Passengers must continue to wear masks on London’s buses, trains and trams, Mayor Sadiq Khan has said, despite the Government dropping mask requirements elsewhere. While it will no longer be legally enforceable from January 26th – the police will no longer be able to fine you – it will remain a condition of carriage, so TfL can prevent entry or kick you off. The BBC has more.
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the end of Plan B pandemic restrictions, including scrapping the legal requirement for mask-wearing on public transport, in shops and schools.
But Mr. Khan says passengers must continue to don a face covering as a condition of carriage, due to the continuing threat of Omicron.
Some 30% of Londoners are unvaccinated.
The restrictions introduced in December also encouraged working from home and mandated Covid passes for some major events.
After examining the latest data, the Mr. Johnson told the Commons that the restrictions would end on January 26th.
But Mr. Khan said he wanted Londoners to continue to mask up, as “sadly this is not the end of our fight against the virus”.
He said: “If we have learnt anything from this pandemic, it is that we must not get complacent and undo all our hard work and sacrifices.
“That’s why face coverings will remain a condition of carriage on TfL services.
“I’m asking everyone in our capital to do the right thing and continue to wear a face covering when travelling on TfL services to keep us all protected and to prevent further restrictions from being necessary later down the line.”
Does Khan really believe that the requirement to wear a mask on public transport has sent Omicron into decline, or is he just making a cynical political calculation? I hope it’s the latter as at least then he can make the cynical calculation the other way once he realises the wind has changed. My fear is that he really believes the fairy story that filthy face rags stop Covid outbreaks.
Worth reading in full.
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