So now the govt is going to drop mask mandates at long last!

[C_T_Russell]

Just heard this on the radio.
About time, since they have been shown not to work and less people are wearing them.

[Lilith7]

Fewer...

[Praktica]

I'll still be wearing one - I obviously don't read the crap the troll "educates" himself with.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Me too. As will anyone who comes into my home...

[king1]

I feel like they have served their purpose rather well - I also think we shouldn't be too quick to ditch protections that have served New Zealand well throughout the pandemic. The fact we can measure covid deaths in NZ in the low thousands speaks volumes...

[SueDonim]

Just heard this on the radio.
About time, since they have been shown not to work and less people are wearing them.

It has been on the radio since the beginning of the month - the traffic light system is due to be reviewed. You are right that FEWER people are wearing them now, but that's their stupidity. Case numbers are reducing well, however, so it's possible that by the middle of the month when the decision is due to be released it will be reasonably safe for the mandate to change, but will still be common sense in many settings for people to take care of themselves and those around them by wearing a mask. The risk of catching covid - or another virus - is likely to go up though as people rush out without masks.

I'll still be wearing one in high risk situations like the supermarket. In spite of what you think, they do help to avoid contagion - if they are worn properly. And that's the crux of it. The unintelligent don't get that the mask is there to protect what goes in and out of your nose, not just your mouth. And they don't get that if it's been doing its job of protecting the wearer, it will be contaminated and dangerous to touch. We would likely have had a lot less disease (of all kinds) if people just did what they should for the right reason - wear the mask properly when appropriate. Then we wouldn't have needed the mandate.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Thank you Sue. Your nerdishness is deeply appreciated. And you are right. Mask wearing is a signal to the world, it says 'I care about the vulnerable'.

[Zurdo]

We weren't wearing them when the rest of the world was...now we are wearing them when the rest of the world isn't. We will always lag behind because of our position on the globe.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

We weren't wearing them when the rest of the world  was...now we are wearing them when the rest of the world isn't. We will always lag behind because of our position on the globe.

But we get the Sun first.

So there World.

[Olive]

I think that many of the calls for the abandonment of masking and other protections (e.g. Cecilia Robinson in the Herald recently) are based on a kind of magical thinking: if we return our behaviour to pre-pandemic habits then the virus will somehow disappear and the world will be just as it was pre-pandemic. No it won't, the world has changed forever and the virus continues to mutate. A new variant will emerge, probably sooner rather than later, and we must be prepared for it.

[harm_less]

We weren't wearing them when the rest of the world  was...now we are wearing them when the rest of the world isn't. We will always lag behind because of our position on the globe.

And that delay allowed us to learn from the experiences of other nations in their COVID strategies, which we used to our distinct advantage.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I have four friends who have been in hospital recently for more than overnight visits. Each one of them caught covid on the ward.

[SueDonim]

We weren't wearing them when the rest of the world  was...now we are wearing them when the rest of the world isn't. We will always lag behind because of our position on the globe.

And that delay allowed us to learn from the experiences of other nations in their COVID strategies, which we used to our distinct advantage.

Yes. We were ahead of the rest of the world in our lockdown phase which gave us time to get vaccinated and respond to the information coming out from the rest of the world. That was what heralded the change from the panic about fomite (surface) transmission that we had initially and into the understanding that masks were a better tool. Our numbers are still well lower than many of those of countries we like to compare ourselves with, and would probably have been even lower if everyone here had taken vaccination and mask wearing seriously and done them properly.

[C_T_Russell]

Just heard this on the radio.
About time, since they have been shown not to work and less people are wearing them.

It has been on the radio since the beginning of the month - the traffic light system is due to be reviewed. You are right that FEWER people are wearing them now, but that's their stupidity. Case numbers are reducing well, however, so it's possible that by the middle of the month when the decision is due to be released it will be reasonably safe for the mandate to change, but will still be common sense in many settings for people to take care of themselves and those around them by wearing a mask. The risk of catching covid - or another virus - is likely to go up though as people rush out without masks.

I'll still be wearing one in high risk situations like the supermarket. In spite of what you think, they do help to avoid contagion - if they are worn properly. And that's the crux of it. The unintelligent don't get that the mask is there to protect what goes in and out of your nose, not just your mouth. And they don't get that if it's been doing its job of protecting the wearer, it will be contaminated and dangerous to touch. We would likely have had a lot less disease (of all kinds) if people just did what they should for the right reason - wear the mask properly when appropriate. Then we wouldn't have needed the mandate.

Well thats just it! Many I see (especially staff) dont wear them properly and have their nose exposed.

[king1]

It has been on the radio since the beginning of the month - the traffic light system is due to be reviewed. You are right that FEWER people are wearing them now, but that's their stupidity. Case numbers are reducing well, however, so it's possible that by the middle of the month when the decision is due to be released it will be reasonably safe for the mandate to change, but will still be common sense in many settings for people to take care of themselves and those around them by wearing a mask. The risk of catching covid - or another virus - is likely to go up though as people rush out without masks.

I'll still be wearing one in high risk situations like the supermarket. In spite of what you think, they do help to avoid contagion - if they are worn properly. And that's the crux of it. The unintelligent don't get that the mask is there to protect what goes in and out of your nose, not just your mouth. And they don't get that if it's been doing its job of protecting the wearer, it will be contaminated and dangerous to touch. We would likely have had a lot less disease (of all kinds) if people just did what they should for the right reason - wear the mask properly when appropriate. Then we wouldn't have needed the mandate.

Well thats just it! Many I see (especially staff) dont wear them properly and have their nose exposed.

So masks work, but it's the people who have been shown not to work properly 

[C_T_Russell]

Well thats just it! Many I see (especially staff) dont wear them properly and have their nose exposed.

So masks work, but it's the people who have been shown not to work properly 

Well this video demonstrates clearly they dont do alot!
The irony here is they are trying to demonstrate their "effectiveness"

[SueDonim]

So masks work, but it's the people who have been shown not to work properly 

Well this video demonstrates clearly they dont do alot!
The irony here is they are trying to demonstrate their "effectiveness"

It shows that the ill-fitting masks all have plenty of vapour coming out the top and sides but less straight ahead into the face of a person being spoken to. That's why they told us some time ago to get the best fit of the mask you can.

All of that vapour swirling around in the air is what lands on the masks the other people are wearing if they are too close. It's why you wear a mask to stop that swirl getting into your nose, and why you should gel your hands if you need to touch your mask. And be aware that your clothes may have become contaminated in a high-risk situation, especially if you have been within a metre of another person.

That test was demonstrating breath vapour on a cold day. The analogy to the principles of virus contagion is probably reasonable, but the virus will behave differently once it is in the air. The bottom line is, to be as safe as possible, wear the mask properly and keep a distance from other people. Just as we have been advised to do for 2+ years now.

[C_T_Russell]

Well this video demonstrates clearly they dont do alot!
The irony here is they are trying to demonstrate their "effectiveness"

It shows that the ill-fitting masks all have plenty of vapour coming out the top and sides but less straight ahead into the face of a person being spoken to. That's why they told us some time ago to get the best fit of the mask you can.

All of that vapour swirling around in the air is what lands on the masks the other people are wearing if they are too close. It's why you wear a mask to stop that swirl getting into your nose, and why you should gel your hands if you need to touch your mask. And be aware that your clothes may have become contaminated in a high-risk situation, especially if you have been within a metre of another person.

That test was demonstrating breath vapour on a cold day. The analogy to the principles of virus contagion is probably reasonable, but the virus will behave differently once it is in the air. The bottom line is, to be as safe as possible, wear the mask properly and keep a distance from other people. Just as we have been advised to do for 2+ years now.

In an indoor environment, its not going to do alot, in some cases could even be worse like in a plane with the person sitting next to you it could redirect it to the side instead of the front.

[SueDonim]

It shows that the ill-fitting masks all have plenty of vapour coming out the top and sides but less straight ahead into the face of a person being spoken to. That's why they told us some time ago to get the best fit of the mask you can.

All of that vapour swirling around in the air is what lands on the masks the other people are wearing if they are too close. It's why you wear a mask to stop that swirl getting into your nose, and why you should gel your hands if you need to touch your mask. And be aware that your clothes may have become contaminated in a high-risk situation, especially if you have been within a metre of another person.

That test was demonstrating breath vapour on a cold day. The analogy to the principles of virus contagion is probably reasonable, but the virus will behave differently once it is in the air. The bottom line is, to be as safe as possible, wear the mask properly and keep a distance from other people. Just as we have been advised to do for 2+ years now.

In an indoor environment, its not going to do alot, in some cases could even be worse like in a plane with the person sitting next to you it could redirect it to the side instead of the front.

So the person sitting at the side needs to be wearing a mask to protect them from that. Mask wearing is two way. I mainly wear it to protect me from other people.

[harm_less]

It shows that the ill-fitting masks all have plenty of vapour coming out the top and sides but less straight ahead into the face of a person being spoken to. That's why they told us some time ago to get the best fit of the mask you can.

All of that vapour swirling around in the air is what lands on the masks the other people are wearing if they are too close. It's why you wear a mask to stop that swirl getting into your nose, and why you should gel your hands if you need to touch your mask. And be aware that your clothes may have become contaminated in a high-risk situation, especially if you have been within a metre of another person.

That test was demonstrating breath vapour on a cold day. The analogy to the principles of virus contagion is probably reasonable, but the virus will behave differently once it is in the air. The bottom line is, to be as safe as possible, wear the mask properly and keep a distance from other people. Just as we have been advised to do for 2+ years now.

In an indoor environment, its not going to do alot, in some cases could even be worse like in a plane with the person sitting next to you it could redirect it to the side instead of the front.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/a-lot-vs-alot-vs-allot/