Everyone in Keswick town centre encouraged to wear face masks

Keswick Town Council unanimously agreed on Thursday evening to adopt a proposal originally from town resident Cole Kelly encouraging all those visiting the town’s shopping district to have their face covered.

Town councillor and deputy mayor David Burn said the council was united in believing the universal adoption of face masks in public was a sensible step, particularly from today when footfall is likely to increase as result of non-essential shops reopening.

“We voted unanimously to introduce a voluntary scheme. We can’t of course compel anybody to wear masks,” David said.

“The thinking was that from Monday, everybody is required to wear masks on public transport, and everybody that visits a hospital has to wear a face mask.

“The World Health Organisation’s advice is that you should wear a face mask in any situation where there are lots of people, and you can’t safely social distance.

“That could include Keswick market square for instance, where have markets two days a week – Thursday and Saturday.

“They’re starting up again next week. If there’s a lot of people on Market Square it’s going to be extremely difficult to social distance.

“Because of that combination of factors, and the thought that the Government may be moving towards a reduction of the 2m social distancing rule, we’ve taken the view as a town council that it’s a sensible thing to do.”

David stressed that the town council does not have the power to command people to wear masks in public, but hoped that the council’s decision sent a clear message to residents and visitors to Keswick that wearing a face mask in the town centre was sensible.

“We’re going to ask everyone to observe it, in the full knowledge that we can’t compel anyone.

“I think it’s a very sensible precaution.”

He added that he would have welcomed more consistency and clarity from the Government on its position of wearing face masks in public.

“There’s a lot of confusion about Government advice,” he said.

“One week we’re told to do something, the next week that’s relaxed, and there’s an about turn.

“This is a simple thing – the World Health Organisation used to say they didn’t recommend the use of face masks in open spaces because they thought it lulls people into a false sense of security.

“That people might forget to wash their hands, might forget to social distance.

“But they are now saying that in any place, indoors or outdoors, where it’s difficult because of the number of people around to social distance, wear a mask.”

If other places across the country followed in Keswick’s footsteps on this issue, it would not be the first time that the town council is ahead of curve in its response to the shifting coronavirus situation, having urged the closure of all non-essential shops before the national lockdown was put in place.

“I think we’ve taken a very sensible precaution in Keswick. We’re going beyond the advice,” David said.

“We’re saying please wear them when you’re going to our central shopping area, and I would like to think that Keswick is a bit ahead of the game, and should be held up as an example of best practice.”

David added that he would welcome the Government following Keswick’s example on a national level.

“I personally think Government action on this would be a sensible thing to do, I think it would give people a lot of reassurance,” he said.

“Although the non-essential shops are opening up on Monday, I’m not expecting to see hoardes of people queueing outside.

“I think the compulsory wearing of face masks would give people extra reassurance, and it may benefit the economy.”

The town resident behind the original proposal, Cole Kelly, was delighted to see the council get behind her call 100 per cent.

Cole started the "About Face" campaign on May 13, encouraging the use of non-surgical face masks in small towns across Cumbria.

"I think, especially in rural areas, we sometimes think we’re safe," said Cole, who is originally from San Francisco and moved to the UK in 2014.

"My sister lives in New York City, and I’ve got family in San Francisco.

"They’re just astonished – especially given our high rates as they were a couple of weeks ago, that we weren’t wearing masks.

"So I’ve been pushing for this for a while, because it seems like the smartest thing to do."

Cole, 32, said she had been disappointed in the Government's unwillingness to compel the use of face masks in all public places, despite the fact it is now a requirement on public transport, and that its own emergency scientific advisory group SAGE advises the use of masks in public.

"I think of several other examples in this pandemic where the Government’s suggested that you do one thing or another," she said.

"They didn’t shut down the pubs at first, but they suggested you don’t go to them.

"They leave all of this choice up to the people. And people don’t always make the right decisions.

"That’s why we have to push policy forward.

"I’m glad that they finally took the step to say from Monday it is mandatory that you wear them on public transport. But everywhere else, it’s just suggested."

Cole described that approach as "problematic."

"I don’t think things would have been as bad had they been a bit more strict about things, rather than leaving it up to people’s free will."

Her original motivation for starting the campaign came from imagining how at risk people in Keswick and elsewhere could be if life quickly returns to normal.

"I live on the Market Square, and I have to walk out my door into crowds most of the summer," she said.

"Just thinking back to market day, when you can barely move, I just thought to myself that this is going to be chaos.

"I was worried about my safety, but the safety of others as well.

"Everyone’s been locked down, not moving around very much.

"But once things start to move again, that’s when we need to be more cautious.

"So generally I was just tired of waking up everyday and feeling frustrated with the world, and not doing anything about it."

One hurdle Cole acknowledges many may have to at first tackle is the sense of unease being out in public doing something that is not the norm.

"I understand that when people see a mask, you’re first reaction to that isn’t necessarily a positive one," she said.

"People see them and think it’s abnormal. But that’s a good thing, because the world isn’t normal right now. And the world’s not going to be normal.

"When you see a mask, it will remind you that things aren’t normal right now, we need to be careful.

"It was definitely something I’ve gotten used to – the more that you wear it, the more comfortable it is."

"You are aware when people stare at you, but it’s becoming more normal now.

"And so the more that people wear them the more normalised it’s going to be, and that’s what the whole campaign is about – making it normal and comfortable."

Cole said she had never experienced any negativity for wearing her mask in public, but that was not the case for her mother.

"She lives in America, in a very Trump-centric area. Just wearing a mask, she gets hounded out in public by people.

"She gets called a ‘stupid Democrat'.

"Over there, it’s so politicised and polarised, and I think to myself ‘thank heavens we don’t have that here'.

"But there is always that danger that it could become politicised."

In the same way that cities in the US such as San Francisco have now made the wearing of face masks in public mandatory, Cole hopes to see the Government in the UK toughen its stance on the wearing of masks.

"The Government’s not willing to make the decisions that they know need to be made – it’s been advised by SAGE, it’s been advised by the World Health Organisation," she said.

"They know that these decisions need to be made, but they’re cherry-picking the bits of the science that they want to act on."

"We know that if we’d gone down into lockdown one week earlier, we could have saved thousands of lives.

"Given that we had two perfect examples of what happens – we had Italy to look at, we had Spain to look at, and we still chose not to go into lockdown until it was far too late.

"I think we the people need to make our own decisions, and push for our own change."