As many high schools in England also partially re-opened on Monday, thousands of students were heading back to classrooms, with smaller class sizes, for the first time in months.
Commuters wearing a face mask travel on TfL Victoria Line underground train carriages, heading towards central London, on June 15, 2020 after new rules make wearing face coverings on public transport compulsory while the UK further eases its coronavirus lockdown. (Photo: AFP)
As non-essential stores reopened and more students headed back to schools in England on Monday for the first time in almost three-months, a new rule also came into force in requiring people travelling on public transport to wear face coverings during their journeys.
Under the new rule which took effect on Monday, people in England travelling on trains, buses and commuter ferries, as well as the London Underground, must wear face coverings, according to the media reports.
The UK government said masks can be homemade, such as a scarf or bandana.
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Commuters were handed face-masks by volunteers in some train and subway stations in London.
The government changed its advice on face masks to help contain the spread of coronavirus earlier this month, as more people used public transport to go back to work.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said remembering to travel with a face covering should become part of people’s daily routine.
As many high schools in England also partially re-opened on Monday, thousands of students were heading back to classrooms, with smaller class sizes, for the first time in months.
Earlier this month, PM Johnson was under pressure to resume economic activity so he decided to reopen elementary schools in England and was expected to allow non-essential businesses to resume within 10 days, despite warnings from a number of experts that it was too soon to ease the lockdown.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said the government would consider isolated lockdowns in the case of a second wave of infections.
Accordng to the reports, queues also formed at London Zoo, with daily sales limited to around 2,000 tickets.
The The UK has so far reported 298,315 COVID-19 cases, with 41,821 deaths.
Meanwhile, global cases surpassed 8 million, while over 4.36 people have succumbed to the infection.
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