When will masks stop needing to be worn

[Beatinghearts]

It seems infection rates are now quite low.

@TheVampiresWife

I've just read on the BBC that masks and SD will probably continue after June. So nightclubs will reopen but you'll need to wear a mask to nip to Sainsbury's?

Nightclubs cannot function with SD. Neither can transport, hospitality, tourism, leisure, the arts, entertainment and much else besides. The BBC is speculating, just like the rest of us.

I have a feeling that no-one is going to say that we can stop wearing them. It will take society to wean ourselves off them. Obviously shops etc have a no mask no entry policy unless exempt, but I think they will fade out and we will, as a nation, stop wearing them as much. Obviously I have nothing to go on, but its just a feeling.

Personally I'm not a fan and I never have been. However, I do wear one without making a fuss. Weirdly, I have found that over the last couple of weeks or so I've suddenly noticed how much I hate seeing them on other people. I don't like looking at faceless people and it makes me feel a bit nervous.

Also its the whole thing that they represent for me. They represent a time when a lot of our freedoms were taken away, a time when the world went to shit, a time when my mental health took a really big nose dive. Its not the actual wearing one I have a problem with, its the faceless people and what the masks represent.

Plus I agree with PP regarding our immune systems. I do wonder if all this hand sanitizing etc is going to compromise us in the future. While I think that we should all have a basic level of hygiene ie washing hands before food, not coughing in people's faces etc I also think you can take it too far and then immune systems are buggered.

@IcedPurple Raab said it - although I do take your point, it's just conjecture at the moment. And absolutely those things can't function with SD (why do so many people still think SD is no more than standing 2m apart in the Tesco queue?!). That's why I thought it was a strange thing for him to say in the same breath as saying restrictions would end in June and everything would open up.

[quote TheVampiresWife]@IcedPurple Raab said it - although I do take your point, it's just conjecture at the moment. And absolutely those things can't function with SD (why do so many people still think SD is no more than standing 2m apart in the Tesco queue?!). That's why I thought it was a strange thing for him to say in the same breath as saying restrictions would end in June and everything would open up.[/quote]
He said SD would continue or that it could continue?

@IcedPurple I've just re-read it and he says could rather than would, my apologies. His actual words were that some safeguards will need to stay in place beyond June and masks/SD could be some of those safeguards.

I'm not sure many people will happily comply with masks in supermarkets and socially distancing from family/friends when nightclubs and so on will be open, and I wouldn't blame them.

[quote HarryLimeFoxtrot]@RoseAndRose
Also agree with a couple of posts I've seen that say it would be a good idea for masks to continue to be required in medical facilities and on public transport

I’m already overdue for my smear test. If they continue to be required in medical facilities, then it’s never going to happen. I can’t have my mouth and nose covered. Just the thought makes me panicky.[/quote]
Could you wear an exemption lanyard thing when you go for you smear? I offer my patients the chance to take theirs off during their smear, if they wish. I'm down the other end anyway! I know some people feel vulnerable enough in that situation without having their face covered as well.

@GoldenOmber

Utter stupidity to compare COVID to a cold.

Okay then: Did you routinely socially distance to protect the vulnerable from measles, polio, diphtheria?

But you can vaccinate yourself against these diseases.

@ihavethehighground

I like wearing one. No tonsillitis, no cold, no flu

I’m with you. I’m immune compromised and have been so much healthier this last 14 months with everyone wearing masks and more hand sanitising and cleaning everywhere. I’m like a completely different person health wise.

I’d be happy with a relaxation of the rules but don’t think it’s a bad idea for people to continue wearing them.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56964296
Specifically mentioned masks and SD, it seems a hasty move to ditch masks given government is expecting a rise in cases over summer and masks are quite a low-level intervention.

I don’t understand why so many people (barring exemptions) still have such an issue with them after all this time. I didn’t like them at first but now I forget mine’s on after 30 seconds

I wish I could forget that level of sensory discomfort and the feeling of not being able to breathe properly. Pushed through for a long time and now I’m using my exemption lanyard much more often if I have to be anywhere for a long time. I’ve had enough and can’t wait for the bastard things to go. My GP surgery want me to do a smear test in a mask. Not a chance.

YorkiePanda

I don’t understand why so many people (barring exemptions) still have such an issue with them after all this time. I didn’t like them at first but now I forget mine’s on after 30 seconds“

I would have absolutely agreed with you a few weeks ago. Must admit though, I do find them so much more uncomfortable in warm weather. I have no medical issues, menopausal and hot flushes now and again but not sure if that counts? I will, of course, continue to wear my mask despite being vaccinated, if for nothing else but respect for my kids and their generations (big gap) who have given up so much for their elders without complaint. They more than deserve the consideration of older people until they receive their vaccinations too.

I have never had any problem at all with medical exemptions, when I see someone in a shop without a mask I just assume they have one. In the warmer weather, I can completely empathise with their difficulty in wearing one.
It must have been very frightening this past year: having to go to the shops with no protection, exempt people must have felt incredibly vulnerable. They certainly didn’t need nastiness from other people.

I’m not wearing one after June 21st. They are a box ticking exercise that serve no purpose and I’m sick of my baby not being able to see people smile and growing up thinking having faces covered is normal.

Pieces of loose dirty cloth across your face is doing absolutely nothing to stop transmission, just look at states in the US with mask mandates vs. ones without and that tells you all you need to know.

Also preventing colds and other germs will be harmful in the long term when our immune systems have forgotten how to work.

To me, I don't have any problems with wearing a mask. There's nothing to lose for being safer if wearing one doesn't cause a lot of concern or issues whilst I understand some people have medical reasons for not wearing one. What I don't understand is why we need to wear one at shops / public transport but not in working office where people talk and interact a lot !

It must have been very frightening this past year: having to go to the shops with no protection, exempt people must have felt incredibly vulnerable. They certainly didn’t need nastiness from other people

I’ve never felt terribly fearful of Covid since I went back to in-person working last summer. For me, masks don’t make a jot of difference between feeling safe or not when I’m out. I feel like they’re more of a psychological thing, people just feel safer. I’ve had patients who have been abused in shops for being mask exempt, but I’ve notice that’s mostly tailed off now. I’ve never had an issue when using my lanyard in recent times, and I absolutely refuse to wear masks at work when I’m tested every time I go in before I walk through the door and vaccinated twice. We need to crack on now - if we don’t trust tests AND vaccines, there’s a problem.

Perhaps other exempt folk feel differently, I dunno, but I’ve never felt more at risk than people in a mask. I do have asthma, but I’ve always figured if I did get Covid the likely culprit would be a patient at work, and so far I’ve been lucky and both staff and patients have been very sensible about not coming in if they even have a vague suspicion they might be unwell.

If some people want to continue wearing them good for them. I think they are probably a good idea in very crowded places if individuals have cold symptoms.

Mor importantly, I think people should co tinge to wash their hands regularly. I have often wondered why I rarely get colds or other illnesses unlike many colleagues. I have concluded it's probably because I wash my hands frequently.

It should be the 21st June if we are going by data, not dates. But I don't think they will will lift the mandate even when there are zero cases. They actually brought mandatory masks in in August last year when cases were barely registering on the scale, so they will have no qualms about keeping them.

I'm not wearing mine anymore. It was making me feel ill, I kept having to pull it down to breathe and as the weather has got warmer and my hayfever and asthma have returned for Spring I've found it literally unbearable to wear.

There are very few cases now so it's not actually serving any purpose. And I guess those worried about catching something are masked up so I'm happy with my decision and happy to cope with the side-eyes in the supermarket.

I went to an outdoor scene yesterday - one that is for children but obviously each child had 1-2 parents with them and there seemed to be a few grandparents dotted about too. There were thousands of people there and not a mask in sight and people were just milling around as normal, no social distancing and the children were all falling over each other.

It was so, so lovely to be able to see people’s faces and feel like life was normal again. It actually felt quite emotional. My children had an amazing time but a large part of my enjoyment was from seeing unmasked faces, being able to talk to unmasked faces and actually being able to see other people’s smiles.

It felt wonderful.

There are very few cases now so it's not actually serving any purpose. And I guess those worried about catching something are masked up so I'm happy with my decision and happy to cope with the side-eyes in the supermarket.

As has been said many times you wear a mask to protect others not yourself. Why do you not want to protect the vulnerable?

Test and Trace say that you are only at risk of having Corona transmitted to you if you spend 15 minutes in close contact with someone.

This has been their stance for as long as I can remember.

It’s for reasons like this why masks seem so utterly pointless in some instances.

At one point my workplace was telling people we had to wear a mask when walking from our car to our actual workplace - even if we are walking across the near enough deserted car park on our own.

It was ludicrous and I guess you can imagine how many people actually complied with this.

Meant to add this to my post about who is actually at risk as set out by test and trace.

@DancesWithTortoises

There are very few cases now so it's not actually serving any purpose. And I guess those worried about catching something are masked up so I'm happy with my decision and happy to cope with the side-eyes in the supermarket.

As has been said many times you wear a mask to protect others not yourself. Why do you not want to protect the vulnerable?

Protect them from what exactly?

@DancesWithTortoises

There are very few cases now so it's not actually serving any purpose. And I guess those worried about catching something are masked up so I'm happy with my decision and happy to cope with the side-eyes in the supermarket.

As has been said many times you wear a mask to protect others not yourself. Why do you not want to protect the vulnerable?

I’ve been vaccinated

The negative social, cultural and economic impact of enforced continued wearing of masks is disproportionate to any benefit at this stage

@AlecTrevelyan006 I agree with you. I am vaccinated and I found myself standing in a room the other day with only other vaccinated people, in an area where there are currently zero cases. It felt completely pointless and frankly a bit daft.

*all wearing masks

If the roadmap goes to plan all being well for 21st June, in what situation will masks be needed? Hundreds of guests at a wedding won't allow be masked will they? Likewise people packed into nightclubs. The rules will have to change surely.