Supermarkets urge shoppers to keep masks on after 19 July
Supermarkets are urging customers to continue wearing masks even after 19 July, when they will no longer be a legal requirement in England.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that from Monday 19 July, dubbed ‘Freedom Day’, almost all pandemic restrictions will be lifted including the legal requirement to wear masks.
Instead the public will be allowed “to make their own informed decisions about how to manage the virus”.
At the same time government guidance published ahead of the unlocking has said they “expect and recommend” masks to be worn by workers and customers in crowded, enclosed spaces and urges supermarkets to ask their staff and customers to still wear them, even without a legal enforcement.
Almost all of the major supermarket chains in the UK have said they will continue to ask customers to wear masks while doing their shopping.
The supermarkets asking customers to keep wearing masks:
Based on widespread reports:
- Sainsburys
- Tesco
- Waitrose
- Asda
- Lidl
- Aldi
The new government approach to face masks prompted London mayor Sadiq Khan to make them compulsory on London Tube and bus services despite the wider easing of lockdown measures.