Face masks and glass screens may stay beyond the end of lockdown

Face masks may have to be worn beyond the promised end of the lockdown roadmap next month, a Cabinet minister has said.

Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, declared on Sunday that the nation is "very close now to really turning the corner" in the battle against Covid-19, but added that "some safeguards" would likely remain after June 21.

A sharp backlash erupted from the hospitality industry after he served notice that a series of measures could be kept after the fourth and final step in the Prime Minister’s roadmap.

Pressure is mounting on the Government to accelerate the removal of restrictions, amid falling infection numbers and the rapid rollout of the vaccination programme. The NHS confirmed on Sunday that 15 million people have now had their second jab in the UK.

Ministers will on Monday announce that they are bringing forward the removal of a cap on numbers attending funerals from step four of the roadmap to step three, which is scheduled for May 17.

Mr Raab’s intervention comes in the midst of a Cabinet Office-led review into the future of social distancing measures, which is examining the removal of the last tranche of restrictions this summer.

It is understood that the retention of face masks and glass screens are being examined as mitigating measures to offset the abolition of the "one metre plus" rule that obliges members of the public to remain physically separate.

Abolishing social distancing in hospitality, entertainment, sports and arts settings is seen as a priority for the Government in order to allow these sectors to welcome back customers at the highest possible capacity and return to profitability.

A government source said last night: "It’s possible we keep some mitigations to help us remove social distancing, yes, but no decisions made yet."

Mr Raab told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: "We want to get to the position at the end of June when we can get life back as close to normal as possible, but there will still need to be some safeguards in place."

Quizzed on the measures likely to be retained after step four of the roadmap, Mr Raab said: "I think it will be around distancing, maybe there will be something around masks."

Insisting that measures would be looked at "in the round", he added: "I don’t really want to prejudge. Those are just some of the options."

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, hit back fiercely, warning: "With restrictions in place, hospitality is not viable and does not break even."

She told The Telegraph: "There are certain industries for which it is mission critical to get those restrictions removed and others that could live with a lot of other controls for longer."

Glass screens and queueing may be appropriate for supermarkets, while the "one metre plus" has been welcomed by some food manufacturers and factories, she said.

However, restrictions in hospitality venues represent the "difference between the business surviving or not" and the sector must be prioritised for the removal of legal measures, she added.

She clarified that the hospitality industry could "probably live with" a certain degree of "protections" such as workplace testing and masks, but stressed it was imperative for the "one metre plus" regulations to be scrapped.

Emma McLarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, also voiced concerns about the retention of coronavirus measures, warning: "It threatens the future of the great British pub as long as those restrictions are in place."

She branded Mr Raab’s comments "disappointing", insisting: "The British public clearly understood, as did the pub sector, that June 21 is freedom day. We were promised the restrictions would fall away."

The retention of social distancing and face masks would hamper the return of bar service and drinkers standing in pubs, in turn rendering some institutions economically unviable and at risk of bankruptcy, she said.

Ms McLarkin added: "No pub will be cash positive until the restrictions are removed."

Both hospitality chiefs warned that an extension to the business rates relief and other Government support, which is due to taper from July, would be needed to support the sector if restrictions remain.

The Telegraph revealed last week that Boris Johnson is expected to be told in coming days that social distancing for large events can be abolished from June 21, after initial pilot events recorded no increase in infections among attendees.

A government probe into restarting large-scale events, which is separate from the wider review into the future of social distancing measures, will produce an interim report this week.

It will advise the Prime Minister that crowds can return safely and without distancing, as long as other measures such as staggered entries and enhanced ventilation are in place. Masks may also be retained.

The data from pilot events, which include the FA Cup semi-final, Carabao Cup final and World Snooker Championship, has given Government scientists confidence.