England set to drop facemasks and social distancing on July 19

[Furryanimal]

I will be happy to ditch masks and won’t worry one bit about it but if you are on a train to Wales you’ll still have to put one on at the border unless we have a major change in policy here(although Stagecoach announced today that all forward facing seats on their buses in Wales can be used at busy times from Monday).

 

[davetheguard]

Pre-Covid: I used trains about three days a week for leisure & shopping purposes. Buses less often, but still fairly regularly.
During Covid: Because of the mask regulations, I've not used public transport at all.

But, as soon as the mask requirement is dropped, I'll be back from day one on a regular basis; I'd have been back a long time before now if it hadn't been for the, to me, pointless requirement to wear those horrible masks. I can soon travel again! Freedom!

 

[island]

Indeed many people are currently excluded from using public transport, not necessarily barred by the operators (though that can and does happen) but either by the actions of society or the anxiousness of the person to place themselves in a position where they may be challenged.

I agree.

I expect I will use public transport considerably more when mask requirements are dropped.

 

[sharpinf]

Echoing others I feel more inclined to choose public transport when there is no requirement to wear face coverings especially for longer distance journeys

 

[MikeWM]

To continue the general consensus I will be happier using public transport once mask requirements (and all the rest of the distancing stuff) is dropped. It is all this stuff (masks, distancing, one-way systems, endless nagging announcements and signs) rather than covid that put me off public transport for a long while last year.

By now personally I'm at the point where I'm ok with claiming exemption from mask-wearing and filtering out all the nagging, but it would be rather more pleasant to just get back to normal.

 

[yorkie]

I predict that when the mandate is removed, public transport usage will increase.

The polls say a lot of people will stop using it; in reality the opposite will be the case. Mark my words!

 

[AlterEgo]

I would prefer, as a doubly vaccinated person, not to have to wear a mask and not to have to socially distance.

 

[Failed Unit]

As someone exempt from wearing a mask, this will actually make me feel more comfortable using public transport. I'm sick to death of both passengers and staff ignoring the exemption card I wear on a sunflower lanyard (itself something I shouldn't have to wear as it's not the law, but it reduces the hassle) and challenging me over it, trying to make me feel like a criminal for having a condition that prevents me from wearing a mask. The sooner this nonsense is over with the better.

I am also in the same boat. Avoid public transport as a result. I will be back once the mask mandate is gone. If people choose to where them that is upto them. Perhaps LNER could add it as a reservation choice. Be interesting if they did how many would select the mask only coach.

 

[Cdd89]

I think it’s also underestimated that needing to wear a mask reinforces the (untrue) perception that public transport is unsafe. So short term reassurance becomes long term deterrent which shifts people toward less safe forms of transport, and this will become more dramatic if public transport is the only context in which mask regulations are not lifted.

 

[big_rig]

There are longer distance journeys I have been putting off due to mask and social distancing requirements. I would be perfectly happy to sit next to others on the train/tube or join a crowded train/tube without masks.

I would ask that you apply a sense check to your surveys. The idea that two thirds of current tube passengers will stop making journeys unless masks remain quite frankly does not make sense. How do they intend on getting anywhere in future? It is really the case that they will cease going to work or leisure, and just sit inside forever? Driving is not an option to get to Central London and in any case two thirds of tube passengers will not own a vehicle.

 

[Class 33]

Providing that this face mask nonsense on public transport is dropped on 19th July and wearing one just becomes optional, I think you will then see very VERY few people wearing them. Mark my words! The vast majority of Brits are absolutely sick and tired of having to wear these darn things and will be so glad to be able to ditch them!

 

[Annetts key]

I think some here have missed the point of why face masks / face coverings were introduced. An individual wearing one does slightly reduce the likelihood of catching the virus.

But if everyone is wearing them, then the number and distance that water droplets in your breath travel is reduced. Hence it aids, in connection with people staying sufficiently apart in reducing the ability of the virus to spread from a host and to infect another host. Then everyone is less likely to catch the virus from the air.

So this ‘thing’ about you don’t want to wear a face covering, but it’s okay for others doesn’t really work. That’s like saying, you think it’s okay for you to smoke, because you don’t care about others not having a choice of having to breathe in smoke from your cigarette.

Tell you what, maybe I’ll bring a stink bomb with me. Then let it off in a train and see how long you like sitting in a confined area with a very, very nasty smell.

Humans are strange creatures. If the virus caused permanent disfigurement of the face and body that would put off the opposite sex, would you take it more seriously? Is the possibility of suffering long COVID or dying not enough for your brain to think about self preservation? Would you run out in front of a train or run onto a busy motorway and ‘let God decide’ your fate?

Unless we (as a country) manage to completely eliminate the COVID19 Corona virus (like New Zealand have done) there will still be a risk of catching it. Just because you have been vaccinated, it does not remove the risk entirely. It just reduces the risk. And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

In terms of liberty, there is no bill of rights in this country. This is a kingdom, not a republic. One guy tried travelling from one end on the country to the other end, but kept getting arrested. What, you say, did he do wrong? His wrongdoing was simple, he wanted to be naked. Rather him than me. But for social reasons, wearing clothes is the normal thing to do when in public, even though it may be warm enough that you don’t need to.

Hence, although I would prefer it if we did completely eliminate COVID19, I would much prefer not to wear a face covering, until then, it may become the new normal.

Next people will be complaining that they are not allowed to get on public transport with their firearm…

 

[Mojo]

I would ask that you apply a sense check to your surveys. The idea that two thirds of current tube passengers will stop making journeys unless masks remain quite frankly does not make sense. How do they intend on getting anywhere in future? It is really the case that they will cease going to work or leisure, and just sit inside forever? Driving is not an option to get to Central London and in any case two thirds of tube passengers will not own a vehicle.

It also doesn’t make any sense because of the fact that most trains I travel on there are usually several other non mask wearers on board also.

 

[roversfan2001]

Next people will be complaining that they are not allowed to get on public transport with their firearm…

Your entire post was laughable but this takes the biscuit. Someone not wearing a mask isn't at all comparable to someone holding a gun.

 

[Mojo]

I think some here have missed the point of why face masks / face coverings were introduced. An individual wearing one does slightly reduce the likelihood of catching the virus.

Possibly. It isn’t clear. I’m not sure that it is backed up by any real world evidence from places that have imposed, or repealed such mandates.

And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

“The jury” is clear that vaccinations offer better protection than face coverings do.

 

[Darandio]

Unless we (as a country) manage to completely eliminate the COVID19 Corona virus (like New Zealand have done) there will still be a risk of catching it. Just because you have been vaccinated, it does not remove the risk entirely. It just reduces the risk. And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

New Zealand? Eliminate the virus you say? I'm pretty certain Wellington is in New Zealand and is now under level 2 of restrictions due to a case imported from Australia.

There is no such thing as elimination, for all of the preaching in the rest of your post i'm not sure how many times something as simple has to be pointed out.

 

[Annetts key]

“The jury” is clear that vaccinations offer better protection than face coverings do.

The most reasonable thing is to have both vaccinations and take all the other recommended precautions, including reducing the distribution of possible air born water droplets that may contain the virus.

Today the number of children that were absent from school reached a new high since they went back. And in some areas, 20 year to 30 year olds have the the highest case rates of getting infected.That tells me that there is still plenty of the virus out there.

 

[island]

I think some here have missed the point of why face masks / face coverings were introduced. An individual wearing one does slightly reduce the likelihood of catching the virus.

But if everyone is wearing them, then the number and distance that water droplets in your breath travel is reduced. Hence it aids, in connection with people staying sufficiently apart in reducing the ability of the virus to spread from a host and to infect another host. Then everyone is less likely to catch the virus from the air.

So this ‘thing’ about you don’t want to wear a face covering, but it’s okay for others doesn’t really work. That’s like saying, you think it’s okay for you to smoke, because you don’t care about others not having a choice of having to breathe in smoke from your cigarette.

Tell you what, maybe I’ll bring a stink bomb with me. Then let it off in a train and see how long you like sitting in a confined area with a very, very nasty smell.

Humans are strange creatures. If the virus caused permanent disfigurement of the face and body that would put off the opposite sex, would you take it more seriously? Is the possibility of suffering long COVID or dying not enough for your brain to think about self preservation? Would you run out in front of a train or run onto a busy motorway and ‘let God decide’ your fate?

Unless we (as a country) manage to completely eliminate the COVID19 Corona virus (like New Zealand have done) there will still be a risk of catching it. Just because you have been vaccinated, it does not remove the risk entirely. It just reduces the risk. And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

In terms of liberty, there is no bill of rights in this country. This is a kingdom, not a republic. One guy tried travelling from one end on the country to the other end, but kept getting arrested. What, you say, did he do wrong? His wrongdoing was simple, he wanted to be naked. Rather him than me. But for social reasons, wearing clothes is the normal thing to do when in public, even though it may be warm enough that you don’t need to.

Hence, although I would prefer it if we did completely eliminate COVID19, I would much prefer not to wear a face covering, until then, it may become the new normal.

Next people will be complaining that they are not allowed to get on public transport with their firearm…

If there was an award for most strawmen and non-sequitur arguments in a post on the forum, this post would render it pointless for anyone else to enter.

 

[Richard Scott]

The most reasonable thing is to have both vaccinations and take all the other recommended precautions, including reducing the distribution of possible air born water droplets that may contain the virus.

Today the number of children that were absent from school reached a new high since they went back. And in some areas, 20 year to 30 year olds have the the highest case rates of getting infected.That tells me that there is still plenty of the virus out there.

Why take precautions, assume you've had vaccination against other diseases but don't worry about those? Some which are far worse to catch e.g. measles?
So case rates are highest in 20-30 year olds so those recently vaccinated or not vaccinated yet? My conclusion is the vaccines work.

 

[NorthOxonian]

The most reasonable thing is to have both vaccinations and take all the other recommended precautions, including reducing the distribution of possible air born water droplets that may contain the virus.

Today the number of children that were absent from school reached a new high since they went back. And in some areas, 20 year to 30 year olds have the the highest case rates of getting infected.That tells me that there is still plenty of the virus out there.

When would you be willing to see restrictions eased?

Bear in mind that even if everyone was vaccinated, we probably still won't get up to the herd immunity threshold so the virus will still be circulating - and it probably will for many years. Also remember that the vaccines work - the virus is an absolutely miniscule threat to people who have been vaccinated.

So unless you want to see masks on public transport forever (the very thought makes my blood run cold), I don't understand the argument against getting rid of masks fairly sharpish. At the absolute worst, September, but ideally in July as is proposed.

 

[Grecian 1998]

Perhaps the easiest thing would be to now introduce 'no mask' / 'mask at all times with no exemptions whatsoever' carriages as a test. The no mask carriage can have yellow and black stripes and a skull and crossbones on it. The mask carriage can be painted the unpleasant shade of turquoise used for medical masks. The public can then decide for themselves and the results can be monitored. Obviously this works rather better on longer trains.

I shall be making straight for the carriage marked as a bio-hazard, as I suspect will most others.

 

[MrTurbostar170]

Who is being polled here? There is no way any of the assumptions made are accurate.

I have stopped wearing them on public transport for quite a while myself. A quick look at data on "cases" and the science behind masks brought me to my decision.

 

[yorksrob]

I think some here have missed the point of why face masks / face coverings were introduced. An individual wearing one does slightly reduce the likelihood of catching the virus.

But if everyone is wearing them, then the number and distance that water droplets in your breath travel is reduced. Hence it aids, in connection with people staying sufficiently apart in reducing the ability of the virus to spread from a host and to infect another host. Then everyone is less likely to catch the virus from the air.

So this ‘thing’ about you don’t want to wear a face covering, but it’s okay for others doesn’t really work. That’s like saying, you think it’s okay for you to smoke, because you don’t care about others not having a choice of having to breathe in smoke from your cigarette.

Tell you what, maybe I’ll bring a stink bomb with me. Then let it off in a train and see how long you like sitting in a confined area with a very, very nasty smell.

Humans are strange creatures. If the virus caused permanent disfigurement of the face and body that would put off the opposite sex, would you take it more seriously? Is the possibility of suffering long COVID or dying not enough for your brain to think about self preservation? Would you run out in front of a train or run onto a busy motorway and ‘let God decide’ your fate?

Unless we (as a country) manage to completely eliminate the COVID19 Corona virus (like New Zealand have done) there will still be a risk of catching it. Just because you have been vaccinated, it does not remove the risk entirely. It just reduces the risk. And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

In terms of liberty, there is no bill of rights in this country. This is a kingdom, not a republic. One guy tried travelling from one end on the country to the other end, but kept getting arrested. What, you say, did he do wrong? His wrongdoing was simple, he wanted to be naked. Rather him than me. But for social reasons, wearing clothes is the normal thing to do when in public, even though it may be warm enough that you don’t need to.

Hence, although I would prefer it if we did completely eliminate COVID19, I would much prefer not to wear a face covering, until then, it may become the new normal.

Next people will be complaining that they are not allowed to get on public transport with their firearm…

Facemasks were introduced to mitigate against a pandemic with no cure which had the potential to cause a lot of mortality and overwhelm the health service. They were not introduced to make hypochondriacs feel better.

There is now a very effective vaccine taken up by the majority most vulnerable to the pandemic and there is little chance of the health system getting overwhelmed (as it stands), therefore there is no reason for compulsory mask wearing on public transport.

 

[Crossover]

Humans are strange creatures. If the virus caused permanent disfigurement of the face and body that would put off the opposite sex, would you take it more seriously? Is the possibility of suffering long COVID or dying not enough for your brain to think about self preservation? Would you run out in front of a train or run onto a busy motorway and ‘let God decide’ your fate?

More strawmen here than one can shake a stick at! In terms of Covid, I have spent over a year taking precautions, doing the masks thing etc. but have had it, carried on working throughout, am still here, got the t-shirt. I have now been half vaccinated. Where does it end?

Today the number of children that were absent from school reached a new high since they went back. And in some areas, 20 year to 30 year olds have the the highest case rates of getting infected.That tells me that there is still plenty of the virus out there.

But how badly affected are the majority of these people? It stands to reason that 20-30 year olds are worst affected as they are the ones who have largely not yet received a vaccination. It was always likely to be the case that the younger generations started "being worse affected" because the older and most vulnerable had been given a (now proven) highly effective vaccine. As for absences from school, it is probably for another thread, but I suspect the ridiculous isolation requirements of 10's/100's of pupils at a time who are perfectly well is having an effect on this. Disruptions to schools needs to end ASAP!

 

[Bantamzen]

I think some here have missed the point of why face masks / face coverings were introduced. An individual wearing one does slightly reduce the likelihood of catching the virus.

But if everyone is wearing them, then the number and distance that water droplets in your breath travel is reduced. Hence it aids, in connection with people staying sufficiently apart in reducing the ability of the virus to spread from a host and to infect another host. Then everyone is less likely to catch the virus from the air.

So this ‘thing’ about you don’t want to wear a face covering, but it’s okay for others doesn’t really work. That’s like saying, you think it’s okay for you to smoke, because you don’t care about others not having a choice of having to breathe in smoke from your cigarette.

Tell you what, maybe I’ll bring a stink bomb with me. Then let it off in a train and see how long you like sitting in a confined area with a very, very nasty smell.

Humans are strange creatures. If the virus caused permanent disfigurement of the face and body that would put off the opposite sex, would you take it more seriously? Is the possibility of suffering long COVID or dying not enough for your brain to think about self preservation? Would you run out in front of a train or run onto a busy motorway and ‘let God decide’ your fate?

Unless we (as a country) manage to completely eliminate the COVID19 Corona virus (like New Zealand have done) there will still be a risk of catching it. Just because you have been vaccinated, it does not remove the risk entirely. It just reduces the risk. And at the moment, the jury is still out on this.

In terms of liberty, there is no bill of rights in this country. This is a kingdom, not a republic. One guy tried travelling from one end on the country to the other end, but kept getting arrested. What, you say, did he do wrong? His wrongdoing was simple, he wanted to be naked. Rather him than me. But for social reasons, wearing clothes is the normal thing to do when in public, even though it may be warm enough that you don’t need to.

Hence, although I would prefer it if we did completely eliminate COVID19, I would much prefer not to wear a face covering, until then, it may become the new normal.

Next people will be complaining that they are not allowed to get on public transport with their firearm…

Covid elimination? Forget it, this is a near impossible scenario. So if you feel the need to keep wearing masks permanently please feel free to do so, but do not expect many of us to follow. Sorry, but that is the bottom line.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Social distancing on trains is a strange one. I use a train daily which has 50% of the seats vacant but people standing crowded in the vestibule.
Seems that its ok to stand next to someone but not sit next to them

 

[LAX54]

From my observations about half the people on it now are not wearing the masks, or at least not properly.

Personally, I'm less likely to use public transport if they are still mandated. It's not like anything has proven they work, but people are welcome to still wear them if they wish of course. Just I don't agree with mandation.

Many have not worn them 'correctly' since Day 1 ! lol

 

[Peter Mugridge]

We put out this tweet earlier following reports that face coverings and social distancing rules are set to be scrapped in England on 19 July:

It would be interesting to hear whether people on this forum would be put off from using public transport if these rules are dropped and what level of consensus there is about whether this is the right or wrong approach.

UPDATE:

Thanks for all your comments so far. I noticed that most people seem to have an aversion to being forced to wear face masks after 19 July. Would the same apply in terms of social distancing? Would you be comfortable sitting next to someone on a train for example, or even getting on a crowded train where you were required to stand?

I am only wearing the mask because it is mandatory; I am using them only as a means of getting into shops and onto trains - no other reason. I am not comfortable wearing them and I would be likely to increase my use of the trains (I'm already travelling more intensively than I was pre-virus ) further once the requirement to wear them is dropped.

For distancing... I've already been on a number of trains recently which have been full and standing ( as in every seat taken and as many people again standing - specifically the evening peak suburban departures from Liverpool Street via Romford ) and I am quite comfortable with it. Even in August 2020 I had a full and standing at York ( for Scarborough ) which started at York and was full and standing ten minutes before departure; I still got on it and had no worries at all about doing so.

Returning to the masks... I freely admit I am not wearing them properly anyway; I'm supposed to change them every 4 hours ( these are the blue and white disposable ones ) but in fact I'm keeping each one going for up to two weeks - and stuffing them into my jacket pocket between uses...

 

[Darandio]

Returning to the masks... I freely admit I am not wearing them properly anyway; I'm supposed to change them every 4 hours ( these are the blue and white disposable ones ) but in fact I'm keeping each one going for up to two weeks - and stuffing them into my jacket pocket between uses...

That's fine Peter. Once you've taken one of the disposable masks off after the first use it simply turns into a face covering instead, perfectly legal!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

That's fine Peter. Once you've taken one of the disposable masks off after the first use it simply turns into a face covering instead, perfectly legal!

I can see the likes of Whitty et al doing a facepalm at this, though!