Will you continue to wear your mask when they are optional?

Pandering to the Vulnerables ...is it out soon at a cinema near you? 😁

Don't think it will be hit somehow 😉

There are people like said MsPower and others who will be trying to make a name for themselves by pushing an agenda like this .

Unfortunately they have been all over the media all through this on all sides of the debate .

Time for everyone to move on.... masks gone , but infection rates still up .

All most immunocompromised / vulnerable people want is life back to normal too , but for them it means taking extra care not to get infected . For them , not everyone else .

Its not the same as pre Covid , as much more infectious than any other previously circulating viruses. . But Omicron is causing less severe illness and we have vaccines now .

The big push is getting antivirals and monoclonal antibodies available to treat anybody still at highrisk if they get infected asap.

Not getting everybody else to wear masks.

Everybody else has done their bit .

However making this about something against vulnerable people is unkind .

Yes but it's up to those immunocompromised to take care , wear a decent mask and watch what they are doing from now on .

Government should get those antivirals out there asap .

If somebody sits beside someone vulnerable on public transport or in an enclosed indoor space without a mask there is nothing that can be done, just get up and move away .

Decided to step it up a bit lads.

Going full hazmat just to annoy people.

Where is the aggression?

If you don't want to do something, don't, I'm only pointing out that we know that there is a dangerous virus present and I'm advocating being considerate towards others (and ourselves) with respect to trying to minimize spreading or catching it. And what I said was I have no respect for people who are militantly against wearing masks. Not that everyone who isn't wearing one falls in to that category.

If I see someone in a large shopping center with a lot of distance between people not wearing a mask just doing their shopping am I going to think ill of them for not wearing it? No. But if I see someone coughing and sniffling on public transport with a lot of people around them, then I will think poorly of them. At least in the short term while we continue to see significant cases associated with it. Masks aren't symbolizing anything, but they do indicate an awareness of the risks, a willingness to help to minimize spread and a consideration towards others.

We can't just go back to pretending Covid doesn't exist or didn't happen just because it has been unpleasant in various ways to deal with it.

This has been the most dangerous pandemic most of us have ever had to deal with and yet it was relatively easy to detect, to mitigate against and to develop a vaccine for. If the next virus is more deadly, or communicable or harder to develop a vaccine for, we, as a society will need an attitude of doing what we can and I've hated to see the more extreme versions of unwillingness to consider others that some people have shown they possess.

Stop twisting posts to suit your narrative. It's not 2020 anymore.

Move on.

Lol. Sure, I'm the one twisting things. I literally responded directly about the topic of the post.

Never said “only”- but they are far more susceptible- this is undisputed medical fact. But isn’t discussed much as it might “upset” someone.

From your comments kaiser, I appreciate that you are both a articulate and intelligent poster. Therefore its very difficult to see how you've completly failed to understand the role face masks have played during the pandemic overall.

Firstly we have little or no data on outbreaks in shopping centres or supermarkets. A quick google search shows that some of the big supermarkets here did indeed have outbreaks amongst staff. Detailed information on these outbreaks however seem to be scarce. As for customers who may have contacted covid during a shopping trip there appears to no means to verify how people picked up infections in shops due to the random nature of such interactions.

Bizarrely during the period of the first lockdown, the World Health Organisation insisted on promoting the stance of the Chinese government that the virus was not airborne and therefore face masks were not needed.

Once that was Identified as being wrong, masks were introduced to help reduce the spread of covid along with other existing measures such as handwashing and social distancing. However the mandating of masks by itself was never exclusively about who was vulnerable, rather it was one one of several measures brought in to help prevent outbreaks in certain settings and to help reduce the spread of covid in order so that hospital and medical resources were not overstretched in terms of beds, available staff and treatment.

On people's immune systems. Afaik there is absolutely no proof that masks in any way weakened anyones immune system. In the winter of the first year of the pandemic, after masks had been mandated, it was notable that the usual flue season was absent. In fact it is just as likley that the subsequent vaccination programme starting in 2021 has helped stimulate people's immune system not only against covid but potentially against other infections.

Overall the majority of people I know got on with interpersonal communication and interaction just fine. And considering that social interactions were limited during large portions of the pandemic people I know were often quite happy using digital and other media where face to face contact simply wasn't feasible or possible.

There is no "virtue signalling" nor "doing-the-right-thing" fixation other than in your head. The fact is that the mandated wearing of face masks ends on the 28th of February. No one is going to force you to wear one. Whether you will decide to be considerate towards others who choose to do so, remains up to you alone.

You do realise this thread is a Poll about who will wear a mask when they are optional ?

I won't as I despise the things but I have zero issue with anyone that wishes to do so.