A top Tory minister has revealed he'll continue wearing a face mask after Covid if he has the sniffles - and suggested other Brits might want to cover up too.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said he would cover his nose and mouth if he had a seasonal cold to avoid passing on germs to others.
And indicating other Brits should do the same, he said voluntarily covering up would be "the right thing to do".
"I think that whatever the regulations might be – and clearly as we come out of this Covid period all of us want to see an end to the use of regulations so we can live our lives as we would want to live – there will be a certain sense I think for a lot of us to carry on wearing masks," he told Sky News.
"I for one, if I’ve got a cold or a minor ailment, I think wearing a mask is going to be the right thing to do because I don’t want to spread my cold to somebody else."
The QC, who is also the Lord Chancellor, added: "If I’ve got a runny nose and still able to get out there and work, I think wearing a mask is not a bad thing to do if we can reduce the spread of even the common cold."
The revelation will pile pressure on Boris Johnson to say whether he would do likewise.
It will also raise questions about whether social distancing rules will truly end as planned from June 21, when the PM hopes to enter the final stage of his roadmap.
The government had hoped to end all legal restrictions from June 21 at the earliest.
But questions have been raised about whether masks will remain mandatory in some settings - like public transport - to stem the spread of the Indian Covid variant.
Even if laws on face masks are lifted, there is likely to still be guidance to the public to cover up in certain situations because vaccines are not 100% effective.
Downing Street said yesterday there was not yet solid evidence that the B.1.617.2 variant - which rose 15% in a day in the UK - will force the June 21 date to be abandoned.
Scientists are still awaiting more solid evidence which should start to firm up next week.
