Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi Speaks to T&G on Face Coverings & The Rising Infection Rate of COVID

The Covid-19 Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, has told Times Radio a scenario in which 3,000 people are hospitalised is possible once all restrictions are removed on 19 July.

Speaking to Tom Newton Dunn on T&G, Mr Zahawi was asked about a range of SPI-B forecasts for hospitalisations ranging from between 700 and 3,000 a day: "Clearly, all those scenarios are possible, hence why next week what you'll hear from us is that we proceed to Step Four with caution, with very clear guidelines on things like the expectation to wear masks in indoor spaces, in crowded spaces, that's really important. This virus is not over."

And he also said the government will "expect" people to wear a mask indoors in crowded spaces:

"Indoors, in crowded carriages, the very clear guidelines will be that you're expected to wear a mask, but it's not government by dictate because I think we need to transition, and there are no easy answers either, there are no easy decisions here to make, but we've got to transition to a place where we can manage this virus in a responsible way, whilst keeping things like our border controls, which are pretty stringent, whilst making sure that we continue to all of us do the right thing. Because you don't have someone sitting next to you on a crowded train carriage, who's immunosuppressed or immunocompromised and it's right to wear a mask."

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