Boris Johnson Suggests British Public Could Be Asked To Wear Facemasks As Part Of Coronavirus Lockdown Exit Strategy

30 April 2020, 18:31

Facemasks will 'give people confidence they can go back to work,' says Boris Johnson.

Boris Johnson has suggested that the British public will be asked to wear facemarks as part of the government’s coronavirus lockdown exit strategy.

The Prime Minister made the comments during Thursday’s Downing Street conference.

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Boris Johnson suggests Brits could be asked to wear facemasks

He said: “I think what, and I again I will defer to Chris and Patrick, but what I think SAGE is saying and what I certainly agree with is that as part of coming out of the lockdown I do think that face coverings will be useful both for epidemiological reasons but also for giving people confidence they can go back to work.”

Mr Johnson went on to say he will be ‘setting out a comprehensive plan next week’ to explain how the government will ‘re-start the economy’.

He added: “A huge amount of work has been going on on that that plan and as we produce it we are being guided by the science, and we will try to build the maximum political consensus as we produce it across all parties and across the UK.

Boris Johnson says plan for coming out of lockdown 'to come next week'

“But there will be five key tests that we must satisfy before we can put that plan into action.

“We must be sure that we can continue to protect the NHS and its ability to cope.

“We must see a sustained fall in deaths.

“We must be sure that the infection rate is falling.

“We must overcome the operational and logistical challenges on testing and PPE.

“Fifth, and this is the most important, we must all make sure that the measures we take do not risk a second spike that would overwhelm the NHS.”

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