Petition · past parliament

Make the wearing of face masks in public places compulsory during COVID-19

Rejected 14 signatures

What the petition asks

This petition urges the UK government to URGENTLY revisit its policy on the wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic making it mandatory for all citizens to wear a mask when in public spaces. Face masks should be manufactured in the UK by re-purposed manufacturers and handed out for free.
The failure of the UK government to accept the mandatory use of face masks may cost us dearly with higher levels of person to person transmission in public spaces that in turn leads to more cases, more deaths and resultantly a significantly longer lock down period with greater economic damage to the country. See the blog https://leukaemiabusters.org.uk/blog/blog-unmasking-the-myths for further information and the rationale behind this call.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action.

Make it mandatory to wear a face mask in public during Covid-19 Pandemic: Make it mandatory to wear a face mask in public during Covid-19 Pandemic

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
 
Read correspondence with Government Ministers asking further questions: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

9 Apr 2020 Petition opened for signatures
14 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 14
Status Rejected
Rejected 14 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.