Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that face coverings will not be mandatory in offices, despite them being so in shops.
The health Secretary.
This arguably strange announcement came when he was trying to clear up any misunderstandings surrounding the new rules.
When asked by sky news about some of the new measures coming into place, he confirmed: “We will not be recommending masks in the office.”
He continued:”At the moment we take one step at a time and we’ve taken the view in this next step that we should make it mandatory in retail environments.
“When it comes to workplace environments, because people are in the same company throughout the day, there are not lots of people coming through the venue as you have in a retail environment; the risk of transmission is therefore lower.”
He also said that masks are actually very useful tools in the fight against Coronavirus, and they’re “especially” effective around “people you don’t meet very regularly.”
Then, the health Secretary clarified that – for now – face masks are still only advisory. But, with rules likely to come in place next week regarding mask use in shops, that ‘advisory’ is slowly turning into a compulsory.
There was also some confusion about where you’d have to wear a mask and where you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t in a restaurant but you would have to in a fast food “shop” like McDonald’s or Pret, where you’d go up to the counter to talk to people. He further explained: “In hospitality, so in a restaurant, there needs to be table service.
“If there’s table service, it is not necessary to have a mask. But in any shop, you do need a mask. So, if you’re going up to the counter in Pret to buy takeaway that is a shop… but if you go to your local pub you can’t go to the bar.”
You’re still exempt from wearing a mask if you have certain conditions that would be worsened and aggravated by the masks, for example asthma. It was discovered near the start of lockdown that masks for asthmatics weren’t particularly good for them; it’s your call if you wear one with asthma.
