MAKE YOUR MINDS UP ON MASKS!
9am: Hancock says put them on in takeaways 1.30pm: No, you don’t have to, insists No10
MINISTERS were blamed for growing confusion surrounding the wearing of masks yesterday as they contradicted each other over the new rules.
At 9.10am, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News that coverings would be compulsory in Pret a Manger and other takeaways as well as shops.
But by 1.30pm he had been contradicted by Downing Street, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman insisting that masks would not have to be worn while buying coffee or sandwiches.
Finally, Department of Health officials clarified that Mr Hancock was correct and that masks would be compulsory from July 24 in all shops – including takeaways. Earlier, the Health Secretary had contradicted another Cabinet minister, George Eustice, by saying coverings would not be needed in offices. Mr Eustice, the Environment Secretary, had suggested on Tuesday the rules for shops could be extended to workplaces.
Labour accused ministers of ‘making it up as they go along’ while the British Medical Association warned that public confusion risked helping spread the virus.
In a sign of further Cabinet division, Rishi Sunak posted a picture of himself wearing a mask in the same branch of Pret where Michael Gove had been seen without one the previous day. The Chancellor wore a grey mask in what will be seen as a clear dig at the Chancel-customers lor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However, Mr Gove was pictured wearing a mask yesterday as he arrived at the Cabinet Office.
The muddle comes after the Government for months downplayed the protective benefits of masks, in contrast to the policy in many other countries. In March, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries claimed face masks did more harm than good.
On Friday Boris Johnson was pictured wearing a mask for the first time while visiting shops in his Uxbridge constituency in a sign of an impending Government U-turn.
From next Friday, face coverings of some description will be compulsory in all stores and any who flout the order could be fined up to £100.
Mr Hancock was asked to clarify the rules for sandwich chains yesterday morning. He said: ‘You do need to wear a face mask in Pret because Pret is a shop.
‘If there’s table service, it is not necessary to have a mask. But in any shop, you do need the 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.
‘The reason is because of the risk of transmission over the bar.’
Yesterday afternoon, however, he was contradicted by the Prime Minister’s official spokesman who said: ‘We will be publishing the full guidance shortly but my understanding is that it wouldn’t be mandatory if you went in, for example, to a sandwich shop in order to get a takeaway, to wear a face covering.
‘It is mandatory... we are talking about supermarkets and other shops, rather than food shops.’
Government sources said health officials were furious with No 10 and the Department of Health later confirmed that masks would be compulsory in takeaways.
Labour health spokesman Justin Madders said: ‘This is just hopeless. We have had mixed messages from Government all week and it seems that once again they are making it up as they go along.’
BMA council chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘The Government needs to put consistent measures in place and at the very least communicate clearly with the public.
‘It is no good saying people are required to wear face coverings in shops but not in other spaces where there is an equal risk of infecting others – the virus is just as infectious in a takeaway as it is in any other shop. This inconsistency is illogical, creates confusion and further risks spreading this deadly virus.’
Earlier Mr Hancock had said masks would be a part of daily life for the foreseeable future, while stressing they would not be compulsory in offices.
‘That isn’t going to happen and the reason is in offices you tend to spend a lot of time with the same people,’ he told Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘Where the mask benefits is from you spreading the disease to other people when you have relatively short interactions with lots of different people.
‘When you’re in close proximity with somebody that you have to work closely to, if you’re there for a long time with them, then a mask doesn’t offer that protection.
‘We are not proposing to extend masks to offices.’
Scotland introduced compulsory face masks in shops last week and similar rules are in place in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Greece.
‘Making it up as they go along’