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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Ella Pickover & Lottie Gibbons

Government issues update on 'compulsory' face masks during pandemic

UK ministers are not considering making masks compulsory in workplaces, the Health Secretary has said.

French officials are planning to make wearing face coverings compulsory in most work environments as the country faces a rise in cases.

The move came after France's daily infection count jumped past 3,000 over the weekend, for the first time since May, and as the number of virus patients in hospitals, intensive care units and nursing homes is starting to inch up again.

Face coverings are required in many indoor settings in England, but are not currently required for "employees of indoor settings".

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Asked about the move in France, Matt Hancock told BBC News: "We constantly look at the scientific advice and the answer here is we're not currently considering doing that.

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"The reason is the evidence from NHS Test and Trace for where people catch the disease is that very largely they catch it from one household meeting another household, usually in one of their homes.

"So it is that household transmission that is the core root of passing on this virus in this country. The amount of people who have caught it in workplaces is relatively low, from the evidence we've got."

Officials have introduced a number of guidelines to help workplaces become Covid-secure.

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