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

I agree with Callistemon. It's going to be divisive. Leaders aren't paid to be popular; they need to make decisions which will be unpopular with some. It shouldn't be up to individuals, especially as it appears that moves could be afoot to hide some of the data.

Presumably this was thought up by a behavioural scientist designed to induce guilt in those who prefer for whatever reason not to wear a mask in safe situations.
Also designed to set mask wearers against reluctant mask wearers, a dangerous path to go down as this country becomes ever more divided on many issues.

I think instead that mask wearing should be compulsory in certain situations eg on public transport, hospitals.

Well thought out rationale in my view

I take steroids for Polymyalgia Rheumatica and although I have had both vaccinations know that my immune system is compromised and that my immunity is lower than most people. I will continue to wear a mask in shops and other indoor places where there are other people. It is such a small thing to do to hopefully keep me safer and if it means I don’t catch colds or flu so much the better!

MawBe
Very funny ?

Thank you Monica for replying !

BBC news today:

Shoppers are starting to return to pre-pandemic habits when it comes to buying food, according to two leading grocers.
Sainsbury's says demand for online sales has fallen from peak levels as people return to shopping in stores. Boss Simon Roberts also said mask wearing in stores would be a matter of "personal choice" after Covid rules are lifted in England on 19 July.

An additional complication?

aggie doesn't work for me. My nose and my glasses must be a different shape to yours.

I wear my mask so that the top of it is under my glasses and the metal nose bit is squeezed round my nose ,, I don’t find the glasses fog up , unless going from a cold environment into a warm one , when they would steam up anyway
The bit that bugs me is my hearing aids getting tangled in the elastic of the mask , any tips about that ?

Good post by Rosie51 at 11:08.

To those who are saying they are worried about being victimised for wearing masks, just look at the response here to people saying that mask wearing shouldn't be normalised. IMO its not the mask advocates that need to be concerned.

Lucca The reasons I will, generally, not wear a mask run from the trivial to the serious. Let me start with the trivial. I am fed up between having to choose between seeing and breathing. When I wear a mask my glasses steam up, I have tried all kinds of solutions to this steaming up, but none of them work. I either wear a mask and work blind or take it off and see where I am going.

So when I wear a mask, which I have done willingly - and gloves - for most of lockdown, to protect others. But as I don my mask and my glasses steam up, so I keep moving my glasses up onto my head, pulling them down again when I need them, then when they steam up pushing them up again then they fall off, then I, or others came dangerously close to treading on them.

The other reasons are that I am now fully vaccinated as is practically everyone I mix with. I am not travelling on public transport, I am not in contact with children, I am not attending crowded events, inside or out. I understand the mathematics of risk and probabilities.

All together these indicate that the risk level for not wearing a mask in the places I frequent is exceedingly small. I will be in greater danger of a host of other risks from heart attacks to ending up in A&E following a domestic accident than I will of transmitting or catching COVID. So, as wearing a mask is such an inconvenience, I will not wear it where I consder it safe to do so.

Like other non-mask people I will carry a mask with me and wear it if requested or if I find myself in a situation where I deem it necessary.

I hope this answers your question.

Rosie51

^Sorry but I have my opinion about masks. Fine for those who can’t wait to be rid of them, all I’m asking is what their reasons are and nobody answers.^
Surely we all “do as we are told” to a certain extent already ? Send our children to school, drive within the speed limit etc and now follow pandemic induced guidelines.

Yes Lucca reasonable people do follow reasonable rules and guidance. But surely government should interfere with our personal lives as little as possible? The stance by so many that forced wearing of a mask is of no consequence and anybody who has found it difficult is somehow "wrong" is not helpful. I've worn a mask in all situations required, and will continue to wear one voluntarily in those situations where I think it appropriate. However I will still hate them, find myself hyperventilating at times, feel claustrophobic and unsettled. But hey, you dismiss my discomfort and me all you like.

I am not dismissing your discomfort I was just asking what the objection was and you have answered, thank you.
My feeling has been that we should have done whatever we could to help the spread of the virus regardless of who contravened those guidelines, so the attitude that someone disobeyed so I will too is unhelpful and a tad childish (not you I hasten to add)

DillytheGardener

“ Control creeps step by tiny step usually, but this pandemic allowed a huge step to be taken with, mostly, our consent. ”

In terms of control I’m much more concerned about the new Policing Bill than measures to keep the public safe during a pandemic.

I obviously didn't express myself clearly. The new Policing Bill is just another example of the way things progress step by step. Of course public safety during a pandemic was necessary, and by and large the public accepted government interference in their private lives. Blind acceptance of being told what to do and for how long in your private life without question is not good for a free society.

So should smokers be allowed to smoke in pubs and public places even though people around them could possibly then have the diseases that they’re knowingly subjecting themselves to?

Mask wearing is now part of MY life.I see no reason to change .
What others chose to do is their choice and of no concern to me.

Sorry but I have my opinion about masks. Fine for those who can’t wait to be rid of them, all I’m asking is what their reasons are and nobody answers.
Surely we all “do as we are told” to a certain extent already ? Send our children to school, drive within the speed limit etc and now follow pandemic induced guidelines.

Yes Lucca reasonable people do follow reasonable rules and guidance. But surely government should interfere with our personal lives as little as possible? The stance by so many that forced wearing of a mask is of no consequence and anybody who has found it difficult is somehow "wrong" is not helpful. I've worn a mask in all situations required, and will continue to wear one voluntarily in those situations where I think it appropriate. However I will still hate them, find myself hyperventilating at times, feel claustrophobic and unsettled. But hey, you dismiss my discomfort and me all you like.

MayBee70

My two year old grandson, when leaving the house used to say ‘mask’. All these people are saying children are being damaged by it but the kids have just taken to it and accept it as part of life.

It's not compulsory for young children to wear masks here; senior school pupils have to wear masks all day in school apart from when they are outside, primary pupils do not.

Older children travelling by public bus have to wear masks and I hope that continues as they are in very close confinement for quite a long time.

Otherwise I think optional mask wearing in certain circumstances is the appropriate way forward.

Rosie51
I started to question ( and carried on questioning) the validity of the rules when Professor Neil Ferguson predicted that 500, 000 could die if we didn’t abide by the rules.
Then, proceeded to call his mistress who lived some way away to come to his flat to have some afternoon jiggy jiggy. While at this time us plebs weren’t allowed to go anywhere.
So that’s when I said f#@k the lot of you. I’m going to see my family anytime I want, carry on supporting 2 vulnerable neighbours
And I did.

Of course people are going to be wary about the government intervening in our lives, because it isn’t in our nature, as an Individualist culture, we value personal freedom and choice. This it could be argued is why countries such as China have dealt better with the pandemic.
However there are at present legal restrictions which do affect our personal freedom, and which we accept. Laws on say drink driving, speeding, and wearing seatbelts are mainly deemed sensible.
I think with Covid restrictions, the debate has sharpened and polarised the debate along political lines. Those who think personal freedom is paramount and those who are more collectively minded.

“ Control creeps step by tiny step usually, but this pandemic allowed a huge step to be taken with, mostly, our consent. ”

In terms of control I’m much more concerned about the new Policing Bill than measures to keep the public safe during a pandemic.

You're incredibly naive if you don't think community peer pressure works like that, which was actually the point of my original post.

We know how it can work.
We know how it worked in pre-war Germany.

DillytheGardener

I am extremely surprised Chris Whitty turned up for that press briefing as I was under the strong impression that he did not agree with the new policies. The circumstances he outlined were the ones where mask wearing should still be enforced as they are useless unless the vast majority do it.

The personal preference is a bit of a joke really. As another poster said mask wearing has become political. I myself while out at work (in a community based uk gov job where I’m required to door-knock) I had man pull off my mask after I departed a train and walked past a pub stating “you don’t need that anymore love”. I can see wearing a mask is going to making oneself a bit of a target.

He did point out that it was a political decision and not a scientific one. Imo he’s weak and should speak his mind more often. I don’t understand why the message from the PM couldn’t have been this is no longer mandatory but we would really like you all to continue to wear masks to protect others. He did sort of say it but in his usual wishy washy way. Right from the start mask wearing has been made to look like an imposition and people have latched onto that. It’s like a doctor saying ‘this is going to hurt’ so it then does.

growstuff

Unfortunately, many of them are JaneJudge. My local secondary school doesn't enforce mask wearing, but pupils have told me that nearly all the pupils and all the staff still wear them. There was a serious outbreak a couple of weeks ago, seeded by a pupil whose family don't wear masks. The names couldn't be released, but just about everybody knows who it was and I've read some of the comments about the family on local social media. They've been more or less blacklisted. I wouldn't like to be in that child's shoes when he returns to school.

What kind of society have we become!?

Why not give them a bell and get them to shake it wherever they go as they did with lepers centuries ago?

Oh, no need these days, shame them on social media.
Point fingers at a child.

My point is that peer pressure might very well result in the majority of people continuing to wear masks, if that's what most people in a community are doing.

If mask wearing in future is not compulsory then it will surely be up to individual choice.

Elizabeth1

Being very frightened of Needles is causing me to think too far ahead into the autumn when we’re being offered flu jabs and another Covid jab. Ive had three jabs already this year including shingles and the thought of more jabs does my head in can anyone put my fears to the side? I’ll be wearing Masks when in a crowd and in shops just like the Japanese have been doing for years.

Elizabeth I would like more information on how long the effects of the vaccines last.
I'm not scared of needles but do wonder if having several vaccinations in a short space of time could overload the immune system in older people who may have underlying conditions.
I wasn't allowed the shingles vaccine but did have the pneumonia one.

Add in a booster Covid and flu vaccine and that could be 6 in just over a year.

More information is needed, I feel.