sethb

Provided you got the test within the last 30 seconds, sure. Otherwise you might have become infected since then.

It's really nice of you to accept the odds that anyone who catches the disease from you will be fine. Such a major risk you're taking.

Markie

I had a similar issue with a teenager in Club to MEX in December. Interventions by crew and captain had no impact on this young man. His parents decided not to intervene.
My concern was that he was having to step over me to get out of his centre seat. In the end all of my tests have come back negative, but as a British Rule-Follower, it did irk me.

8420PR

You are free to allow another person around you to not wear a mask if it is just the two of you together and you accept the risk. You are NOT free to not wear your own mask when you are around other people who have not explicitly consented. Unfortunately for some people, along with your rights (freedom, liberty, constitution etc) you also have responsibilities (laws, social etiquette etc).

Perhaps the easiest way to understand it is like passive smoking - you should not light a cigarette on a plane (or restaurant, supermarket etc) as even though you have consented to breath smoke, the other people around you have not.

Will100

I think that’s unfair.

Crew can only do so much once you are on your way, same applies in TfL.

corporate-wage-slave

In our COVID-19 vaccination centre, run by the NHS (indirectly) and the local GPs Primary Care Network (directly), with at least 10 doctors on site, we cannot and do not insist people wear masks. Thousands of people pass through daily. The overwhelming majority do wear masks. I regularly vaccinate people who won't wear a mask even though I'm laying hands on them and in close proximity, though I was vaccinated several weeks back. In that context it's quite useful to park any sense of being judgemental, and think the best of people rather than the worst.

xenole

Did see a few flights last year at MAN where staff were enforcing mask wearing at the gate and would refuse travel if no doctor's note was presented. Some lanyard, potentially purchased on eBay, wasn't acceptable and 99% of people were fine.
Also had a couple of flights where people were removed by the police, at the captain's request, after they refused to put their masks back on after boarding, after being asked to do so by the crew.

Markie

I am sure that the announcement from the pilot on the way back from MEX mentioned having to have notified the airline before travel about exemption.

KSVVZ2015

For TATL travel, for those who are permitted to do so, I would recommend flying a US carrier. They tend to be militant on masks (I was on a domestic flight last week in the US where 5 of 12 people in a UA F cabin were individually scolded for not replacing masks between bites and sips) and there are no exceptions unless you are under two. The UK’s tolerance of people claiming medical reasons for not being able to wear a mask is excessively generous.

Cap'n Benj

At best they’re misguided fools.

The numbers who can’t wear a mask for 5 mins are so tiny the chances of coming across a single one are pretty much slim to none.

The whole ‘I’m exempt’ thing has sadly just highlighted how selfish so much of the British population now are.

IAMORGAN

Not just that but if I felt a person was sitting closer than I liked or if they had a cough, I moved. What I won’t do, though, and this is just me, is judge those people. The lockdown and everything that all the other rules involve, has affected everyone differently and you never know what they’re experiencing that day. I also know that thoughts affect behaviour and speaking for me (recognising others are different) if I sat there getting cross, it would ultimately only end up punishing myself by putting me in a bad mood. So I just try to take myself out of the situation. On a plane, no idea what I’d do but in my view crew have a lot going on too & so expecting them to act as police too on an issue that always generates a debate and has shades of grey in terms of exemption (masks) is again not something I would do. I think a little kindness and tolerance goes a long way.

As I said before, I don’t have ‘the answer’ - maybe there isn’t ‘an’ answer to the issue.

the810

All these eternal conflicts could be solved so easily. Rather than relying on masks to protect others, allow everyone wear a respirator with a valve that protects them - if they want to. Done. Better for everyone.

People afraid of catching covid could finally protect themselves properly and wouldn't have to rely on others to wear their masks correctly (you can force people to wear a mask, but you have no control over how they use it). Their protection would increase significantly.

People who can't or don't want to use PPE would be able to not wear a mask, because others are already protecting themselves.

Better protection for those who want it, less tension in society... I can't wrap my head around why we haven't switched to this model yet.

adrianlondon

Partly because reports said people could get the droplets in through their eyes, partly because it would not protect the very few who genuinely can't wear masks but otherwise would, and partly because they're more expensive and in (or would quickly become) shorter supply than surgical masks.

I take ianmorgan's approach by wearing an N95 and simply keeping distance from people were possible. Apart from the mask, my general hygiene behaviours haven't changed over the years and seem to have served me well to date,

the810

It can happen but it's rare. I believe benefits of being better protected against infection via your nose/mouth are much bigger than potential risk of being infected via eyes.

adrianlondon

I'd go even further and say very rare. I'm not basing this on any academic research though, just my thought that there can't be many droplets getting in through my eyes!

IAMORGAN

I worry we can get too Animal Farm ‘4 legs good 2 legs bad’ about it.

The thing with this is where is the line? I recall Jenny Harries deputy cmo saying she worried about people basically infecfing themselves with their mask. Ie go to Costa, put mask on table / touch table / touch mask / put mask back on. So since then, rightly or wrongly I’ve tried to avoid constantly taking mask on or off. Not really been anywhere where ive had to wear it whilst eating but if im eating a meal it seems excessive to replace it between forkfuls of food, between courses, fine. But it again highlights the shades of grey.