Matt Hancock introduces mandatory face coverings in hospital for medics, staff add outpatients

Face coverings will become compulsory in hospitals for all staff, visitors and  outpatients from June 15, Matt Hancock revealed today.  

Medical and other staff will have to wear surgical masks at all times, the Health Secretary announced tonight.

And outpatients attending appointments will not be allowed in without wearing the sort of face coverings that can be made at home, he told tonight’s Downing Street press conference.

The announcement came after a similar move yesterday, when it was revealed face coverings would be compulsory on public transport from the same day.  

Mr Hancock said the move was required to protect all hospital workers as NHS units gradually reopen their doors for procedures that were delayed by the coronavirus response. 

He told the daily Downing Street press conference: ‘As the NHS reopens right across the country, it’s critically important to stop the spread amongst staff, patients and visitors too.

‘So today we’re setting out that all hospital visitors and outpatients will need to wear face coverings.

‘One of the things that we’ve learnt is that those in hospital, those who are working in hospital, are more likely to catch coronavirus whether they work in a clinical setting or not.

Mr Hancock also revealed he had donated blood plasma to an anti-body trial in London today (pictured)

‘And so to offer even greater protection we’re also providing new guidance for NHS staff in England which will come into force again on June 15 and all hospital staff will be required to wear type one or two surgical masks.

‘And this will cover all staff working in hospital, it will apply at all times – not just when they are doing life-saving work on the frontline – and it will apply in all areas, except those areas designated as Covid-secure workplaces.’

He said the Government was upgrading the guidance to ensure that ‘even as the virus comes under control’ hospitals are a place of ‘care and of safety’.

‘We’ve also strengthened infection control in care homes and we’re working with the social care sector on how this approach can apply appropriately in social care too.

‘It’s about protecting the NHS and social care, which means protecting our colleagues who work in the NHS and in social care.’

Earlier today a senior Government minister rejected calls to force shoppers to wear face coverings – as medics demanded that strict rules forcing their use on public transport be brought in immediately. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who last night revealed that commuters face £80 for not wearing them from June 15, said this morning they were not required in other settings because people spend little time in close proximity.

It came after the head of the British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said the compulsory wearing of face coverings should be introduced in ‘all areas’ where social distancing is not possible, and should start immediately.

Only a handful of Tube users wore masks at rush hour today as Dr Nagpaul warned delaying the £80 fines will only make the spread of coronavirus worse.

Commuters again packed on to the London Underground and were forced to break social distancing rules on the Jubilee Line, which runs through the heart of the capital.

The BMA head said face covers ‘should not be restricted to public transport’, raising the prospect of masks also becoming compulsory in shops, restaurants and pubs. 

The Government has previously said that it plans for non-essential retailers to reopen from June 15. 

But Mr Shapps said High Street browsing was  ‘clearly not the same’ as being on a bus or train for a sustained period of time.

He told the BBC: ‘I think the big difference is in a shop you may well pass somebody and the guidance acknowledges you might be near somebody for a short period of time but then you are going to move on.

‘On public transport you could be next to somebody for 10, 20 minutes, 30 minutes so there is a much larger chance of being close to somebody for a longer period of time plus the guidance for shops is don’t let the shop become overcrowded and that is something you can control with queues outside the shops, we are all used to them now, two metre queues outside.’