British officials WILL consider telling people to wear face coverings in public, Matt Hancock says

Matt Hancock today revealed the government will look again at whether people in England should wear face coverings or masks while out in public.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Health Secretary replied ‘yes’ when asked whether officials would reconsider the existing advice in England.

Current rules say people must wear a covering over their nose and mouth when they are on public transport — but they aren’t mandatory anywhere else.

In many countries, and increasingly so in Europe, people must wear them all the time when out in public. But Britain has resisted bringing in a wider policy.

Scotland has its own rules and coverings are compulsory in shops there, while Wales and Northern Ireland have the same rule as England but Welsh ministers are ‘actively considering’ changing it.

Scientists working with Number 10 claimed for months that proof face masks worked was weak so politicians resisted making them compulsory.

But the tide has changed gradually as lockdown rules lift and masks are now advised in places where social distancing is difficult, and may be part of the ‘one metre plus’ distancing rules that have replaced the 2m (6’7″) requirement.

Mr Hancock’s agreement comes as top experts today said people should wear masks at all times when indoors in public and it should be seen as ‘anti-social’ not to do so.

Dr Venki Ramakrishnan — a Nobel Prize-winning biologist in the UK — claimed they should just be considered a routine item of clothing and ‘part of the new normal’.

Mr Hancock also agreed he would consider giving badges to people who don’t have to wear a mask on public transport, such as small children or those with lung diseases. 

Face coverings are currently only mandatory on public transport in the UK (Pictured: Travellers in London Waterloo Station)

Face coverings are currently only mandatory on public transport in the UK (Pictured: Travellers in London Waterloo Station)

People are not currently required to wear masks when indoors with others but scientists say they should be worn where social distancing is difficult or unpredictable (Pictured: People in a pub in London on Saturday)

People are not currently required to wear masks when indoors with others but scientists say they should be worn where social distancing is difficult or unpredictable (Pictured: People in a pub in London on Saturday)

HOW THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS CHANGED ITS MIND ON FACE COVERINGS 

March 12: Deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries: ‘For the average member of the public walking down a street, it is not a good idea… in fact, you can actually trap the virus in the mask and start breathing it in.’

April 16: Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: ‘The evidence is weak, but the evidence of a small effect is there under certain circumstances.’

April 23: Dr Jenny Harries said there could be ‘a very, very small potential beneficial effect in some enclosed environments’.

April 24: Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘On masks, as more information comes through, the science is constantly evolving and we always bear in mind that science and then take the decision. As of today, the government position is unchanged.’

April 30: Boris Johnson said: ‘I do think that face coverings will be useful, both for epidemiological reasons, but also for giving people confidence that they can go back to work.’

June 4: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that face coverings will be mandatory on public transport from June 15. He said: ‘With more people using transport the evidence suggests wearing face coverings offers some – albeit limited – protection against the spread for the virus.’

June 5: Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed plans to make face coverings compulsory in hospitals for all staff, visitors and outpatients from June 15, but a furious NHS boss said the decision was made ‘without any notice or consultation’, as other frontline workers slammed the ‘pointless’ announcement. 

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Labour MP for Sheffield South East, Clive Betts, asked Mr Hancock: ‘Would he [Matt Hancock] look at some scheme for issuing a pass or a badge to those who have an exemption from wearing a face mask on public transport so those who aren’t exempt can be required to wear them?

‘And secondly, will he look again at the lack of any advice about wearing face masks in supermarkets and other shops? 

‘Because surely it is just as easy to catch the virus in a supermarket queue as it is on the bus.’ 

The Health Secretary replied: ‘Yes and Yes.’ 

Face masks – now called ‘coverings’ in an attempt to prevent the public buying medical grade masks – have been a contentious subject for months.

Papers published by the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) showed that experts still said in the first and second weeks of April – after the peak of Britain’s outbreak – that proof face masks worked was weak. 

Researchers noted that scientific studies had had mixed results on masks’ effectiveness and that much of the evidence was not relevant to British society – one had examined how well they worked during pilgrimage.

A paper on April 7 said: ‘Based on the evidence… wearing face mask in the community was not significantly associated with a reduction in episodes of influenza-like illness’. 

Another paper dated April 13 rowed back slightly but still stopped short of saying face masks should be worn.

It read: ‘There is weak evidence that use of face masks by symptomatic people may reduce transmission.

‘Evidence from randomised trials do not show a protective effect of face masks in community settings but are often affected by low adherence.’

The study suggested the masks could be beneficial if people were likely to cough, because it would catch infectious droplets, but noted that people should be self-isolating if they were unwell. 

Many independent experts, however, have been calling for months for masks to be widely used. 

Only today the president of the prestigious Royal Society of scientists, Venki Ramakrishnan – a Nobel Prize-winning biologist – called for them to be mandatory in all indoor public spaces where socially distancing is difficult, not just on transport. 

Dr Ramakrishnan said not wearing a mask in public during the pandemic should be deemed as anti-social as driving without a seatbelt.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said the Government will look again at whether people should wear face coverings or masks while out in public

Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said the Government will look again at whether people should wear face coverings or masks while out in public

People are pictured wearing face masks on a ride at Chessington World of Adventures theme park on Saturday

People are pictured wearing face masks on a ride at Chessington World of Adventures theme park on Saturday

Hairdressers are now allowed to reopen but they must wear personal protective equipment while with clients (Pictured: A mobile haidresser with a client in Birkenhead, Merseyside, on Saturday)

Hairdressers are now allowed to reopen but they must wear personal protective equipment while with clients (Pictured: A mobile haidresser with a client in Birkenhead, Merseyside, on Saturday)

‘It used to be quite normal to have quite a few drinks and drive home, and it also used to be normal to drive without seatbelts,’ he said. 

‘Today both of those would be considered anti-social, and not wearing face coverings in public should be regarded in the same way. 

‘If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves, reducing transmission. 

‘We lower the chances of future surges and lockdowns which are economically and psychologically disruptive, and we increase the chance of eliminating the virus. 

‘Not doing so increases the risk for everyone, from NHS workers to your grandmother.

‘Wearing a mask did not bother our Italian, French or Spanish neighbours, none of whom were used to wearing one before the pandemic yet now do so routinely. 

‘So just treat it as another item of clothing that is part of the new normal and wear it whenever you cannot socially distance safely. It the right thing to do, and a small price to pay, to help keep infections down and the economy open in the pandemic.’

Updated guidance from the Department for Transport on travelling, released on Saturday, still advises maintaining a two-metre distance where possible, but suggests a one-metre distance, as well as ‘suitable precautions’, where not.  

It clearly states that it is the law to wear a face covering and that police and transport staff have the power to fine people £100 for not wearing one, or they can throw them off the service. 

The regulations apply to all passengers on trains, buses, Tubes, coaches, trams, planes or ferries. 

However, children under the age of 11 and those with certain health conditions or disabilities are exempt. 

Mr Ramakrishnan said: ‘The virus has not been eliminated, so as we lift lockdown and people increasingly interact with each other we need to use every tool we have to reduce the risk of a second wave of infection.

‘There are no silver bullets but alongside hand washing and physical distancing, we also need everyone to start wearing face coverings, particularly indoors in enclosed public spaces where physical distancing is often not possible.

‘The UK is way behind many countries in terms of wearing masks and clear policies and guidelines about mask wearing for the public. The public have taken to handwashing and distancing but remain sceptical about face coverings. 

‘You only need to go on public transport, where they are supposed to be mandatory, to see how many people are ignoring this new rule based on the growing body of evidence that wearing a mask will help protect others – and might even protect you.’

Police have insisted they have fined Tube passengers for travelling without face masks, despite Transport for London saying last month that rule-breakers were being given time to ‘understand’ the new rules.

British Transport Police told MailOnline penalties were issued where necessary, though stressed this was only ever a ‘last resort’ and that officers were focusing on engaging with passengers and encouraging them to wear masks.

BTP did not disclose how many fines have been issued or when the first enforcement action was taken. 

As lockdown has eased, and many people return to work following the re-opening of non-essential shops as well as pubs, restaurants and other strands of the hospitality sector, public transport usage has been on the up. 

DfT data shows that while public transport is still being used far less frequently than this time last year, there has been a week-by-week rise.

Many commuters were once again seen flouting the rules on the London Underground this morning

Many commuters were once again seen flouting the rules on the London Underground this morning

Venki Ramakrishnan, pictured, called for face coverings to be worn in all indoor public spaces where socially distancing is difficult, and not just on transport, as has been mandatory for more than three weeks

Venki Ramakrishnan, pictured, called for face coverings to be worn in all indoor public spaces where socially distancing is difficult, and not just on transport, as has been mandatory for more than three weeks

In the most recent set, up to last week, National Rail services were shows as being used at 11 per cent of the level they were in 2019, though this was higher than at the beginning of May when it was at five per cent, and even as low as four per cent during the peak of the pandemic in April.

Similarly on the Underground, usage was at 16 per cent compared to last year at the start of this week, up from 10 per cent at the start of the month and as low as four at the height of the crisis.

With many employers opening up again on ‘Super Saturday’, this week’s figures are expected to be significantly higher.

Thousands of face masks have been handed out to Tube and train passengers across England after it became compulsory to wear them on all forms of public transport to reduce coronavirus infection rates.  

Announcing the rules last month, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the ‘challenges’ for the network were ‘increasing’ as more people go back to work and schools and shops reopen. 

‘We are doing what many other countries have asked transport users to do,’ he said. ‘The evidence is that wearing face coverings offers some, albeit limited protection.’ 

Mr Shapps said while the rules would be mandatory and ‘ultimately’ people could be fined, he did not believe they would need much enforcement. 

‘Wearing a face covering helps protect others,’ he said. ‘Why wouldn’t people want to do the right thing? We are all desperate to get rid of coronavirus.’

He stressed that people should still only use public transport if they have to, urging them to drive, walk or cycle instead where possible.

FACE COVERINGS DO REDUCE INFECTIONS, STUDY ON US WARSHIP FINDS

Face coverings do protect people from catching the coronavirus and may even work better than social distancing, a study on-board a US warship found.

Scientists closely monitored what happened on the USS Theodore Roosevelt when coronavirus broke out among military personnel on it in March.

More than 1,000 of the ship’s nearly 4,900 crew members tested positive for Covid-19 during the self-contained outbreak.

And results from a study which was done at the time showed that only 55.8 per cent of people who regularly wore a face covering caught the disease, compared to 80.8 per cent of those who didn’t – a 25 per cent reduction.

Masks actually appeared to be more effective at stopping the spread of the disease than social distancing, which cut the infection rate from 70 per cent to 54.4 per cent (15.6 per cent drop).

Social distancing has been one of the most strictly adhered-to rules in the UK’s lockdown, as well as others around the world, while the effectiveness of masks has been fiercely debated.

Researchers found a 25 per cent difference in the number of people infected between those who did and didn't wear a mask. Pictured: Service members Jacob Torgerson, right, Donnie Bun, center, and Ryan McIntyre, left, on the ship, May 15

Researchers found a 25 per cent difference in the number of people infected between those who did and didn’t wear a mask. Pictured: Service members Jacob Torgerson, right, Donnie Bun, center, and Ryan McIntyre, left, on the ship, May 15

Face masks are the most protective against Covid-19 over handwashing or social distancing, study of coronavirus riddled US warship Theodore Roosevelt suggests (pictured)

Face masks are the most protective against Covid-19 over handwashing or social distancing, study of coronavirus riddled US warship Theodore Roosevelt suggests (pictured)

But scientists have shown that face coverings are effective at stopping people spreading the virus when they are ill themselves.

They catch droplets which are expelled from someone’s nose and mouth when they breathe, talk, cough or sneeze, and which carry the coronavirus inside them. 

If these droplets cannot escape the mask and circulate in the air, they cannot be breathed in by other people or settle on surfaces where others might touch them. 

The study found the outbreak occurred due to widespread transmission between members, who had either mild symptoms or none at all. 

‘Those who reported taking preventive measures had a lower infection rate than did those who did not report taking these measures’, the study found.

The greatest protection was found among those who wore masks.

Only 55.8 per cent of those who did wear a mask became infected compared to 80.8 per cent of those who did not – a difference of 25 per cent. 

Physical distancing reduced the infection by 15.6 per cent, with 54.4 per cent of those practising it becoming infected compared to 70 per cent of those who did not.

Wearing a protective facial covering was also found to be more effective than increased hand-washing.

Around 62 per cent of those who reported regularly washing their hands becoming infected compared to around 65 per cent of those who didn’t regularly wash their hands – a difference of three per cent. 

The authors of the study stated: ‘This report improves the understanding of COVID-19 in the U.S. military and among young adults in congregate settings and reinforces the importance of preventive measures to lower risk for infection in similar environments.’

source: dailymail.co.uk