When will masks stop needing to be worn

[Beatinghearts]

It seems infection rates are now quite low.

JulesJules

Tbh, I'm really surprised by the animosity towards mask wearing - as a physical thing, I mean, rather than people who don't believe it's necessary, against their human rights etc. When I was a nurse working in theatres we all wore masks all the time and I don't remember anyone ever making a fuss about it.
Exactly this, the whole thing is ridiculous.
I'd like masks to stay, for a very long time, and don't think they should just be gone because cases are falling and things are improving.
The places where they have been wearing masks way before covid have the right idea.

Hopefully they will stop being mandatory soon. I have the same problem as many others with glasses steaming up so end up fiddling with it and pulling it down to clear them
Etc. I won’t be going out to just do browsing shopping until they are gone as spend half the time blind and suffocating. They feel much worse with glasses on too than without glasses - Probably because the whole faces is covered in something. My mum has a similar struggle with hearing aids and mask loops catching them.

@Dozer

Seems unlikely that government / employers will allow pupil-facing schools staff who have had the vaccines to continue to wear a mask once school recommendations change. It impedes teaching and learning.

I teach in Wales and I will wear one until I feel I am ready to remove it, regardless of how many have been vaccinated in my work setting. I have been wearing one since June when in school. When restrictions are lifted then it should be an individual's choice.

Masks are not PPE. Employees are not necessarily free to wear masks, visors etc based on their perceived risks to themselves (or others). Employers will have policies.

Teaching is a specific case because masks impede communications. For example, employment tribunals have upheld school employers not allowing certain face coverings and other items that teachers wanted to wear for religious / cultural reasons.

So in the case of schools, once staff have been vaccinated it seems likely employers won’t allow staff to wear masks, unless DfE guidance says otherwise.

Masks are not PPE

ASAP, I hope. The abuse exempt have faced for getting on for a year has been horrendous. The sooner people can use public transport/go to work/pop to the shops without being afraid of being shouted at, spat at and threatened, the better.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Masks are not PPE

The ones you buy from supermarkets or similar which are reworn without being washed/shoved in pockets/touched with dirty hands aren't.

I really hope they go soon. Fed up of having my glasses fogged up so much. It’s worse in winter too because of the temperature differential, so the idea of keeping them ‘just for winter’ is not much consolation!

I wear mine everywhere I’m supposed to at the moment but they’ll be going as soon as permitted. Including on public transport. Feel free to keep wearing one if you like them and I won’t judge you, but I like being able to SEE!

I hope they are scrapped soon, but I fear they will be among the last things to go. The govt likes them as they cost nothing and put the responsiblity onto ordinary people. However, even if they remain mandatory in some situations, I suspect enforcement and compliance will drop quite soon.

@Taikoo

2024. No sooner I'd imagine.

Not a chance in the world people (including myself) will comply for another 3 years.

Also, Boris won't risk still having the enforcement in place during the run up to the next election (after the locals).

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Masks are not PPE

The face coverings most of us wear aren’t. PPE is surgical/FFP2/FFP3 masks.

Tbh, I'm really surprised by the animosity towards mask wearing - as a physical thing, I mean, rather than people who don't believe it's necessary, against their human rights etc. When I was a nurse working in theatres we all wore masks all the time and I don't remember anyone ever making a fuss about it.

Wearing medical grade masks in a clinical environment is not at all the same thing as wearing a fabric mask when going about your daily life. The benefits of the former are obvious, the latter not so much.

I'd like masks to stay, for a very long time, and don't think they should just be gone because cases are falling and things are improving.

Why? If the aim was to prevent the spread of Covid, when the majority of the population is vaccinated and rates are very low - currently 1 in 1000 - why on earch would mask wearing be mandatory?

The places where they have been wearing masks way before covid have the right idea.

Where are all these mythical mask wearing countries MNers go on about? If they mean SK, Hong Kong or other East Asian nations, mask wearing is not mandatory in normal times, nor do people wear them as a matter of course. And needless to say, there's absolutely nothing preventing you wearing one as long as you wish.

At least until every adult has been offered vaccination.

[quote ChiefClerkDrumknott]@TruelyWonder It was, yes. Sadly most people in the UK are apparently far too selfish to wear one to prevent their germs spreading. I wish we could adopt the habit of wearing one if we’re feeling a bit peaky to prevent spreading disease but I fear not.
If I can find a mask that will protect me I’ll happily wear it[/quote]
Absolute bollocks! Most people ARE wearing masks even though they may not like it they're still doing it. There's a small minority of people who can't wear a mask and probably an even smaller amount of people who plainly refuse for selfish reasons. Most people are following government guidelines and will continue to do so until its no longer necessary as told by the government/WHO . If people choose not to continue to wear a mask AFTER advice had been changed that's their choice it doesn't make them selfish in any way.

@Wizzbangfizz

I don't think I will if it is law, I think that the people on here promoting their continued use should wear them if they wish because as adults we should all choose our own risk and what we are comfortable with. I'm willing to take my chances of getting colds/flu as I was before without giving it a seconds thought.

But you wear a mask to protect other people. If you are infected and you aren't wearing a mask you can pass it on.

Will you at least socially distance to protect the vulnerable?

Will you at least socially distance to protect the vulnerable?

Before covid, did you routinely 'socially distance' when you have a cold? As in, do you ask others to sit away from you on the bus or move away from everyone else in the shops? Most of us accept that everyday life has a degree of risk, though some here seem to have forgotten that.

I've already started ditching mine on the school run as it's outdoors, what a sad world it would be if people had to wear them once this has passed.

Wearing a mask for 1/2 hour while you're shopping is easy wearing a mask for over 8 hours every day in work is not so easy. I'm really over wearing one and can't wait for them to go! I don't think I will cope in the hot weather in work, we don't have any air conditioning and the temperature gets really high when the weather is hot. ( metal building with glass roof!)I feel faint and sick in normal times let alone trying to wear a mask.

I'm hoping sooner than later but I'm sure I heard something about them being used in certain places for the foreseeable future, into next year even.

June is my guess too.

I will certainly miss the masks and social distancing in shops.

I am surprised that people want to go back to being coughed and sneezed on and having to duck due to people's inability to wait for 10 seconds for a shelved item.

When I see posts on here saying you can't understand why people don't like masks, Really you can't understand why people don't want want to wear them? And the theatre nurse post is surely a joke of she can't understand the difference.

When it's lifted carry on wearing if you want to buy don't expect rest of us to.

Soon I hope, I'm sick of having to wear them in the office where there is already social distancing and everyone has had their second vaccine. Utter madness.

I’m not going back into an office wearing one. Shall I take it off every 5 minutes to answer the phone or just sound muffled to the person I’m speaking to (who is also wearing a mask).

My SM is full of people in pubs, tents, literal plastic bubble things boozing with their arms round each other. But we wear masks in supermarkets.

Whenever they say you can go inside other peoples homes (although I see people doing this anyway) they need to go.

Colds and coughs still did the rounds in the office during lockdown, so masks won't stop this. It was lockdown which stopped flu circulating but we can't do that forever.

Cannot wait for all masks to go in the bin.