Surely just bring the mask mandate back now?

[Maskedtonigh]

They are an easy measure that are no real hardship and could help (even if just in a small way) suppress this virus surely we should just bring back our mask mandate now?

@ilovesooty

I've recently returned from a country where masks are mandatory in public places. No one seemed to have a problem wearing one in shops or on public transport.

Hostility and resistance seems to be a peculiarly English thing.

I'm sure Germany had plenty of protests. Weren't they in the news?

Even mask fanatics like Trish Greenlaugh say cloth masks don’t work with delta.
They do have a large impact in certain leisure areas where people will choose not to do the activity rather than wear a mask. These studies fed into the lifting of mask mandates in the U.K.

I'm pretty sure either Whitty, JVT or someone has said that masks didn't make a huge difference. Particularly the home made and "fashion" masks a lot of people wear. They act more as a reminder to keep your distance etc than as actual prevention against Covid.

@VladmirsPoutine

I haven't ever stopped wearing mine but I do wish they would make them mandatory. That said, health issues aside, I find it astonishing that people think wearing a mask is somehow an infringement of their 'rights and freedoms' and have likened it to being 'muzzled' or 'oppressed'. Utterly batshit. I wonder though what the odds are of another lockdown. I don't think people would adhere to one - I think we've collectively had it.

Well of course it's an infringement of your rights. You don;t have the right to go into shops/restaurants whatever without a mask on. So the rule is obviously infringing your rights.

Whether you feel that's enough of an infringement to get het up about is another matter.

*ilovesooty

I've recently returned from a country where masks are mandatory in public places. No one seemed to have a problem wearing one in shops or on public transport.

Hostility and resistance seems to be a peculiarly English thing.

I'm sure Germany had plenty of protests. Weren't they in the news?*

And France, Italy etc.

you say masks are no hardship they are if you are partially deaf or completely deaf and rely on lip reading although the law says you can remove mask for a lip reader most people are unaware of this exemption and you get death glares
I am partially deaf masks have been a huge hindrance to participating in society constantly asking people to repeat stuff can you let me lip read
masks muffle sound clear barriers help with lip reading but again stop sound
masks are still worn indoors in Scotland and infection rate is double that in England there is simply no strong evidence that masks worn like people wear them actually achieve much if anything
surgical masks changed several times a day at least every hour may do something but no one can afford that fabric masks achieve very very little compared to standard surgical masks and you would still need 5-6 for a full day out at school or work
staying at home if you are ill, hand washing regularly and limiting the number of people you get physically close to is best
basically we need to get on with it and use common sense
wear a mask in a crowded place but if only 3 other people in the shopping mall 10 metres away not so important people need to think instead of having people think for them
idiots will be idiots whatever the rules

This has got beyond boring now. Does no one trust their own immune system not forgetting the double vaccines and booster shortly to follow.?
Can we just agree if people want to wear masks fine, if they don't fine.

@TeacupDrama

I agree. Must have been so hard for you I'm sorry.

@Moonface123

Yes please I'm with you on that.

@KurtWilde

I'm not an anti-masker, I wore one as and when required and still caught covid. But I do think the chances of getting the bulk of the population to wear masks again are slim. Especially those who are double jabbed as many of them now seem to think they're bulletproof.

You had pretty high mask compliance, once you told people you don't have to wear them anymore then they won't. Then you tell them they do, you won't get the same compliance.

Brits only really respect rules that are properly enforced as well.

Christ, we’ve only just got rid of them.

Remember this government spent the first couple of months of the pandemic convincing us that they were useless whilst other countries used them. The science behind them seems dubious.

In saying that, I’m currently full of cold! The first since Jan last year!

I am partially deaf and I struggle but if it helps then am happy to wear one.

@twilightermummy I haven’t had a cold for over a year and am sure it’s due to mask wearing.

I'm double jabbed and had covid recently. Why should I wear a mask? I can't transmit anything so I'm no danger to others.

I don't wear masks now. I hate them. Like pp, I never managed to stop my glasses steaming up, so I couldn't really see properly.

No.

You're free to wear an N95, or even a full respirator, if that's what you feel is necessary for you.

I'm just returning from a country where mask wearing is mandatory and everyone is fine with it. I've only been away 10 days but it's going to seem very strange at home with hardly anyone wearing them. If it helps cut transmission it's not a massive hardship really.

The kids should not be asked again. It's completely unfair on them now.

‘ I'm not an anti-masker, I wore one as and when required and still caught covid’

^ this. This is what was always wrong with anti maskers.
The mask protects others, not you.

I’m dreading it if masks return - despite wearing heating aids I still need to lip read
I just become even more isolated - people can be very hostile to deaf people unfortunately - if you ask people to repeat things they react adversely
Others treat you like you have a learning disability

I've been wearing mine consistently anyway. I want to be able to see DS1 sometime.

I haven’t stopped wearing masks- I was surprised at IKEA the other day that I was the only shopper wearing one even though they kept announcing that they expect everyone to wear a mask.

All the staff had masks on.

It’s such a simple thing to do!

I won't be wearing a mask again.

@EileenGC

I feel for shops. It’s going to be a nightmare to enforce if it does become a rule again.

It was never enforced. You could declare yourself exempt - that’s not a mask mandate or a rule, at all.

So do you suggest that people who find it difficult to breathe with one on should be made to wear them?

www.rfi.fr/en/international/20210729-turn-out-lower-than-expected-in-italy-s-anti-green-pass-protests

They held a protest in Italy. Hardly anyone turned up. (This article refers to the protest date linked upthread when apparently Italy was "awash" with protestors) These were anti Green Pass btw, not anti mask.
The other week when the Green Pass mandate was extended to other places, protestors were going to stop trains etc but in the end didn't.

@CorrBlimeyGG

If not masks, then how about restricting people in shops etc again? Go back to the 2m rule. I know the weather is getting crappy again, but this was far easier to enforce and, on the whole, people went along with it. We like queuing!

No one obeyed the 2 metre rule here. At least they can be turned away if they're not wearing a mask.