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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Milo Boyd

Holidaymakers urged to wear face masks on UK's most popular beaches amid Covid spike

Sun worshippers have been urged to wear face coverings while at the beach in two holiday hotspots.

Councils in Lincolnshire and Cornwall have asked visitors to their famous coastlines to mask up when possible while outside on the sand and pebbles.

Their pleas come during the balmy Easter weekend, which has seen millions of Brits flock to parks, rivers and beaches to enjoy the sunshine.

They have done so against a backdrop of high Covid deaths, with just shy of 2,000 people having died because of the disease over the past week.

Cornwall Council asked visitors to use a face covering and exercise social distancing, citing the high number of Covid cases in the county.

Cornwall council urged people to be sensible on the county's beautiful beaches (Getty Images)

In a Facebook post published on Friday it called for visitors to "wash their hands, wear a face covering where you can and keep your distance in crowded places this Easter".

Brian O'Neill, a public health consultant at Cornwall Council, echoed the sentiment on BBC Breakfast.

He said: "People are giving space to each other... generally, the visitors that we're seeing down in Cornwall at the moment are being very respectful."

Public Health Lincolnshire, which has popular resorts Skegness and Mablethorpe in its remit, urged anyone who was feeling unwell or had coronavirus symptoms to stay at home to ensure "the virus isn't spread unnecessarily."

A spokesman for Public Health Lincolnshire told Lincolnshire Live that "Covid is still with us" and holidaymakers should take "personal responsibility".

The leader of East Lindsey District Council, Craig Leyland, said: "It is extremely important that we all continue to follow this guidance to help keep ourselves and others safe.

"We want all of our residents and visitors to enjoy their Easter holidays so I would urge all of you to help minimise the risk of infection, by wearing a face mask as much as possible when indoors and especially in crowded places, and wishing all our businesses a successful Easter."

Neither council is requiring people to wear face coverings (AFP via Getty Images)

As of the last count a week ago, Lincolnshire had a case rate of 473.7 per 100,000 people, down 36% in a week.

Cornwall's 513.6/100,000 represented a fall of 43%.

Unlike some international destinations, neither council is enforcing a face covering ban on the beach.

UK holidaymakers who have headed to Portugal over the past year have faced a £86 fine if they don't wear a face mask or they play sport.

Various other countries have also had face mask requirements in public spaces.

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