The Mayor of London has said he expects rules on wearing face coverings on the Transport for London (TfL) network will be lifted following the PM’s announcement of the end of Covid restrictions.
Boris Johnson said on Monday that all domestic restrictions would be lifted in England as he unveiled his ‘Living with Covid’ plan.
In response, Sadiq Khan said he expected that would mean passengers will no longer need to wear face masks on TfL services including the London Underground and buses.
However, he urged people to “continue to wear a face covering where appropriate unless exempt”.
He said in a statement: “Following the Government dropping all legal Covid restrictions, and in light of falling infection levels in London, it is expected that wearing a face covering will no longer be a condition of carriage on the TfL network.”
“However, we know that face coverings remain a simple, effective measure that give Londoners confidence to travel, and following clear advice from public health advisers, TfL will likely continue to recommend their use on the network.
“I urge passengers to be considerate of their fellow Londoners and continue to wear a face covering where appropriate unless exempt.”
Mr Khan also said in order for restrictions to be lifted “in the safest possible way”, the Government “must rethink its plans to abandon free testing” as well as ensuring financial support for those that cannot work from home if they test positive.
“We cannot have a situation where only the well-off can afford to ‘live with Covid’ safely or one where we’re not keeping an eye on new variants posing a risk to the country,” he said.
It comes as Boris Johnson told MPs in the House of Commons that it was time to move from “government restrictions to personal responsibility”.
He outlined his ‘Living with Covid’ plan which will see the legal requirement for people who test positive for the virus to self-isolate to be removed from Thursday.
Mr Johnson said people will still be advised to self-isolate if they test positive for five days. but this is not legally binding.
Free testing will end in England from April 1, he also told MPs.
The changes will be subject to approval by Parliament.
