The Great Unmasking? Commuters, shoppers and diners ditch face-coverings as 'Freedom Day' finally dawns... but others stick to the old rules

Commuters, shoppers and diners were seen without face masks today while others continued wearing them as 'Freedom Day' finally dawned and brought in a confusing jumble of new rules governing their use.

Face coverings are no longer required by law, although official national guidance is to continue wearing them in crowded public places.

There was a mixed picture across the country this morning, with pictures from the Tube, Waterloo Station and a Greggs in Bradford showing a significant number of people going maskless.

Contrasting reports came in from social media users, with journalist Kevin Maguire tweeting: 'The counter screens are down in the Pret I use in my patch of London. Everybody still wearing masks though didn't see a sign..'

Sally Whittle, from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, wrote: 'About 90% of people still wearing masks when I did an emergency B&Q run at 8am. Lovely lady at the door offering masks to those without. Every one of the people who refused were men in their 20s.'

There were some signs of tension, with the author Ann Cleeves saying she was shouted at by an anti-masker in her home town of Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear.

She tweeted: 'In Whitley, putting on my mask and a car drives past, window open. Guy shouts: ''Freedom day. Get off those masks''. This is NE England, more cases than anywhere. And my daughter's doing chemo. No freedom for her!'

Meanwhile, people opposed to wearing masks took to Twitter to declare a boycott of shops still enforcing the requirement, which includes all major supermarkets.

Face coverings are still compulsory on the Tube thanks to a decision by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he did not want to put transport users 'at risk'. Passengers can be thrown off services if they refuse to cooperate, although fines will no longer be issued, Transport for London confirmed to MailOnline.

Airlines still mandate mask wearing, while pubs, visitor attractions and local travel companies have all come up with their own rules. Meanwhile, fitness chain PureGym asks they still be worn in communal areas.

Some customers at a Greggs in Bradford, West Yorkshire, were seen without masks today as the legal requirement to wear them was removed

Shoppers in a London Tesco not wearing masks today. All the major supermarkets are asking customers to continue doing so

Large numbers of Tube passengers were pictured with faces uncovered this morning, despite London Mayor Sadiq Khan's decision to continue enforcing their use across the capital's transport network

Commuters with and without facemasks arrive at Waterloo station in London. Heathrow Express, which operates services to London Paddington, said face coverings will remain mandatory. But all other train companies will not demand their wearing

A mixed picture on mask wearing emerged from social media users today. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is mandating their use on the Tube while fitness chain PureGym asks that face coverings be worn in communal areas

Anti-maskers took to Twitter today to declare a boycott of shops still enforcing the requirement, which includes all major supermarkets

Where do you still have to wear face coverings from today?

Transport

Uber recently became the latest transport company to announce that face coverings will remain mandatory on its services in England from today.

In London, the face mask requirement will apply to journeys and stations on Transport for London services including the Tube, bus, tram, Docklands Light Railway, Overground and TfL Rail as part of the conditions of carriage.

They will also remain compulsory on trams in Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear, and in bus stations operated by the combined authorities in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Cross-Channel train firm Eurostar, airlines such as British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair, plus Heathrow Airport will continue to require passengers to wear face coverings.

Heathrow Express, which operates services to London Paddington, said face coverings will remain mandatory.

But all other train companies such as Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and Southeastern, plus major bus and coach companies including National Express and Megabus, will not demand mask-wearing.

Supermarkets

All the major supermarkets have said they will encourage customers to keep using face masks in store but will not bar those who do not.

Bars, pubs and restaurants

UK Hospitality, which represents the hospitality sector, said firms will decide what works for them.

Pub chains Greene King, Mitchells and Butlers and Wetherspoon said the decision would be up to staff and customers.

Offices

It is up for individual companies to decide whether they mandate the wearing of masks.

The Trade Unions Congress has called on bosses to carry out risk assessments to determine what precautions should be taken.

This weekend, Uber became the latest transport company to confirm it would continue to require drivers and passengers to wear face coverings.

They will also remain compulsory on trams in Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear, and in bus stations operated by the combined authorities in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Cross-Channel train firm Eurostar, airlines such as British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair, plus Heathrow Airport will continue to require passengers to wear face coverings.

Heathrow Express, which operates services to London Paddington, said face coverings will remain mandatory.

Mr Johnson has told Britons to 'take personal responsibility' and continue using face coverings them in 'crowded' spaces, as a spike in Covid cases led him to add a note of caution to his previously triumphant rhetoric.

A recent YouGov survey suggested 71% of people believe face coverings should continue to be mandatory on public transport after Monday.

Today commuters slammed the new rules as 'mixed and confusing' - claiming that many passengers would not be sure about when and where to wear them.

Simon Barker, 38 who was entering South Ealing underground station on his way to work said: 'I think the whole country is confused and it doesn't make sense. If you are on the tube you have to wear a mask but if you are on a train in London, you don't.

'And what happens when you are going through a station which shares underground and rail services? There are a lot of those in London?'

Denise Sweeney, 44, who had just emerged from the station said: 'The majority of people on the tube were wearing masks so that's a good thing.

'But in general, the rules are not clear. Some business are demanding them, others are not. I can just envisage this whole thing leading to a lot of problems because there is no clarity.'

Most commuters entering and leaving the station were wearing masks, although some feared that might change over the coming weeks.

Rowan Fernandes, 28 said: 'I travel on the tube every day but those who don't might not be sure what the rules are. Most people are wearing them today, but I'm not convinced that it's going to stay that way because there is no consistency in the rules. And that always leads to a lot of problems.'

Brian Palmer, 52 added: 'From what I've seen, many people have stopped wearing masks in general. I really noticed that over the weekend when I went to the shops. That's even been happening on the underground and the buses for a while now and the staff are not really enforcing the rules.

Tw-thirds of British adults plan to continue wearing masks in shops

Two-thirds of adults in Great Britain said they still plan to cover their faces in shops, following the lifting of most coronavirus legal restrictions in England from July 19, according to new data.

The same percentage - 64% - plan to wear masks on public transport, while 60% plan to avoid crowded places, the Office for National Statistics said.

Statistics from the ONS's weekly Opinions and Lifestyle Survey also found nine out of 10 adults believe continuing to wear face coverings is important for slowing the spread of Covid-19, whilst 88% said social distancing from those not in their household remained key.

More than half who were surveyed between July 7 and 11 said they were worried about plans to remove legal restrictions, which come into force today. One fifth said they were 'very worried'. There was also a slight uptick in the number of people who believe normal life is a year or more away - at 28%. This compared with 25% who said the same in the survey a week earlier, although it was down from a peak of 41% last September.

Breaking down the data by age groups, respondents between 16 and 29 years old were the least likely to continue with face coverings - although more than half said they still would. The percentage of people likely to wear masks in shops increases with age, with 74% of those aged 70 and over planning to do so.

On public transport, 69% of those aged 70 and over said they plan to wear face coverings, compared with 70% aged 50 to 69. Almost half of adults plan to maintain social distancing around others they do not live with. Younger generations are less likely to socially distance, with just 31% planning to, whilst those aged 50 to 69 are most likely, with 59%.

Nearly one in three working adults plan to work from home, despite recommendations for home working ending, the survey also found.

'The Government should have been firm about this and laid down the rules, but they've just left it up to individual businesses and the public are confused. That's just going to get worse as time goes on.'

Gurmeet Singh fumed: 'The whole thing is a joke, and nobody is sure what's going on. I think the rules for going on the tube and buses in London are quite clear but that's not the case everywhere else.

'People are going to have to continually put their masks on or off, depending on where they are and there's going to be a lot of arguing about what they're supposed to do.'

Anthony Smith, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, echoed the passengers' concerns.

He said: 'We know people are divided between not wanting to wear face coverings, and not wanting to travel if they aren't worn. The lack of consistency on rules is going to cause some uncertainty and confusion. It could also make enforcement trickier. Clear information before and during journeys will be key.'

Today the NHS launched a new scheme to encourage people to continue wearing face coverings despite it no longer being law.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the new campaign was not about being 'pious'. He told Times Radio today that the Not Too Much To Mask initiative was about people taking 'sensible measures' to reduce transmission such as wearing face coverings, meeting outdoors, keeping indoor areas well ventilated and getting vaccinated.

He added: 'This campaign is not about calling people out or being pious, it's just about saying to people 'you are not alone, there are other people who are doing this'.

'One of the most powerful things about a mask is it is a signal to fellow citizens you are showing concern for them.'

A customer at Greggs in Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was pictured without a mask today as the legal requirement to wear them was removed

Mr Khan said he was 'not prepared' to put transport users in the capital 'at risk' by changing the rules. Pictured are commuters in London this morning

Commuters, some nor wearing facemasks, on a Jubilee Line tube train to Westminster during this morning's rush hour

At London Bridge station this morning, pictures showed a split between commuters still wearing masks and those who were not

Today the NHS launched a new scheme to encourage people to continue wearing face coverings despite it no longer being law. Many Tube commuters were seen without masks today

Sainsbury's director says most staff and customers want to keep masks

Sainsbury's director Clodagh Moriarty has said most of its staff and customers want to keep Covid protection measures in place as cases rise and for 'everyone to wear face masks, if they can'.

The supermarket's retail director said she was among those who 'don't particularly like wearing a mask' and recognised encouraging people to do so 'won't be welcomed by some'.

However, she added: 'Yes, masks might be annoying, but we think they are a small price to pay for keeping our communities safe as we all navigate what will hopefully be the final stages of the pandemic.

'We believe it's the right thing to do. Our colleagues have gone to extraordinary lengths to continue feeding the nation during the toughest days of the pandemic. They are our heroes.

'We owe it to them to make sure they feel safe at work.' She said the company had been listening to staff about how to make them feel safe from the virus and to protect them 'from the minority of customers who sadly believe that abuse and violence are an acceptable way to respond to pandemic safety measures'.

Polls have found that 60% of Britons are 'nervous' about final lockdown restrictions being lifted as cases soared 52% in a week to 48,161 and 25 more people died.

It came as Freedom Day was branded 'disaster day' by stricken businesses today as self-isolating Boris Johnson faces fresh demands to dump farcical test and trace rules to quell the 'pingdemic'.

The PM is marking the grand unlocking alone at Chequers after performing a comical U-turn from initially saying he and Rishi Sunak would dodge quarantine despite having met Health Secretary Sajid Javid - who has tested positive.

But the lifting of almost all legal restrictions have merely fuelled fears about spiking cases bringing the economy grinding to a halt, as more and more people are doomed to house arrest.

Experts estimate around 1.7million people are still self-isolating after being 'pinged' by the NHS Covid app or contacted by Test and Trace.

Many firms say their sites are having to open with reduced hours or shut completely because up to a quarter of staff are off as a precautionary measure - with scientists warning the situation could spiral as the UK faces up to 200,000 cases a day.

The Road Haulage Association has warned of impending chaos in supply chains, with chief executive Rod Mackenzie telling the FT: 'Far from freedom day being freedom day, it's going to be disaster day.'

In a key concession today, frontline NHS workers will be exempted from the rules to prevent hospitals having to cancel operations because of staff shortages.

But this morning vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi appeared to dash hopes that the exemption could be ditched for the double-jabbed before August 16, as well as suggesting that the sensitivity of the app will remain the same for the time being.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan poses next to a sign saying that face coverings remain mandatory on the Tube despite today's change in the law

Boris Johnson is urging Britons to take 'personal responsibility' and continue wearing face coverings in crowded environments like the Tube (seen today)

Passengers leave a carriage on the Jubilee Line this morning after Freedom Day saw the law requiring masks to be worn on public transport ditched

Maskless passengers leave London Bridge railway station this morning amid an easing of pandemic restrictions in Britain

Pingdemic pass for NHS staff: Ministers issue new rules for health workers to dodge self-isolation

By Neil Craven

Critical frontline NHS and social care staff will be able to avoid self-isolation to go to work from today if they are double-jabbed, the Government announced last night.

Ministers were under intense pressure to intervene as the 'pingdemic' took its toll on hospitals, with some forced to call off operations because of staff shortages.

Healthcare workers who have been in contact with a positive case will now, in exceptional circumstances, be able to return to work after they have had a negative PCR test. They must then take daily lateral flow tests, and should wear PPE properly throughout their day at work.

It will apply to staff who have either been 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-19 app or contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

Staff who are permitted to go to work will remain under a legal duty to self-isolate as a close contact but will be considered to have a 'reasonable excuse' to attend work if their absence could result in harm.

Decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis and only after a risk assessment by the organisation's management, the Government said.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said last night: 'As we learn to live with this virus, it's important that we ensure frontline staff can keep providing the best possible care and support to people up and down the country.

'The Government has backed healthcare services at every turn through this global pandemic and these new rules will fortify our collective defences against this awful virus, by allowing fully vaccinated frontline NHS and social care staff to continue to work when needed.'

UK Health Security Agency chief executive Jenny Harries said it was 'imperative that we do everything we can to manage this virus and support our NHS and social care services under the strain of increased demand and sustained pressure' amid rising cases. 'We have provided specific guidance to NHS and social care settings for circumstances where there is a significant risk to health or safety resulting from staff absence or a critical service cannot run.

'This measure only applies to double-vaccinated staff, who will only be able to attend work after testing negative on PCR and daily lateral flow tests, and following a risk assessment and the supervision of the health service.'

Several hospital trusts have hundreds of staff isolating at any one time. This has led to operations being cancelled in Leeds, Birmingham and in the North East.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham has postponed planned surgery for two days. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the loss of staff is having a 'significant impact'. He added: 'We absolutely know it's contributing in some places to trusts having to reduce the amounts of elective surgery they're doing.'

Last week the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine issued a call to exempt double-jabbed NHS staff from isolation over close contacts.

'The risk of patients contracting Covid from vaccinated healthcare staff is minimal compared to the damage patients could suffer by having their treatment delayed,' they said.

Iceland supermarket boss Richard Walker accused the Government of 'squandering the advantages' of its successful vaccination programme by forcing double-jabbed people to self-isolate, adding: 'We're behaving like it's the dark days of March 2020'.

Humphrey Cobbold, the CEO of PureGym, which has more than 1.1million members in 287 sites, said: 'We've been talking internally about living in the United Pingdom and it's become a huge challenge for individuals and businesses', adding his staff are 'being pinged all the time'.

He added: 'Up to 25 per cent of our staff in some areas have been asked to self-isolate. Through flexibility we've been able to keep sites open so far but it's been a really close call. I think there is a different way to react to the pings for the double vaccinated and using lateral flow tests that would keep the economy functioning'.

Greene King pub boss Nick MacKenzie said: 'It's a problem and it could get worse. It is disruptive to the business. We had to close 33 pubs in the past week because of a lack of staff and across the industry we think it is one in 5 who have been affected by this and therefore it is causing us a real issue on a daily basis. We are having to have shorten hours in certain circumstances.'

He added: 'We need clarity from government on how the app works and we need to move to a test and release scheme where people can take a lateral flow test every day and get back to work and some sort of normality'.

Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had announced yesterday they would take part in a pilot scheme to avoid quarantine.

But amid widespread outrage from politicians, business leaders and the public they humiliatingly caved in within hours and revealed they would join the legions of people self-isolating - in the PM's case Chequers until July 26, his country estate in Buckinghamshire.

They had faced accusations they were accessing a 'VIP lane' that was not available to workers who are having to isolate, bringing some businesses and public transport to the brink of collapse.

It came as revellers packed into nightclubs for the first time since March 2020, without being required to provide Covid passports or negative test results.

And with social distancing rules shelved, there are no limits on people attending.

Venues including Fabric, E1, Ministry of Sound and Egg nightclubs in London, Pryzm in Bristol, Powerhouse Night Club in Newcastle and Moon Acre in Dorset re-opened on the stroke of midnight - the very second that most legal restrictions on social contact were removed.

It's 'the moment we've been waiting for, that our customers have been waiting for,' said Tristan Moffat, operations director of London music venue The Piano Works, ahead of the deadline.

The business had been keen to open its doors again after losing about £40,000 a month during the pandemic, he said.

Its Freedom Day bash started on Sunday with a countdown to midnight when staff members cut a ribbon to the dance floor and served customers free prosecco.

But while entertainment businesses and ravers are now jubilant, many others are deeply worried about the British government's decision to go ahead with fully reopening the economy and no longer mandating masks at a time when Covid-19 cases are on a rapid upswing.

People queue outside Bar Fibre in Leeds after the lifting of Covid restrictions in England at midnight

Revellers get back on the dancefloor at Powerhouse nightclub in Newcastle at the stroke of midnight, wasting no time to enjoy their first taste of clubbing since last March

In a study carried out by YouGov, which questioned 3,659 adults between July 5 and July 15, 73 per cent of English people who used to go to nightclubs in pre-pandemic times said that they would not currently feel comfortable returning after the restrictions lifted.

The grand re-opening has come as Covid cases across the UK soared by 52 per cent week-on-week after yesterday recording 48,161 new cases - up from the 31,772 cases recorded last Sunday - with a further 25 deaths..

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the move in a video message on Sunday during which he said: 'If we don't do it now, we have to ask ourselves, when will we ever do it. So this is the right moment.

'But we've got to do it cautiously. We've got to remember that this virus is sadly still out there. Cases are rising, we can see the extreme contagiousness of the Delta variant.

'But we have this immense consolation and satisfaction that there is no doubt at all that the vaccine programme - the massive vaccination programme - has very severely weakened the link between infection and hospitalisation, and between infection and serious illness and death.

'So please, please, please be cautious and go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and respect for other people and the risks that the disease continues to present.'

Partygoers queuing for the Viaduct Bar in Leeds after the final legal coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England at midnight

Huge queues of revellers waited to enter Grey's nightclub on Grey Street in Newcastle as it threw open its doors on the stroke of midnight

Pictured: People queued up for the Egg nightclub in London after the final legal coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England at midnight

Thousands of eager revellers across England have piled onto dance floors for the first time since March last year. Pictured: Partygoers in Newcastle

The grand re-opening has come as Covid cases across the UK soared by 52 per cent week-on-week. Pictured: Revellers get back on the dancefloor at Powerhouse nightclub in Newcastle

In Brighton clubbers queued around the corner to get into Pryzm nightclub as it opened at 00.01 this morning - for the first time in 16 months

By William Cole for MailOnline

People in England emerge from lockdown today with the government's final major easing of restrictions.

Here, MailOnline looks at the rules that are changing and what guidance has been issued to replace it in some areas:

FACE MASKS

Legal rules mandating the wearing of face masks will be axed.

However, despite ministers previously saying they want to ditch coverings as soon as they are voluntary, guidance will state that they are 'expected and recommended' in crowded spaces.

Guidance published last night said: 'Government expects and recommends that people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport.'

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has broken rank to ordered they be kept compulsory on the Tube, buses and taxis. He was backed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps who said he had 'expected' operators to put in place 'conditions of carriage' to ensure that passengers were safe on public transport.

Regional leaders such as Manchester mayor Andy Burnham have also said the restrictions would stay on transport in his city.

Private companies will be allowed to make them a requirement for entry, as Ryanair has already announced on its flights.

An ONS survey this week found that nearly two thirds of adults will continue to wear masks in shops and on public transport.

Passengers on the London underground and several other train lines Will still have to wear masks unless exempt – after bosses defied the government's change to the law by putting in place their own guidance

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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