The new law comes into force tomorrow 24 July.
Sainsbury’s has said that it won’t be challenging its customers if they enter stores not wearing face coverings when the new laws come into force this week.
The business said on Twitter:
‘We won’t be challenging customers without a mask when they enter or when they are in store since they may have a reason not to wear a mask.’
Health Secretary Matt Hanock announced on the 15 July that face coverings would be mandatory saying:
‘We want to give people more confidence to shop safely and enhance protections for those who work in shops.
‘Both of these can be done by the use of face coverings. Sadly, sales assistants, cashiers and security guards have suffered disproportionately in this crisis.
‘The death rate of sales and retail assistants is 75% higher among men, and 60% higher among women than in the general population. So as we restore shopping, so we must keep our shopkeepers safe.
‘There is also evidence that face coverings increase confidence in people to shop.
‘The British Retail Consortium has said that together with other social distancing measures, face coverings can make shoppers feel even more confident about returning to the high street. And the Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses has said that small firms know that mandatory face covering have a part to play, and I quote, “in the nation’s recovery both physically and financially”… And that he is “sure this [measure] will be welcomed”.
‘We have therefore come to the decision that face coverings should be mandatory in shops and supermarkets.’
