LONDON (REUTERS) - Britain's government will urge people to return to offices and other workplaces where it is safe to do so to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, Transport Minister Grant Shapps said on Friday (Aug 28).

"Our central message is pretty straightforward: we are saying to people it is now safe to return to work," he told LBC radio.

His comments came as the Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would launch a public campaign extolling the virtues of returning to the office and providing reassurance that it is a safe place, while a new online tool would help people avoid the most crowded trains and buses.

The report added that Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is worried about further job losses, as well as the financial cost of running near-empty trains and buses.

"Clearly people should be going back to work because it is safe to do so. There are already problems with workers' mental health. It's not just about hard-nosed economics," the report said, citing a Cabinet minister.

"There will be some economic consequences of shutdown. Companies will realise some people weren't working as hard as they thought... There is going to be a review of how productive people are."

According to data from The Centre for Cities, only 17 per cent of workers in British cities had returned to their workplaces by early August, underscoring the challenge facing Johnson in steering the country away from its coronavirus shutdown.

The data, based on mobile phone signals, showed no increase in the footfall of workers going to city centres between late June and the week starting Aug 3.

Mr Johnson last month encouraged people working from home to get back to their workplaces to help the economy recover from its 20 per cent contraction in the April-June period, the largest fall among big developed economies.