mask mandates getting re-instated

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^ Yes, this. A woman who works in the same building as me started wearing a mask to work again after covid started going around in her husband's work place, and I think that was very responsible of her.

I must admit that in this aspect I have come to admire the East Asian countries where masking has been common for over 15 years now.

I think our representatives have missed the opportunity to make it a cultural norm in the West by trying to capitalise on "giving us back our freedom". I'm not sure it actually did their popularity any good.

If it were up to me, then masks would remain mandatory (with the usual exemptions) on public transport. Just crush coronavirus and influenza and even those pathetic rhinoviruses into the ground. We'd all get sick less often with no real downside.

I don’t know about the UK but I can not see mask mandates becoming the cultural norm in America for the foreseeable future. The opposite is the cultural norm here. Even the most COVID nanny politicians had to give it up. They are stuck with “recommending” masks which they and everybody else knows is a virtue signal that nobody will listen to. Irregardless of what the politicians say there are a certain amount of people that will mask. During outbreaks some more will mask. For most people the pandemic is over. Not that COVID is over, it is a bad flu year at most.

The media here has been emphasizing that it is the first normal holiday season since 2019, everybody is just so happy and relieved to be getting together and partying and celebrating just like they used to.

I think things would be different if the issue hadn't become so polarised. If people like Trump had been pro-mask (without people like Biden then turning around and becoming anti-mask) then probably more people would have accepted it. Once it became a wedge issue then that hope was lost.

(I think it's basically a historical coincidence that the Democrats ended up on the right side and the Republicans on the wrong side - it's very easy to imagine a world where their positions are flipped, with slight changes to rhetoric.)

I was the only person wearing a mask today, the other person doesn't count since they wore it under their nose.
It’s a health issue , not a political one.
I’m still dodging Covid.

Ditto that. I've had 4 doses of covid vaccine now and still wear a mask. Lots of folk still dying in the UK from Covid and also from Flu. I don't want either. Down to personal choice. I don't mind wearing a high level protection mask when out and about and don't mind those who don't. Live and let live (or die )

You're right, corona is still around to some degree.

The fact it's still around after several vaccine doses is a sign it will always be around to some degree. Does that mean mask mandates should always exist?

Or even if mask mandates only exist during outbreaks, that means we'll always live under the threat that mask mandates could come back at any second. Count me out.

I think I mentioned on a previous post I wear a mask when sick. But that's my personal choice. All I'm opposed to are mandates.

I'm aware East Asian countries have been wearing masks for ages. But as has already been said, western countries functioned perfectly fine without mask mandates before the pandemic.

I guess I don't follow the logic that we should make masks a cultural norm just because they're a cultural norm in certain other countries (which, by the way, are way more crowded than any western country).

As a daily rider of public transportation, here's why public transportation mask mandates are problematic: By summer of 2021, just about everywhere where I live had lifted all mask mandates. The two exceptions being medical facilities (which is understandable) and public transportation.

Us regular riders were aware (at the time) the mask mandate existed. So we came prepared (wore a mask). A lot of occasional riders, however, would ride maskless. Not because they were purposely breaking the rules. But because they were no longer in the habit of wearing a mask (or even carrying a mask with them). The idea that any place (other than medical) would still require a mask was unfathomable to them.

A mask mandate is impractical if it's going to frequently get unintentionally broken.

Another problem with public transportation mask mandates is that the mask impairs your vision. Not only would the mask make my glasses fog up; the mask also prevented me from being able to see the ground. I've lost count of how many times I nearly tripped when getting onto the bus.

Lastly, ever since the public transportation mask mandate went away in April, I've continued my pattern of hardly ever getting sick.

I don't think we should settle for "functioning fine" if we can improve things - it is obviously defeatist to constantly settle for "fine" when "better" is within reach. With a simple habit, we can reduce disease burden, at very little cost.


I didn't notice this problem here. Perhaps your transportation providers need to do a better job of informing passengers that they need a mask.

Of course, if you want to build a habit then you could also require it in shops and other enclosed areas.



I don't wear glasses so cannot comment there, but I understand that there are ways to minimise that. If your mask was blocking your vision then you weren't wearing it properly. It should be tight to your nose.

Perhaps it's my age, or that I am American, but I never supported lockdowns or masking. And I don't support vaccine passports. In fact, these things were enforced hastily due to fear and without legal justification as they violate the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Not to mention OSHA's own guidelines for the workplace.

What we are now seeing is a resurgence of influenza A due to trying to prevent illness, and Covid is still spiking every few months (although it does seem to be weakening). I have always believed the weak should stay home or cover themselves as desired, but the healthy should proceed with life as usual.

It was never a public health emergency because the mortality rate was just never high enough for that. As I told all my friends, when I see dead bodies piled in the streets, then I will consider masking.

I would not wait until dead bodies pile up in the street. When the pandemic first started here in NY hospitals were overflowing they were putting patients in tents outside, and inside the halls were clogged with patients. All my follow-up appointments were postponed for months because all the doctors had to go on COVID duty. That meant I could not be checked to see if my cancer came back, if I developed heart disease or if a whole bunch of other diseases developed that could have impaired or killed me because they did not catch it in time.

Woe to you if you ended up in the hospital during that time(and you had to be extremely sick to be admitted). Because the staffs were overwhelmed, patients were ignored and many more mistakes were made than usual. Not only were the lockdowns at the beginning justified but they were probably implemented too late.

The problem was not masking per see, but
1. The messaging was terrible, conflicting and deliberately false information was put out there
2. People wear the wrong type of masks and wear them badly.

So we have a situation where most people believe masks don't work and don't wear them or wear them only to not offend others.

Similar to vaccines, we were promised lifetime herd immunity like the polio vaccine. Many vaccines never give you that type of protection.

If most people masked correctly and vaccinated correctly we would be in much better shape.

I was under the impression that the first amendment was about political speech. Vaccine mandates have been around for a long time and have not been successfully challenged., but I am not a constitutional lawyer. For argument's sake let's assume the mandates are unconstitutional. Then it is up to us to be responsible and up to nongovernment entities to deal with people that put others in danger.

How long should the weak stay home, and are you willing to pay higher taxes to support them?

I’m glad you weren’t a front-line worker so you didn’t see the bodies piling up, and you didn’t have to lose loved ones or fear for their survival.

Despite your tone I will respond.

The weak don't have to stay home. It is illegal to force people to stay home unless they are on house arrest. My rationale was, and always has been, that with a mortality rate <2%--and that occurring mostly in the over 65/70 year age group--it makes more sense for them to exclude themselves from society at home than for 98% of society to exclude themselves from life/activity. And I'm sure you are aware that mental illness spiked in the lockdown, especially among youth?

Except for the New York hospital I did not see bodies piling up......I understand a lot of folks died and are still dying but it was never like ebola or the flu outbreak of 1918 or like the plague. That is what I mean.

To give up freedom is a big deal and should not be done except for the direst of situations.

I agree with staying home by choice (e.g., if people refused to get vaccinated -- I don't think vaxxes should have been mandated like they were where I live, because they are irreversible.)

My child has a permanent medical condition and no immune system. She takes three kinds of medication to kill her immune system because it was attacking her kidneys. The early strains of Covid would have killed her. My mother has (and had) cancer at the time and was doing treatment which killed her immune system. I have a heart condition and I've already had two strokes because of a blood clot disorder. The vaccines were a risk for me having another stroke but I needed them to safeguard my child.

I don't mean to have tone. Everyone is allowed their own opinion about masks but I've seen so much of the "let them stay home while we all get back to work" attitude, it's frustrating. A lot of those people who wanted to ditch their masks and get back to work didn't give a flap about caring for others, or helping to contain a worldwide virus which could kill more people than just the disposable "elderly".

I would have to disagree with you there. Most people care a lot about others, hence why the 'emergency orders' went on for two years and why people covered their faces so long.

If you are sick or immunocompromised you have every right to protect yourselves. But you do not have the right to project your needs onto those who are not sick or immunocompromised, or to peer pressure us into practices you deem necessary.

Hope you get better !

Where I live, there's been a surge in Covid/RSV/Flu cases that have filled up hospitals, especially children's hospitals with RSV. As a result, many people and that includes myself, are wearing masks inside crowded places again voluntarily because we're trying to protect ourselves, and those who are immunocompromised or have other conditions that put them at risk of complications including death. I've had both doses of the vaccine as well as the updated booster, but when I let my guard down before the updated booster was available to everyone, I managed to get Covid after avoiding it. Fortunately for me, the case was relatively mild, but it's something I don't want to have to go through again.

I also had a large ovarian cyst removed along with the ovaries, and total hysterectomy on December 19th, and at my post op appointment, I was told the cyst had some cancer cells, so I have a consultation to see if I'm going to get radiation or chemotherapy as a precaution. If I have to do those, I'll be one of those "weak" people because despite having the vaccine and 2 boosters, I'll be at risk if I catch Covid. Hopefully, the appointment might be that they removed everything and such treatment isn't needed, but I'm prepared to go through those if necessary. I do have the benefit of being relatively young at 47 and that the cancer was found early so it's easily treated. The point is, I'm going to be wearing a mask when indoors in public for the foreseeable future. Since I'm still in recovery from the total hysterectomy, I'm staying home as much as possible as it is, so the risks for me would be going to the grocery store.