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.

A 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.”

Just 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.

And 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.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor