Pint with a mask on... how does that work?

BORIS Johnson was facing a backlash last night for mixed messages over whether the Government will force people to wear a mask when they are out shopping or in pubs.

The Prime Minister warned on Friday that a ‘ stricter’ approach was needed in England to cut infection rates after he wore a mask for the first time on a tour of businesses in his Uxbridge constituency.

However, his comments came 24 hours after the Government published official advice to pubs, restaurants and takeaways, which said that ‘the evidence of the benefit of using a face covering to protect others is weak and the effect is likely to be small’.

Last night, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, called for ‘clarity and detailed evidence’ to explain why consumers need to wear masks, adding: ‘There needs to remain a degree of individual choice, especially when you are in a restaurant or a pub and you are actually eating and drinking so it becomes much more challenging to wear a mask.’

Although masks have become the norm in many countries, particularly in South-East Asia, the UK Government has cl ai med f or months that there is not enough evidence that wearing one halts the spread of Covid-19.

However, last month rules requiring people to wear masks on public transport in England came into effect after studies in Hong Kong and Germany suggested they may, in fact, reduce infection rates.

But Tory MP Philip Davies questioned the volte-face, saying: ‘For months all the scientific experts said wearing masks was neither here nor there in terms of transmission of the virus and now it is the best thing since sliced bread?

‘It seems to me that as the number of cases goes down, the Government is getting stricter and stricter

– it doesn’t make any sense. How are you going to drink your pint through a face mask? How is that going to work?’

Professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist who advises the Government’s Sage committee, has suggested masks are a stunt, adding: ‘Masks are something the Government can do which is cheap, which is symbolic but which is probably not particularly effective.’

A Government spokesman said the issue remained under review.