Waitrose has become the latest supermarket to insist all shoppers wear face coverings, unless medically exempt.
The John Lewis Partnership-owned grocer said today it will also look to ensure only one member of each household is permitted to shop. Waitrose said over the next few days marshals will be posted at the entrance of all its supermarkets to ensure compliance. They will have disposable masks available for shoppers who do not have their own but will deny access to those shoppers who refuse these.
Waitrose also confirmed its staff will now be required to wear face coverings when behind protective Perspex screens and in back-of-house areas, in addition to the other areas where this rule already applies.
“We are acutely aware the country is at a critical point in the pandemic and are constantly thinking about how best the Partnership and our Partners can play our part in limiting the spread and impact of the virus,” said Waitrose executive director operations Andrew Murphy.
“We’ve listened carefully to the clear change in tone and emphasis of the views and information shared by the UK’s governments in recent days. While we recognise the detail of formal guidance has not changed, we feel it is right for us – and in the best interests of our Partners and customers – to take proactive steps to further enhance our Covid security and related operational policies.
“By insisting on the wearing of face coverings, over and above the social distancing measures we already have in place, we aim to make our shops even safer for customers.”
JLP said it was aiming to remove reasons for non-essential travel during the current lockdown and is therefore switching off click & collect services based within John Lewis shops.
It is also significantly reducing its in-home services and “installation teams will now carry out a significantly reduced range of activities in customers’ homes, pausing services which are not essential to the health and wellbeing of customers and their families”.
Waitrose joins the big four supermarkets in confirming they will begin insisting shoppers don face coverings this week. Sainsbury’s also said it was reducing the number of shoppers in stores, having already been encouraging shoppers to visit alone. Tesco has also now confirmed it will look to ask customers to shop alone.
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