Boris Johnson has warned the UK could still be dealing with coronavirus until next summer – as he admits ministers didn’t understand the pandemic for ‘months.’
The Prime Minister suggested masks could remain compulsory in shops for at least a year, but declined to put a precise time scale on new rules requiring people to wear a face covering in all shops or face a £100 fine.
He implied the mask policy was likely to stay in place for months as the Government tries to open up the economy while avoiding a second wave of coronavirus.
Visiting the Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton, east London today, the PM said lifting the rule would ‘depend on our continued ability to drive down the virus’.
However, Mr Johnson added it was likely to be ‘the middle of next year’ before the UK was ‘well on the way past it’.
The Prime Minister (pictured at the Tollgate Medical Centre in Beckton today) suggested masks could remain compulsory in shops for at least a year
He said: ‘This whole planet has faced a very nasty new foe in the form of a bug that we didn’t know about before.’
‘I think that by the middle of next year we will be well on the way, we will be well on the way past it. But … I must be clear with people, I do still think that we have tough times ahead in keeping this virus under control.
‘We have tough times ahead in coming through economically, but I have absolutely no doubt that we are going to, and this country is going to bounce back stronger than ever before.’
Speaking about how long measures will have to remain in place, Mr Johnson said: ‘The use of face masks, the use of all the social distancing measures really does depend on our ability collectively to get the pandemic right down and to keep it down.
‘I’m not going to make a prediction about when these various social distancing measures will come off.
‘Obviously we have been able to reduce some of them. We no longer ask people to stay at home, we’re trying to get back much closer to normal, but our ability to dispense with the social distancing measures will depend on our continued ability to drive down the virus.’
It comes as the Prime Minister tonight admitted his Government could have done things ‘differently’ early on in the coronavirus pandemic – but denied being too slow to act as the disease swept the nation.
In an interview to mark a year since becoming Tory leader and Prime Minister, Mr Johnson admitted that politicians and scientists ‘didn’t understand (the virus) in the way that we would have liked’ in the spring.
Pictured: Shoppers at Sainsbury’s Guildford wear masks inside the supermarket today
Pictured: Shoppers visit the Tesco Extra store in Shieldfield, Newcastle, this morning, buying groceries without wearing a face mask
The PM has come under heavy pressure in recent weeks over whether the lockdown began early enough, after chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance told MPs they wanted it brought in a week before it came into effect on March 23.
Speaking to the BBC tonight, Mr Johnson said: ‘When you look back at this crisis, everybody can see that this was something that was new, that we didn’t understand in the way that we would have liked in the first few weeks and months.
‘And I think probably, you know, the single thing that we didn’t see at the beginning was the extent to which it was being transmitted asymptomatically from person to person.
‘That wasn’t clear to us or to anybody. But … there will be plenty of time by the way to look back at all the other things that we need to learn and there will be an occasion to do that.’
Asked if his administration had been slow to act, he added: ‘No, on the contrary, no if you look at the timing of every single piece of advice that we got from our advisers, from Sage, you will find that whenever they said that we needed to take a particular step, actually, we stuck to that advice like glue.’
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: ‘This finally puts to bed the Prime Minister’s previous claim his Government ”took the right decisions at the right time”.
‘Boris Johnson has finally admitted the Government has mishandled its response to the Coronavirus. It was too slow to acknowledge the threat of the virus, too slow to enter lockdown and too slow to take this crisis seriously.
Pictured: Shoppers wear face coverings to protect themselves from COVID-19 as they queue at a shop in London
A shopper wearing a face mask in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London, as face coverings become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England
A shopper wearing a face mask in Boots on Oxford Street in London today as face coverings become mandatory in shops
A shopper wears a face mask at Primark on Oxford Street in London this morning as the new rules come into force
‘The threat of a second wave is still very real. It is imperative the Government learns the lessons of its mistakes so we can help to save lives.’
Attempts to make sure people wear masks in shops hit teething problems as the rules came into force today.
Police and retailers refused to enforce the requirement and the care minister suggested people should not be ‘accosted’ if they failed to wear one.
Officers claimed they do not have the resources and said the ‘greater onus’ should be on shopkeepers to make sure their customers cover their faces.
But supermarkets insisted it is up to the police to enforce the rules and said their staff would not be challenging those without masks amid fears of violent attacks.
Wearing a mask also became compulsory in banks, post offices, shopping centres, petrol stations and transport hubs.
Only young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt. Police chiefs across the country said their officers would not be routinely enforcing the regulations and they would only be sent out ‘as a last resort’.
Thousands of people were spotted visiting shops without wearing a face covering as the new laws came into force on Friday.
Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Asda and Morrisons have said it is not up to their workers to enforce the rules.
In an interview to mark a year since becoming Tory leader and Prime Minister he admitted that politicians and scientists ‘didn’t understand (the virus) in the way that we would have liked’ in the spring
Asked if his administration had been slow to act, he added: ‘No, on the contrary, no if you look at the timing of every single piece of advice that we got from our advisers, from Sage, you will find that whenever they said that we needed to take a particular step, actually, we stuck to that advice like glue’
In a branch of Sainsbury’s, one shopper was pelted with a tub of double cream by a woman for not wearing a mask.
The supermarket said it will display posters and make regular loudspeaker announcements asking customers to wear a mask, but it was not the responsibility of staff to challenge them.
But branches of McDonald’s ordered customers without face coverings to leave the restaurants.
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said: ‘Police officers are yet again adapting to a new set of unprecedented laws and guidelines which they wouldn’t have even dreamed of before lockdown.
‘It is our members who are expected to police what is a new way of living and I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear: if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in.’
But care minister Helen Whately called for a softly-softly approach and pointed out that some people, including those with autism and conditions like anxiety, are exempt from wearing them.
She predicted that ‘most people’ would wear a mask voluntarily, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are expecting people to be reasonable about this. And we don’t want to see members of the public accosted for not wearing a face mask.’
Some retailers have raised concerns that asking shop staff to enforce the measures will lead to further abuse against them.
Jo Whitfield, from the Co-op, said: ‘On a daily basis they face abuse, threatening behaviour and even physical assault. Our own figures show that during the Covid crisis such instances have risen and enforcing the wearing of face masks could be another flashpoint that shop workers don’t need.’
Coronavirus cases in England appear to be creeping up with 1,000 more people estimated to be catching the disease every day than they were last week, official data showed today as the UK recorded 123 more Covid-19 deaths.
All of the victims are assumed to be in England considering Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland health agencies reported zero fatalities for the second day running. The new deaths take the total in the UK to 45,677.
Covid-19 cases have reached 297,914, according to the Government tally. Some 770 new cases were announced by the Department of Health today, the highest in a week and taking the seven-day rolling average up to 668 – a nine per cent increase on last Friday.
It comes as Office for National Statistics data based on population testing estimate that daily infections have risen from 1,700 to 2,800 in the space of seven days, to a current total of 22,400 new cases per week.
It suggests one in 2,000 people across the country were carrying Covid-19 within the most recent week up to July 19 – a total of 27,700 people or 0.05 per cent of the population. This figure has crept up from the estimated 0.04 per cent (24,000) thought to be infected last week and the 0.03 per cent (14,000) the week before.
The anti-maskers provoking shop staff by flouting restrictions: Woman who boasts she ‘didn’t clap for the NHS’ and smoker with face tattoo are among mob of rule-breakers sharing videos of themselves not covering-up in stores
By Jack Wright for MailOnline
Anti-maskers have been flouting new coronavirus laws in force today which make the wearing of face coverings in shops, banks and shopping centres across England compulsory.
Lara Crabb spoke of people avoiding her ‘like the plague’ as she filmed herself shopping in a farm store and a Tesco branch in Devon without covering her nose and mouth with a mask.
Meanwhile tattoo artist Aron Walton filmed himself entering a Sainsbury’s branch without a face covering which he dismissed as useless as he told staff they cannot enforce the new policy.
In London a Twitter account under the moniker ‘Mr. Grunter’ filmed the moment he entered a Boots store and asked a guard if he could enter without a face covering as he claimed he ‘can’t wear a mask’.
And a shocking video posted on Facebook entitled ‘play by your own rules’ shows Reis Daniel being told to wear a mask in Sainsbury’s before grabbing a bag of sweets without paying and running out the store laughing.
The videos were uploaded as shoppers in other parts of England confronted other customers for not wearing masks, while McDonald’s staff kicked out diners for not covering their faces.
Lara Crabb spoke of people avoiding her ‘like the plague’ as she filmed herself shopping in a farm store and a Tesco branch in Devon without covering her nose and mouth with a mask. Meanwhile tattoo artist Aron Walton filmed himself entering a Sainsbury’s branch without a face covering as he told staff they cannot enforce the new policy
Lara Crabb, whose social media is linked to a website for anti-lockdown group Keep Britain Free, tweeted today that she ‘didn’t clap for the NHS once’, explaining: ‘They are paid to do their job’
People in England now have to wear masks in all shops, stations, banks and post offices, though there is confusion with different firms having different policies on coverings – and whether or not to force customers to wear them.
Sainsbury’s, Asda, Co-Op and Costa Coffee are among the firms saying they would not police the coronavirus rules, which also require people to cover their faces in all transport hubs, shopping centres and petrol stations.
McDonald’s, on the other hand, are enforcing the rules, with customers in a Chelmsford, Essex branch ordered to leave the fast food diner for not wearing a face mask.
Meanwhile, customers reported seeing fights break out in supermarkets, with masked shoppers confronting those not wearing a covering. One person wrote: ’10:05am I entered Sainsbury’s, 10:08am there’s a fight in the second isle because someone hasn’t got a mask on and the lady with her kid was panicking and shouting at the anti masker ….. end result? Lady picks up a tub of double cream and throws it in their face.’
Ms Crabb, whose social media profile is linked to a website for the anti-lockdown campaign group Keep Britain Free, uploaded her anti-mask crusade videos this morning.
After shopping in a local farm store without a mask, she recorded herself telling how other shoppers ‘were avoiding me like the plague’ and ‘trolleys were going around me as if I was some big obstruction’, adding: ‘You can sort of see in people’s eyes what they’re thinking when they see you without a mask, it’s so sad that it’s come to this’.
Ms Crabb, who was wearing a cap and a pink top, said she had ‘never felt so uncomfortable in a shop in all my life’ and noted that the ‘staff were amazing’ and ‘looked at me like a normal customer’.
A shopper wearing a mask in a supermarket in London as coverings become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England
Facebook user Aron Walton filmed himself walking around a Sainsbury’s store with a grin on his face as he then asked a member of staff ‘what’s the policy’ before telling him the rule cannot be enforced.
Twitter account ‘Mr. Grunt’ recorded video of the moment he approached a Boots store and asked the masked guard if he could enter, to which the guard replied ‘yes, there are masks back there’.
In the video, which was posted online with the caption ‘Well done @BootsUK! #NoMasks’, the man says ‘I can’t wear a mask, is that ok’ before the masked guard responds ‘yeah, that’s ok’.
And in London, Facebook user Reis Daniel says ‘f*** it, I’m going in’ before he is told by a member of Sainsbury’s staff that he is not allowed in the store without a covering.
Mr Daniel responds ‘man, that’s rough’ before he snatches a bag of sweets by the check-out counter without paying for them and sprinting out of the store laughing.
McDonald’s are enforcing the rules, with customers in a Chelmsford, Essex branch ordered to leave for not wearing a mask. Pictured is a Manchester McDonald’s
A shopper leaves Tesco on Goodge Street in Central London not wearing a face mask despite the new rules from today. Young children and people with medical conditions affected by a mask are exempt from the regulations
People leave a B&M store in Slough (left) and a Londis petrol station shop in Chirton, North Tyneside (right), without masks
Some people wear masks while others do not at a Pret a Manger outlet in London this morning after the new rules were introduced. The new guidance states face coverings will be required in takeaway sandwich shops like Pret
Under the rules, even customers entering banks must don a mask, but young children and people with medical conditions affected by masks are exempt from wearing them.
Police are now urging shops to refuse entry to people not wearing face coverings, with John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, saying: ‘I would urge retail outlets to play their part in making the rules crystal clear – if you are not wearing a face covering then you are not coming in. Officers will be there to help stores if needed – but only as a last resort, as we simply do not have the resources.’
Speaking about those who might have exemptions, Mr Apter added: ‘If you’re out shopping today and you see somebody not wearing a face covering it may be because they have a hidden disability. Don’t jump to conclusions, don’t have a go at them. This is new for us all, it’s about keeping each other safe. Please be nice!’
There was confusion within hours of the new rules coming into effect, with shopper Alan Gregg claiming he was at a Tesco store in Balby, South Yorkshire, at 6am for shopping this morning, ‘and the lady at the door said to me face masks are not compulsory in this store’. Tesco has been contacted for comment.
Another Twitter user told Costa Coffee that he was boycotting their stores, saying: ‘Due to your stance on face masks I will no longer be using your outlets despite being a customer for more years than I can remember.’
Martin Mac tweeted this picture of two people wearing face masks at Williams & Co Trade Only Plumbing and Heating Supplies in Basingstoke, Hampshire, this morning
Shoppers visit the Tesco Extra store in Shieldfield, Newcastle, this morning, buying groceries without wearing a face mask
One woman wears a face mask at a Lidl in Camden Town, while another goes without as the two pass each other in the store
A shopper is handed a protective mask on entering a supermarket in Ealing on the day face coverings became mandatory in shops in the UK
Passengers at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport wearing face masks this afternoon following the change in law making them mandatory in transport hubs
Face coverings will have to be worn in shops, supermarkets and shopping centres as well as train stations and airports under new rules set to apply across England from today
Airline staff wearing face masks at Heathrow Airport this afternoon. Failure to comply with the rules could result in a £100 fine although the police have suggested that they will not be aggressively enforcing the policy
Failure to comply could result in a £100 spot fine, although police forces have indicated they will only respond as a ‘last resort’. Scotland Yard said it hopes shoppers who refuse to wear masks will be ‘shamed’ into compliance.
A mask can only be removed in a shop for a small number of reasons, such as allowing staff to check someone’s identity or age or to communicate with a deaf lip reader. Shop staff do not have to wear coverings but it is ‘strongly recommended’ that employers ask them to do so unless they have other precautions such as screens.
In Essex, the county council has commissioned a series of badges to help those exempt from wearing masks who are concerned about negative reactions, saying: ‘I have a valid medical reason for not wearing a face mask.’
The new rules are contentious, with some people finding masks uncomfortable and some libertarians complaining they are being ‘muzzled’ by the state.
Among those complaining about the rules was a visitor to dress alterations shop Village Alterations in Melling, Merseyside, which is run by Sarah Knight, 46.
She said: ‘I have five customers so far this morning and fortunately they have all been wearing masks. However one man grumbled: ‘This is ridiculous – they don’t work anyway’. And then he said it was very late in the day that the rule came in.
‘But he was still wearing one. I wouldn’t serve anyone or let anyone come in without wearing one. I would refuse to serve them. I have a mask on when people come into the shop.’
A shopper without a face mask outside a Tesco store in Leicester. Face coverings have become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England from today
Face coverings are now mandatory in shops and supermarkets across England. Under new rules introduced by the Government, people will need to cover their nose and mouth or face a fine of up to £100. People with disabilities are exempt
Shoppers seen in supermarkets in Camden Town without face masks after becoming compulsory today in all shops
Despite face coverings becoming mandatory in shops today, Britons all over the country continued to flout the rules as they shopped
A shopper wearing a mask outside Iceland in Leicester. Face coverings have become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England
A shopper wearing a face mask in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London today after the coverings became mandatory today
Shoppers wearing face masks in Selfridges on Oxford Street, London this afternoon as the coverings became required today
Two women wearing face mask wait for their flight at Heathrow airport this afternoon, with the majority of passengers seemingly following the guidelines
Face covering are mandatory in airports from today – as well a range of places including shops, hotels and shopping centres
Some staff members reportedly did not wear face masks, though the majority of customers appeared to be doing so at Heathrow today
People wearing masks at terminal 5 Heathrow airport today, but still some staff and passengers not wearing the masks
She added: ‘The virus has affected me a lot because i do a lot of wedding dress alterations and a lot of weddings have been cancelled. I just had one bride cancel this morning.’
Today, almost everyone entering cafes and shops lining the busy Kingsway road in Central London wore masks – with staff attending them claiming that the new laws should have been introduced earlier.
Andrzej Kowlski, assistant manager at Greggs, said: ‘All our customers have been very good so far. We are actually not allowed to turn anybody away, but we can advise them that they should wear a mask.
‘This morning my job has been to speak with the customers to remind them about the new law. But we are not prepared to force them to do this and we would not call the police if they protested, unless they became violent.’
Mr Kowlski, who was wearing a visor added: ‘The new law is a very good thing. A lot of shop staff are at risk of catching coronavirus and making face masks compulsory should have happened a few weeks ago when the lockdown started easing.’
Thomas Molley, 64, wore a black mask while he was shopping in Asda in Wythenshawe, Manchester.
The grandfather-of-four said: ‘I don’t want to get a £100 fine so I put one on.
‘Most people seemed to have them on – it seems the right thing to do and we don’t want a second wave.’
Sarah Wright, 33, admitted to not wearing one when she went in Balloons UK shop in Wythenshawe, Manchester.
The mother-of-two said: ‘I hadn’t bought one as I don’t think they do any good.
‘But I’d forgotten you have to wear one from today – I did get a few funny looks, and the staff said I should be wearing one,
‘I suppose I’m going to have to get one.’
One woman, who went into a Subway in Manchester, said: ‘I didn’t think you had to wear one if it was a food place.
‘I’m confused about the rules.’
Steve O’Brien, 28, had a mask on as he went to boots in Aintree, Merseyside.
The car supply worker said: ‘I don;t understand why we have to wear one now.
‘Surely if we needed them, then we should have been wearing on in March.
‘It all seems a bit of a muddle.’
Phil Yates, 44, an archivist who had just purchased a coffee and pasty in Greggs revealed that he had started wearing his face mask as a result of the new law.
He said: ‘I have had a face mask for quite a while but haven’t always been wearing it. But I’m wearing it now as a result of these new regulations. I think it’s a very positive thing, we all need to take more responsibility and do all that we can to help stem the increase in coronavirus. But I don’t understand why it’s taken so long to bring this new law in.’
At Paul café, Sarah Weiss was stood behind a screen wearing a mask as she served customers. She said: ‘About 30 people have come in so far and I would say that more than 90 per cent have had masks on.
‘Of those that haven’t, we just ask them nicely to wear one. We don’t want to get into arguments with our customers, so our approach is to be diplomatic. We feel much safer that people coming into the café now have to wear masks, it’s better for everybody.’
Rani, a shop assistant in the Co-op, said: ‘The new law has just come into force and some people have simply forgotten that they have to wear masks. It’s going to take some time for people to get used to this.
‘It’s going to be difficult to police the new law but I’m hoping that our customers will be co-operative. But to be honest, we wanted this new law a long time ago.’
Jack Smith, a water engineer was not wearing a mask as he emerged from a Pret a Manger with a coffee in his hand. When asked why he was not wearing one, he replied: ‘I just forgot. I’ve actually got one in my pocket.
‘My girlfriend actually reminded me this morning that you can now get fined if you go into a shop or café without a mask. But it’s still very early in the morning and it totally slipped my mind.’
He added: ‘This should have been introduced a long time ago and the Government should have done a better job of communicating to us that the law has changed on masks. There hasn’t been much publicity about this.’