Yahoo News Do you have to wear a face mask in Walmart, Target and CVS?
A vast majority of retail giants and grocery stores refrained had initially from making national mask mandates at the start of the coronavirus pandemic – instead relying on local and state officials to issue guidance.
But now, more chain stores are announcing new rules for customers to follow when shopping in response to differing opinions from government officials across the country.
Walmart announced on Wednesday it would be requiring all customers to wear masks beginning next week as coronavirus cases increase in more than 40 states.
The announcement makes Walmart the largest national retailer to make the decision to require masks.
The company credited a need to be consistent for all customers when deciding to mandate a national mask-wearing policy, as 65 per cent of stores are in areas where state or local officials already require that guidance.
This decision also included Sam’s Club stores.
“To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, 20 July,” Walmart US chief operating officer Dacona Smith and Sam’s Club chief operating officer Lance De La Rosa said in a blog post Wednesday. “This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols.”
Hours after Walmart made its decision, Kohl’s and Kroger announced they would also require customers to wear masks in their stores. Both stores, which have thousands of locations across the US, would enforce the policy starting on Monday.
Target and CVS Health then announced on Thursday that masks would be mandated in their stores.
For Target, the policy will start on 1 August and not apply to young children or those with underlying medical conditions that prevent them from wearing masks, similar to what Walmart has proposed. Already about 80 per cent of Target stores require masks to be worn in compliance with local and state guidelines.
The retail chain said it would have employees standing at entrances to remind customers to wear masks, something Walmart would also employ.
CVS’ mask policy will start on Monday but would not ask employees to enforce the mandate.
“To be clear, we’re not asking our store employees to play the role of enforcer,” CVS Chief Operating Officer Jon Roberts said in a news release. “What we are asking is that customers help protect themselves and those around them by listening to the experts and heeding the call to wear a face covering.”
Retailers like Apple, Costco, and Best Buy already had nationwide mask requirements in their stores prior to the Walmart decision. But the retail giant looked as though it pushed other stores in a similar direction following its Wednesday decision.
“Workers serving customers should not have to make a critical decision as to whether they should risk exposure to infection or lose their jobs because a minority of people refuse to wear masks in order to help stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus,” the National Retail Federation trade said in a statement.
“Shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right,” the statement continued. “If a customer refuses to adhere to store policies, they are putting employees and other customers at undue risk.”
Mixed messaging from local, state, and federal officials has turned mask wearing into a political issue across the country. This comes as coronavirus cases surge, with states seeing record hospitalisations and deaths.
Donald Trump, who’s previously been a vocal opponent against wearing a mask, wore one at a public event for the first time this past weekend when touring Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. But then he refused to wear one when visiting Atlanta, Georgia.
Opponents have argued against wearing masks because they think the covering impedes on their rights. But more and more retailers, like Walmart and Target, could sway other businesses to also make nationwide mandates, thus forcing everyone to comply if they want to shop.
Read more
Trump travel bans were too late to prevent coronavirus, CDC confirms
Alex Trebek says he’s ‘doing great’ as he continues cancer treatment
Congress debates if magic mushrooms will make DC ‘drug capital’
Twitter still can’t say how many accounts were compromised in hack
