Aldi, Tesco and Sainsbury’s announce rules for shoppers after July 19th

Three of the UK’s largest supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Aldi have asked customers to continue wearing face masks after July 19th, despite the legal requirement to do so being dropped.

Sainsbury’s said signs and tannoy announcements would remind shoppers to cover their faces, while Tesco said it wanted to ‘be on the safe side,’ also adding that it will continue to limit the number of shoppers in its stores.

Sainsbury’s added that its strategy reflected feedback from customers and colleagues, with the majority of those surveyed in favour of keeping the mask policy in place. They explained that some Covid measures – such as screens between self-service checkouts and checkout queues – would be gradually removed, while screens between checkout staff and customers will remain in place.

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An Aldi spokesperson, meanwhile, said: “From Monday, July 19th, we’ll continue to encourage customers and colleagues to wear face coverings when they’re in store. Other measures like hand sanitiser and screens will also stay in place.

“Face masks are still required for customers and colleagues in our Welsh and Scottish stores, in line with the latest guidance.”

This comes after customers threatened to boycott Waterstones after they encouraged customers to continue wearing face masks after July 19th.

In a tweet, the book chain explained: “Following the lift of restrictions on 19 July across England, we will observe new government guidance. Given our enclosed browsing environment, we encourage our customers to wear face masks and observe social distancing, respecting the safety of staff and fellow book lovers.”

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Despite the overwhelming backlash to the rule however, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham announced last night that, based on ‘public opinion’, the use of face masks will still be mandatory on Metrolink trams after July 19th.

At a press conference yesterday, Burnham said: “We are still in a pandemic and we need to think in terms of collective safety rather than individual freedom or personal responsibility.”

The government is pressing ahead with its final stage of relaxing coronavirus rules from July 19th, meaning there will no longer be a legal requirement to wear a face covering in shops and other enclosed spaces. While customers are ‘expected’ to continue wearing a face covering, it will no longer be a legal obligation.