As the government comes together this week to debate the new lockdown restrictions for England, they will gather in the Houses of Parliament without wearing face masks, despite their own slogan to curb Covid-19 being "Hands. Face. Space."

Since September the UK has seen a dramatic rise in positive Covid-19 cases. The spread of the virus among the community is now rising at an alarming rate and top scientists are warning of a second peak that will see hospital admissions and death rates at a much higher level than in the spring. With this in mind, we should be taking every possible precaution to slow the spread. This is what the World Health Organisation calls the "Do It All!" approach https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks 

It is widely agreed among researchers that wearing face coverings can reduce the spread the rate of Covid-19 transmission, particularly among people gathered indoors. In addition, even when virus transmission does happen, mask wearing can result in people becoming less sick from the virus, which helps reduce hospital admissions and strain on the NHS. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-07-08-oxford-covid-19-study-face-masks-and-coverings-work-act-now 

Furthermore, the cost of a mask mandate is next to nothing in comparison to the huge financial burden of closing businesses.

Please sign the petition so the British Government is urged to enforce a mask mandate for all indoor settings where household mixing occurs among people over the age of 11. This is in line with the WHOs guidelines https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19