Masked Politics.

As we all know the Covid-19 Pandemic keeps causing twists and turns for our society and it has affected every element of life for most people. For this piece I’m only going to address London/UK as I don’t really know how things are developing in other places other than what I see in news media. I live in London so this is where I am currently observing people and their behaviour, as it’s a massive city it does act as a good microcosmic example of life in general for urban dwellers.

Mask wearing was introduced very early on in the Pandemic and like all things new many people refused to engage and use them, or simply dismissed it. We were advised to wear them in shops and on transport etc but at that point, almost everything was closed so there wasn’t great prevalence in their use.

Over the following months and largely the first year of Covid it changed according to the rules we were told to follow. You must wear one here, but there is up to you and so on. At this point it’s become quite normal to wear a mask in various settings.

Personally, if I don’t have to wear one I will choose not to, but I am happy to wear one to make others comfortable. They aren’t a great hindrance, they can be uncomfortable after long duration (I do feel for medical staff who have to keep them on at all times) It’s impossible to wear glasses with one on, if you get sweaty they quickly become unpleasant.

The big issue I see with masks is the amount of waste, the single use medical mask is designed for specific use where a single use item is the most hygienic. I prefer the single use masks because they are more comfortable and more hygienic but I hate the waste.

Like all things Covid related many people have refused to wear them under some pretence of human rights being violated, which is ridiculous. Being forced to have a vaccine is a violation in my view and I believe in vaccines and have had my Covid shots. I don’t believe anyone should be forced to undergo medical interventions except in the case of children who cannot intellectually make an informed decision, in which their parents will hopefully make the right decision for them. Wearing a mask is hardly a violation of human rights and is just one of many measures to stem the flow of infection. Masks, like condoms aren’t 100% secure, but the certainly help.

The reason I wanted to write this is related to two factors:

The change in mask wearing behaviour since Omicron was identified.

The change to rules in England next week to no longer being obliged to wear them anywhere.

On the first point, when Omicron was identified and started to spread rapidly people got scared and mask use went back up quickly. I noticed more than any point in the whole experience that many, many more people were wearing masks while outside, walking down the street, through the park… not even coming close to others people have been wearing them more. I am happy to wear one indoors if expected but I don’t want to wear one while I’m walking in the fresh air. The chances of catching anything by walking past a person outdoors is very, very slim.

In shops and bars etc., use has been fairly similar. Some people wear one all the time (often out of fear of spreading it, rather than themselves getting ill). On public transport we are obliged to wear one, but some people still refused, however, most people were using them again after a period of people not really bothering.

The increased use represented people being genuinely worried, I don’t think ti was about being told to. Londoners tend to do as we please so someone telling us a rule needs to be followed usually gets met with a laugh. I think Omicron really scared many people and it did spread fast.

Assuming that people were genuinely fearful we have just been met with an announcement from the Government that as of Monday 24^th January we no longer have to legally wear masks and each venue/business/location can decide their own rules around it.

Business will likely not care, they want customers so will happily remove restrictions. I work in social care so we won’t be rushing to stop mask use, as far as I’m concerned we’ll keep that rule at work until I feel it’s safe not to whether or not the Government thinks so.

Of course, Boris Johnson has been under significant criticism for his own rule breaking and this could easily be an attempt to get the public on his side. It is an odd move to address the fact people are angry at his rule breaking to simply remove the rules, but it has nicely distracted everyone from the now infamous Tory Christmas Party.

Will people see it as a political move and keep wearing masks out of real caution, or will people happily accept the change and pretend like Covid has gone away… I suspect the latter. Along with masks we can now go to nightclubs, go back to the office for work and get on a bus without a mask so it has made our lives easier all of a sudden.

Boris Johnson has certainly employed populist political strategies to his advantage numerous times and this could easily be more of that rather than an actual belief it’s safe to remove restrictions. We perceive these as restrictions but safety measures have a purpose that isn’t inherently restrictive, they are just guideline changes. If the general population also believes the risk is reduced mask wearing will quite promptly stop except for those who are concerned about others getting the virus. I have friends who have partners or family with health conditions and these people have largely remained cautious regardless of the rules. I suspect most of them will continue as such even with a full return to normal life rules.

Law changes don’t necessarily equate to social changes so the population will make their own decisions, that said, all of us will be happy to not wear masks any more.

Besides work, if a shop, or public transport or a venue asks people to wear them I will respect that, if they don’t I’ll happily not wear one. I won’t judge anyone for wearing one if they don’t have to but I do still doubt the point of wearing them outside unless you’re at a sports event or music festival with thousands of others. If you are scared of Covid you’d be naïve to go to a music festival anyway.

Mask wearing like other Covid related rules has become yet another political bargaining chip and we’d all be naïve to think it isn’t. Remember that it is our lives and our communities lives that is most important regardless of what our leadership says. I am a CEO of a charity, I can decide on the rules, but I don’t want to cause my staff stress and most definitely don’t want to put them at risk so I will decide based on medical guidance when it’s time to stop wearing masks. Politicians often have ulterior motives beyond the public good, we’re used to that but we do still have to abide by the law (or not, at your own risk) but ultimately I hope people make wise decisions for safety purposes over what they are told to do.

This is another “read between the lines” scenario I suspect, as opposed to a “for the public good” scenario.

Will you continue to wear one? I know that Londoners at least will lose their masks as quickly as possible.