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The legal requirement to wear a mask in indoor public places is ending next week – but islanders will still have to put one on if they want to board the bus.
The removal of mandatory masks, work from home guidance and a requirement for businesses to collect contact details on Tuesday will mark the first step in Ministers’ ‘De-escalation Plan’.
Unveiled on Friday, it sets a schedule for a gradual lifting of all restrictions until the end of March, when covid-positive people will no longer have to isolate, even if they have symptoms.
But Ministers said that they believe some businesses will voluntarily keep some measures in place.
Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondré said he expected this to be the case in the transport sphere, adding: “Individual businesses will have to make their own decisions… That is very much for them to judge around the view in terms of what they want to do towards their staff.”
LibertyBus CEO Kevin Hart has since confirmed to Express that the removal of the law requiring masks be worn in public places will mean that masks will no longer be required in the bus station from 1 February.
But masks will nonetheless remain a “condition of travel” on buses from 1 February. He said more details about the bus company’s new policy will be issued next week.
Masks at the island’s ports will also be disappearing from Tuesday, while border testing and pre-departure forms will come to an end on Monday 7 February.
Economic Development Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham noted, however, that “all the carriers are preparing to retain as a condition of travel the compulsory wearing of masks”.
“We’re leaving it to businesses and customers to work closely and sensibly,” he said.
ALL rules to be scrapped in months under new covid plan
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