THE Covid-19 free-for-all set to be unleashed by ministers on Monday will have a disastrous effect on England’s economy as well as on people’s health, unions have warned.

Failure to toughen up back-to-work guidelines will see transport, factories and shops stretched beyond breaking point as workers will be forced to isolate under a tide of Covid-19 infections, the TUC said today.

The trade union body demanded that face masks remain compulsory on public transport and in shops, and warned that the disease would spread even more quickly if workers could not afford to isolate when instructed to.