The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has insisted that wearing face masks while travelling in London should be compulsory.
Despite British public health experts not currently recommending the use of face-coverings, Mr Khan is lobbying for guidelines to be changed.
Mr Khan’s wishes for everyone to wear a mask comes after New York made it compulsory on Wednesday with similar schemes also being operated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
However, the British government’s social distancing guidelines do not yet make any mention to face masks, despite this Mr Khan insisted: “The evidence around the world is that this is effective,” Mr Khan said.
Mr Khan said: “I’m lobbying our government and advisers to change their advice, and I want us to do that sooner rather than later.
“They are already reviewing this on the basis of our representation.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it remains the case in their opinion that medical masks should be reserved for healthcare workers, not the general public.
But WHO special envoy Dr David Nabarro has suggested more widespread use of masks will become “the norm” as the world adjusts to living with COVID-19.
In related news, Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for London mayor, has accused Mr Khan of not doing enough to help supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to Transport for London (TFL) staff and this also should be compulsory.
Mr Bailey claims to have sourced 600,000 face masks and vinyl gloves – enough to protect every bus worker for 30 days.
Mr Bailey said: “The mayor of London is also the chairman of TfL, and his failure to provide transport workers with PPE is putting lives at risk.
“If he wanted to, he can start tomorrow by sourcing PPE for all 60,000 of the transport staff who work for him.
“Now more than ever, London needs its mayor to take responsibility and to stop blaming the government to score political points during a national crisis.”
The Mayor of London Mr Khan said on the claims of PPE: “The advice from the World Health Organisation, Public Health England and others is that the use of personal protective equipment should only be in care settings.
“One of the reasons is that it gives you a false sense of security but also, if used wrongly, it can be counterproductive.
“This is different, this is non-medical facial covering but the advice is still there to be followed which is to keep your distance and to keep 2m apart.”
He added: “My point is, the evidence around the world is, in those circumstances where it’s not possible for you to keep social distance, then a non-medical facial covering can be of use.
“What we must not do is give the impression it’s now safe to socially interact.”
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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