Usdaw urges customers to continue wearing face masks

Trade union, Usdaw, has urged customers to continue wearing face masks in store after the government announced that Covid “Plan B” protections will be lifted from today. 

Last week, the government announced that face coverings will no longer be mandatory in England, but will continue to be enforced in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 

“It is deeply disappointing that the government has ploughed on with ending mandatory face coverings in shops tomorrow, despite the concerns of shopworkers,” Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said. 

READ MORE: Face masks rules scrapped from next Thursday

The trade union has also welcomed retailers that maintaining Covid-19 safety measures and has called the rest of retail industry to “follow these leads”. 

The news comes as Sainsbury’s has asked customers and colleagues in to continue wearing face masks despite the relaxed government guidance. 

However, Waitrose, Asda, Co-op, Lidl, Nisa and Spar have said they would be following government mask guidelines and would not enforce mask-wearing, come Thursday. 

Despite this, Usdaw has questioned the government’s rushed decision stating scaling back “Plan B” should be done in a more “measured and gradual manner”. 

“The government could have eased existing restrictions while maintaining safety measures in businesses that have been open throughout the pandemic, like supermarkets,” Lillis said. 

The trade union highlighted face coverings were essential in protecting retail workers who were “desperately worried about restrictions being lifted while case numbers remain high.”

Usdaw’s message comes as over 100,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the UK on 26 January and around 650,000 have tested positive over the last seven days. 

Lillis added: “Retail staff already face unacceptable levels of abuse and making Covid safety measures guidance only, instead of having the force of law behind them, could put more shopworkers at risk.” 

“We need more retailers to keep their Covid safety measures in place to avoid confusion and send a clear message to shoppers.” 

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