A message to Wes Streeting MP and others on mask-wearing for ’flu

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I have seen that some NHS trusts, including one local to me, are mandating that visitors wear masks in their hospitals in order to limit the spread of ’flu. The UKHSA has said that people should wear a mask if they have ’flu symptoms. There is even talk of closing some schools.

The health secretary was recently asked “whether the time has come for everyone to wear masks.” He rightly replied no; but it is still very concerning that such measures are being sounded out without any proper appraisal of costs versus benefits to those affected.

As far as I can see, there is no proven scientific evidence that wearing masks makes any difference to the spread of ’flu. The experience of the COVID epidemic shows that many of us find mask wearing unpleasant, unhealthy and demeaning; yet a mandate was still imposed on us, even though it did little or nothing to slow the spread of the virus.

This was typical of the attitude of “safety at any cost,” that is pushed hard by those in UKHSA and similar institutions, and has far too often resulted in ever-tightening impingements on our basic freedoms. This attitude, and the hysteria that goes with it, have caused enormous harm to us in all the areas of life in which they have been applied. (Not just in respiratory health, but also for example in speed limits on the roads). This entire culture needs to be ditched. It is time to end the imposition of unjustified interventions, medical and other, on people against our wills and in contravention of our human rights.

I ask that the government should come out strongly and reject, once and for all, restrictions on our freedoms that have not been objectively justified by a proper, quantitative, evidence-based risk and cost/benefit assessment without hysteria or political bias.

The then UK government lost a very large chunk of its credibility over its handling of COVID, with effects that became apparent at the general election last year. It would be madness for this one to fail to heed the lessons that were learned then. Any kind of mask-wearing restrictions on the general population over a ’flu panic would be likely to trigger a collapse of confidence, that will not end well.