Face masks and social distancing forever anyone?

[englishmaninnewyork]

Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology at UCL and a leading member of SAGE, has told Channel 5 that mask-wearing and social distancing will need to stay in place “forever”, not only for Covid but also “to reduce other [diseases]” in the future.
twitter.com/5_News/status/1402682447586811913
Sadly, this fruit cake has the government's ear.
Plenty have warned this past 12 months that changes we have been seeing were the thin edge of the wedge
Dismissed and gas-lighted, sadly.

@JuneMoonstone

Susan Michie is a Communist Sociopath who is advocating an utterly miserable existence for us all. What a dreadful, dangerous person she is. The way she giggled after saying 'forever' says it all. She's absolutely revelling in this new-found power and control she has over the British public thanks to the pandemic. Anyone who takes on board what she says is a fool. I for one will NOT be wearing a facemask and socially distancing forever that's for sure. What a horrid, depressing future ahead of us is this woman gets her way.

Yep - she’s the type of person who thinks 1984 is an instruction manual

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me. I will not wear a face mask for a moment longer than necessary.

Of course good hygiene and reasonable ventilation should be here to stay, but they should have been anyway even before Covid. On the rest, she can sod off.

@nordica

She seems to talk about hand hygiene, good ventilation and wearing face coverings in busy places where ventilation is not possible. That's not the same as having social distancing forever.

Mask-wearing has become the norm in many Asian countries especially during cold and flu season and on public transport. And in terms of hand hygiene, hopefully many people have now learnt to wash their hands if they weren't doing so before! (Apparently they weren't, given the sudden surge in soap and handwash sales last year.)

Exactly

@nordica and @Hax wtf. Asia is pretty big. Singapore for example doesn’t have a flu season because they don’t have a winter! You are covering an area from China in the north which gets a winter to the tropics and tropical weather.

Many reasons for mask wearing and apparently includes pollution, pollen and not wanting to attract attention from men. Reasons for wearing a mask in say Japan will not be the same reasons for wearing a mask in China. In some cultures you don’t want other people to see you have a cold. It’s not about protecting people it’s about your appearance and a runny nose doesn’t look good.

Personally masks aren’t really stopping the spread. Hand washing on the other hand! Staying at home when you are ill. These sorts of things need a culture shift. Social distancing needs to be dropped so we can hug and kiss again.

Even before the pandemic sometimes in London you would see Asian people wearing a mask. Outside. But so so few people. So much communication is lost when people wear a mask. Completely disproportionate to the risk.

Lots of these sage people are bonkers.

I have heard this elsewhere... make all these new habits permanent ones. Sigh.

I bet if I googled I could find plenty statistics about plenty of flu in Far East. I think Japan gets quite bad flu years, for instance.

Children of all ages are being made to wear masks everywhere in public at the moment even where vivid cases are non existent. They have completely lost the plot over there at the moment.

In parts of Asia I meant to say

*Covid not vivid, posted too soon!

I don't know Susan Michie, and it will much depend on infection rates and vaccinations I think before decisions on masks, social distancing etc will be taken. Im not a scientist. One place I will continue to wear a mask is public transport, well before Covid Im convinced I caught any illness going from it, as people continually coughed and sneezed and never used handkerchiefs. The sitting on public transport and listening to the eternal sniffing drove me nuts. As did the wiping the nose with the hand, then getting up from seat and wiping same hand over handrail etc. Quite frankly, disgusting.

I do think building ventilation should be looked at much more and like Gothichouse40 I wouldn't be adverse to masks on public transport- but I think long term I think the new normal with masks and such won't take long term.

@Gwlondon Singapore was indirectly affected in the 2003 SARS and various bird flu outbreaks which prompted a lot of mask wearing and a culture of obsessive hygiene practices in parts of Asia emerged. Having lived in the region for 16 years mask wearing is often the norm in situations where it's not warranted. I fear Covid has pushed many counties there over the edge in terms of rational relationships with mask wearing. Keep seeing pics of my friends small kids out there wearing masks, so sad.

Respiratory illnesses and flu viruses are commonplace in Singapore despite the tropical climate

It wouldn't bother me.

[quote Gwlondon]**@nordica* and @Hax* wtf. Asia is pretty big. Singapore for example doesn’t have a flu season because they don’t have a winter! You are covering an area from China in the north which gets a winter to the tropics and tropical weather.

Many reasons for mask wearing and apparently includes pollution, pollen and not wanting to attract attention from men. Reasons for wearing a mask in say Japan will not be the same reasons for wearing a mask in China. In some cultures you don’t want other people to see you have a cold. It’s not about protecting people it’s about your appearance and a runny nose doesn’t look good.

Personally masks aren’t really stopping the spread. Hand washing on the other hand! Staying at home when you are ill. These sorts of things need a culture shift. Social distancing needs to be dropped so we can hug and kiss again.

Even before the pandemic sometimes in London you would see Asian people wearing a mask. Outside. But so so few people. So much communication is lost when people wear a mask. Completely disproportionate to the risk.[/quote]
Well said. It really pisses me off when people trot out "Well they do it in Asia". Do they? Which parts of Asia? Specifically why in that particular country? It's such a lazy assumption, 9 times out of 10 based on absolutely zero knowledge of "Asia".

People who want to wear masks, crack on, I don't care. Don't even try and think you can tell other people to do the same.

Well, I have been pretty compliant.

However, that is my line and she has crossed.

I will absolutely not live with masks and social distancing forever. Not a chance.

This all has to end at some point.

What a stupid fucking woman. If her brand of "psychology" doesn't extend to the barriers in communication caused by masks and the social isolation caused by social distance, she's not much of a psychologist.

And to be frank, I don't give one shiny shit what they do in the Far East.

@TempsPerdu

Susan Michie has been one of the most terrifying thing about Covid from the outset IMO.

Yes! She's atrocious.

@RaspberryCoulis

What a stupid fucking woman. If her brand of "psychology" doesn't extend to the barriers in communication caused by masks and the social isolation caused by social distance, she's not much of a psychologist.

And to be frank, I don't give one shiny shit what they do in the Far East.

It's behavioural pyschology

i.e. getting the many to do what the few want them to do.

I stopped wearing a snot rag july 24 2020
Yep the day this country bowed to our great overlord

Oh fuck
My delivery of Laura dodsworths book a state of fear has been delayed till July 28

Grrr

I would rather be dead than live in a world where I can't lip read, make face contact, keep up with conversation and constantly fear being ostricised because I don't cope with wearing the miserable things.

Face masks were not worn by the majority when I travelled through China from Hong Kong to Beijing during the swine flu phase. We have been saturated with images of masks to persuade us that they're normal.

She can wear a mask and social distance as much as she wants, the rest of us can make our own minds up.

I'm actually contemplating getting myself a sunflower lanyard now. I see more and more people with them (maskless).

Yesterday one group of 4 friends, in their 30s at the gym (members lounge where you're supposed to have a mask not working out), none of them with masks, all with lanyards. The chances of all of them being exempt are remote. I think people are pushing back.

And I feel like joining them. Especially as I've had both vaccines.

If someone had said that to me six months ago or so I'd have been telling them how irresponsible they are! I think I've reached my limit now.

oh yes where do I sign up??! Madness.