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FROM today (September 14) masks are to be compulsory in shops in Wales.

And people are also not allowed to congregate in groups of more than 6 indoors.

A recent spike in corona virus cases in the Caerffili area has prompted the Welsh Government to introduce the new directives.

Many would see this as being appropriate to halt any further spikes in different parts of Wales.

There seems to be a strong body of opinion here that compulsory mask-wearing is now needed.

Even so, the new directives do seem a little odd in view of the fact that the death rate from the virus has been on a continual downward spiral since April 9.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new directives will be to look at the response to them in England.

England of course has had mandatory mask wearing for several weeks now, although that doesn’t seem to have to stopped the rates of reported cases.

The additional group-of-6 directive has sparked what appears to be a growing mutiny in the ranks.

Social media and radio airwaves were awash with people over the weekend, saying they will now deliberately flout the 6 people directive.

Which will no doubt be encouraged by the scorching weather promised for the next few days

With the serious Police under-manning in England, it could be impossible for them to police such a situation properly.

With the court system also possibly unable to manage with a tsunami of people challenging any fines that are handed out for breaking the directive.

Some are even suggesting that the Group of Six directive, will be Boris Johnson’s ‘poll tax moment’, akin to the event that led to Margaret Thatcher’s downfall as PM.

What happens in England will always have a bearing on life here in Wales because of its location, and its sheer size relative to this land.

And if it all kicks off in England, we had better start preparing for the fall-out…..