I knew that Moomin was in town (with a temporary Moomin Pop Up Shop, only for a month or so); but I was totally unprepared to also see Star Wars aliens in the market square. I wonder if they were here to sell face masks as well?! (I did not hang around to find out - just zoomed them in with my camera from corona-safe distance...)
PS. We still don't have any general recommendations in Sweden to use face masks - except in health care, and now I think it is also required on airplanes and at airport terminals. (I bought the Moomin face mask mostly as "souvenir" of this strange summer.)
we have been wearing masks for 4 months now when out and about.. we don't wear them when we walk our neighborhood because there is no one out there but us.. USA is having a civil war over half want to wear them and half dont and half the policticans say wear others say don't. a big fat MESS
ReplyDeleteOur state had 15,560 new cases just yesterday. i am thinking you don't have that many in the whole country... wish i knew why so we could be that way
ReplyDeleteSandra, Florida I think has twice as many inhabitants in less than half the area of Sweden. That alone makes it hard to quite compare. Sadly Sweden in turn has had a much higher number of deaths than our Nordic neighbours. I think mostly related to unfortunate early spreading of the virus in care homes & home care services for elderly people here. No doubt there were serious deficiencies in the organization and routines in some such places. The numbers of deaths and people in intensive care peaked back in April though (I think) and has gone down a lot since. We are still being regarded with suspicion by some of our neighbours though. It still seems a mess to me who is allowed to go where in Europe at the moment, as each country is setting its own rules now. (But as I was not planning to go anywhere anyway, I haven't really bothered to keep up with every change.)
DeleteLove the Moomin mask! Interesting to come across Star Wars characters so out of the blue. I wonder what they were doing there. Is a new movie due out or something?
ReplyDeleteMeike, I have no idea. I've only watched 1½ Star Wars film! (The oldest ones.) Whenever they were on TV I always gave up on them. Then I bought a DVD box with the three first (oldest) ones. I still gave up half way through the 2nd (and would not be able to sum up the first one either). (For some reason I never took to sci-fi much.)
DeleteI've been hearing about Moomin and bought the first book, it sounds like a cute series. Haven't read it yet; I like your mask. Here in the USA the WHO and the CDC were telling people do not wear masks, they don't work. Of course now they are saying wear the masks, it does not instill confidence when they can't decide on something simple. I wear a mask whenever I go out, which is not often. Be well.
ReplyDeleteTerra, I love the Moomin books. I've been familiar with the characters from childhood, but then as comic strips rather than the novels. I've read the novels a few times later in life, though (and am rereading some of them again this summer) One thing they're very good at is how we deal with fear (like Catastrophes, and the Unknown), which makes them excellent (and rather comforting) reading in such times.
DeleteThe British Government is being very vague on the subject of face masks (and many other things) except on public transport where, I think I'm correct in saying it is mandatory. The Scottish Government has made the wearing of face masks compulsory on public transport and in shops.
ReplyDeleteGraham, our Public Health Agency (and government) has so far taken the standpoint that home-made and substandard face masks give a false sense of security rather than real protection (and may even do more harm than good). So they are not recommending those. (And I have to say that when seeing certain scenes on TV with people using them, I get what they mean...) On the other hand, Sweden in general is a sparsely populated country compared to most. I can well imagine that in very crowded situations and places, wearing masks may still make sense. I'd not be too surprised if it should come to be recommended on public transport here as well. (If not by the authorities, perhaps by the companies providing the services.) So far, I haven't actually been using any transport at all since this whole situation began. But on the streets in this city, I see very few people wearing masks (if any at all).
DeleteOne of the problems, Monica, is that many people don't know how to use face coverings. I have the advantage of having worked in a hospital and I can't understand why, after our government told us how to wash our hands (yes really!) it has not explained how to deal with masks. I haven't been out in a situation that needs a mask yet but I have disposable masks and know that I will get through a lot. People who use re-usable masks not only don't know how to take them off but they re-use them without washing them.
ReplyDeleteGraham, I agree. Here, I have not so far seen any disposable masks for sale to the public (I haven't looked online). I think the certified masks have been in short supply even for health care staff in some places, especially in the beginning. (In which case I agree that saving the existing ones for the professionals who best know how to use them was probably wise...)
Delete