This bit of the pandemic is quite confusing – nobody knows how much freedom they’ve got

Public transport in London (in my limited recent experience) has been at its most masked since the pandemic began. But then I got an Avanti West Coast train up to Preston, writes Jenny Eclair

Masks are still mandatory on the Tube (Getty)

This bit of the pandemic is quite confusing, isn’t it? How much freedom should we allow ourselves now that it’s up to the individual to decide?

Well, a week ago, I was at Latitude festival, where 40,000 people gathered under strict Covid entry rules to hang out together, mask-free, for up to four days. I played it very safe on site: stayed one night and have tested negative for the virus in daily lateral flow tests ever since.

It was a good job, too, considering that a few days after the festival, I was visiting my 92-year-old mother in her nursing home on the northwest coast.