The decision to end restrictions is dangerous and premature, unethical and illogical.

I agree with you Greeneyedgirl.

My hairdresser has just lost a customer (me). She told me she's going to stop wearing a mask after "freedom day", but will continue wiping down the seats, etc.

I'm a lot less bothered about picking something up from the clothes of a previous client than I am from her breathing all over me.

Has any thought been given to the 3.5 million (I think) of Clinically Extremely Vulnerable people who from July 19th will find their lives threatened by the lifting of all restrictions. That does not include people, including myself, who despite having had both vaccinations are on medication that reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine. Even though we can continue to be cautious, wearing masks etc, the fact that other people won’t is very worrying. How can you prevent other people standing close to you in a supermarket queue for example. If eating out will the current practice of spacing seating be continued or will we be faced with tables crowded together? Seems BJ has decided that he’s done his job of mismanaging Covid and has now handed over all responsibility to the public. The NHS struggles even at the best of times. How many hospitals even before Covid had zero waiting lists. Rising case numbers will make the current waiting lists even longer so how many more people will die not with Covid but because of it? The awful thing about this is that this plan is a gamble and the Govt are gambling with people’s lives.

Curlygirl Apparently people are supposed to know who they are and give them extra space, etc. Errmm ... that'll work well. Are CEV people supposed to wear a big badge?

Originally, the advice was to speak to your GP - ahem, I'm sure GPs would love that, as if they don't have enough to do already treating people who are ill.

growstuff

I agree with you Greeneyedgirl.

My hairdresser has just lost a customer (me). She told me she's going to stop wearing a mask after "freedom day", but will continue wiping down the seats, etc.

I'm a lot less bothered about picking something up from the clothes of a previous client than I am from her breathing all over me.

Been saying this for months now! The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) backs this up.

Hygiene theatre is plastic facial visors that do not protect wearers from breathing in infected air or contaminating the people around them. It is single-use cutlery and disposable menus in restaurants and shields between tables. It is staff fastidiously cleaning communal touchpoints in pubs while maskless groups chant football songs at full volume. It is hazmat suit-wearing officials fumigating entire streets with disinfectant. It is gyms that require people to wipe down every piece of equipment they touch, but do not make them wear masks. It is quarantining your post by the front door and wiping down your groceries with bleach. All well-intentioned, but mostly ineffectual, gestures that make us feel safe, but do not keep us safe from the threat posed by Covid-19.

According to the CDC, the chance of contracting Covid-19 from a single infected surface is less than 1 in 10,000. And yet we remain obsessed with fomite transmission of Covid-19, as do our elected leaders. In June, a glove-wearing Boris Johnson was filmed wiping down a plastic chair, in a worrying indication of the prime minister’s lack of understanding. And when the G7 met in Cornwall, news cameras broadcast footage of hotel staff wiping down railings outside the hotel hosting the summit, in a bit of high-profile hygiene theatre.

Worth a read.

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/12/hygiene-theatre-how-excessive-cleaning-gives-us-a-false-sense-of-security

Exactly, MaizieD.

I don't understand why so many people are failing to think about airborne transmission.

(Would shields between restaurant tables not give some protection, tho?)

I’m afraid that the initial information about hand washing but saying the virus wasn’t airborne has stuck in the minds of some people and it suits them to continue to believe it.Even JVT last year said that mask wearing wasn’t effective. I was so relieved when mask wearing was made mandatory even though I don’t go anywhere. The carers that come to my neighbours (she’s very old and has Parkinson’s) house didn’t wear masks for a long time which really worried me. Mask wearing was starting to become part of our culture, though, and it’s ridiculous to put an end to that now.

I am quite surprised that the scientists say that there is no break yet in inflections and hospital admissions. The daily coronavirus update suggests the rise in cases is much sharper than the rise in hospitalisations or, indeed, deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate. I appreciate that there is a lag between infections and deaths; but while today's numbers for England show a moderate rise in deaths, it is a tiny percentage of the rise in cases 4 weeks ago.

Of course, this could change but while we can get too optimistic, we can also get overly pessimistic too. If our vaccinations become ineffective, all bets are off.

If we keep stop-starting the economy, one day it may not start again. Government can make rules and give advice but not all people actually take it and I think the appetite for restrictions has waned. I am not saying this is a good thing or that I won't be using a mask but I suspect it is a reasonable reflection of how it is.

But we can start the economy slowly and carefully in a way that we can stop or slow down. Not just open up in a ‘it’s all over’ sort of way. Johnson is back tracking on that now but I fear it’s too late.

MayBee70

But we can start the economy slowly and carefully in a way that we can stop or slow down. Not just open up in a ‘it’s all over’ sort of way. Johnson is back tracking on that now but I fear it’s too late.

We have been opening up stage by stage since March, this last stage has been delayed by four weeks in order to allow more folks to be vaccinated.

I will keep a mask in my bag and if I feel uncomfortable I shall wear it.

Any thoughts about the Scottish approach, just announced? Some but by no means all restrictions eased on Monday and facemasks mandatory for "some time to come".

That sounds about the right way to go about things, I'd say.

GrannyGravy13

MayBee70

But we can start the economy slowly and carefully in a way that we can stop or slow down. Not just open up in a ‘it’s all over’ sort of way. Johnson is back tracking on that now but I fear it’s too late.

We have been opening up stage by stage since March, this last stage has been delayed by four weeks in order to allow more folks to be vaccinated.

I will keep a mask in my bag and if I feel uncomfortable I shall wear it.

If YOU feel uncomfortable? What about people around you? Is that not a selfish attitude or am I missing something here?

Alegrias1

Any thoughts about the Scottish approach, just announced? Some but by no means all restrictions eased on Monday and facemasks mandatory for "some time to come".

Sounds pretty sensible to me.

Thank you for the link to an excellent article.
I have posted it around!

That's to MaizieD!

Maybee unfortunately we are just going to have to accept that some will not wear masks
I rarely go where one is required so not too fussed either way but if for instance we go to a local restaurant I have no intention of wearing one just to enter has always seemed absolutely pointless exercise. If I go into a shopping situation it will depend how busy it is I hate masks so will probably choose a quiet time so I can go without but I have no control over what others choose to do

Why should I accept something that I think is wrong? Why should I accept that other people don’t have the decency to care about the safety of others…..

I can't choose when to go out, so I feel less than happy about people choosing to go maskless.
I've seen lots and lots today.

MayBee I am not selfish in any way shape or form, I am exempt from wearing a mask, my GP even asked me if I wanted/needed a letter to let people know this at the beginning of mask wearing regulations, I declined and have worn a mask whenever and wherever it is required.

As for the perspex face shields they offer little if not any protection whatsoever to the wearer or those close by, have those folks wearing them throughout been selfish ?

You can choose not to accept it MayBee but it will make little difference
If I choose not to accept it then I am going to have to stay away from indoor settings. I have no control over the choices of others only my own actions

MissAdventure

I can't choose when to go out, so I feel less than happy about people choosing to go maskless.
I've seen lots and lots today.

Unfortunately the general public have had the Euros, Wimbledon and various other events beamed into the homes via the internet or TV and I believe their mindset is along the lines of if they are not socially distancing or wearing face coverings why should I

I am not saying this is the right attitude but it does seem to be growing.

I think you're right, grannygravy.
I was out today, and there was a definite feel that the restrictions are now superfluous.

It’s just common sense to me to wait for all the people who want the vaccine, to get both doses. Then come out.

I understand the logic behind doing it in the school holidays, with the better weather. I would have said there are less of the other bugs around, but I’ve just had a horrendous’ cold’ virus, normally expected in the winter months. Wasn’t covid by the way, I was tested, due to the new evidence around cold like symptoms. Many of my family and friends have had it too. It’s like these viruses have just ‘ waited’

There’s never going to be a right time, but we’ve got this far. Would a few more months, to get as many people as safe as we can get them, really hurt?

I understand the desperation of businesses, hospitality etc. and understand it’s so hard, but if the long term outcome of coming out too soon, renders people unable to work, the end result could be worse, and businesses will still fail.

It could be the difference between nipping this in the bud more quickly in the end, by just waiting now.

I have to add, I felt a bit like it myself, today.
It got very hot while I was out, my glasses were steamed up, and my bags were heavy.
I was wondering why I'm bothering.

I'm not happy about 'freedom' day on 19 July and I think it's irresponsible of the government to just tell people to use their common sense and act responsibly. We saw crowded beaches not so long ago with a mountain of litter left behind. Where was common sense and responsible behaviour then?

We have been told on numerous occasions that if you wear a mask you protect others. Are we saying then that if you choose not to wear one you are happy to harm others?