Covid becoming just another bug

Precious little mask wearing already ! I heard a very knowledgeable person the radio yesterday saying she absolutely could not see why compulsory mask wearing had been abandoned and I agree with her

Let’s hope so WWMk2. Another positive is seeing how much more attention is being paid to cleaning in commercial settings. I hope this continues going forward. Watching not only tables being wiped properly in cafes and bars (not just a desultory flick round as previously) but chair arms, condiments in separate paper sachets etc is so much better these days. On the negative side is seeing so many used face masks lying on the ground ...

two words in your op whiewavemark2 'oh well' says it all.
i think we just have to accept the situation as dealt by the cards.
bring on c'est la vie and que sera, sera.
i will still wear a mask and air my property, keep hydrated, take vit d but the rest i will have to leave to fate.

I have yet to see masks being abandoned in our area, in supermarkets almost everyone seems to be wearing them.
In our own business we stopped being so vigilant, but almost all customers continued to wear them, so we’ve done a U turn.

All you mask lovers, what good did they actually do?

Biscuitmuncher

All you mask lovers, what good did they actually do?

Without them case numbers would be considerably higher with the consequent increase in deaths and incidence of long covid.

Now I'll reverse your silly question and ask you what harm do they do?

Biscuitmuncher

All you mask lovers, what good did they actually do?

What a remarkably childish question.
I echo exactly what Maize said.

Biscuitmuncher slowed down the spread of COVID.

As the disease took hold and scientists grappled with how to protect us from it, it soon became very clear that the main means of transmission was aerosol spray from people with it. If they wore masks and you wore masks, the dangers of transmission were considerably reduced.

Considerably reduced is not the same as stopped altogether.

What do you consider the most effective way of avoiding transmission from person to person of this disease?

Who are the mask-lovers?
Not me, for sure.

Here is one good thing they do - lower infections. You can see the way this works in this German study:
www.pnas.org/content/117/51/32293?fbclid=IwAR0VHb462M7hZ_dOUo82g9dcmkxPsabzOxNKCopm6deQ852cpYTuTo-i_B0

They hide my wonky face.

Was in Aldi yesterday and felt conspicuous by me wearing mine! But I’m still going too. No one had them on.

We will have to wait and see but I agree most of us will end up getting it at some point in the coming years
I tend to avoid crowded areas I absolutely hate masks but will wear one where necessary
Mask wearing was never compulsory many who did not give a fig didn’t wear one Quite frankly the term sounds far to draconian for the UK
The extra hygiene measures like the extra cleaning of surfaces I hope will stay not just for this virus but for all the other bacteria and viruses
Testing I presume will disappear eventually especially the free lateral flow kits

It was interesting to note that very few people were reported to have caught 'flu last winter, could that have been due to mask-wearing? Impossible to know of course, and impossible to know how many 'flu deaths were counted as covid.
It's not difficult to wear a mask for most people, so it seems sensible to continue wearing one 'just in case', as one wears a seatbelt - 'just in case'.

I don't understand why the there is so much focus on cleaning surfaces and very little in ventilation.
Most buses and trains don't even have windows that can open.

I love masks. For corona virus reasons, and other reasons.
I intend to always wear one in shops etc. and am convinced they do help to reduce infections.

I’m still wearing a mask and sanitising, and avoiding crowds. I’ve been out to eat, I shop and go to the hairdressers, also been to the dentist and a week’s holiday in Somerset. I mix freely with my family, but am becoming more nervous of mixing with my friends, which I feel is not psychologically healthy, but it’s how I feel at the moment.
I hope Covid becomes less deadly in time, and that our vaccinations, and hopefully boosters, will protect us.

I’m going on holiday to Zakinthos in two weeks, hopefully.

I wear a perspex face shield. Not as suffocating as a mask and you can wear your lipstick and smile at people.

I have had two brief holidays in Devon. Luckily the three hotels I stayed in were good on the regulations as were the restaurants I went to. Exmouth and Exeter very crowded but lucky with the weather so could eat and drink outside. I am not looking forward to the winter or working in a place with modern windows that just tilt and don’t fully open - and lots of students about! . Time to stock up in vitamin D again. I really hope we don’t have another lockdown. Last winter was so depressing.

But it has been lovely to socialise and see good friends after 18 months. We have been cheering each other up over wine and silly conversations. Better than medicine sometimes :-)

Nearly three weeks ago I went on my first outing with grandchildren to an entertainment venue for bowling, used my mask while entering, not while playing again used while leaving. Then we went off to M&S for clothes, stopped for lunch in M&S cafe again I used mask, only removed while eating. Three days later I came down with something, not a cold (probably flue) as I have felt rotten and am still not over it. Have done two Covid test, both negative, Think I have now given it to OH as he started with same symptoms on Friday, has done Covid test, again negative. I have had nothing, not even a sniffle throughout the Covid crisis & lock down so first time out something was out to get me! Biscuitmuncher your reply is ridiculous, masks do help to stop transmission of many germs, colds, flue & Covid.

I think a lot of people will be a bit alarmed at the scientists’ view that the majority of people will catch the virus at some point, even though it is likely.

Short of completely putting our lives on hold, we must accept that, and just hope that the vaccines continue to protect us against serious illness if we are unlucky enough to catch covid in the future.

I will be relieved when I hear that the boosters are definitely being rolled out for our age group, ideally as was the plan originally, to be administered with the flu jab.

I wore masks, done the hand sanitising, didn’t mix, washed the groceries, double jabbed, and still caught it!

BlueSky and you survived because you had the jabs! you could have died without the jabs.

I feel awkward about boosters while some many countries have not yet had the chance of even a first vaccination for most, though i hope it will be given to the most vulnerable in UK eg those with compromised immune systems.

I am still taking a lot of precautions eg mask wearing, avoiding crowded places, but it is hard to know what is safe or risky. My choirs are restarting, with social distancing, but i am still not spending much time indoors with family with teenage grandchildren. Yesterday I sang in the church choir for a wedding where nobody, other than the church officials, was wearing a mask.