From face masks at work to limits on pints — here’s what a year of coronavirus restrictions could look like for Britain

AFTER lockdown ends, we will be confronted by a new reality – a world of face masks and rubber gloves, with centuries of social behaviour turned on its head and lifestyle and habits needing radical change.

First Secretary of State Dominic Raab has warned not to expect an end to measures, but a “moving to a new normal”.

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Cambridge University biologist Professor William Sutherland warned of a second wave of Covid-19 if we resumed life as before, while the chief medical officer,

Professor Chris Whitty, has told Britons to be braced for another year of “disruptive” measures.

Here, we take a look what our new world could be like.

Pubs & restaurants

TO allow pubs to re-open, drinkers could be rationed to two or three pints, then politely asked to go home, Government adviser and economist Eyal Winter has suggested.

Another Government adviser, Professor Robert Dingwall, said: “If it is a sunny weekend afternoon and the pub has a garden and the landlords are prepared to accept responsibility for not overcrowding the garden, I see no reason why it shouldn’t reopen.”

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Diners are likely to face supermarket-style queues outside restaurants, and for toilets once inside.

Those with coughs may be declined entry.

Waiters may have to wear masks and gloves, and door handles and surfaces touched by diners cleaned regularly.

Tables would be well spaced and might even have screens between them.

Food and wine might be delivered to an adjacent table, so customers can serve themselves.

In Hong Kong restaurants have reopened, with diners pre-ordering and paying, with no menus or card machines.

Trade body UKHospitality fears that even if venues open with fewer tables, they would still struggle financially.

Employment

FACE masks, plastic gloves and temperature checks are likely to become common in the workplace.

Eventually there could even be viral blood tests for employees.

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Commercial estate agency Cushman & Wakefield leases offices across the UK and has advised many Chinese firms returning to work.

It recommends transparent shields between desks and suggests workers are only allowed to walk clockwise in lanes around the office following a route marked by arrows.

Each morning, staff take a new paper place mat for their desks, which are six feet apart, and then discard them at the end of the day.

Construction firm workers who have to work within two metres of each other are now told to work side by side, or facing away from each other.

If this is not possible, work should be limited to 15 minutes or less.

Schools

WHEN our schools return, classes may be smaller, with year groups taking turns to study at school or at home.

Also, some could work in the mornings, others in the afternoons, with breaks taken at different times.

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Norway might be a guide to what could happen here.

There, parents pick up and drop off kids at staggered times and aren’t allowed into the school.

Schools have more handwashing facilities, and surfaces and toys are cleaned twice daily.

White lines, smiley faces and other markings indicate two-metre gaps to ensure social distancing.

When UK schools reopen, Government adviser Professor Susan Michie warns they “must do better” at promoting good hygiene.

She said: “There would need to be hand washing stations and a whole new routine set up where children wash their hands before they join the lunch queue.”

Sport & culture

FOOTBALL, rugby, cricket and horse racing representatives are meeting government medical experts this week to discuss plans to resume action.

But sport — if it gets the go ahead — is likely to be behind closed doors.

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There, footballers would avoid the pre-match handshake and there could be bans on spitting and players celebrating a goal too close to each other.

World Health Organisation adviser Dr Brian McCloskey, who was public health director for London 2012, said: “The bigger the match, the bigger the competition, the more complicated those mitigating actions will have to be, and therefore the less likely it is that they can be done safely.

“A local event — community football, community running — is much easier to see how that happens. Bigger events will be a challenge this summer.”

On Monday, Arsenal were the first top-flight club to return to their training ground, after 47 days of isolation.

Amazingly, each squad member had a pitch to themselves, to follow social distancing guidelines.

English football, encouraged by the Government, could stage matches at a limited number of venues from June 8, while Government adviser Eyal Winter says theatres and cinemas could reopen with gaps in seating and selling half as many tickets as before.

Prices could rise to cover revenue shortfalls.

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Shopping

SHOPS will reopen with socially-distanced queues, plastic screens at the tills and hand sanitiser stations.

Fashion giant Next yesterday said that once restrictions end it will focus on reopening its shops in retail parks, with more space for customers to queue outside and longer opening hours to stagger shopping time.

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DIY chains are re-opening with new safety measures. Wickes is limiting the number of shoppers let into stores and has installed sanitising stations.

Homebase said it has “strict controls”, including Perspex guards at tills and social distancing floor markings.

Both chains will take only card payments.

Yesterday Aldi said it would offer face masks to all its store workers.

The British Retail Consortium advises closure of changing rooms and the regular cleaning of door handles and keypads.

Transport

MAYORS nationwide, includling Sadiq Khan in London, are calling for passengers to wear masks on buses, trains and the Tube.

Passengers in the capital already have to board buses using the middle doors to protect drivers.

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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said businesses should ask themselves why everyone has to travel in the rush hour — which is likely to mean staggered working hours and shifts.

He told transport leaders that hand sanitiser and social distancing could be introduced on buses, trams and trains after lockdown.

Viral testing before international flights and thermal screening at airports has been suggested, but European airlines are not keen.

A Cambridge University report says petrol stations could become fully contactless, with pump attendants serving customers who then pay from inside the car.

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