I reckon, and I think the data supports this, that dicking about with the fine details of restrictions makes absolutely her haw difference to case numbers.
Yep, as long as schools and big gatherins pubs etc are maskless then that's it. I'm still wearing in class and indoor public places but then I'm a few days out of positive and feel rubbish, now got a follow up cold, so I'll keep mask wearing.
Apparently self-isolation has never been law in Scotland, just advice.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-59668602
I'm pretty certain that at least during the original wave the requirement to isolate if a confirmed positive was a legal requirement. I can't be bothered trawling through the old SIs to check. The requirement to isolate as a named contact was never law AFAIK.
I’m less convinced than ever that mask wearing has any impact.
Comparing infection rates between Scotland and England, there is no obvious benefit (one could almost argue it’s a negative)
I have to say whilst I've been an avid mask wearer and continue to do so, I'm inclined to agree with Scotroutes. We effectively have england as a massive control group at the moment (I was there last week and virtually nobody was wearing masks in any setting I saw). I know plenty of positive cases, including school age people - but amateur epidemiology suggest they probably didn't get infected at school (e.g. the whole class didn't get sick but everyone at the party did - which was made up of multiple classes!).
one thing to bear in mind is Scotland has this new subvariant BA.2 which is why we are seeing more cases than in England, but England is now seeing the start BA.2 take hold and spread so expect an uptick in cases south of the border. So it negates comparing the two different mask rules
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/nicola-sturgeon-omicron-ba-2-scottish-england-b2036352.html
If everyone was wearing properly fitting FFP-rated masks I'm sure they'd make a difference. I know there are studies which do show a benefit of bog standard cotton masks, but in real life conditions I'm quite sceptical. They do however provide a reminder that the pandemic is still 'a thing'. That's a positive or a negative depending on your perspective I guess!
I have to say whilst I’ve been an avid mask wearer and continue to do so, I’m inclined to agree with Scotroutes. We effectively have england as a massive control group at the moment (I was there last week and virtually nobody was wearing masks in any setting I saw).
But it's not really a "control group", as shown by you been there.
On masks
In my hospital we were wearing just the basic masks for caring for covid positive patients with the ffp3 masks only for "areosolising procedures" ie where you would get splattered with droplets, so we spent many hours a day in close proximity to covid positive people with just the basic ffp2 masks.
At a guesstimate 1/4 - 1/3 of the staff caught covid. Now this is only anecdote of course but my takaway from that is the basic ffp2 masks provided some protection but not complete protection which is in line with the research that basic masks reduce your chances of catching it by around 70%
@tjagain by 'basic' ffp2 mask do you mean something similar to the below?
https://www.boots.com/boots-protective-ffp2-nr-face-masks-5s-10292473
Or are you meaning the standard lightweight surgical masks? e.g
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7553134?clickPR=plp:1:4
Either way, they are both probably more effective that the scraps of cotton worn by most people on the train etc!
I have a few masks where I can feel most of the airflow is through the gaps around the nose and the sides... i.e. not doing any filtering when breathing normally, and probably only helpful to catch a cough or sneeze
the argos type but both are offering the same protection
Even a scarf reduces spread of exhaled droplets significantly
