Face mask confusion; don’t blame shop staff – The Yorkshire Post says
Let’s face facts. The mandatory wearing of masks and coverings in supermarkets, shops and other retail stores is a seminal moment in the fight against Covid-19.
It is also the right thing to do in order to suppress the virulence of coronavirus – dozens of people are still dying each day from the disease – without compromising the rest of the economy as it emerges slowly from lockdown.
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Hide AdA reminder to the more casual and complacent that Covid-19 remains a very real threat, the question is why the Government waited until now to implement the measure and then did so in a cack-handed manner.
Where’s the clarity across all media platforms to explain the rules and regulations in a clear and concise manner, and how masks should be worn to reduce the risks to public health?
Where’s the support for shop workers who are expected to turn away customers who refuse to comply? Incidents of violence against such staff numbered 400-plus a day before Covid-19..
And where’s the guidance for the police? The Government talk about £100 fines for offenders. Yet Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, says: “Calling the police should be a last resort.”
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Hide AdJust three of the many questions that Ministers have failed to answer satisfactorily, in addition to the ‘banana skin’ about the wearing of masks inside sandwich shops, the onus will be on senior Ministers, and also public figures, to lead by example if there’s to be maximum compliance.
In the meantime, this newspaper trusts the people of Yorkshire to wear masks and coverings when required – and to respect shop staff thrust onto this frontline. It’s not their fault.
Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
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Hide AdAnd that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.
If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.
Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson
Editor
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