Public trust in the government’s ability to handle the coronavirus crisis has been tested by a summer of mixed messages, during which advice on the precautions people should be taking to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as well as forecasts on the outlook for the UK, have often been contradictory. Here are some of examples. Return to ‘normality’ by Christmas Boris Johnson said: It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November, at the earliest, possibly in time for Christmas. Chris Whitty, chief medical adviser to the UK government, said: There are issues around distancing which have been buried, but the reality is distancing remains an important part of this mix, and how it’s interpreted in different environments has evolved, but it has not gone away. [They] need to continue for a long period of time. Face masks in schools Department for Education in July: Public Health England does not currently recommend the use of face coverings in schools as pupils and staff are mixing in consistent groups, and because misuse may inadvertently increase the risk of transmission. There may also be negative effects on communication and thus education. Department for Education, a month later: Nationwide, while the government is not recommending face coverings are necessary, schools will have the discretion to require face coverings in communal areas if they believe that is right in their particular circumstances. Local lockdown rules The rules state: It will be illegal for people who do not live together to meet in a private home or garden, except for limited exceptions to be set out in law. You should not host or visit people you do not live with, unless they are in your support bubble. If you live in the affected areas, you should not visit someone’s home or garden regardless of whether this is in or outside of the restricted area. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said on BBC Breakfast: The law that we’re bringing in is that two households cannot meet in the area identified but obviously any two households who are meeting [outside the area] should follow the social distancing guidelines. Going to work in an office Johnson said: I do want people to start to go to work now if you can, but remember to follow the guidance because that is the way to save lives. I think everybody has sort of taken the ‘stay at home if you can’ – I think we should now say, well, ‘go back to work if you can’. Hancock said on Times Radio: What I care about is how effectively people work and obviously people should come back to the office if that is what they need to do their job … What I care about is that people perform and so the people I work with – some of them have been working from home, some come in sometimes, some are full-time – and what matters to me is that they deliver and, frankly, they’ve been delivering at an unbelievable rate. Wearing a mask in a takeaway Hancock said on Sky News: If there is table service, then it is not necessary to have a mask. But in any shop you do need the mask. So, if you’re going up to the counter in Pret [sandwich shop Pret a Manger] to buy a takeaway, that is a shop – that is Pret operating as a shop. The prime minister’s official spokesman said: We will be publishing the full guidance shortly but my understanding is that it wouldn’t be mandatory if you went in, for example, to a sandwich shop in order to get a takeaway to wear a face covering. It is mandatory ... [when] we are talking about supermarkets and other shops, rather than food shops.