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London’s rules on face coverings are tightening up from today, as the government gets justifiably antsy about new Covid variant Omicron. But what does that mean for your commute? How about popping to the shops? And have scientists worked out a way to stop your glasses getting steamed up yet? Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know.
So, what’s changing?
In short, face coverings are now fully compulsory in many public spaces, instead of being a personal choice. That includes the entire TfL network of tubes, trains, buses and trams, plus taxis and minicabs. It also includes shops of all sizes. And as part of the same tranche of restrictions, new arrivals from abroad will have to self-isolate until they receive a negative PCR test.
How is it going to be enforced?
TfL staff have the power to issue a £200 fine to anyone not wearing a face covering (who doesn’t have a medical exemption). And the fines just keep rising, hitting £400 for a second offence, right up to a maximum of £6,400. So, forgetting your mask could get seriously expensive.
It’s less clear how the policy will be enforced by shops: just as they did last time mask-wearing was compulsory, individual retailers are likely to come up with their own policies.
Why now?
It’s that Omicron variant we chatted about earlier: yep, I know, the mere mention of it makes you want to run out of the room screaming, but it’s here, and the government has been told it’s got a brief window to get it under control. Omicron was first identified in South Africa, but now there are 14 UK cases, and fears are rising that it could be more vaccine-resistant than previous variants.
What does this mean for Christmas?
Well, an unholy alliance of crossword fans and conspiracy theorists has been eagerly pointing out that ‘Omicron B’ can be rearranged to spell ‘No crimbo’, but even by this government’s standards, it would be a deeply weird move to break such major news via an anagram. Instead, we’ll just have to hope this new variant is just a minor bump in the road to a Covid-free London.