Wonderful News - No more face masks

It’s like, if you have a serious car crash but you’re wearing a seat belt you may not get away totally without injury (whiplash etc) but there’s a much greater chance of not being killed.

Thank Heaven. I am tempted to burn all of mine!

I will be hanging on to mine for a while, but it’s got to be good news that’s figures are low enough not to wear masks.

LilacChaser

Don't be silly, MayBee70. They don't work and it is socially irresponsible to perpetuate the myth that they in any way make people safer by wearing them.

AGAA4 Most people would like to retain them so this has nothing to do with Boris's popularity.

How can you possibly say that they don't work when clinically proven to work when worn properly. Surgeons and theatre nurses have always worn them to protect patients and, even pre covid, to protect themselves from infection when a patient is being barrier nursed if infectious.

TwiceAsNice

Growstuff they are double jabbed, we are all triple jabbed. Their classrooms have the windows own all day. Life is a risk , children do not get very ill one of them has had Covid anyway so have many of their friends and the teachers are also double/triple jabbed ( if they are not it is not my granddaughters problem) . I worry much more about their mental health than Covid these two years have harmed them and enough is enough.

French children have been wearing masks for 18 months. I asked a few what they felt like wearing them at school for all this time. They said that they can’t remember not wearing them and that it would feel funny not to. Children adapt to new situations if allowed to. It is not the case of thinking of self but of community.

With the attitudes towards mask wearing in schools on here, there is no wonder there is a teaching retention crisis. Why stay in a job where no one cares that the people you work with could end up causing the death of you or someone that you love?

All because they 'can't bear' to wear a little piece of paper on their face.

(I've had 14 emails today, with the details of teaching vacancies within a 5 mile radius of me, in my subject. Not a chance that I'll consider going back into a face-to-face teaching job until it's safe.)

Another reason to continue wearing masks, I believe the efficacy of the booster is something in the region of 10 weeks, I had mine back in October....so wearing off I imagine!

''There is a real risk, it could rebound with a vengeance'

I am not entirely happy about this.

I note that there has been no wheeling put of the scientists to endorse this in a news conference.

My guess is that it is a last ditch attempt by the ghastly BJ to get his backbenchers off his back in the mess he currently find himself - trying to save his own skin whilst risking ours. What a truly despicable person he really is.

www.ft.com/content/3de10f47-d579-4720-b85e-b6381ceb3916

Scientists warn on dropping England’s Plan B Covid curbs too soon

'Wonderful news'??? What's the big deal with wearing one? I like to reduce the risk of infecting vulnerable people - so I'll carry on with mine.

After all, I can't do a LFT one hour before going out - every single time (I go out 2 or 3 times daily) - so I can't be always sure that I'm not asymptomatic and infectious.

So - I'll wear a mask - rather than risk causing serious illness or death, thanks all the same!

I think this is nothing but political expedience to bring those who demand ‘freedom’ from rules on board.
I have heard nothing from the scientific community as nd it appears to be another last minute decision to appease.

LilacChaser

Don't be silly, MayBee70. They don't work and it is socially irresponsible to perpetuate the myth that they in any way make people safer by wearing them.

AGAA4 Most people would like to retain them so this has nothing to do with Boris's popularity.

Of course they work; that's been irrevocably, scientifically proven.

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8 is just one article that you could use to inform yourself of the facts.

Germanshepherdsmum

I will continue to wear a mask in shops and other public indoor spaces. The attitude of people like the OP is frightening. Cases may be reducing but covid hasn’t gone away and I doubt omicron will be the last variant to surface. I would like to hear something of the scientific advice behind the complete abandonment of restrictions. I fear it has more to do with Boris’s position in the popularity stakes than science.

... exactly, GSM

Of course, it will be denied that it's anything to do with Johnson's popularity ratings.

I'm not convinced. Just about everything he does and says is to that end... and to appease the backbench.

I wonder what the OP's credentials are in epidemiology, virology, immunology?

The comment to MayBee70 is typical of the anti-mask brigade, sneering, rude and arrogant.

Of course masks do not offer 100% protection, but they do offer some, especially from those inconsiderate individuals who sneeze into crowded spaces around them. Jeez, even the simple act of sneezing into the crook of your arm will prevent some of the droplets from landing on your face.

This is not good news for the hundreds of thousands like myself who are immunosupressed or those with other health conditions that make getting Covid very dangerous for them. Please don’t be fooled this is Boris’s way of trying to win back popularity by letting people basically do what they want. The pandemic isn’t over yet and probably another variant will come along soon. By the time new regulations have been brought in it will have spread like wildfire. What new rabbit will he pull out of the hat when Sue Grey’s report is published. Or will he just veto that.

I’d like to hear from the scientists and people like JVT what their views are on getting rid of masks and other Plan B guidance this month. The Covid stats I heard on the news tonight did not indicate to me that the pandemic is over and it concerns me that no other country seems to be ending precautions as we are planning to do.

I really don’t know why this is happening other than as a bid to minimise the Party Gate accusations and keep BJ as Prime Minister.

I wonder how long it will be before infection, hospitalisations and death rates start to rocket again. Any new variant could spread very quickly if we’re all mixing freely with no social distancing or precautions. I hope I’m worrying unnecessarily as I’m as keen as anyone for my life to get back to pre pandemic times but I’d rather we had a slower approach.

How people think a paper mask protects from a virus is absolutely beyond me

Biscuitmuncher

How people think a paper mask protects from a virus is absolutely beyond me

Maybe you should find out for yourself how they reduce risk.

I shall continue to where a mask in shops and public transport!

Teacheranne

I’d like to hear from the scientists and people like JVT what their views are on getting rid of masks and other Plan B guidance this month.`

you don`t need to look very far. I am one and have given my views. Omicron will be mopped up from now. If you are worried then wear properly fitted FFP2 or FFP3 and stay out of crowded places.

What exactly do you mean by "mopped up"?

PS. I do wear properly fitting FFP2 masks and stay away from crowded places. I shall certainly give anybody who chooses not to wear a mask in an indoor public place a very wide berth. Unfortunately, as Covid is airborne, it will mean that any indoor space where a significant number of people choose not to wear a mask will have millions of hovering Covid particles.

I seem to remember the same discussions when restrictions were lifted in July 2021 we seemed to have no great problems after that until Omicron

We have now double jabbed a great proportion of the population plus boosted this winter

You say you’re a scientist karmalady. What sort of scientist? What scientific qualifications do you hold please?

I would think there’s a considerable difference between lifting restrictions in July when cases are low, people spend far more time outside and the windows are open and lifting them in January when cases hover around 100,000 a day and people are huddled indoors Rosie.