Calls grow for face masks to remain compulsory on South Yorkshire public transport
South Yorkshire's mayor says scrapping them would make buses, trams and trains a "no go" for the young and vulnerable
Calls are growing for South Yorkshire's public transport operators to keep face masks mandatory beyond 19th July.
The law won't compel people to wear them from Monday but yesterday Mayor Sadiq Khan said they'll still be compulsory on buses and tubes in the capital.
The South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis announced they will stay mandatory in bus stations and interchanges across the county but he doesn't have the power to do the same on buses, trams and trains.
Councillor Ben Curran thinks operators of transport need to mandate them too given rising Covid cases:
"I think it's worth looking at what we can do locally to try and protect people both from dying unnecessarily because of Covid but also protecting them from getting ill longer term, with Long Covid, which can have serious implications not just on their health but their ability to work.
"And I don't think asking people to wear a mask on a bus or a tram is a huge ask for them in that sort of context."
"I would point to what Sadiq Khan's doing. He's not saying bus drivers have to do the enforcement, he's putting enforcement officers in place who will do inspections and carry out that enforcement."
During a council meeting this week Coun Douglas Johnson, Executive member for transport, said there was no doubt masks help to stop Covid spreading but there was no easy way to enforce masks:
“The wearing of face masks has been a very contentious and sometimes divisive issue, it’s very easy for people to get carried away with strong opinions.
“The Government has decided that restrictions should be lifted and it will not be against the law to fail to wear a face mask now.
“There have been demands to make bus drivers police people’s activity but we have to be very mindful of those on the front line as sometimes they’ve experienced real hostility.
“Similarly, disabled people have experienced quite a wide range of attacks and hostility for being seen to fail to wear a face mask for all sorts of reasons.
“I want to urge everyone to show some tolerance. I certainly encourage the public to wear face masks, and to be respectful of each other, and be aware that this virus certainly hasn’t gone away.”