Covid Omicron restrictions: Does mask-wearing have public support?

You do not have to wear a mask if you're eating or drinking

Not everybody I spoke to knew it was now a legal requirement to wear masks in shops and on public transport. However, almost everyone had a view on the subject.

Tuesday marked the return of compulsory face coverings in response to further cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has already said that the ability to fine passengers will help with mask-wearing compliance, and the measure has been welcomed by passenger groups.

What do people in Woolwich, south-east London, make of the changes?

The couple

Not everybody in the same household agrees on masks being mandatory, including this couple from Belvedere, south-east London, who I spoke to on the platform at Woolwich Arsenal DLR station.

"I'm not happy about it to be honest," says Jane Laws. "I find it hard to breathe at work in the supermarket."

"I think you should [wear masks], I can't see the harm in it," interjects her partner Jack Russell. "Distancing has been terrific for me and her, I want it to carry on."

"We just got on a bus and we were the only two with a mask on so I opened all the windows," Jane adds. "I don't think any law is going to change the way people behave."

"What you should do with the people who don't get vaccinated and [don't] wear masks is make them pay for their own medical care," Jack says. "Make them pay for the nurses and the doctors."

The shopkeeper

Pete Riordan has been running Woolwich Shoe Repairs for 27 years. He is happy to wear a mask but notes he is often in the minority.

"A lot of our customers still won't but, as long as we do, I'm not bothered," he says.

"At the end of the day, it's safer for me to wear a mask and it's respectful as well, supposedly, to other people.

"I'm not going to berate them for not wearing them if they don't want to and, if they catch it, it's their lookout, really."

The infection control specialist

Not everybody has time to follow each development when it comes to the changing rules. Many passengers were unaware that masks have been a condition of carriage on Transport for London (TfL) services even since all legal coronavirus restrictions were lifted in July.

• England face mask rules return over variant fears

• Where do you have to wear masks now?

• What are the UK's new travel rules?

Tuesday's reintroduction of compulsory mask-wearing took Verity by surprise.

The infection prevention and control specialist told me: "I haven't actually read the news this morning and I don't know about the changes. However, I always keep my mask on when I'm travelling on public transport.

"I personally believe that it saves lives and keeps us safe and so my message to anyone would be: 'We are still in the pandemic, keep all the precautions going.'

"It's not only about wearing masks, it's also about hand hygiene and cleaning surfaces. Let's all keep protecting ourselves and each other."

The cleaner

Godwin Duru says it seems to him that the latest rule changes have already had an impact on passengers.

"I noticed that more people are putting on masks than the other times," says the 28-year-old, who works cleaning the DLR.

"People are really abiding by the government advice from today. These are positive changes, I must say."