I respect their opinion but disagree. I don’t need to resort to insults like describing their opinions as “rubbish”. Science is all about differing hypotheses & opinions & civilised debate & experiment & evidence. It’s not about insulting those you disagree with.
Anti-vaxxers are anti-social prepared to benefit from the herd immunity from those who are vaccinated but not prepared to contribute themselves. I only wish that the UK made vaccinating children compulsory as they do in France.
2 Likes
They are… particularly on public transport 
Unfortunately, a bus driver in Bayonne lost his life when he was allegedly punched in the face by some herbert who seemingly took offence to being asked to comply with the law and wear a mask before boarding the bus.
1 Like
Hi Nigel - I was interested by your comments regarding reinfection and that it would appear to not happen on the basis it hadn’t yet happened - always difficult to prove a negative!
Mask wearing where we are in France (33570) is pretty high - in the early days of lockdown was about 90% in shops - probably now about 50%. In some places it is still mandatory.
A lot of people think the same way about wearing masks.
Given the many millions who have been infected we should have heard of some reports of re-infection if it happened. The fact that there have been no reports of re-infection yet means at the very least that immunity lasts for up to 6 months.
The case for mask wearing 3 months ago was much stronger. Now with the low prevalence of the virus in the community it’s now pretty pointless just as compulsory quarantine for travellers arriving in the country made sense 3 months ago & isn’t required now.
Mask wearing on public transport is compulsory because in confined spaces like packed commuter trains they probably are of use in preventing spread.
Nobody could possibly condone the ghastly violence visited on that bus driver but it doesn’t have any bearing on whether wearing masks is useful or not.
The minority who favour wearing masks seem very angry that the majority don’t agree with them.
It is very unlikely that the British government will make masks compulsory as throughout this crises they have been scared of actually demanding anything. It started back in the days of, ‘the pubs are still open but we would prefer that you don’t use them’, through Dominic Cummings apparently operating within the restrictions when he moved his ill family around the country, thousands of people being allowed to travel to beauty spots and beaches to the announcement that Mr Johnson‘s father had done nothing wrong when he travelled to Greece to sort out his holiday home. At least here in France we had a government to put restrictive measures in place to protect the situation and deliver face masks to everyone as quickly as possible. In the supermarkets and other shops that I use the people without masks are a minority and in many places the wearing of masks is imperative. Personally I’m relieved as despite some people disagreeing with the scientific evidence proving that the virus is spread through aspiration every step that is carried out to prevent more people becoming infected helps.
1 Like
Not sure if folk actually picked up the comment from the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe… when he explained WHY he was NOT making the wearing of masks mandatory across the board…
In short, it was because France is NOT a dictatorship and he felt that the French people had enough common sense to understand the value of mask wearing… and that they would follow all the government advice willingly… 
1 Like
It was interesting to hear yesterday how seriously the UK government was taking the quarantine measures so far and the enforcement in place.
To date NO fines have been imposed in respect of quarantine - this is all very predictable.
It’s interesting that despite on another thread you describe the virus as being ‘so contagious’ you are claiming to be an expert who is stating that people do not need to take basic precautions.
1 Like
Very interesting!
Can’t say I’m especially angry with those who don’t want to wear masks - but as I said above there is very little (well, to be accurate, no) evidence of harm from surgical masks or similar and some evidence of benefit so it still seems to me to be worthwhile indoors - but only if the majority are wearing them and would that require legislation - as you observe people aren’t bothering otherwise.
I completely agree with you that the real time to have done it was at the beginning of lockdown and I suspect that the government did not do so simply because it could not supply the NHS with enough PPE at that point without straining the system even further, however I suspect that it would have saved lives had it been done at the time.
Maybe not arriving in the UK from France - but the US? Brazil?
But there isn’t a requirement in the UK?
PS: Helen - I’d keep out of this shop, wherever it is 
5 Likes
I’m not sure about France but the UK does still require 14-day quarantine for travellers from USA & Brazil.
I checked out the paper’s author on ResearchGate etc - interesting guy - sacked from a tenured university post, so must have worked hard on that! - he’s a maverick, to say the least - bit of a conspiracy theorist - his work has been used by both anti-vaxers and climate-change-deniers.
5 Likes
I’m not claiming to be an expert just giving my opinion albeit I have researched & know more about the subject than most lay people.
The virus is very contagious but it’s also not now very common in the community & not that serious for the individual should they contract it except for those who are older, overweight, diabetic etc
But it is not being enforced
Oh, it’s only serious for those who don’t count.
2 Likes