When will this shit end?

[Fuzzy Afro]

Ideally we should ramp up NHS capacity so that it can withstand flu season. That way, a "face covering" can go back to being something you see in a porn movie....

[Matt42]

4 hours ago, jparx said:

Aye that’s what I can’t my head around. Last April, I thought this thread would be a total party when we had the vaccine and were nearing the end of lockdown. How the thread was more jolly at the start of the pandemic than near the end is very odd. 

Because this isn’t the end of the pandemic.

 

it’s the end of the EPIDEMIC.

I feel like the next thing is going to be how we get our heads around being a small vaccinated island amongst a world where some other countries are very very far behind us.

[Leyrulion]

1 minute ago, mcshed said:

There have been a few more measures in place this winter beyond just mask wearing. I don't really mind mask wearing and don't mind if it becomes the norm on public transport or when someone had a cold but to suggest it is behind low flu numbers this winter is silly.

Don't think this is fully reflective of the scientific evidence.

[Fuzzy Afro]

Just now, mcshed said:

There have been a few more measures in place this winter beyond just mask wearing. I don't really mind mask wearing and don't mind if it becomes the norm on public transport or when someone had a cold but to suggest it is behind low flu numbers this winter is silly.

Masks are actually unhelpful against flu @crazyfool1 which is why they originally weren't recommended, as all our plans in this country were based around the flu.

 

Flu spreads by fomite transmission rather than being airborne, which means that hand washing is the best thing we can do to suppress the flu. This is why the early advice in the pandemic centred around hand washing, rather than wearing a covering.

[Mellotr0n]

1 minute ago, squirrelarmy said:

Mask usage this winter has contributed to one of the smallest flu seasons in recent years. Same with catching a cold. Because people are being more self conscious about mask wearing and using hand sanitiser a lot of the common viruses aren’t being spread as normal. 

But the point they've been making is that all it has potentially done is delay a shitload of flu deaths - those people who didn't die of flu this year will be one year older, with a weaker immune system. Each year we continue to mask up and distance, we're just building and delaying that issue, kicking the can down the road.

So either we mask and distance for the rest of our lives, or we accept that in coming next couple of winters we're going to have a shit ton of flu deaths. Those are our two options. I think Whitty's comment re: 30,000 more deaths this coming winter is just preparing us for this happening.

[Crazyfool01]

3 minutes ago, mcshed said:

There have been a few more measures in place this winter beyond just mask wearing. I don't really mind mask wearing and don't mind if it becomes the norm on public transport or when someone had a cold but to suggest it is behind low flu numbers this winter is silly.

not entirely of course ... should have put that in my response but it will be a contributing factor ... 

[mcshed]

2 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Don't think this is fully reflective of the scientific evidence.

You think it's the masks doing more heavy lifting than the lockdown? If there is scientific evidence of that I'd be fascinated to see it.

[efcfanwirral]

19 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Because this isn’t the end of the pandemic.

 

it’s the end of the EPIDEMIC.

I feel like the next thing is going to be how we get our heads around being a small vaccinated island amongst a world where some other countries are very very far behind us.

Probably just go on holidays to countries where its not really safe for their own people but they need the money anyway

[Guest]

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

[zahidf]

1 minute ago, Ozanne said:

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

Well if its voluntary, feel free to keep doing it! i will in some scenarios and not others. 

[Fuzzy Afro]

3 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

Probably just go on holidays to countries where its not really safe for their own people but they need the money anyway

Plus, you going there from a high vaccinated country isn't really adding to their problem. The more likely issue is that the UK government won't allow this in case you bring back the new Southern Cyprus variant or whatever

[fraybentos1]

1 minute ago, Ozanne said:

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

So we wear masks indoor forever, every winter?

Deary me, this forum is bizarre sometimes.

[zahidf]

 

[efcfanwirral]

1 minute ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Plus, you going there from a high vaccinated country isn't really adding to their problem. The more likely issue is that the UK government won't allow this in case you bring back the new Southern Cyprus variant or whatever

But them opening up before it's properly safe to take our lot in is the problem there. Hopefully the traditional holiday destinations will catch up before they have to make those decisions 

Edited March 9, 2021 by efcfanwirral

[Fuzzy Afro]

8 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

 

Thankfully the government aren't going to agree with this.

 

Countries like Australia and New Zealand which have gone back to normal have rightly binned face coverings. We will too. It might not be on 21st June but it'll happen.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Fuzzy Afro

[Guest]

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

Well if its voluntary, feel free to keep doing it! i will in some scenarios and not others. 

Areas such as public transport (tube especially) I can see a big benefit for still wearing masks. Shops I can see the benefit there as well if it’s winter and there’s an especially high level of flu next year as they predict then there really isn’t a reason not to. 

[zahidf]

Just now, Ozanne said:

Areas such as public transport (tube especially) I can see a big benefit for still wearing masks. Shops I can see the benefit there as well if it’s winter and there’s an especially high level of flu next year as they predict then there really isn’t a reason not to. 

I wont do it for gigs, museum and the theatre. Im fine doing it for short public transport journeys and visits into supermarkets. I wont be throwing my masks away but i wont wear it all the time

[zahidf]

2 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

 

Thankfully the government aren't going to agree with nutters like you.

 

Countries like Australia and New Zealand which have gone back to normal have rightly binned face coverings. We will too. It might not be on 21st June but it'll happen.

Dude dont be abusing to be people who disagree with you

[Fuzzy Afro]

Just now, efcfanwirral said:

But them opening up more than we did before it's properly safe to take our lot in is the problem there. Hopefully the traditional holiday destinations will catch up before they have to make those decisions 

That's ultimately a decision for them to make though isn't it? If, for example, Greece really needs the tourism money this summer so it opens up before it gets as far through its vaccination programme as they'd like, that's for them and their government to decide upon. The only issue we as Brits face within that is whether our government is keen on allowing us to travel to a higher prevalence country and return without self-isolating.

 

If they're confident that the vaccines we've used protect against the variants that are out there, then there's no reason not to allow travel, because the people travelling won't re-import cases as they've been vaccinated. If there's concern that there is a variant out there that escapes the vaccines then we will likely have more draconian travel restrictions to try and prevent that variant reaching our shores.

 

[incident]

2 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

I think you're going to be surprised how quickly most people abandon them in most situations.

Going forward mask wearing is going to be no more or less beneficial to the overall health of the nation than it was 2 years ago - we knew before this all started that masks would massively decrease deaths from Flu (amongst other things), but it was never even a conversation because the risk was considered to be at acceptable levels.

Once the nation is largely vaccinated, the risk from COVID isn't likely to be significantly higher than the risk from Flu, and the at-risk groups will mostly overlap anyway.

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

I wont do it for gigs, museum and the theatre. Im fine doing it for short public transport journeys and visits into supermarkets. I wont be throwing my masks away but i wont wear it all the time

Sure, I can see it on public transport. Bollocks to keeping masks in the Supermarket though.

[Fuzzy Afro]

1 minute ago, zahidf said:

Dude dont be abusing to be people who disagree with you

Yeah, thanks for pulling me up on that. I have edited that post because my language wasn't acceptable.

[zahidf]

Just now, Fuzzy Afro said:

Yeah, thanks for pulling me up on that. I have edited that post because my language wasn't acceptable.

No probs!

[efcfanwirral]

1 minute ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

That's ultimately a decision for them to make though isn't it? If, for example, Greece really needs the tourism money this summer so it opens up before it gets as far through its vaccination programme as they'd like, that's for them and their government to decide upon. The only issue we as Brits face within that is whether our government is keen on allowing us to travel to a higher prevalence country and return without self-isolating.

 

If they're confident that the vaccines we've used protect against the variants that are out there, then there's no reason not to allow travel, because the people travelling won't re-import cases as they've been vaccinated. If there's concern that there is a variant out there that escapes the vaccines then we will likely have more draconian travel restrictions to try and prevent that variant reaching our shores.

 

Yeah hate that some countries in Europe have become so reliant on dickhead Brits (mainly English) invading their countries every year. Its their decision and the right thing money wise but it's depressing.

[efcfanwirral]

11 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

There really isn’t any reason to stop wearing masks indoors, if it helps keeps the spread of other illnesses down then it’s perfectly acceptable we keep wearing them. It costs nothing in the grand scheme of things for us to keep wearing them. 

Considering how people behave around masks during a pandemic, it could be borderline dangerous to wear one in some areas. Abuse or violence will get rid of the last few masks 

[Fuzzy Afro]

I would be absolutely stunned if face coverings are a legal requirement on public transport or in shops in summer 2022.

 

Will some people choose to wear them? Sure.