either wash them or dispose of them safely. 

Smokers are advised to not lift their face coverings up or down to smoke. Instead it is advised to remove it completely before placing in the used mask bag. 

Remove the face covering from the ear loops at the back, not by pulling on the outside of the mask at the front. 

Hands should be washed immediately after removing a face covering. 

Disposable face coverings should be thrown in a bin after use. Reusable ones should be washed in hot water with detergent.

The government advises to wash reusable face coverings daily. 

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    Mute jzT
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:32 PM

    I have no problem wearing one in shops and have been for weeks, but can someone explain why there is no obligation to wear it in the bank or post office?

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    Mute Damien Mc Padden
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:35 PM

    @jzT: Perhaps so as not to get confused with armed robbers?

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    Mute jzT
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:47 PM

    @Damien Mc Padden: Never thought of that! Just figured that since a lot of elderly people collect their pension in the post office, it seemed to be somewhere that masks would be important

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    Mute Marie Broomfield
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:47 PM

    @jzT: think about it a bit longer

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    Mute D
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:30 PM

    @jzT: I would imagine for security reasons so people can be identified if needed. These places would have partitions between workers and customers and should have social distancing measures in place so they would be a low risk in my opinion

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    Mute Julie G Graham
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:55 PM

    @jzT: The virus knows that it shouldn’t infect people in banks because the owners of the banks need to be able to identify robbers from honest customers. The virus is no threat in this situation.

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    Mute Julie G Graham
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:55 PM

    @jzT: The virus knows that it shouldn’t infect people in banks because the owners of the banks need to be able to identify robbers from honest customers. The virus is no threat in this situation.

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    Mute Julie G Graham
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:55 PM

    @jzT: The virus knows that it shouldn’t infect people in banks because the owners of the banks need to be able to identify robbers from honest customers. The virus is no threat in this situation.

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    Mute Mrkbrn.
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:48 PM

    @jzT: or a taxi.

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    Mute Lily Martin
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    Aug 10th 2020, 4:13 PM

    @jzT: our post office only lets in two people at a time and there isa glass screen between customer and staff.

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:00 PM

    @Damien Mc Padden: They have to wear them as well.

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    Mute Rachael Baldwin
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:42 PM

    @jzT: I’d say it’s because most banks and post offices already have their screens at the counter and have had for many years. But I’d say it’s also for security purposes too. Same way a helmet has to come off in banks, post office and credit unions.

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    Mute Optimus Prime
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:30 PM

    Is it just me or does anyone else feel suffocated when they wear the masks for long. Maybe I’m using the wrong ones. I will ditch the cloth ones and buy a box of surgical ones.

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    Mute Logan Shepherd
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:34 PM

    @Optimus Prime: Yes. I’d imagine it’s a common enough sensation, until we get used to wearing them.

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    Mute BriP75
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:36 PM

    @Optimus Prime: I suffer from asthma and I feel like I can’t breath with one of them blue ones
    I am going to see about buying a mask

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    Mute Tony Garcia
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:38 PM

    @Optimus Prime: Or maybe you have some respiratory difficulty and they could be dangerous for you. Maybe you should check it out with a doctor. The law exempt those cases.

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    Mute Gillian O'Coinne
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:44 PM

    @Optimus Prime: I felt that wearing a mask as well so I switched it to the face shield. Much easier to wear and you feel like you can breath properly.

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    Mute Woolly
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:58 PM

    @Gillian O’Coinne: not effective on their own

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    Mute Jacqui Curtis-owens
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:17 PM

    @Optimus Prime: I bought the shield attached to a glasses frame…3 shield covers…much better

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    Mute Drunk in Dublin
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    Aug 11th 2020, 8:38 AM

    @Optimus Prime: have you tried a 100% Cotton face mask? The Cotton is very breathable

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    Mute David McGinley
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:52 PM

    Delighted we finally have this. Will make me and many others much more comfortable going into shops and hopefully helps boost the economy even further.

    Really hope there is high compliance and that stores take enforcement seriously like advising shoppers to mask up on entry and reminding people if they aren’t wearing their mask correctly to fix them (e.g. under the nose which is fairly common)

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    Mute Olivia Smith
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:31 PM

    @BeyondRoom313: This is in the Irish statute book.
    S.I. No. 244/2020 – Health Act 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (Face Coverings on Public Transport) Regulations 2020. I’d imagine they just insert another section for in shops.

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    Mute David McGinley
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:50 PM

    @Olivia Smith: it’s in there now:

    https://assets.gov.ie/83560/42c6fd57-faa4-4913-b99b-9bf3b4fb2af7.pdf

    HEALTH ACT 1947 (SECTION 31A – TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS) (COVID-19) (FACE COVERINGS IN CERTAIN PREMISES AND BUSINESSES) REGULATIONS 2020

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    Mute David McGinley
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:51 PM

    @BeyondRoom313:

    It’s there:

    HEALTH ACT 1947 (SECTION 31A – TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS) (COVID-19) (FACE COVERINGS IN CERTAIN PREMISES AND BUSINESSES) REGULATIONS 2020

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    Mute Tony Garcia
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:36 PM

    Neighbors bought few of them for theirs kids to go to school. They were made in China… What an irony…

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    Mute Tom Cullen
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:56 PM

    @Tony Garcia: Kind of like MAGA hats being made in China would you say?

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    Mute John Leonard
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:02 PM

    Most people hate wearing a mask they’re soo unpleasant uncomfortable why when the numbers were reduced without them why don’t the government tell you how many people dont have the virus I guess over 4.97 million while I believe in saying safe our Country and civil liberty’s are been distroyed the restrictions will and is causing more devastating effects than the virus itself will a person with no visable sign of a problem that has be told too leave the shop or an old person who forgot theirs be accosted in the same way I feel the law will just cause conflict shops use common sense and provide free masks if necessary

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:05 PM

    @John Leonard: and before people were asked to wear masks, everyone but essential sevices was locked up indoors for the most part. That’s what reduced the numbers of the virus. Then everyone was left out

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    Mute Declan O'Neill
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:50 PM

    @John Leonard: Too many commas

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    Mute NotMyIreland
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:27 PM

    @John Leonard: Or the shop can sell you one before entry, kind of like if you forget your plastic bag, except before you shop! Plenty of shops and other services doing this already. If you have to fork out on an expensive single use mask a few times, I’d say you will start remembering to bring your own. They could even have face shields available to for anyone who can’t wear a mask.

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    Mute David Stapleton
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:05 PM

    @Declan O’Neill : nah, it’s the full stops that did my head in. Not, and I stress this, not the inane ramblings of somebody with the mental acuity of à pigeon on the slow side…

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    Mute BriP75
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:36 PM

    @NotMyIreland: I still forget the bags that I buy in supervalus every week
    I can sell them if any one wants about 200 Pmsl

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    Mute Cliff Burnby
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    Aug 10th 2020, 6:55 PM

    @David Stapleton: Lol, nicely put. I definitely think there’s a link between being semi-literate and anti-mask, it so common on here !

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    Mute Masses are awakening
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    Aug 10th 2020, 8:02 PM

    @John Leonard: i saw an emoloyee at tayto park stopping people from using toilets today without a mask. She said the masks are for sale in the shop.

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    Mute Cat Reid
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:18 PM

    Everything you need to know narrowed down. WEAR ONE

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    Mute Arch Angel
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:14 PM

    @Cat Reid: I can’t understand why people have such an issue about wearing a mask. Just wear the damn thing, what have you got to lose? If all those experts are right you can can say, hey I did my bit, you can even get a personalised mask to express yourself. If the experts are wrong and you’re right, you still didn’t lose anything, you were only exposed to your own breath. It’s win/win. …Unless you’re an arguementative type who just looks for a reason to moan.

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    Mute Cat Reid
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    Aug 11th 2020, 10:58 AM

    @Arch Angel: Precisely

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    Mute Logan Shepherd
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    Aug 10th 2020, 12:32 PM

    Time to dust off the Bain mask.
    “Now is not the time for fear. That will come later”

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    Mute Rory Mackle
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:48 PM

    Waste of time , but let’s all do what we are told

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    Mute David Bourke
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:03 PM

    @Rory Mackle:

    Yeah generally I do what my doctor or physio tells me rather than some dope on YouTube.

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    Mute Arch Angel
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    Aug 10th 2020, 4:54 PM

    @Rory Mackle: We’re in the middle of the worst pandemic in a century, we have a few simple, effective measures that, while not guaranteed to prevent it’s transmission, can greatly reduce it. But some people believe it’s a waste of time. I assume this is a qualified opinion? No?
    Or is it that you still don’t like being told to do something, perhaps if you had done so when asked you wouldn’t have to be told. In 1867 Joseph Lister postulated that wound disease was caused by microscopic living things, germs, he suggested eleminating them by being clean. That meant hands, instruments, even the surgeons breath. In 1897 polish surgeon Johann Mikulicz and bacteriologist Carl Flügge proved respiratory droplets carried culturable bacteria and the face mask was invented. If you ever require surgery, try telling the surgeon not to wear a surgical mask, it’s “a waste of time”.

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    Mute D'oh
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    Aug 10th 2020, 7:21 PM

    @Rory Mackle: Thanks Doc.

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    Mute Masses are awakening
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    Aug 10th 2020, 8:07 PM

    @Arch Angel: the worst pandemic in a century

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    Mute Damien Ahuir
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:14 PM

    You all wear one for Halloween and don’t complain

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    Mute Ger McDonnell
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:59 PM

    Should include all taxi drivers and passengers!

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    Mute John Mark Creedon
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:16 PM

    lololol so you wont catch anything in a restaurant but you will in a retail store. FFS

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    Mute Mary Morrisey
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:25 PM

    “EXCEPTIONS: Children under the age of 13, people who can’t wear a face covering due to disability or illness and people who need to communicate with somebody who has difficulty communicating are some of those exempt from the new requirements.” To the eejits that have jumped all over both my nephew and his father, who both fit under these exemptions and have every right to leave their home too, BTFO.

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    Mute Joe Harney
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    Aug 10th 2020, 4:54 PM

    Is there not a contradiction here? If it’s so dangerous that you have to wear a mask indoors while shopping, how come cafes, restaurants and bars are still open? Which is more dangerous half an hour in an enormous half empty well ventilated supermarket, or 1hr 45 mins in a small but very busy high turnover restaurant?

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    Mute D'oh
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    Aug 10th 2020, 7:24 PM

    @Joe Harney: That’s where personal choice, individual responsibility and cop on come in to equation.

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    Mute Colm Beck
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:21 PM

    If you can blow out a candle or a lighter with your mask on its not going to stop a virus passing through. Don’t be given a false sense of security.
    Do the test!

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    Mute Liz Beeee
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:08 PM

    @Colm Beck:

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    Mute Olivia Smith
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:33 PM

    Can’t wait to see all the videos of slaughter in shops now with Karen’s/Ken’s sticking their noses in other people’s faces about wearing them, going to be like America. Realistically how light does a food shop take? Wear a mask:shield.

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    Mute Tony Garcia
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:52 PM

    @Olivia Smith: Quite right, I’m sure there is already an army of Karen’s patrolling the shops… Most on 350€ a week…

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    Mute Olivia Smith
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:58 PM

    @Tony Garcia: More than likely. I’d say a few owl biddys too. But the irony is they pull down their own masks to scream at others about not wearing one.

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    Mute Pauline Gallagher
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:28 PM

    @Tony Garcia: I hate wearing them but i will because its the right thing to do. Not everything is about us, you know.

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    Mute herp
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:06 PM

    Contradiction cinema expect to wear one, exceptions places which serve food…….

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    Mute Ann Illing
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    Aug 10th 2020, 1:52 PM

    Face covering.. Not face mask…

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    Mute Em Gee
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    Aug 10th 2020, 3:06 PM

    @Ann Illing: Chocolate teapot. Not a teapot.

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    Mute eddie horgan
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    Aug 10th 2020, 2:08 PM

    “Most indoor shops” – That’s helpful, not

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    Mute Alex
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:31 PM

    Maybe gym should be included as well. Too many people in the gym breath heavily with their month open. Especially when the air-conditioning is on, it’s a perfect place getting other people’s droplets in your nose and mouth.

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    Mute Alex
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:32 PM

    @Alex: *mouths open

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Aug 10th 2020, 6:46 PM

    @Alex: It’s probably up to the gyms to seek medical advice? I noticed that people in other countries were advised not to wear masks while exercising. Some collapsed during training. I wouldn’t go near a gym at the moment. Training in the open air is maybe less of a risk.

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    Mute Fandandi
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:19 PM

    Do you have yo wear one in the gym? Didn’t see it mentioned.

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    Mute Alex
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:39 PM

    @Fandandi: lol, I was thinking about the same.i didn’t see it included in the list either. I have seen a few people wearing masks in the gym, and I believe it’s necessary. There was a a few people breathing heavily beside me yesterday while lifting weights, without masks of course, I could feel the wind…

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    Mute Fandandi
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    Aug 10th 2020, 7:07 PM

    @Alex: Nice haha, ya I think it is necessary, those big weight lifters do a lot of huffing and puffing

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    Mute BriP75
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    Aug 10th 2020, 5:27 PM

    I was in northside sc today and I was very surprised every one had a mask on

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