Britons should carry on wearing face masks because of the high number of Covid infections, one of the country’s leading medical advisers said on Thursday.
Dame Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), urged the nation to be “very sensible and take precautions in periods of high prevalence as we have now”.
She revealed she still wears a covering in shops and on trains despite it no longer being a legal requirement.
The health official told BBC Radio 4’s the Today programme: “The pandemic is not over and how the virus will develop over time remains uncertain. Covid still poses a real risk to many of us, particularly with case rates and hospitalisations on the rise. That is why it is sensible to wear a mask in enclosed spaces.
“I will always put on a face covering when I walk into a shop or if I’m on a train, in those areas where we know we can help prevent transmission even if we’re not aware ourselves that we might have it.”
Daily cases have risen to the highest levels since the peak of the Omicron wave in January.
However No 10 is pushing ahead with its ‘Living With Covid’ plan, scrapping free tests for everyone other than NHS workers, care home staff and vulnerable patients from Friday.
The Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance is hopeful that the worst is over. He said that infections are “beginning to turn” and that we may “quite close to, or at, the peak”.
Dame Jenny added: “The public, when there has been a perceived risk, have responded and moderated their own behaviours. I have every confidence they will continue to do that As we move into this living with Covid phase it is about balancing that risk and personal behaviours.
“In the same as we would in the flu season, in some countries many people will wear a face covering in public during that season and that is normal behaviour.”
She said warmer weather will likely drive down infection rates and that there are high levels of population immunity as long as people come forward for booster jabs.
