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 ?

Is a mask a restriction? It's an extra measure but it doesn't really restrict you from anything?

I don't get why people get so het up about masks. It doesn't take much money or effort to wear a mask for a few minutes in a shop.

@Frequency

Is a mask a restriction? It's an extra measure but it doesn't really restrict you from anything?

I don't get why people get so het up about masks. It doesn't take much money or effort to wear a mask for a few minutes in a shop.

Yes of course it does I can wear a mask, so I do, but I find it really irritating and want to rip my face off after about 5 minutes. So I restricted in what I can actually go out and do. I couldn't for instance go out clothes shopping.

I hate all the "it's not that hard it's only five minutes" bullshit. It might not be hard for you and it's clearly not just five minutes is it.

Why do many people blame this Government for manipulation of people, when many other countries have restrictions in place, in fact some countries have much tighter restrictions and enforce them too. I would think many posters here wouldn't cope in other countries at the moment (and I am not talking China type restrictions)

I’m astonished they said masks were optional in the first place for retail/public transport. I’ve kept the mask for shopping. Also, our school went back to masks straight after half term. Zero fun trying to teach languages and I’ve still managed to get the worst cold of my life.

@Notonthestairs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds

Interesting article.

It's worth reading the study and the article like many media articles cherry picks the stats or sections that it wishes.

The study also concludes the following

Another systematic review showed stronger effectiveness with the use of N95, or similar, respirators than disposable surgical masks,108 and a study evaluating the protection offered by 18 different types of fabric masks found substantial heterogeneity in protection, with the most effective mask being multilayered and tight fitting.109 However, transmission of SARS-CoV-2 largely arises in hospital settings in which full personal protective measures are in place, which suggests that when viral load is at its highest, even the best performing face masks might not provide adequate protection.51 Additionally, most studies that assessed mask wearing were prone to important confounding bias, which might have altered the conclusions drawn from this review (ie, effect estimates might have been underestimated or overestimated or can be related to other measures that were in place at the time the studies were conducted). Thus, the extent of such limitations on the conclusions drawn remain unknown.

Masks are great at reducing face to face transmission but with the new variants once in poorly ventilated areas for a certain time period the viral load will still be high if ventilation is crap.

@Scottishskifun that is most schools then!

Is a mask a restriction? It's an extra measure but it doesn't really restrict you from anything?

Have you bothered reading anyone else's posts?

It restricts my elderly mum from hearing what people are saying because voices are muffled behind a mask.

She can't lip read because mask. It also restricts her already failing sight by fogging up her glasses.

She's now back to being confined to her home, as is my elderly aunt with dementia because people in masks frighten her.

And that's just 2 of hundreds of thousands like them. All tripled jabbed and trying to live out what's left of their lives because apparently the vaccine was going to give them their freedom back.

These are the kinds of vulnerable people you reckon you're 'protecting' and yet here you are minimising how masks restrict their lives.

Van Tam & Whitty stood on their podiums at the beginning of this pandemic not recommending masks.

I remember Van Tam telling us he’d spoken personally to a WHO bod in Hong Kong who also didn’t advise masks. Yeah, HK, SE Asia, where there is a long tradition of wearing them.

The WHO must have done some kind of pre-pandemic study into this? That’s kinda their raison d’etre right?

But now all of a sudden, they work! Except, they clearly don’t.

@MummyPop00 Exactly. The ‘experts’ were very clear at the start that masks are ineffective.

Introducing them later was about being seen to do something, and measuring how compliant people are.

To those who don’t want to wear masks - do you not do anything to protect your own health or that of others? Do you eat healthily? Do you maintain a healthy weight? Do you exercise? Do you not smoke, drink in moderation? Do you think about what food to feed your children? All these things will help to REDUCE the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Why do these things if we all have to die of something?

Didn't it take a while before they decided it's an airborne virus?

Wasn't it thought that the virus was transmitted more by surface at the beginning. Then after more knowledge it was very much air borne masks and ventilation became much more important.

@MummyPop00 how are you defining ‘work’? If you mean they will stop the pandemic in its tracks then clearly they don’t work. But if it means they will REDUCE the chance of transmission, yes they work.

@bendmeoverbackwards

To those who don’t want to wear masks - do you not do anything to protect your own health or that of others? Do you eat healthily? Do you maintain a healthy weight? Do you exercise? Do you not smoke, drink in moderation? Do you think about what food to feed your children? All these things will help to REDUCE the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Why do these things if we all have to die of something?

A mask doesn't protect your own health. I look after my own health and that of my child, yes. We absolutely all have to die of something, but a mask won't stop me getting COVID. A vaccination might which is why I got it. It apparently also might not.

Mask wearing isn't at all comparable with not smoking or eating healthily.

I will wear a mask when required to, but does it benefit me? No. Do I like it? No. Will it stop me doing things? Yes.

Are we still bickering about masks? It's crap for older people but this is a.. searches for word... global pandemic.

@bendmeoverbackwards

If they ‘worked’ to any significant degree Wales & Scotland surely wouldn’t have spiked?

@bendmeoverbackwards

To those who don’t want to wear masks - do you not do anything to protect your own health or that of others? Do you eat healthily? Do you maintain a healthy weight? Do you exercise? Do you not smoke, drink in moderation? Do you think about what food to feed your children? All these things will help to REDUCE the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Why do these things if we all have to die of something?

Not sure if this works

People who are healthy weight etc are lower risk and have lower cause for concern. This lower risk tips away from wanting full measures.

Plus wearing a mask isn’t to protect you it’s for others.

@Fritilleries

Are we still bickering about masks? It's crap for older people but this is a.. searches for word... global pandemic.

It's funny because we are supposed to be saving granny according to Boris but if she's cooped up at home with no human interaction, ah well it's crap but who cares.

What kind of life is that? Save her from one disease, kill her through negligence. Excellent.

@TheVampiresWife

People rebel against it. Some for medical reasons, but a hell of a lot of people refuse just because they can.

People who can't wear masks aren't rebelling.

There is a vanishingly small number of people who can't wear masks, most won't because they aren't particularly pleasant to wear.

@Ireallydontcare55

Now I’m an idiot, dim and a toddler who needs to shut up😂😂😂 and you’re what exactly? All this abuse because I had a different viewpoint to you. Spiteful, vicious bunch

@Ireallydontcare55 don’t you know that these mask enthusiasts who keep calling you names are all oh so compassionate and worried about peoples health. It has nothing to do with the fact that they have an irrational fear which they cannot quantify without the need to be babied by the state. Now they will sleep well at night knowing that the mask mandate has arrived and that lockdowns are on their way. You are unreasonable for not knowing that there’s self appointed guardians of progressiveness and the ‘be kind’ brigade is the most vicious crowd out there.

[quote toomuchlaundry]@Scottishskifun that is most schools then![/quote]
Yep it's far far more important to address ventilation than masks. If viral load is high then they don't do a lot!
But that obviously costs money so its easier to be seen to be doing something rather than actually doing the effective thing! Put it on the public, cause society judgement etc etc its not going to solve the big issue of rubbish ventilation = greatest risk.

There'll be a paper in a week or so that likely shows Omicron to be a storm in a teacup, but they won't react to that with anything like the same speed, because Michie and her ilk crew would rather lock us down forever if they could.

I hope so re storm in teacup but also I hope they do review it because if it doesn’t cause higher severe disease but spreads even slightly faster then isolation for contacts could remain and we’re back to that stage where there was so much disruption and damage in other areas.

@Getyourarseofffthequattro wearing a mask DOES protect you and your child in a roundabout way - by reducing transmission it’s benefits everyone.

@MatildaIThink based on what?! You don't know why a person is exempt.
You also cannot tell from looking at someone who is exempt and who isn't. Majority of us who are exempt look like everyone else aren't on deaths door or are extremely old!