THE World Health Organisation’s special envoy on Covid-19 has condemned Boris Johnson for failing to wear a mask throughout a recent appearance in a hospital, saying he refused to sit on the fence on the issue.
Dr David Nabarro was asked about photographs of Johnson bumping elbows with hospital staff and walking through corridors without a face covering in Hexham General Hospital earlier this week.
The Prime Minister has come under fire for the images. While masks are no longer mandatory in all indoor spaces in England, they are still required across healthcare settings.
Dr Nabarro did not shy away from the matter when interviewed by Sky News.
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“I’m not sitting on the fence on this one – where you’ve got large amounts of virus being transmitted, everybody should do everything to avoid either getting the virus or inadvertently passing it on.
“We know that wearing a face mask reduces the risk, we know that maintaining physical distance reduces the risk, we know that hygiene by regular hand washing and coughing into your elbow reduces the risk.
“We should do it all and we should not rely on any one intervention like vaccination on its own.
“So, please, would every leader be wearing face masks? Particularly when in indoor settings.
“This virus is unforgiving and we need to do everything possible to prevent it getting in between us and infecting us.”
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He also told the broadcaster: “Perhaps that’s the toughest thing about Covid is that the responses get politicised – in some places if you wear a mask, you’re taught to belong to a particular political party.
“That’s the most regretful thing about the present situation, we all need to be able to do what we’ve got to do, regardless of what politics we adopt.”
The deputy PM Dominic Raab had defended Johnson over the matter, saying he “followed all the guidance and all the guidance that he got at all times”.
“I think that’s the right thing for all of us to do,” Raab said.
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