Grocers to mandate customers wear masks
When Costco stores in the U. S. mandated that all customers wear masks in their stores as of Monday in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID- 19, the move prompted similar moves among grocery retailers here in Canada.
“To protect our members and employees, effective May 4, all Costco members and guests must wear a mask or face covering that covers the mouth and nose at all times while at Costco,” read the update, posted on its website.
Costco’s new policy does not apply to children under the age of 2 or people who are unable to wear a mask or face covering due to a medical condition.
In Canada, Costco is await ing confirmation but will likely institute mask- wearing in several weeks, according to a company employee.
Longo’s announced on May 1 that all customers must wear masks at its grocery stores beginning Monday. “To help protect our community, effective May 4, 2020, all guests will be required to wear a mask or face covering while in our stores,” Anthony Longo, president and CEO of Longo’s, said in a press release.
A Whole Foods Markets spokesperson said that stores will begin handing out disposable masks to shoppers who do not have one when visiting its stores beginning this week, to ensure all customers wear a mask.
The U. S. recently changed its stance on wearing masks. On April 3, The U. S. Centers for Disease Control advised Americans to wear masks “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
In April the Public Health Agency of Canada released a statement allowing Canadians to use non- medical masks in tandem with physical distancing, hand hygiene, and other measures to limit the transmission of COVID-19.
Dr. Om Malik, CEO of ECOH Management, an environmental, health and safety consulting firm, says he foresees more large retailers, such as grocery and hardware stores, will require customers to wear masks. “It will have to happen until the case levels come down to quite a low level,” he says.
He said that firms will have to adopt these types of measures along with social distancing, staggered entries and frequent cleaning of surfaces.
Many Canadian grocery stores have implemented social distancing measures in their stores since the pandemic began. They have limited how many customers are in the store at any one time, changed aisles to oneway-only through floor signage, altered their food displays to prevent groupings of customers and installed clear Plexiglas shields at checkouts. Mask-wearing on the part of staff has largely been left to the discretion of store managers.