Which would you prefer re masks?

[PuzzledObserver]

The BBC live news page just now was saying there are “hints” that masks and SD may be dropped over the summer.... but there is a risk they will be reintroduced over the winter.

What would you prefer? I mean, presumably ditch them immediately and for ever, but if that’s not possible, would you rather:

a) have a break over the summer in the knowledge they’ll be back towards the end of the year;

b) keep them until we’re certain they will never be back.

I would choose a, by the way.

Should never have been introduced and get rid of them for good ASAP.

They were introduced to pander to the anxious

I have yet to see any probable evidence that masks the way the majority use them do any good

A

A - definitely. I really wonder how much good they do in non-healthcare settings...

No risk @PuzzledObserver Do you believe that no risk AKA zero Covid is possible?

A (please!). I’m not generally a whinger, I have a high pain threshold, I think I can tolerate quite a lot. But I’ve not yet found a mask that fits properly, that doesn’t slip, doesn’t fog up my glasses, doesn’t leave me short of breath. I’m pregnant so a bit more breathless and hot anyway, and I nearly passed out in a slow-moving pharmacy queue earlier today. I kept taking it off to sip water from my bottle, mainly as an excuse for fresh air. I need to wear one at work too, in a role with a lot of moving around and talking, and it is very difficult.

@LolaSmiles

A. Or keep them in certain situations where there's close contact whilst removing them in other places.

I'm hoping that people don't start invading personal space again though. There's nothing pleasant about someone shoving their armpit over you in a shop rather than wait 10 seconds. I've never liked people breathing down my neck in queues, and have never understood why they think shuffling closer and closer like an impatient creep will make the shop assistant move quicker. I hope social distancing for a year might leave people with a better appreciation of personal space.

@LolaSmiles Totally agree. I hate human "tailgating" as much as when it's done with vehicles.

A.

@MercyBooth I think Covid Zero, while theoretically possible, is highly unlikely. That’s doesn’t necessarily mean we will be asked to keep masks, though.

With high enough vaccination rates, I think death from Covid will become uncommon, perhaps less common than from flu. That should be the case, because the Covid vaccines are much more effective than flu vaccines. I also speculate that uptake of flu vaccines may be permanently raised in future years, at least for a time.

I don't care for myself but please ditch them immediately forever in classrooms.

@1stMrsF

I don't care for myself but please ditch them immediately forever in classrooms.

Yes!

I'd ditch them in the knowledge they might be back.

Mainly because it tails off a bit in Summer regardless of masks, and it surges again in Autumn regardless of masks (this is not to say masks do nothing - just that it will probably surge a bit regardless of which route we took).

So my reasoning is that if there came a point where we never needed them again, I doubt that would come quicker because we carried on wearing masks in the summer. (A scientist may disagree, but my logic believes this).

Wearing masks doesn't have any impact on the speed of the vaccine rollout, and in terms of losing social distancing, it's surely some kind of herd immunity that is the key. You could argue, I guess, that wearing masks throughout the summer might make this even longer to achieve; if it cuts infections; or has no difference either way, just that you have the inconvenience of wearing masks.

I hope I'm making sense. Probably not, if so forgive me, it's Friday.

A and have them never return.

Outside medical settings, there is scant evidence masks are effective. Danish study and recent Stanford study in the US both concluded masks offer negligible benefit and are often worn incorrectly/poor mask hygiene, which means people are touching contaminated masks and then touching surfaces. Ughhhh. It makes me feel more grossed out to see people faffing with their (probably unwashed for several days) masks and then touching things than it does to see people not wearing them. Get rid, they're pointless. I've stopped wearing them now, I did force myself to at first despite the panic due to restricted breathing, but then I was like why - they're not effective, this is purely psychological. I won't give my business to any places that don't recognise medical exemptions/lanyards. Currently also in a, ahem, 'discussion' with my GP surgery over them making women mask up during smear tests as well. Covid hysteria has replaced common sense and humanity, and I'm not here for it.

@TransplantedScouser

Should never have been introduced and get rid of them for good ASAP.

They were introduced to pander to the anxious

I have yet to see any probable evidence that masks the way the majority use them do any good

I tend to agree with that.

Also, as quite a lot of people don't like wearing them then it must dampen down the business shops and others such as hairdressers can do. If masks were not mandatory then maybe more people would go to these businesses and they would do better.

B

I'd scrap them completely but prefer a break over the summer than nothing.

As to whether they work, the most recent real world study I saw was from the Centre for Disease Control and that found that they make a 0.7% difference to growth rate of cases (and bear in mind that the CDC likely started out with the expectation that masks work). In comparisons between states like California and Florida, where one has a mask mandate and one doesn't you can't see any difference in transmission, even though California also has loads of other measures too.

So it seems like any difference they make is marginal at best and it seems entirely possible that they are counterproductive.

I don't mind so much for supermarket, healthcare appointments etc. but hate spending time around my baby with one on.

My personal view,I'll wear a mask day in day out if it means every single place is reopened to full capacity

@YorkiePanda Ive not had a smear test since 2014 as i find them VERY VERY painful so i certainly couldnt do it in a mask.

A

There’s no guarantee they won’t be brought back ever anyway - they’re a thing now

B. The country can’t afford more lockdowns so we have to open up as much as possible without risking them. If that means the trivial inconvenience of wearing a mask in shops contains, so be it.

C. Never again. I've already stopped wearing one and won't put one on again.

@Whatalottachocca

I'd choose C) stop wearing them for good.

Ditto

@EvilPea

B And I really disliked masks to start with. There is evidence they are a reminder to modify behaviour.

I don’t want reminding to modify my behaviour. There is nothing wrong with my behaviour.

A. But really C... no masks at all. And I’d put money on no masks not making any difference at all to the numbers.

B, B, a thousand times B!

Masks are fine in winter- they keep my face warm. They're stifling in summer.

A obviously !