Oxford Mail readers have given their views on mask wearing following July 19.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said wearing masks will no longer be mandatory from that date - including in shops, pubs and restaurants.

But some health experts have said masks should still be worn in certain circumstances to cut the spread of coronavirus.

Mask wearing will remain mandatory on Transport for London public transport.

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Some readers said they would continue to wear their masks while others said they would stop wearing them.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has said he is not prepared to put public transport users at risk by relaxing the rules on face coverings, so from July 19 he says it will be a condition of carriage for the Tube, bus, tram, DLR, Overground and TfL Rail.

Readers were asked: ‘Will you continue to wear a mask even though it will no longer be mandatory from July 19?’

LEON STYLES: “Probably.”

CHRIS WHITTINGTON: “I will wear a mask on public transport , in shops and enclosed spaces.”

CHELSEA WEATHERHEAD: Yes. I’m not risking my family because people just want to get back to normal.

But this is our new normal

EMMA LOUISE-ELLERY: “No.”

AMANDA ADAMS: “No.”

JULIA FAULKNER: “Yes.”

DEREK O’CONCHOBHAIR: “Yep, without a shadow of a doubt.”

LYNN O’MALLEY: “Yes.”

BETHANY APPLETON: “Yes.”

MARIE HADAWAY: “Has the virus been eradicated? Then the answer’s still yes to wearing a mask!”

MICHAEL TODD: “Nope.”

VICKY PARKER: “Yes I will as I’m a carer.”

DES BRAMLEY: “Yes.

ELVI ELVI: “Yes.”

PAULINE DAVIES: “Most definitely.”

RAY MARSHALL: “Never.”

CAROLYN SWEET: “Yes.”

GEORGE ALLMOND: “No way.”

AMANDA TAYLOR: “Yes.”

CARL JOY: “Nope.”

AMIROS AMIR: “Yes.”

KATHY COSHAN: “Yes.”

JOHNNY MCMAHON: “I wear mine to bed.”

HITTIE HAYES: “Yep.”

SHARON MORGAN: “Yes I will.”

MASTER GORDON: “Definitely not, need a few months break from it at least.”

MICHELLE ROBBINS: “Yes.”

ANN AVERY: “Yes.”

BRADLEY EAST: “Yes - to keep my family safe.”

PATRICIA CRISP: “Yes.”

HAMZA LUSHA: “People are getting so depressed looking at the news your mask doesn’t save your life.”

STUART WILLIAMS:

Stop stirring up negative debate - let people be.”

Readers have also given their reaction to news that the lambda variant is another coronavirus strain that is making its way around the globe.

According to a report from the World Health Organisation, it has been found in 29 countries so far and some cases have been confirmed in the UK.

The report states: “Lambda has been associated with substantive rates of community transmission in multiple countries, with rising prevalence over time concurrent with increased Covid-19 incidence.”

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On June 14, WHO declared lambda a ‘global variant of interest’.

Public Health England followed suit on June 23, designating it a ‘variant under investigation’ because of its ‘international expansion and several notable mutations’.

Eight cases have been confirmed in the UK- most of which have been linked to overseas travel.

Studies are ongoing, but for now, lambda remains a variant of interest rather than a variant of concern.

According to Public Health England’s latest ‘risk assessment’ of lambda, there is no evidence of a country where lambda has outcompeted the delta variant.

There are no published studies on the lambda variant yet and just a handful of preprints – papers that have yet to be subject to the scrutiny of other scientists and published in a journal.

AMANDA LINDBERG: “I wondered if they would discover another so-called variant before the 19th!!!”

PETE BRINDLE: “A virus is not a living organism, it requires a host to survive. Its ultimate goal is not to kill, but to spread.

“As a result, mutations tend to become less dangerous, but more transmissable.

“This has already been borne out by the Delta variant, which now accounts for 95% of new cases in the UK.”