Hand-washing and mask-wearing: Covid rules we would be wise to keep

There was hope that lessons learned from the height of the Pandemic would lead to a better society. If people were sick, snotty commuters would stay home and wear masks to protect themselves.

I have lost track of the number of friends who have coughed on me in the last few weeks. The country seems to have reverted to business as usual.

Psychologists stress that it did not have to be this way. We may have missed a chance to improve the nation's health and productivity.

Prof Susan Michie is the director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London.

We could have said: "Actually, this is worth thinking about to protect you and others from numerous other illnesses" after adopting these new behaviors. A sense of learning from the past has not been present.

Asia could have been a good place to start. The 2002-04 sars epidemic embedded the habit of wearing a surgical mask to protect against infections. In the three months after the epidemic was declared over in Hong Kong, 70% of people said they would wear a mask in public spaces or the workplace if they had a cold or flu.

Interpersonal trust is higher in many south-eastern Asian countries than it is here, and we know that trust is important in terms of adherence to protective measures.

In the UK, there is more of a 'Do I fancy it, or not?' attitude than a sense of societal obligation and responsibility.

The psychologists disagree with the idea that behavioural change can't happen here. The idea that people would move their smoking habit outdoors to protect their health was derided before the indoor smoking ban.

Legislation to make the wearing of seatbelts compulsory caused a furore when it was brought in. Everyone took it on board because of the combination of legislation.

Many of the healthy behaviours enacted at the peak of the Pandemic were inseparable from the Covid rules.

Stephen Reicher is a professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrew. They aren't just about infectious disease. It's a good idea for schools and universities to have good air flow in their offices.

We didn't pose things in those terms. It wasn't about anything else. If you forget about Covid, you forget about how to produce a healthy society.

Being ill can cost a lot. According to a recent report by the National Engineering Policy Centre, the lives lost and sick days caused by seasonal flu cost around $8 billion a year.

This failure to build back better may come back to bite us, as the UK faces a potential "twindemic" of Covid and flu in the coming months.

The number of people testing positive for Covid in England is rising. There was a 29% increase in the number of people testing positive for Covid between the weeks of 17 September and 24 September. The leaders said that a new Covid surge was a very heavy straw on the camel's back.

The risks of reverting to business as usual were warned to politicians. The final report of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behavior (SPI-B) outlined strategies for introducingvid-safe behaviors into people's everyday routines.

The government didn't do anything with the report after it was commissioned.

The need for a coordinated programme to shape the financial, physical and social infrastructure in the United Kingdom was the central recommendation of the report. Education, regulation, communications, social marketing and provision of resources will be required to ensure that all sections of society have the ability, opportunity and motivation to act.

When Boris Johnson announced the lifting of all measures, he was asked if people should stay at home if they get sick. When people are sick in Germany, they stay at home. He didn't mention that the UK has one of the lowest rates of sick pay in the world.

It is even more fanciful that people will lose out on income and stay at home if they are ill because of the cost of living crisis. If you have symptoms, you should buy Covid tests.

The onus is on those who can afford to protect to do so. Employers and educational organizations are included. We still get unsafe air even though we have clean drinking water at work. It doesn't seem right.

It's a good idea to spread the message that seasonal coughs, colds and other infections are not inevitable and that there are ways to reduce the risks.

If you are ill, stay at home.

If you have cold-like symptoms and can't stay at home, wear a good quality FFP3 mask.

If you can't wash your hands with soap and water, use hand gels.

Open windows and doors to separate the spaces.

Do is to sterlise frequently.

You can breathe in small amounts of what you flush if the toilet seat is closed. Many people with Covid had the same problem.

If you have a sore throat, a sore nose, or a high temperature, don't worry. Do a Covid test if you can pay.

If you tested negative for Covid yesterday, you don't have it now.

Don't leave used tissues around.

If you give Covid to other people, don't assume they'll be okay. Some people are still vulnerable to diseases even with vaccines.