Some restrictions back, fed up

[Ireallydontcare55]

Just heard the news about masks returning as of next week and changes to travelling rules.

It’s not so much that wearing a mask is inconvenient, it’s the fact that we were told restrictions were over and that we could get on with our lives.

I know I will get shot down for this post, but if it isn’t the ‘omnicron’ variant then it’ll be something else.

I’m sure many people will be in favour of tighter restrictions ‘until numbers drop’. And then what? In a few months’ time when the latest variant is out, will we have to do the same again?
“it’s just for a few weeks/months”

This isn’t going away. What’s the point of having 3 vaccines?

I’m fed up with it all, are people really prepared to do this for the foreseeable future ?

Life has changed forever, this is how we have to live in the foreseeable future unfortunately, there is little point people being fed up and throwing their toys out of the pram.

Vaccines and boosters are essential, the people in hospital seriously ill are the unvaccinated, hopefully the vaccinated will only have a mild case if they catch COVID and survive.

Time to pull up our big girls pants and get on with it and the new way of living.

@DappledOliveGroves

I'm not going to wear a mask again. I've had Covid, I could just as easily get cancer, get hit by a bus or die of something else. Everyone will die one day and I'm not tiptoeing around a virus that will mutate for the foreseeable future.

I'm not a Covid denier. I've had both vaccines. But I'm damned if I'm prepared to live like this. And it terrifies me that there's so much willingness to disregard civil liberties in the naive and arrogant hope that we can control a virus.

How about wearing a mask to protect others who already have cancer or another illness that makes them vulnerable? If you were unlucky enough to be one of these people I'm sure you would appreciate others doing their bit to protect you.

Pumperthepumper
You have an issue because you think I support Tories in criticising Labour and that is why you are saying that, I don't I dislike both equally and think they are both dicks.

Why would Tories review anything that would cost them money? Would they hell. For the same reason they never reopened the hospitals that Labour closed. My point being Labour caused that because they misspent money hugely in hospitals at the expense of the patients causing policies that still impact on us today.

The thing is, if we had much more widespread use of the vaccine (and that obviously means internationally) combined with much more care around precautions, we would have reduced the chance of variants developing. The virus depends on people being careless so that it can spread and develop variants. So I have no problem with accepting the fairly minimal restrictions involved in mask wearing and more distancing to reduce the chances of more variants developing in the future.

@Awalkintime

Pumperthepumper You have an issue because you think I support Tories in criticising Labour and that is why you are saying that, I don't I dislike both equally and think they are both dicks.

Why would Tories review anything that would cost them money? Would they hell. For the same reason they never reopened the hospitals that Labour closed. My point being Labour caused that because they misspent money hugely in hospitals at the expense of the patients causing policies that still impact on us today.

No, I have no idea which political party you support.

My point was, it’s irrelevant to harp back to a policy that is at least 12 years old, especially since that party haven’t been in government since. It’s bizarre that you would see the current problems as the fault of a government who haven’t been in power for over a decade.

I've had enough of covid. I hate it. I hate the restrictions, I hate that my kids do assembly on zoom and have no Christmas show, I hate it all and I just want to get on with life now.

Of course people will.come and say restrictions are a small price to pay, people are dying and I of course am aware how horrendous covid can be and the devastation it can leave when someone dies or is accutely unwell in hospital.

However, I still hate it and I still want it to bugger off, and I've still had it completely with the restrictions and impact on everyone's lives

It's really not a hardship to wear a mask for a short time in a shop, on a train, in a crowded place

For you, maybe. For me, generally out and about with a preschooler, mask mandates potentially mean masked kids classes/activities, masked church services, masked children’s parties, masked cinema and theatre trips… It’s all so joyless, and really not conducive to effective communication - in my experience masks make interactions with others functional rather than enjoyable.

We’ve recently been doing the rounds of school open days for DD’s Reception place next year, and every single school we’ve visited has said they’ve noticed an uptick in Early Years speech and language issues, which they’ve attributed at least partly to mask usage. I dread to think what the fallout will be in those areas of the US that have mandated masks for two year olds.

And I’d like to know where the off ramp for all this public masking is, because I sure as hell don’t intend to do this forever.

I'm relieved. I was on a packed train last night, standing room only. And virtually no-one was wearing a mask. Even without the O variant, with our numbers so high, I felt really uncomfortable.

So yes, masking in shops and on public transport is the decent thing to do right now.

@WeirdArchitecture

labour created the fucking NHS you asshat, the tories tried to stop it.

eat that.

Labour also close all the hospitals near me causing many avoidable deaths. Tories have been just as bad, sadly people get worked up because they think if you criticise one you must support the other as proven by this post. I support neither so your comment has failed to produce the desired effect.

And it terrifies me that there's so much willingness to disregard civil liberties in the naive and arrogant hope that we can control a virus

I don't feel that having to wear a mask on public transport and in shops for a limited period is the most terrible infringement on my civil liberties. On the other hand, dying or catching long covid definitely would be.

Because I think the harsh truth is that there are an awful lot of unintelligent people about

@Happypootle

It doesn''t bother me to wear a mask whilst shopping but it just feels pointless. Yes packed trains / buses/ tubes I can understand the mask mandate but I am closer to people for longer at work, in pubs, restaurants, theatre than I ever am in a shop. I just don't understand the focus on retail, most often you're just gliding past people and giving each other plenty of space anyway.

If you worked in a shop you would realise how close people get, how little respect many people have for personal space and just how packed shops are the past few days.

Shop staff wear masks 8 hours a day to protect others- glad it is coming back in.

The more people wear masks, the less the virus will spread and the less likely additional restrictions will be.

If you are anti-restrictions - wear a mask!

I really don’t mind putting a mask on. Can’t work out why people get worked about it.

@Ireallydontcare55

What worries me is how willingly people have accepted the idea of wearing a mask for the rest of their life potentially

And I will until my son can safely walk down the street again.

Am hacked off. I as hoping restrictions wouldn't return. Mask wearing doesn't bother me. If they adjust Christmas I won't be happy. If they change / cancel Ds1's A'level exams I will be very cross.

@Ireallydontcare55

The point that people are making ‘it’s just a mask, it’s just a couple of days of isolation, well we were told this would not be returning. This is not normal life

You were told this by Boris. Did you honestly believe it when the rest of the world including the other UK nations were saying different?! In Scotland we are still wearing masks at work, on public transport, in shops. My 11 year old wears one all day at school. She's not actually required til she's 12 but it's too much effort as one fo the few still left at 11 explaining herself so she just does it. Last night we sat through 3 hours at the theatre in masks despite scanning our vaccine passports to enter. None of it is dealt any effort of it makes the slightest difference to those more vulnerable than me or stops more stringent restrictions being put in place

It is a bit shit but never mind, I'll just stop in and watch telly and online shop until I can emerge in Spring and go on holiday, no point in doing anything else

The following in the Guardian sounds hopeful for richer countries like the U.K. but sadly potentially v bad for countries with less vaccinated.

“It will be important to know what sort of disease results from the breakthrough infections and reinfections. However, for the parts of the world where high levels of vaccination are a pipe dream, this could well be serious.”

Biotech – which released the first authorised Covid-19 vaccine with Pfizer just over a year ago – expects to have laboratory data on how its jab performs against Omicron in two weeks’ time. The company revealed that it took steps earlier this year which mean that, if necessary, it can adapt its vaccine against a new variant within six weeks and begin shipping the new version to countries in 100 days.

For high-income nations such as the UK, which has already begun giving booster jabs, the impact of Omicron may be less severe. Schreiber says that while the variant might be capable of evading some antibodies from the vaccines, all the available jabs still have many different ways of combating the virus – for example by stimulating T-cell immunity.

“It seems to be quite good in immune evasion,” Schreiber said. “This may not be that surprising with the high number of mutations in the spike protein. The more important question is whether it will cause severe disease in vaccinated people. We just don’t know. Moreover, while the variant is spreading fast, it may disappear again, as happened to many other variants. One cannot know at the moment. What is clear is that we should be on alert and careful.”

We never stopped wearing masks and WFH in Scotland, Wales and NI , England is the exception.
Before someone says it's made no difference, there's no way to compare as we don't have the same school term among other things.
English people have been completely played, the idea that things could go completely back to normal was a complete mind fuck to me and pretty much everyone else who worked in schools or the NHS, we know how bad things are. I can see how going back to masks will be hard but I feel sorry for you, you've been treated like fools- it's obvious the pandemic is not over any more than it was in 2020. Vaccines have helped us win lots of battles, but not the war.
Masks aren't a huge price to pay for the gains we have now.

'This was probably not the right site to post this on.'

No s**t sherlock. The majority of mumsnet is not the crowd to question things and how dare you even hint at not wanting to follow the rules.

Anyway I agree with you. Fed up of it. There will likely be more and more variants until we have given up every shred of liberty we have left.

I think for ,any people the mask has become symbolic of the whole horrible thing. The disruption to their lives and their childrens, all condensed into dislike of being told what to do. Also I think vanity is a big part of why some refuse to wear one.
I never stopped in spite of being triple jabbed and previously having covid, mainly because I think it's no hardship for half an hour in a shop or while at hospital and I feel it's respectful to those who are vulnerable. Also I don't care what I look like.
If I had to wear one 12 hours a day at work like hospital staff I might feel different.

So what’s your issue? That you don’t want to wear a mask?
If this is life now then we have to get on with it. No point complaining.

If omicron is as transmissible as the doom mongers suggest then wearing a face covering ain’t gonna stop it.

Governments, and the rest of us, have got to get used to the fact that you cannot ‘control’ a virus.

Must of been lovely to have some time where you didn't have to wear masks

Other parts of the UK haven't had that luxury

Masks aren't great but they are what is being asked of us as a civilised society

If you can wear one then do it , if you have a child with autism and it's causing issues then don't but generally speaking if your fit and well just wear a mask and do your part