#WearAMask trending on twitter

[Honey12346]

The mask police are out in full force. It saddens me what society has become

@Postdatedpandemic

Never been to SE Asia have you *@IcedPurple* ?

Social responsibility varies greatly across the planet.

Some have a mature attitude and some are more toddler like.

Yes I have been to SE Asia. The only time I saw people wearing face masks was women protecting their faces from the sun. Nothing to do with a 'mature attitude' or 'social responsibility'.

How about socieities a little closer to home? How many people were wearing face masks in Italy a year and a half ago? Or France? Or Ireland? Close to none. And as soon as they're told they're no longer required to do so, they'll be ditching them in great numbers too.

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

Do they work though? Really? What would the material difference been in the death rates if we’d not been wearing crumpled up bits of tatty fabric that have been shoved in coat pockets and gathering fluff in handbags all winter?

I’m sceptical honestly

I completely agree with this.

I'm not quite sure why you think people would have worn face masks in France a week before the first case recorded outside of China @IcedPurple

@Postdatedpandemic

I'm not quite sure why you think people would have worn face masks in France a week before the first case recorded outside of China *@IcedPurple*

By the same token, I'm not sure what your 'social responsibility' SE Asia reference was about?

My point is that the vast majority of people - not just in Britain - are only wearing masks due to government mandate. When that mandate is dropped, most people will stop wearing masks. Nationality has got very little to do with it.

@Postdatedpandemic

Never been to SE Asia have you *@IcedPurple* ?

Social responsibility varies greatly across the planet.

Some have a mature attitude and some are more toddler like.

I lived in SE Asia for few years. People wear masks to protect themselves from POLLUTION and never indoors (unless they're sick).

What I want to know is why people aren't allowed personal choice when it comes to smoking?

Masks can protect the wearer (some types more than others) but they also protect others around them.

If there's no mandate to wear masks, the same principle should be applied to smoking indoors - in pubs and restaurants, offices, on trains and buses. People should be allowed the personal choice our government is so keen on.

Yes she has. As has my sis who has Covid again, despite having it last year and being double jabbed. DD has been told by two consultants to carry on shielding because she's still at risk. But crack on. Burn the mask, feel victorious and pass it on. Woo hoo!

And masks havent stopped any of the above have they. A pointless arguement.

@Chillychangchoo - well they originally coined the term & it's associated with them. Fox, Farage, Trump etc etc. If you know that then maybe you should.

And now using a Cameronism too

If cases were really low I'd be more than ready to ditch them

But they aren't. They're rising as steeply as at any point during the pandemic.

I help out at a vaccination centre. It fills me with horror that despite the fact that I'm certain virtually all of the staff and volunteers will continue to be masked, it may no longer be compulsory for punters. First time vaccinated punters who are most likely to have covid. I have made it clear that I won't be helping out again if masks don't continue to be compulsory there. No mask no jab as far as I'm concerned.

For the upteenth time it's not to protect you it's to protect others in the event hat you are infectious.

I lived in SE Asia for few years. People wear masks to protect themselves from POLLUTION and never indoors ( unless they're sick ).

The bit in bold being relevant. I have friends from East Asia. They wear masks when potentially contagious out of courtesy to others. Particularly in enclosed poorly ventilated spaces like crowded public transport.

WHO advises masks as part of safe reopening.

@Tealightsandd

What I want to know is why people aren't allowed personal choice when it comes to smoking?

Masks can protect the wearer (some types more than others) but they also protect others around them.

If there's no mandate to wear masks, the same principle should be applied to smoking indoors - in pubs and restaurants, offices, on trains and buses. People should be allowed the personal choice our government is so keen on.

Because people have been allocated smoking areas. As a non smoker I can decide whether to sit in those areas or not and choose not to but it still allows the smokers to smoke. Perfect choice for both sides.

My sister is profoundly deaf, relies heavily on lip reading, and is at the point now where she feels so isolated from society, that she broke down last week and said she sometimes thinks that she'd rather be dead. This is a woman in her 30s, and totally against character. I will be glad when the masks have gone.

@Tealightsandd

I lived in SE Asia for few years. People wear masks to protect themselves from POLLUTION and never indoors ( unless they're sick ).

The bit in bold being relevant. I have friends from East Asia. They wear masks when potentially contagious out of courtesy to others. Particularly in enclosed poorly ventilated spaces like crowded public transport.

WHO advises masks as part of safe reopening.

Yes, when they have symptoms, not before. With majority of population vaccinated it is safe to assume that most of us aren't 'contagious'.

If people are to told personal choice when it comes to masks, so should smokers be given personal choice to light up on trains, in pubs, and in restaurants.

Whatever way you look at it, the government's policy makes no sense. If masks have no significant impact on the spread of Covid, why did the government mandate them in lots of situations for many months? If masks do offer protection, why remove the mask requirement at a time when Covid rates are high and rising in most places and hospitalisations are also rising (albeit thankfully much slower than in the first and second waves thanks to vaccination)?

I hate masks and have stopped wearing mine now except when I absolutely have no choice. People who wear masks outdoors on sunny days... it's just beyond me to understand that. Wear a mask if you want but stop trying to coerce normal people into it. Masks are proven to be useless in preventing the spread of covid and they make communication and daily life more difficult for everyone.

@Tealightsandd

If people are to told personal choice when it comes to masks, so should smokers be given personal choice to light up on trains, in pubs, and in restaurants.

Do you honestly compare smoking to a normal human activity which is BREATHING? Smoking is a CHOICE and breathing is not. Besides smokers can still smoke outside and in public places such as parks, so it's not like their lives are heavily restricted.

@ThunderBitch - but you're judging. How does it harm you if someone wears a mask outdoors? And do you have proof that masks are useless? Do share with us.

Masks are proven to be useless in preventing the spread of covid Link?

With majority of population vaccinated it is safe to assume that most of us aren't 'contagious'.

I'm talking about the UK. Don't know where you live, but in the UK the majority of the population is not yet fully vaccinated.

Given the steadily increasing rise in cases, hospitalisations, and (slowly but surely) deaths, and the rising numbers suffering debilitating Long Covid, it's pretty obvious to know that many of the public are contagious.

Maybe the new rules should allow each business to decide if mask is wearing should be mandatory or not.

Those that want them can choose where to shop/travel etc. I wonder what would happen? Would those that want SD and masks to remain keep those businesses in profit or would it revert to pre covid where those that want masks and SD abandoned be the profitable ones.

If the rumours are right and it will come down to individuals we will know quickly what the majority want.

@LilyPond2

Masks are proven to be useless in preventing the spread of covid Link?

There isn't one. No credible one anyway. They do make a difference. Numerous studies demonstrate that fact.

Clearly a lot of people forget it’s actually really important to catch illnesses, it’s how our immune system works.

@Tealightsandd

If people are to told personal choice when it comes to masks, so should smokers be given personal choice to light up on trains, in pubs, and in restaurants.

This isn't the gotcha you think it is.

Anti maskers protested by mass gathering and deliberately not wearing masks when doing so. Almost no arrests.

Wonder what would happen if smokers protested by mass smoking in a pub, restaurant, or train?

Some serious double standards going on around the idea of personal choice and freedom.