People travelling into Wales from England will be told to wear face masks, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.
Face coverings continue to be compulsory on public transport and in shops in Wales, while people in England people will just be advised to wear them. During a major press conference on July 14, Mr Drakeford said people travelling into Wales from across the English border will be told by rail companies that the rules in Wales require them to wear a face mask. The full face mask rules for Wales in pubs, shops and other indoor venues are here.
During the conference, he said: "It's the operator who will be responsible for making sure that people get the message, over the tannoy [or] however it will be, that they're coming into Wales and the rules in Wales require people to wear face coverings. It will be the same enforcement regime that we've had all along, because masks have been compulsory in Wales for many months, and that is not changing."
Mr Drakeford reiterated the message on Thursday morning, saying public transport companies would "make sure that people are aware that when travelling in Wales different rules apply". Transport for Wales has confirmed it will ask passengers travelling cross-border to continue to wear masks.
Most of the existing coronavirus rules in Wales are set to be scrapped from August 7, as it moves into alert level zero. You can find the full details on Wales' Alert Level 0 and how they affect your life here. However, face masks will still be legally required in shops and most indoor public places, meaning greater rules will exist in Wales compared to England.
The legal requirement to wear a face covering in shops, public transport and other enclosed public spaces in England will end on Monday, July 19 with the UK government only advising people to wear masks. However certain companies in England, such as Tesco and Sainsbury's, have said they will continue to ask shoppers to wear masks despite the legal requirement ceasing.
Mr Drakeford said it would be "simpler" if the same face-mask rules were applied across the whole of the UK.
He told the conference: "The easy way to avoid confusion is for the Prime Minister to move from...strong encouragement [and] just to make it a simple requirement. So that it is simple and straightforward for everybody to understand, and then they would be no difficulty."
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, Mr Drakeford said: "I think it will be difficulty for people in England to know exactly what is required of them. I've often been told buy the UK government we should work to have a four nation approach to coronavirus and I don't disagree with that at all but with this issue, the mask wearing issue, we should be clear it is the UK government that is the outlier and if they were prepared to bring themselves into line with the decisions that have been made in Scotland and in Wales, that would be clearer and simpler for everybody."
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