So masks are to become optional, do you think this is a good idea?

NotSpaghetti By demeaning, I mean exactly what it says on the tin. It means that whoever wears them appears gullible and conforming to whatever nonsense the government spews out. It means for me, that despite knowing facemasks were useless, I was still forced to wear one. I could not believe the emphasis that people placed on them, and still can't.

It is the power that people have given this inanimate object that has really amazed me. But true, I'm also giving the blasted things power by getting so worked up about them. Thank goodness that, from 19th, I will no longer have to wear them, and will be able to relax when I go out.

And if Sajid Javit is behind this way of thinking, then I positively adore him.

All good feelings to those that continue to wear them; just so long as I don't have to .

Not sure what happened there, A GN glitsch I presume.

Wearing a mask doesn’t protect you, only others from your Covid/Flu/Cold transmissions and unless everybody near you wears one, there’s no point really.
We have to start living a normal life at some point, and with it being Summer it’s a good place to start.Everybody our age should be double vaccinated by now and we can still make sure we wash hands regularly / hand gel ( no bad thing to do all the time.)

I guess that you had better inform the head of the BMA, he was saying just this morning that mask wearing cuts down transmission. He seemed to think that this was proven.

Biscuitmuncher biscuit everyone isn't of course they are the spreaders maybe.

Take yourself back 2 years.

If someone came along and told you there was an illness that was going to result in the deaths of about 15 or 20 people a day in the UK, and that about 20,000 a day might catch it. But don't worry, we've got a vaccine that prevents nearly everybody from dying and most people who catch the disease will either get a mild version or won't even know they've had it.

But just in case it gets worse, we need you to stay away from everybody else, and wear a surgical mask just in case you have it. We need you to take time off work for 10 days if somebody else on the bus had it, even though you might not be infected and you probably won't be ill. Oh, and your work place may have to close down for another few days and might go out of business.

I can imagine how that would go down. I'll be wearing a mask as long as its mandatory, but we should never let ourselves think its a "little thing" or that its the new normal.

Woman on Radio Scotland just now just replied to a balanced scientific view with "I know she's a scientific advisor but I'm in the real world and I know what's right" or words to that effect. We're doomed.

Could somebody please point out what rule says we have to live a "normal" life (whatever that is)?

Lockdown and restriction seriously affects the economy and can't continue indefinitely. However, mask wearing doesn't cause anything except minor inconvenience for some.

How about those who don't want to wear a mask could stay at home if it bothers them so much and those who don't mind wearing one could go out and about and get on with "normal" lives?

Why shouldn't we let ourselves think mask wearing is a "little thing"? It is.

I'm not sure I've ever lived a really normal life. :-) I don't mind wearing a mask, just not outdoors. It makes it really hard to exercise.

Never mind *TwoWolves" you stay at home and let the rest of us get on with life as normal, knowing we're relatively safe.

No growstuff, in my opinion it isn't.

If it was a little thing we would have been doing it to prevent flu, and chest infections, and all the rest of it.

And all those people in the East doing it? They do it when they themselves are ill, or when the pollution is bad, or when they are just coming out of an epidemic. It isn't just something you put on every day, like your shoes.

Of course we have to do it for now, but its not normal. Never has been, never should be.

CafeAuLait

I'm not sure I've ever lived a really normal life. :-) I don't mind wearing a mask, just not outdoors. It makes it really hard to exercise.

I agree with you about wearing masks outdoors. It's not really necessary.

Actually, if they stop the transmission of flu, they sound like a good idea. Maybe they'll catch on.

growstuff

Actually, if they stop the transmission of flu, they sound like a good idea. Maybe they'll catch on.

I'll have to emigrate then

I wonder if our ancestors thought the same about wearing clothes. What is normal?

Alegrias1

growstuff

Actually, if they stop the transmission of flu, they sound like a good idea. Maybe they'll catch on.

I'll have to emigrate then

Bye!

I have thought about the clothes analogy, actually. Will wearing a mask become like covering your private bits?

Off to pack.....

A lot of the things that I thought were normal before the pandemic I dont do anymore. And my life is better for them. I take much more exercise, spend more time outside and dont waste my time shopping. Everyone has a slightly different perception of normal. I find the phrase back to normal as meaningless as I found the phrase stay safe.

It is likely that people will revert to bare faces. I wish masks would continue to be the fashion but the popular trend seems to be to towards the nude face and body.

Unfortunately masks are a public health benefit but do not so much benefit the individual who seeks self defence others' infections.
If you compare masks with condoms, condoms protect the wearer and his partner : masks do not so much protect the wearer as they protect the other.

Covid and all its many variants is going to continue a dangerous disease after it becomes endemic. Politicians and fashionistas should be promoting masks.

Galaxy, there are many aspects of lock downs I enjoyed. However many people lost jobs and really struggled and suffered because of it. I don't mind it but we need to get past that, because I suspect that is not true or the majority and I feel bad for those people who have found it a real battle.

I want to get back to normal Galaxy.

I want to visit my elderly parents without wondering if I'm going to give them a disease.

I want to go for a coffee with a friend without planning it in advance, booking a table, and giving my private details to the server.

I want to go and sit in a cinema or theatre without wondering if I'm sitting in a cloud of virus.

I want to go back to the dance classes I used to do without worrying if everybody around me is infected.

"Normal" can't come soon enough. But it may never come at all, and that's not a good thing.

I think it's possible to talk about the changes that might benefit society whilst acknowledging that many people are bereaved and many have suffered financially. I would suspect that many changes are here to stay, online shopping, increase in home working, hopefully improvements in traffic on the road etc. So it wont be the same as before or normal or whatever you want to call it, society changes all the time.

aggie

I’ve just ordered more washable masks , I’ll keep wearing them , might stop me getting Flu as well as Covid

A good decision aggie specially as the flu season is not too far away,do people really think that when we wake up on the 19th Covid will disappear I think masks are a must for the foreseeable future.

My prediction.
www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/25/israel-resumes-indoor-mask-requirement-after-rise-in-covid-cases

Optional masks - no, not a good idea.

Let us open up society completely so anyone can go anywhere in whatever numbers they choose.

But.......let us have mask wearing in very specific situations: public transport, shops etc.

We would then have freedom with responsibility.

We need to continue travel restrictions in relation to incoming people from nations with high covid rates.