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Asda and Tesco are also banning shoppers without masks unless they’re exempt
The biggest four supermarkets are all now taking action
Tesco and Asda are the latest supermarkets to enforce the mask rule, joining Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.
The two supermarkets have followed in the footsteps of Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, who have both already announced this week that they will be banning maskless shoppers in-store.
A Tesco spokesperson said on Tuesday: “Since the start of the pandemic, we have focused on ensuring everyone can get the food they need in a safe environment.
“To protect our customers and colleagues, we won’t let anyone into our stores who is not wearing a face covering, unless they are exempt in line with Government guidance.
“We are also asking our customers to shop alone, unless they’re a carer or with children. To support our colleagues, we will have additional security in stores to help manage this.”
The statement continued: “Our colleagues are working hard in difficult circumstances to make sure everyone can get what they need, and we’d ask everyone to please be kind, patient and respectful as we all work to keep each other safe.”
An Asda spokesperson said: “If a customer has forgotten their face covering, we will continue to offer them one free of charge but, should a customer refuse to wear a covering without a valid medical reason and be in any way challenging to our colleagues about doing so, our security colleagues will refuse their entry.”
The news of supermarkets clamping down on the rule comes after vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi raised concerns regarding how the public were not complying with measures.
“I am worried about supermarkets and people actually wearing masks and following the one-way system and making sure when it’s at capacity they wait outside the supermarket,” he said.
Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “I think that, understandably, following the November lockdown there was an element of release and therefore the person at the door, the sanitation station, the traffic light system, the queues outside obviously receded a bit.
“What we hope now, and I know all of them will, that they’ll see their responsibility and start to put those things back in place.”
Matt Hancock had previously praised Morrisons and Sainsbury’s for taking the lead on this policy. “That’s the right approach”, the health secretary said.
Commuters could be facing the steepest rise in the cost of train travel in more than a decade just months after prices were already increased.
It has been predicted today that train prices across England and Wales could rise by nearly 5% before the New Year.
The 2021 rise in prices was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic when train travel was at an all-time low, however, tickets still saw a price rise of 2.6% in March.
Abhijit Tembhekar / Flickr
And this morning, the Retail Prices Index for July 2021 was confirmed as 3.8% by the Office for National Statistics, meaning passengers could see fares rise by 4.8% in 2022, which would be the largest hike since 2012.
This means that the cost of rail travel could increase twice within ten months, and would see a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return rise by £6.30 to £94.90, according to Metro.
Though all hope isn’t yet gone – changes to the fares in 2022 are still yet to be confirmed.
Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No decision has been made on national rail fares.
“The government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.”
This news has come as train travel in Manchester and beyond is on the rise – earlier this month, we reported that zero cases of Covid were found in Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, despite thousands of commuters using the station’s services as offices reopen.
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