The rules have changed, but that doesn't mean people's habits have too, so the News Shopper has visited a popular Sainsbury's in Greenwich to see whether people were still following the old rules.

Before the so-called Freedom Day, debate raged as to whether social distancing, mask wearing and the rest were still necessary, and no one 

July 19 saw the requirement to wear face coverings indoors, in shops and other venues not longer backed by law, instead switching to a choice of personal preference.

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Before the so-called Freedom Day, no one knew for certain how the public would react, from theories of wild parties to the possiblity of nothing changing. 

Other rules have also changed, with capacity limits and social distancing scrapped for the first time since March 2020, although Transport for London has maintained mask-wearing as mandatory on it's network.

But with Covid-19 rates soaring, members of the public have said nothing will change for them, with some local residents claiming the rule change came too early, whilst experts have criticised the Government's actions.

So we visited Sainsbury's Local on Greenwich High Road on Thursday, July 22, to count how many people were choosing to wear face masks and how many were not.

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We found that the majority of shoppers were continuing to wear a face mask inside the store, including most of the Sainsbury's staff.

We counted 63 people wearing face coverings during the lunchtime rush, whilst 22 people were seen without.

This works out as 74% of people still using coverings, and 26% opting not to.

Sainsbury's stance is that wearing a face covering is 'now a personal choice.'

However, on a sign draped over the front of the Greenwich store, it reads 'our colleagues' safety is important to us'.

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'For the safety of our colleagues and customers please continue to wear a face covering if you can.'

It comes after a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics, revealed that a 90% of adults continued to feel that wearing a face covering and social distancing from others outside of their bubble (88%) are important in slowing the spread of Covid-19.

More than half (57%) of adults in Great Britain, surveyed between July 7 and 11, 2021, said they were worried about the plan to remove legal restrictions.

This included one-fifth (20%) who were "very worried".

The percentage that believes normal life is a year or more away was 28%, slightly more than the 25% who believed this a year ago, between July 8 and 12, 2020.

But down from the peak of 41% who thought so between September 16 and 20, 2020.

Have you continued to wear a face covering following the lift of restrictions? Tell us below in the comment section.