Lancashire health boss: All shop staff should wear masks

Dr David Wrigley, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, said it was an “urban myth” to suggest masks could be dangerous to wear for long periods.

But he also criticised the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick for urging shoppers to be shamed for not wearing a mask.

He said: “It could be in relation to personal health information and patients should not be forced to give their reasons why.”

He said psychological and physical exemptions were valid reasons for not wearing a mask.

Dr Wrigley, deputy chairman of the BMA, lives in Carnforth where he is a practicing GP.

He said: “It’s important that we all abide by the regulations. If you can’t distance more than two metres then everyone should use face coverings to protect yourself and others as well.

“The Government have been unclear on it. I don’t think it should be left up to individual companies to decide as that can lead to confusion.

“Some businesses said to staff they don’t need to wear a face mask while some do.

“The Government needs to give blanket advice so everyone knows where they stand.”

He said of customers in pubs and restaurants: “If they are not eating or drinking, then they should put the mask on, it’s about being sensible.”

He said anyone wanting a certificate of exemption should not go to the doctor and that people could self-certify and that this message should have been put out more clearly by the Government.

He said there were currently 45,000 known cases of the virus in the North West, the highest of any region in the UK.

When asked if more testing was leading to a corresponding rise in cases, he said it was the sort of thing Donald Trump would say to suggest it was that simple.

He said: “We are testing and finding positive cases and can then use track and trace to find out where the infection is coming from.

“We have had spikes in certain parts of the country where people work in close proximity in factories and where they may feel unable to say they are unwell.

“We have to be aware that this deadly virus is still in society.”

Dr Wrigley said he was unable to comment on the Office for National Statistics figures showing there had been no excess deaths for a four-week period up until mid-July.He warned: “Moving towards winter we could have a double whammy with flu and Covid.”

Dr Wrigley said the utilisation of track and trace in the early stages of lockdown should have been rolled out.

He cast doubt on the antibody blood tests giving an indication of immunity as so little was known about the virus and that it could possibly be caught twice.

Despite questions over its reliability and accuracy, Dr Wrigley said the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was specifically for testing the Covid-19 strain of coronavirus.

The Government confirmed last week Covid-19 was being put on death certificates incorrectly in some cases but Dr Wrigley was confident the recording system was reliable overall.

He said: “As a GP I fill out death certificates and take everything into account, all doctors try and do that.”

Dr Wrigley said the BMA would be very sceptical about any moves to have a mandatory vaccination policy if a cure for Covid-19 was found. But he did not rule it out entirely if a vaccine was proved to be life-saving.

He dismissed herd immunity as an unethical approach to combating the virus as the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, and the black, asian and ethnic minority community were more vulnerable.

He said the visors were traditionally used to protect the eyes, which could also be a pathway for the virus, and should only be worn in conjunction with a mask.

Dr Wrigley warned that masks with valves in were traditional used in dusty environments but added that air could be passed through them with droplets of water that could contain the virus.

He said surgical masks - like those worn in the operating theatre - could be used for around four hours but people should not poke at them.

When asked if there had been any medical health risk assessments on wearing masks - particularly in terms of alleged oxygen deprivation and increased acidity of the blood due to increased carbon dioxide levels - he said: “It’s an urban myth to say they are harmful.

“There is no risk at all for wearing them for lengthy periods of time as surgeons wear them for most of the day without harm.”

He said the Government needed to reassure the public that they could adequately deal with a mask for a long period of time.

He called for more public information films to be made to educate people about masks.