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Covid

Some restrictions back, fed up

999 replies

Ireallydontcare55 · 27/11/2021 19:55

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 ?

OP posts:
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Am I being unreasonable?

526 votes. Final results.

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Scottishskifun · 28/11/2021 17:17

@JaniieJones sorry but Hmm you don't see how a mask can restrict hearing for a elderly person??!!! Seriously?

I think everyone pretty much accepts that they muffle peoples voices I have no hearing issues and mid 30s and still say regularly can you repeat that!

Many elderly people have a certain level of hearing loss and rely on lip reading or clear slow louder talking.... I have been stood next to elderly relatives shouting and they still only get half of it!

All need to do our bit crap is exactly being ableist! It's refusing to acknowledge that for some people they cause serious issues! Sadly many of those people rather then face abuse struggle through!

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TheVampiresWife · 28/11/2021 17:18

[quote TempsPerdu]@Elphame Sorry you’re suffering with TN. DP has this too (sudden onset, mercifully quickly diagnosed last year during lockdown) and is currently struggling with a resurgence of symptoms after a period of remission over the summer. It’s a truly horrible condition.

Fortunately DP is pretty tough-skinned and has been able to brush off the regular abuse he’s received for being unable to wear a mask. I think it helps that he’s male too; a fair few of the self-appointed mask police seem to prefer harassing women and children rather than six foot blokes.

Hope you manage to ride out the new mandate OK and are able to apply your exemption where you need to without too much confrontation.[/quote]
Apart from the occasional tut/eye roll, it's always been men who have been abusive in my case. There was a poster here last year who had been filmed by a man as he shouted abuse at her for not wearing a mask, and when he'd finished with her he targeted another woman (both were wearing lanyards). It's so depressing but also completely predictable, isn't it.

I'm so sorry your DP is suffering too. I was diagnosed in 2018 after a weekend of the most horrific pain - I though I had a burst abscess or something, but the dental hospital found no dental causes and suggested TN. My GP made the initial diagnosis before referring me to a neurologist, who confirmed it after an MRI. I'd had similar episodes in the past for years but put them down to dodgy teeth, even though they subsided often as quickly as they came on. I'm currently being investigated for MS as I have an autoimmune condition and other symptoms, all of which (along with TN) can be indicative of MS.

People will never, ever understand the pain. I have RA and the pain of that is like a tickle in comparison.

I hope your DP gets some relief soon. DH finds my attacks really distressing to witness, it must be really hard on you, too Flowers

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Scottishskifun · 28/11/2021 17:23

@JaniieJones

'Juts goes to show how little you understand about how masks restrict the elderly.'

I understand!! I have elderly parents and aunts, I have a disabled relative. Of course they restrict communication but if they contain any infected particles then it's worth the inconvenience. Hospitals and GPs, infact many places like hairdressrs and dentists have always asked people to wear them. It's not much different tbh.

You do know that with alpha, delta and most likely this new variant that the viral particle size escapes masks right?!
The viral load required for infection is also lower.

BTW hospitals have one of the highest transmission areas throughout despite the high grade PPE.

Please go read some studies.
Of course masks help reduce face to face transmission but they sadly are not a magic bullet if they were we would have no virus!
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SueSaid · 28/11/2021 17:26

'You do know that with alpha, delta and most likely this new variant that the viral particle size escapes masks right?!'

Oh dear. Riiiight.

I think it's you that needs to do some reading hun.

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TheVampiresWife · 28/11/2021 17:26

I have a disabled relative who would of course be 'exempt' but would rather use a face cover to protect themselves

If they can wear a mask they're not exempt. If they're not exempt, wearing a mask isn't an issue, so why mention it? Just because one person with disabilities can wear masks, it doesn't follow that everyone with disabilities (even the same disability!) can too - surely with your extensive healthcare background you understand this?

Also, why do you always write exempt as 'exempt', as it if it's some outlandish made up notion?

@JaniieJones

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userxx · 28/11/2021 17:30

@MulticatHouse

I live in Cyprus and we have been wearing masks for what seems like forever. It is normal to us now, they are mandatory in ALL public places unless sitting down to eat or drink. €300 fine for non compliance.


Another place to avoid.
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Scottishskifun · 28/11/2021 17:57

@JaniieJones

'You do know that with alpha, delta and most likely this new variant that the viral particle size escapes masks right?!'

Oh dear. Riiiight.

I think it's you that needs to do some reading hun.

I do thanks here's some interesting reading for you which includes assessment of different studies

www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-068302

Of course masks stop larger particle sizes but they don't stop smaller ones unless a FFP2/FFP3 or positive pressure system.
The viral load required for delta is much lower hence normal masks hate to tell you but yes it does escape them and can build up in the air if a poorly ventilated environment.

If masks stopped viral transmission load escaping fully then you would have pretty much low infection in places which it is strictly enforced, but that's not the case it actually is a variety of approaches!

Again they are not the silver magic bullet. They can assist as part of a range of measures one of the most effective is improving ventilation to reduce viral load.l in the surrounding environment.
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Lilifer · 28/11/2021 17:59

@Aishah231

Masks (with the exception of surgical masks) do bugger all except make you feel like you are living in a pandemic. That's the point I suppose because without all the media coverage and mask wearing how many of us would have noticed anything beyond the fact that there was a bad flu going around. There's a reason SAGE is full of behavioural scientists. I won't be wearing a mask again I refuse to be a part of this.

Spot on!
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Elphame · 28/11/2021 18:12

[quote TempsPerdu]@Elphame Sorry you’re suffering with TN. DP has this too (sudden onset, mercifully quickly diagnosed last year during lockdown) and is currently struggling with a resurgence of symptoms after a period of remission over the summer. It’s a truly horrible condition.

Fortunately DP is pretty tough-skinned and has been able to brush off the regular abuse he’s received for being unable to wear a mask. I think it helps that he’s male too; a fair few of the self-appointed mask police seem to prefer harassing women and children rather than six foot blokes.

Hope you manage to ride out the new mandate OK and are able to apply your exemption where you need to without too much confrontation.[/quote]
I am so sorry about your DP. Is he on medication? That does help many people although the side effects are horrible at times.

I generally go into remission over the summer too. It's the cold and the wind that triggers mine and then once it's been triggered I become hypersensitive to other stimuli too. If he can work out what sets it off that does help.

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Tokoloshe123 · 28/11/2021 19:08

This reply has been deleted

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ArthurTudor · 28/11/2021 19:16

@mercimacherie

I won't be wearing a mask next week.

It's ridiculous, I didn't want the vaccine but have had to have it due to the restrictions on being unvaccinated. I'll also have to get the booster, and will probably have to allow my children to be vaccinated, despite my reservations. I wear a mask in health settings but will not any more in shops.

It's as if intelligent people who are usually capable of rational thought have been brainwashed. Al the propaganda has obviously worked.

It's as if intelligent people who are usually capable of rational thought have been brainwashed. Al the propaganda has obviously worked

😂 These sorts of comments are pathetic. You don't wear one if you don't want to. But wearing one doesn't make you brainwashed. You sound so immature
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KurtWildesChristmasNamechange · 28/11/2021 19:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn as it quotes a deleted post.

userxx · 28/11/2021 19:21

@Tokoloshe123

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.


Oh dear. Someone needs to take the rod out of their uptight arse.
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Chessie678 · 28/11/2021 19:27

@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange
I think the impact on deaf / hard of hearing people is really underestimated. There are 11m of them on the UK. That is nearly 20% of the population. Masks cut many of those people off from public life. I struggle with hearing people in masks due to slight hearing loss in one ear (but not sufficient to be officially deaf or hard of hearing). I’d hazard a guess that essentially all of those 11m people will struggle with masks to some degree. It is an issue which should be considered much further if they are going to be permanent or semi-permanent.

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youkiddingme · 28/11/2021 19:35

@Ireallydontcare55

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

What worries me is how willingly people have accepted that those who are vulnerable are expendable because they don't like masks.

Always will be two sides to it. The pandemic happened we have to adjust. All sorts of new vaccine and drug development going on - much of which will be more resilient to dealing with new variants. We adjust to what we know the situation is now. I'm tired of this, 'oh if we do something now it's forever' narrative. Unlikely.
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KurtWildesChristmasNamechange · 28/11/2021 19:44

[quote Chessie678]@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange
I think the impact on deaf / hard of hearing people is really underestimated. There are 11m of them on the UK. That is nearly 20% of the population. Masks cut many of those people off from public life. I struggle with hearing people in masks due to slight hearing loss in one ear (but not sufficient to be officially deaf or hard of hearing). I’d hazard a guess that essentially all of those 11m people will struggle with masks to some degree. It is an issue which should be considered much further if they are going to be permanent or semi-permanent.[/quote]
I absolutely agree. So many people on here just telling people to crack on and then denying that's an ableist thing to say. It's there lack of empathy and the inability to realise that a huge chunk of society is unable to juts 'crack on' without it having an impact on their lives.

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SueSaid · 28/11/2021 19:52

'It's there lack of empathy and the inability to realise that a huge chunk of society is unable to juts 'crack on' without it having an impact on their lives.'

No. Many of us have family and friends in this 'huge chunk of society' where face covers make their already difficult lives that bit harder, but it is for a very good reason not just to pick on people.

Anyway early reports suggest it isn't vaccine resistant so the gov are just being extra cautious.

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KurtWildesChristmasNamechange · 28/11/2021 20:06

@JaniieJones

'It's there lack of empathy and the inability to realise that a huge chunk of society is unable to juts 'crack on' without it having an impact on their lives.'

No. Many of us have family and friends in this 'huge chunk of society' where face covers make their already difficult lives that bit harder, but it is for a very good reason not just to pick on people.

Anyway early reports suggest it isn't vaccine resistant so the gov are just being extra cautious.

We'll have to agree to disagree there. Personally I think those people's lives shouldn't be made more difficult than they already are for the sake of 'the greater good' when many of them don't have much longer left on this Earth.

We lost 2 elderly family members at the beginning of the year, not from covid. Both died not having seen people they loved for months on end due to numerous restrictions etc. At any other time this would be seen as the family neglecting them. But 'because covid' it's seen as 'needs must for the benefit of society'. My family members and those of countless more people who lost elderly relatives during the last 18 months due to non-covid illness are seen as collateral damage. The very people we're supposed to be protecting.
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BunsyGirl · 28/11/2021 20:18

I was abused in a hotel lift today for not wearing a mask and that’s before it’s a legal requirement to wear one…to make matters worse the person entered the lift after me so they could have chosen to wait for the next one. Covid is an excuse for some people to be rude!

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Namenic · 28/11/2021 20:37

@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange - also kind of ableist for people not to wear masks and put the immunosuppressed at risk too. Different people have different degrees of immuno suppression and response to vaccine. Some of these people may have public facing jobs or have to come in to work. Some may want to go out sometimes for mental health reasons.

Restrictions can help some and harm others. Could we have different times/days for shopping/office working for masked/unmasked people? Same with vaccinated/unvaccinated? Is there a way for us to cater for different needs in our society - which may contradict each other?

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Flyonawalk · 28/11/2021 20:41

@Namenic There have always been vulnerable and immunosuppressed members of society. Did you wear a mask in public before 2020, out of consideration? I would be interested to learn if other posters speaking in favour of masks did this in 2019 and earlier.

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TheVampiresWife · 28/11/2021 20:51

Could we have different times/days for shopping/office working for masked/unmasked people?

I'm immunosuppressed due to drugs for my RA. I'm also exempt from wearing a mask due to a separate condition. When would I go shopping?

People don't fit neatly into boxes, unfortunately.

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KurtWildesChristmasNamechange · 28/11/2021 21:08

Could we have different times/days for shopping/office working for masked/unmasked people? Same with vaccinated/unvaccinated? Is there a way for us to cater for different needs in our society - which may contradict each other?

Yeah sure let's segregate people because that's always gone down so well historically Confused

Jesus wept.

I'm curious to know how many people wore masks before the pandemic. During flu season, for example. My grandad and dad both died of flu. Shall I get all angry about people not wearing masks and protecting the vulnerable pre-covid?

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Namenic · 28/11/2021 21:16

@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange - well they do that in hospital… to prevent the spread of superbugs and other contagious diseases (in people already ill). It’s one of the reasons why covid in general has a negative impact on treatment of non covid related diseases.

Flu is less transmissible than covid and there is a degree of ongoing immunity (unless you have a new strain jumping from animals in a given year).

Isn’t it also disablist to say that people who are immuno compromised just have to suck up having to work at a higher risk by having to see multiple people without mitigations?

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ThousandsOfTulips · 28/11/2021 21:23

[quote Namenic]@KurtWildesChristmasNamechange - well they do that in hospital… to prevent the spread of superbugs and other contagious diseases (in people already ill). It’s one of the reasons why covid in general has a negative impact on treatment of non covid related diseases.

Flu is less transmissible than covid and there is a degree of ongoing immunity (unless you have a new strain jumping from animals in a given year).

Isn’t it also disablist to say that people who are immuno compromised just have to suck up having to work at a higher risk by having to see multiple people without mitigations?[/quote]
There are plenty of other mitigations that can be put in place to protect them aside from masks: depending on the context, homeworking, increased ventilation, screens, increased hygiene measures, lateral flow testing, social distancing, vaccine passports!...

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