Tuesday 14 July 2020

FACE MASK POLICY IS INCOHERENT.

So there we have it.

The Government has announced that as from 24th July it will be mandatory for the vast majority of us, to wear face masks, or something similar, in all shops. This despite the fact that such face coverings are not required in public houses, cafés restaurants and various other places. That this is illogical seems so obvious as to render the situation absurd.

While pubs, cafés and restaurants will usually have numerous customers, even if they are 'socially distances' to some extent, very many shops have more staff than customers for most of the time; in many 'social distancing' is almost irrelevant as individual customers may well have an entire shop to themselves. It is also the case that when shopping, people move around and rarely spend much time close to anyone else, while in pubs, cafés and restaurants they will sit, often for long periods of time, in close proximity to others. While eating and drinking, people tend to enter into conversations with others, they may laugh and joke, all of which may cause their exhaled breath to travel greater distances than the exhaled breath of largely quiet and passive shoppers. The risk of spreading contagion in shops must surely be far lower and yet it is here that masks will be compulsory.

This policy makes no sense.

Clearly, the government is thrashing around looking for things to do that will seem to indicate that it is in control; that it is not is blatantly obvious. The number of cases being identified daily has hardly changed over the last 10 or 12 days and may even be rising; might this be a consequence of the easing of restrictions on pubs and eating places ? Might the newly discovered need to insist on face coverings in shops not be a reaction to this and an attempt to counter the effect of the earlier policy initiative ?  I believe that is all it is.

As for the claim that face masks will give people the confidence to venture out to the shops, this is poppycock. Face masks, no matter how well fitting, are uncomfortable and socially restricting. Hot exhaled breath behind the mask can be unpleasant and for the wearers of glasses can be distinctly annoying and even dangerous as their lenses mist up and make vision all but impossible at times. Far from encouraging people to visit their local shops, I can well see many deciding that masks are a step too far and remaining at home, as will I except for essential trips only.

This really is too much. The government simply has lost the plot and has no idea how to develop a coherent set of policies to tackle the epidemic. That isn't to say that its detractors have any better ideas, which is perhaps an even more alarming thought. The problem is that no one really knows what to do, but the hordes of 'experts' all feel a need to pontificate and demonstrate their wisdom while our politicians feel a need to placate a worried populace.

It seems to me that our government has probably done all the right things but not necessarily in the right order or at the right time (to borrow from Eric Morecambe). 








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