More Retailers Impose Face Mask Requirements On Customers

Some of the country’s largest retailers are now requiring those who wish to enter their outlets to wear face masks.

While a couple of states and cities find it hard to issue orders requiring everyone to wear face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, some of the largest retailers in the country announced they will soon mandate that in all of their stores nationwide. The big retailers join the growing list of other businesses in the country with face mask requirements as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

Target, Walgreens, Kroger, Walmart and CVS announced they will require staff and customers in all store locations to wear face coverings, USA Today reported. This is to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Health experts believe the virus spreads from one person to another through respiratory droplets, generated when an infected individual talks, coughs or sneezes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states face coverings can help minimize the spread of these droplets.

Individual businesses are free to implement additional restrictions. The National Retail Federation is urging retailers to impose nationwide mask mandates to protect their employees and shoppers.

While retailers with mask requirements are not new, particularly in places with local mask mandates in place, only a few businesses have embraced the idea before July. Popular retailer brands, such as Apple and Costco, have imposed their own mask policies as early as May. Starbucks began requiring employees and customers to wear masks last week. Panera Bread and Best Buy followed suit in all of their locations nationwide.

According to a Harris Poll survey on businesses requiring masks, 76% of Americans prefer retailers and stores to “exact and enforce” their own mask policies. Of those surveyed, 80% said they are more comfortable doing business with a company that requires their employees and customers to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Marc Perrone, the president of the largest food and retail union in America, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said the actions of the companies are “nearly enough to turn the tide of COVID-19.” The labor union represents some 1.3 million workers in the country.

In a statement released to the press, Perrone said that every governor and mayor across the country must amplify the message and issue orders making masks mandatory at all retail stores and supermarkets. “Without universal mask mandates that are fully enforced nationwide, hundreds of thousands of Americans will continue to get sick and die. We cannot wait any longer,” he added.

Almost 40 states now require the wearing of masks in public areas, albeit some with preconditions like having more than 20 cases in a county. The state of Georgia went in the opposite direction recently when Gov. Brian Kemp suspended mask orders Wednesday, July 15.