Mandatory mask-wearing isn't necessary this winter unless there is an immediate threat to life, according to an infectious diseases expert.
It's after Germany confirmed it's to bring back compulsory wearing of face masks on long-distance travel from October.
Negative COVID tests will also need to be presented to hospitals and nursing homes.
Professor Sam McConkey from the Royal College of Surgeons believes the hospital measures are worth exploring, but not mask-wearing for the moment:
"I think if there's what I would call an sort of immediate and definite threat to human life, then those sort of mandatory restrictions are really very important as we did one and two years ago. I'm hoping that this winter will not be so bad, and that it won't be an imminent threat to human life. So I think they're more likely to be voluntary and targeted, and and part of a whole suite of measures."
