Are you still going to mask up?

[Soph0571]

Listening to Boris and his proclamations yesterday about Freedumb Day for England made me wince. I just do not trust this government to make decisions based on the best interests of the citizens of the UK, ever. Just like when Cameron called the Brexit referendum, every decision ever made by the Tories is about power plays and internal party politics.

I have not had Covid - that I know about - and I live my life with an abundance of pandemic caution. I am double dosed and have been for a while. I hate wearing a mask - just like everyone on the planet, my glasses steaming up constantly is a ball ache - however I will still mask up come the 19th July 2021. Enclosed busy spaces are a petri dish for infection, and quite frankly having got knocked on my backside after my second jab, I not only have no interest in getting the virus, I am very sure that if I am infected and showing no symptoms because I am vaccinated the last thing I will want to risk is passing that infection on to a vulnerable person.

Don't get me wrong, I am no fanatic. If I am standing on a tube platform with no-one anywhere near me - the mask will be off in a heartbeat, but what does it cost us to keep doing what we have been compelled to do through law for the last 12 months, while the virus infection rate is going through the roof?

Conversely of course, many people will say enough is enough and take those masks and metaphorically speaking burn them on the 19th, never to seen under their chin again.

What are you planning to do? Risk averse or risk taker?!?!?!

As an aside - did you see the poll today that Brexiteers were twice as likely to bin masks than remainers... SURPRISE!

[Duncanpup]

1. Vaccinated and still masking up in public

[Siwsan]

2. I'm double vaxed and still masking up when I go into a public building

And I'm doing my best to avoid crowds. I'm even skipping my class reunion.

I got the Pfizer jab back in February and will be standing in line once they are ready to start giving boosters. Maybe after that I'll feel a little more relaxed, but I'll still mask up. I haven't had a seasonal cold in over a year.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Only takes a few seconds a day to mask up and it's free

Anything with a tiny investment and big payoff is a no-brainer. If you have a brain that is.

[T_i_B]

11. Only a few seconds a day?

Last edited Tue Jul 6, 2021, 08:36 AM - Edit history (1)

That's only the case if you never take your mask off!

Both at work and when I'm out and about I am putting the mask on and taking it off multiple times in a day.

For the record, as much as I dislike wearing face masks I'm going to keep using them and keep being wary as the pandemic is far from over and liable to get worse before it gets better.

[abqtommy]

4. I'm still masking, distancing and sanitizing even though I'm fully vaxxed. The Delta Variant is

here. There are many people I have no confidence in at all and BOJO is near the top of that list.

[duforsure]

5. Double vaxed and still masked up

I have major health issues, plus my better half has one also, so in public we do, and will continue to wear them.

[katmondoo]

6. I will continue to mask up. It is still dangerous out there.

[WHITT]

7. BoJo Is Crazy

Cases are already rising and will spike up to 10K a day after the 19th, but BoJo sez "We have to open back up".

We've already seen this movie here in America. Just another RightWinger who doesn't give a damn how many people die.

Might I suggest a 'vote of no confidence' in Parliament, which will trigger elections.

[Soph0571]

8. The opposition would not win a vote of no confidence

BoJo has a 80 seat majority. And the sad thing is even if they could bounce a no confidence vote through, BoJo would win another election. There is no effective opposition at the moment and the Brexit culture wars, coupled with the vaccine rollout success means that they would get back in, maybe with a reduced majority but they would still win. That would start the clock again for a further 5 years of his administration, so best to let Labour get back on its feet after their drubbing in the last election, so there is more chance of giving them the boot in 2024 IMO. In the meantime we continue to hunker down much like you did in the Trump days and hope we can put it all back together again once they are finally gone.

[WHITT]

10. Perhaps

Embarrassing Defeat as UK PM Johnson's Party Loses Out At Election

LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered an embarrassing defeat in a election on the outskirts of London on Friday, when his governing Conservative Party lost a previously safe parliamentary seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives had comfortably held the leafy, affluent Chesham and Amersham constituency in southern England since its creation in 1974, capturing more than 50% of the vote on every occasion.

Since a divisive referendum in 2016, Brexit has helped reshape Britain's political landscape, with people switching party loyalties in a way not seen for generations.

On Wednesday, Sarah Green, the candidate for the Liberal Democrats - a centrist, pro-European Union party - won a majority of 8,028 votes over the Conservative candidate.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said it was a sign of things to come, with his party ousting the Conservatives from traditional strongholds in England's affluent south.

"Across the south, the Tory Blue Wall is beginning to crumble," he said in a statement. "Here and in great swathes of the country, only the Liberal Democrats can beat the Conservatives and breach their Blue Wall."

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. No, that by-election just showed the Tories won't get a landslide next election

There's no groundswell against Johnson in the Tories yet - the more rebellious among them are saying he should have lifted the covid restrictions ages ago (see 'Covid Recovery Group' below). But they basically have what they want as a leader - someone who panders to them, hates Europe, and hypnotises the media who ought to know better.

[Ghost Dog]

18. Many employees of the media do know better,

but have sold their souls.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. I'll probably mask up in shops, and on public transport if I take it

so no real change from now (the streets outside the shops around me aren't that busy (never really are apart from before Christmas), so there I'll keep it on going from one shop to the next, but not worry about others not doing so - people are now practiced at giving each other room on the pavement).

I think they ought to have kept it compulsory for public transport - you can end up very close to people you don't know, with no option to move (at least in a shop, you can usually move if someone crowds you).

Hospitalization is still increasing, though slower than all cases. The answer to Johnson's "if not now, then when?" is "when hospitalization has peaked". I wish one of the scientists had told him that to his face in public.

No, no surprise Brexiteers are anti-mask; half of them do whatever the American right tells them. The 'European Research Group' transformed itself into the "COVID Recovery Group", and has been opposing lockdown measures all along. After Covid, I expect they'll form a climate change denial group - their philosophy is "oppose experts, own the libs, do whatever feels good right now and damn the future".

[Soph0571]

13. their philosophy is "oppose experts, own the libs, do whatever feels good right now and damn the fut

Absolutely spot on.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Johnson is back to herd immunity through infection, under cover of a "summer firebreak"

According to PA, Boris Johnson described summer as a “firebreak” allowing a reopening now, rather than in winter which would be a more “difficult time” or delaying until next year.

He said: “If we don’t go ahead now when we we’ve clearly done so much with the vaccination programme to break the link between infection and death.

“If we don’t go ahead now when the summer firebreak is coming up, the school holidays, all the advantages that that should give us in fighting the virus, then the question is, ‘when would we go ahead?’. Particularly given the likelihood the virus will have an extra advantage in the colder months, in the autumn, and in the winter.

“So we run the risk of either opening up at a very difficult time when the virus has an edge, has an advantage in the colder months, or again putting everything off to next year so I do think it’s going to be a very balanced decision next week.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-supermarket-rules-asda-primark-20977139

Let's think about what he's saying: that he sees the choice as either getting extra people infected now, during the "summer firebreak", or later - and he's saying that he wants to avoid it being worse later, which would only be the case if getting enough people infected now adds significantly to immunity later (he's saying that will mean less people infected in the long run than if we just kept restrictions in place and waited until we've vaccinated pretty much everyone).

[2naSalit]

15. Yup.

I live in a heavily trafficked by tourists location and there's no telling who among them are carriers. A few wear masks and many look at me with disdain when I do wear one in public. A few people I have had to be near are not vaccinated and I am concerned as they may not survive a bout with the Delta variant. It's a messed up situation here, all bad moves driven by greed.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Yes - at least in enclosed places

[Emrys]

17. Scotland's going its own way as ever, despite pressure to fall in line with Johnson's edicts.

We have some serious situations in the northeast, where three hospitals have currently declared "Code Black" because they're overstretched with admissions. They're Raigmore in Inverness, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin (Elgin has been a hotspot for a few weeks). Hospitals in other areas are also in danger of being overstretched:

https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/covid-scotland-two-more-scottish-hospitals-declare-code-black-as-sturgeon-says-lockdown-easing-not-set-in-stone-3300176

We've yet to see the full fallout from cases arising from football fans visiting London en masse and bringing back the Delta variant as a souvenir and Rangers fans basically rioting in Glasgow's George Square a few weeks ago to celebrate their team's success.

Holidaymakers from outside Scotland are also adding to the caseload, and this is likely to continue into the summer as we're unlikely to be able to restrict such movements to any meaningful degree.

The disturbing trend is that patients are tending to be younger.

Covid in Scotland: Dates for lifting restrictions 'not set in stone'

The first minister said it would not be responsible to have a guaranteed timetable in the face of the virus, after another day of high case numbers.

Scotland is due to move to level zero on 19 July, before dropping almost all restrictions on 9 August.

However Ms Sturgeon said she would look very carefully at the latest data before confirming this would happen.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-57754394

Whatever the Scottish government decides, I'm likely to continue masking and restricting my social mixing for quite some time to come. I haven't restrained myself for this long only to risk falling foul of whatever new variants may do the rounds in the next few weeks and months.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. It's looking like the government now realise scientific opinion really is against them

but don't want to openly back down, so now it's about 'expectations':

Nadhim Zahawi says mask wearing will be ‘expected’ after 19 July

Masks will still be “expected” in crowded places such as public transport when most remaining Covid restrictions are lifted later this month, a minister has said, in a marked toughening up of rhetoric amid concerns over soaring infection rates.

Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, who in effect confirmed Boris Johnson would announce the reopening on Monday, said the government would provide very clear guidance on issues such as the wearing of masks, as England moves away from using laws to govern the response to Covid.
...
“I think it’s important that we remain cautious and careful,” he told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme. “The guidelines that we will set out tomorrow will demonstrate that, including guidelines that people are expected to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces, and of course to remain vigilant.”
...
“We will be setting out tomorrow guidelines on everything from mask wearing, the transition from mandating, or government by diktat, to taking personal responsibility, whether for our own actions or corporate responsibility.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/11/zahawi-covid-reopening-going-ahead-on-19-july-but-mask-wearing-expected

They hope that by invoking "personal responsibility" this gets the government off the hook - they allow the anti-mask Tory MPs to trumpet that "Freedom Day!!!!!" has occurred, while blaming some part of society (which they won't admit is the hard-core Tory supporters) for the subsequent spread. It's another abdication of government responsibility (without, alas, an actual abdication of office).

I predict the Tory press will be full of columns whining that they are being judged every time they walk maskless into a crowded area and see plenty of people with masks on. And about shops that keep a masked policy.

[T_i_B]

20. Ah yes, personal responsibity

Let's see some some shining examples of responsible behaviour from Central London today from the great British public...

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. God, that's so depressing

What it'll be like after the match, I dread to think. If we win, they'll not care what happens; if we lose, they'll trash anything in reach.