I’d expect most of the people writing these are University educated or have a PhD and there’s a consensus that wearing masks is beneficial. I’d trust them over high school science.
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Indeed.
What do the worlds leading virologist know…
I think whatever fear there was, has been lost.
The amount of people not wearing masks, where there is no medical impediment or reason is quite depressing. Perhaps we should take note of other countries that deal with non compliance by sending people out in chemical suits to spray those with no mask ,and no exemption, with anti viral mixes.
Unfortunately, we reap what we sow- if there is another major lockdown and the economy goes even deeper into decline we only have ourself to blame - we can’t blame anyone other than ourselves.
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If the threat is to others / society as a whole then one might. Humans are constantly making decisions regarding risk in their everyday lives (such as whether to walk slightly out of the way to a zebra crossing).
All the articles I have read making this argument miss the big picture - that small changes in risk at an individual level can have an impact on society as a whole. Additionally, I personally feel that wearing a mask is such a small inconvenience (compared to isolation, closed schools, lost jobs, restricted access to health service etc etc) that wearing one a ‘no-brainer’.
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Do you mean challenge them to ask them for a ticket (they are the only people allowed to do this!) or force them to the ground and wait for the police to arrive? (Obviously above and beyond).
Police of course can enforce and I have seen them do it in Canada Water on one of my infrequent journeys
I wouldn’t expect a scientist to fully understand my job; they might get the basics but not the nuances. What I’ve seen, does suggest that masks work - more to protect others than myself. I’ll trust those with degrees and doctorates to translate and keep on top of the latest research and advice and translate.
Here’s Devi Sridhar (chair in global health at Edinburgh University who advises with Scottish Government and more widely within Sage). She’s given nuanced advice throughout over judging the level of personal risk while trying to stay as ‘normal’ as possible. This is her take today in a Guardian article.
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The Virus IS genuinely a threat and myself and many others have no option but to use public transport to get to work (yes…there are people who are unable to work from home)
Whatever benefit the masks may or may not have I am taking every precaution to keep myself and others safe whilst commuting and that includes hand sanitising and mask wearing.
If everyone would take responsibility to limit the spread of this virus then more lives AND jobs would be saved.
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I don’t think I’m going to convince or lower anyone’s anxiety levels over covid here. You can pull out an expert to support any point of view. There is no consensus on any of it.
If you think this virus is the deadly killer it was fear mongered as earlier this year, I just encourage you to do some of your own research starting with the official data on the ONS website. Reading The Guardian is not doing your own research.
And please don’t fall for the Government rhetoric designed to blame others in sociery.
I don’t think you are going to convince me, sorry. By the way Consensus implies general agreement, though not necessarily unanimity.
My son’s girlfriend is a Doctor at a large London hospital and she’s convinced me from first hand experience.
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I think the story of the man being beaten simply for moving away is pretty shocking. Ok - the perpetrator felt offended that someone didn’t want to stand next to him. So the obvious solution was GBH? What is wrong with people? Things seem to have got a bit out of hand since the end of Lockdown 1.
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Likewise a very good friend of ours is a senior nurse in a respiratory ward in a large hospital. I would take her knowledge over any internet based “advice” from an unknown source.
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The Guardian article appears to be directly quoting the expert. Your comment suggests you think she was misquoted/misrepresented. Do you have more information on her views that might demonstrate why you think referring to that quote isn’t legitimate? I suspect it may not convince some but it would be interesting evidence, not least about the Guardian’s use of sources!
Hospitals are the perfect example. They have a procedure to follow, other PPE to compliment such as gloves, when they leave one environment they dispose of the PPE immediately, then wash their hands and get new PPE. In a hospital setting with the proper procedures PPE is important to stop spread of infections.
The way the public uses masks, diminishes the benefits. Touching your face, constantly adjusting the masks, masks don’t fit properly, using the same mask all day long etc. And when you look at the studies cited they are conducted in the perfect environment ignoring all these factors.
You can find plenty of nurses and doctors who think the response is disproportionate. Or that the Government shouldn’t take an authoritarian approach to it all. Mostly off the record because the NHS has cracked down on staff expressing the own opinions on the matter. Especially after staff went on social media showing how all the hospital wards were empty during the crisis and they had nothing to do and when staff exposed what a joke NHS Nightingale was.
You do know we wear masks not to protect ourselves, but others??
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Yes. And the benefit of them is so miniscule that it shouldn’t be forced. And people shouldn’t go around with anxiety over it or look at their fellow human beings and think bad of them.
Like most things I’m not overly afraid of it happening to me (it did - it was fine). I’m more worried about my parents who aren’t getting any younger and I’m fully aware the journey to them would expose me (and consequently them) to something that is at best painful and worst death
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And you can expose them during every single flu season. A harsh reality that many people weren’t aware of until now.
If you listen to Sweden’s head epidemiologist, countries that locked down or wear masks could be setting up worse conditions for the approaching winter. Because we don’t have enough herd immunity amongst young people to protect the vulnerable.
So we could actively be making things worse by taking such a dogmatic approach to all these measures.
But studies also say your antibody response reduces after 3 months and you can get it twice - combined that means that herd immunity isn’t likely to happen.
Of course this is a moot argument - we have laws - people should obey them and wear masks on public transport (at least it will protect me from bad breath!)
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You didn’t get it did you.
Ordinarily, if you were trying to convince us that there really are little green men, or the earth was flat, I would roll my eyes and move on.
But you are not.
If you convince one person not to bother, and they contact Covid that’s on you. And I won’t let that happen.
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And I can equally say you are killing people by not building up herd immunity during summer. Emotional arguments are pointless.
How could the earth be flat? The little green men had to orbit the globe before landing!
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