Chris Whitty suggests guidelines for use of masks after 19 July

England’s medical chief gives three situations in which it would be important to wear face covering

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has set out three simple personal guidelines for when to continue wearing face masks after the Covid restrictions have been lifted.

Boris Johnson and Whitty were asked at Monday’s Downing Street press conference what circumstances they would still use face coverings after 19 July.

Johnson said he wanted to move away from “government diktat”. But then Whitty offered a three-part rule of thumb for continuing to wear a mask: in crowded indoor spaces; when required to by an authority; or to make someone else feel comfortable.

He said these situations were all particularly important at a time when “the epidemic is significant and rising”.

Whitty said: “The first is in any situation is indoors and crowded, or indoors with close proximity to other people. And that is because masks help protect other people.”

He added: “The second situation is if I was required to by any competent authority … And the third reason is if someone else was uncomfortable if I did not wear a mask – as a point of common courtesy.”

The chief scientist, Sir Patrick Vallance, endorsed the approach. He added: “Masks are most effective at preventing somebody else catching the disease from you, and they have some effect to prevent you catching it.”

He also played down fears that the upcoming European Championship semi-final at Wembley would be a super-spreading event. Vallance said: “It’s very often not the big outdoor environments, it’s the indoor environments with crowded spaces that become the risk of spreading, and that’s where most super-spreading events have occurred.”

Whitty’s three rules of thumb for continued mask wearing come after several cabinet ministers, including Robert Jenrick and George Eustice, have indicated they will not be wearing masks after restrictions are lifted.

Johnson said his own mask wearing “will depend on the circumstances”. He said: “What we’re trying to do is move from universal government diktat, to rely on people’s personal responsibility.

“Clearly there’s a big difference between travelling on a crowded tube train and sitting late at night in a virtually empty carriage on the main railway line. So what we want to do is for people to exercise their personal responsibility, but to remember the value of face coverings both in protecting themselves, and others.”

Contributor

Matthew Weaver

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
NHS under pressure from new Covid wave across England, says Chris Whitty
Increasing numbers of people needing hospital treatment for coronavirus, says chief medical officer

Andrew Gregory Health editor

23, Mar, 2022 @12:50 PM

Article image
Chris Whitty: keeping Covid restrictions will only delay wave
England’s chief medical officer says hospitalisations will not be reduced by keeping rules this summer

Ian Sample and Natalie Grover

05, Jul, 2021 @6:58 PM

Article image
Chris Whitty: society will have to learn to live with Covid in similar way to flu
England’s chief medical officer says unrealistic to think border policy can stop new variants entering

Nicola Davis Science correspondent

01, Apr, 2021 @5:06 PM

Article image
UK must learn from German response to Covid-19, says Whitty
Government’s chief medical officer says Germany got ahead in terms of coronavirus testing

Heather Stewart Political editor

07, Apr, 2020 @6:32 PM

Article image
Whitty: revising plan to ease England lockdown would risk fresh Covid surge
Chief medical officer tells MPs lifting rules more quickly would send more people into hospital and lead to more deaths

Ian Sample and Aubrey Allegretti

09, Mar, 2021 @1:45 PM

Article image
MPs hail Whitty and Vallance, the two gentlemen of corona | John Crace
Parliamentarians meekly deferred to the expert advisers, who have had stardom thrust upon them by the pandemic

John Crace

09, Mar, 2021 @6:49 PM

Article image
Chris Whitty v Tory MP Joy Morrissey: who to believe on Covid?
Should a polymath professor be expected to defer to a politician on public health guidance?

Matthew Weaver

17, Dec, 2021 @1:42 PM

Article image
Chris Whitty: UK should have focused more on stopping Covid-type pandemic
England’s chief medical officer tells Covid inquiry focus was more on dealing with consequences of pandemic

Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

22, Jun, 2023 @1:23 PM

Article image
How Jonathan Van-Tam won the nation's trust on coronavirus
Wryly ebullient deputy chief medical officer now seems to be TV’s ‘scientist of choice’

Archie Bland

03, Dec, 2020 @3:33 PM

Article image
Top experts not asked to approve 'stay alert' coronavirus message
Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance had no role in signing off advice, Guardian has learned

Denis Campbell Matthew Weaver and Ian Sample

11, May, 2020 @2:06 PM