Brits remain reluctant to wear face masks despite having highest death toll in Europe

On Sunday, a top cabinet minister in charge of pandemic response said wearing masks was “good manners” but completely optional. On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said face coverings were just a bit of “extra insurance.” On Tuesday, the British government announced that masks would be mandatory in all shops — and shirkers could be fined $125.

That sort of no-maybe-yes messaging has been typical of the Johnson government’s pandemic response. Johnson and his ministers say they follow their science advisers and take each step as necessary. But critics say the waffling may have been especially unhelpful in the case of face coverings — which have been supported by numerous studies on controlling spread of the novel coronavirus…

A widely shared video of mask-less, drunken British tourists cavorting in Mallorca, Spain, seemed to reinforce that reputation this past week. “Parts of Spain in lockdown, the elderly shut away in care homes, we all wear masks in the street, but in Magaluf the antisocial and irresponsible Brits do whatever they please. It’s shameful,” wrote one Twitter commenter in a typical response, referring to a town on the island of Mallorca.