Face masks will become compulsory for bar staff, shop workers, waiters and taxi drivers in an effort to combat the rise in coronavirus cases in England, the prime minister has announced.
Fines for failing to wear a face mask will rise to £200 and will be extended to customers when they are not seated at a table, Boris Johnson told MPs.
Watch and follow live on Sky News as Boris Johnson gives a Downing Street broadcast at 8pm
PM: New restrictions could last ‘six months’
Announcing the new coronavirus restrictions, the PM said the UK has reached a “perilous turning point” in its fight against COVID-19 and must “act now to avoid still graver consequences later on”.
He also warned that the measures could remain in place for as long as six months, declaring: “For the time being, this virus is a fact of our lives.”
The restrictions announced by the PM – who will address the nation from Number 10 later – are as follows:
- Office workers should work from home again where possible – although workers in “key public services and in all professions where home working is not possible”, such as construction and retail, should continue to go in
- From Thursday, all pubs, bars and restaurants must be table service only and close at 10pm – but delivery services can remain open
- The requirement to wear a face covering has been extended to staff in retail, people in taxis and everyone using hospitality services
- Fines for not wearing a face covering will now double to £200 for a first offence
- Only 15 people can now attend weddings but 30 can go to a funeral
- The rule of six has been extended to indoor sports teams
- Phased reopening of stadiums for sports clubs has been cancelled
The PM has stopped short – for now – of introducing more wide-ranging measures to try and halt the rise in cases.
He acknowledged this in his Commons address, telling MPs: “I want to stress that this is by no means a return to the full lockdown of March. We’re not issuing a general instruction to stay at home.
“We will ensure that schools, colleges, universities stay open because nothing is more important than the education, health and well-being of our young people.
“We will ensure businesses can stay open in a COVID-compliant way. However we must take action to suppress the disease.”
It had been suggested that proposals being worked on by Downing Street could have seen essential travel to schools and workplaces continuing, with restaurants and bars shut.
There was also speculation that Number 10 would ban different households from mixing.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that while his party supported the latest measures, the public will be worried that the government “doesn’t have a strategy”.
“One day people were encouraged to work in the office, in fact more than encouraged, they were openly challenged by the prime minister for not doing so, today they’re told the opposite.
“This is a time of national crisis but we need clear leadership.”
Starmer: ‘Testing system isn’t working’
He called for an extension of the furlough scheme, a demand echoed by the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford.
“Prime minister do not throw workers on the scrap-heap through no fault of their own,” he urged Mr Johnson.
Taking questions from MPs after his statement, Mr Johnson confirmed that they would have an opportunity to debate the new measures next week.
And he said that ministers will review the restrictions if the public can “do what they did before” in helping get the spread of the virus under control.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are able to take their own measures in the fight against coronavirus.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to announce further restrictions shortly, while people in Northern Ireland have already been banned from mixing with other households indoors.
Gove ‘encourages’ working from home
In Wales, around a third of the population are currently under a form of local lockdown.
The new restrictions come after the COVID-19 alert level was raised from three to four, meaning there is now a high or rising level of transmission.
The government’s chief scientific adviser has warned that the UK could see 49,000 new cases every day within weeks unless action is taken to drive down the rate of infection.
This would translate to “200-plus deaths a day” by mid-November, Sir Patrick Vallance said.
Mr Johnson has insisted he does not want to put the country into a second national lockdown and will be hoping the latest measures are enough to turn the tide.
But despite there being no national lockdown like the one seen in March, some 13.5 million people across the UK are currently living under some form of local restrictions.