Mass Anti Masking

Michael from Trentham

Had the displeasure of catching the 1.30pm Hutt Valley train from Wellington last Tuesday and got caught up with the train's carriages being swamped and completely over-run with anti vaxxers and other assorted antis. Usually this train would be almost empty.
I would estimate that less than 15 % of all the passengers were wearing a mask when masking on public transport is compulsory unless one has some kind of health exemption and on normal days everyone on public transport I see wears a mask.

Wearing a mask to help combat spreading and getting covid is world wide at various levels and there is going to be a rejuvenation of mask wearing in many countries that have laxed in this regard because of the huge upsurge of Covid spread. Yet we have all these hundreds of agitating Hutt Valley commutors blatantly disregarding the possible outcome of being maskless in confined spaces.

I must say I felt very unsafe.

The railways must bear some responsibility. The ticket collectors are overwhelmed and thus say nothing but the train should never have left the Wellington railway station with the horde of unmasked people. There is a railways communication system on all trains and at all times at the main station.