British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street. (Source: AP Photo)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised people to stay at home this summer for a staycation in the “superlative” United Kingdom rather than travelling abroad to foreign shores.

“I think this is a great, great year for people to have a staycation – this country is uniquely blessed with fantastic places for holidays,” Johnson told reporters. “I am certainly going to be doing that.”

“Obviously if people feel the need for a foreign holiday then that is completely a matter for them and I totally understand it, but there are fantastic, fantastic places – peerless, wonderful, superlative places in the UK to go on holiday. That is certainly what I will be doing.”

Asked if he would make it compulsory to wear masks in shops, Johnson said: “Masks have a great deal of value in confined places.”

“I do think that in shops it is very important to wear a face covering,” Johnson said. “Yes – face coverings I think people should be wearing them in shops.”

“In terms of how we do that, whether we make it mandatory or not, we will be looking at the guidance and will saying a little bit more in the next few days,” he said.