Wearing masks on buses

At the risk of starting an argument, I used the 133 bus through SE1 last week , the first time I've used public transport for four months - and I'm not in a hurry to do so again. (I'm in my 70s and have been self-isolating). I was rather shocked that there were people being allowed to board without face coverings/masks. I know that there are some exemptions so maybe everyone of those people had a legitimate reason not to wear a any face covering. Is this another example of confusing statements from the government?

It' s very inconsiderate and should be enforced. However, it's not the Government to blame here. A caller to LBC last week said bus drivers had actually been prevented by City Hall from enforcing mask wearing. The Mayor of London is responsible for all things bus-related. Although there has been lots of self-publicity by Mr Khan and lots of political jibes, there hasn't really been any leadership shown by him over the last few months. In fact he has made a right mess of it - cutting off TfL's revenue stream at a time when it was already constrained, spending hundreds of thousands on radio advertising (not Covid related).

The problem is, every time the driver stops to challenge a non mask wearer every time it happens it would slow the service down.

I have no respiratory problems, BUT if I was to get on a bus with no mask and the driver challenged me I could simple say "I have asthma" The bus driver would not know any more than any other passenger if I was telling the truth or not, so what would anyone gain?

To those who bother to wear masks, please use them correctly. It's comical to see the folks on buses who use them to cover just their mouth, or as a chin strap - as if just to be visible having a mask is enough! It seems necessary to remove them completely when conducting loud phone conversations, when it would be a mercy to other passengers to have the blather muffled a bit.

This will probably be a bit of required health and safety social 'etiquette' we'll get used to in time, like seat-belts or the smoking ban.