Morrisons and Sainsbury's to ban shoppers who will not wear a mask

Morrisons and Sainsbury's will challenge shoppers who refuse to wear masks in-store.

The move comes amid concerns that disregard of social distancing rules and in-door mask requirements are not being kept to, which has led to a rise in coronavirus cases.

Morrisons announced that customers refusing to wear face masks from Monday will not be allowed inside unless they are medically exempt.

It is thought that security guards outside the supermarket will be enforcing the new rules.

However, the responsibility of enforcement and whether that responsibility should fall on supermarket staff has come into question.

While the enforcement of mandatory mask-wearing lies with the police and their powers to issue financial penalties, many police officials have stated the impossibility of officers monitoring and attending each shopper who breaches the rules in UK shops and supermarkets.

With limited amounts of police officers available, forces have recommended clearer governmental guidance to assist shoppers with complying to the rules.

But many supermarket staff have reported fear of abuse and violence from customers when trying to enforce or recommend that customers follow the in-store COVID-19 rules.

Concerns of families and households going out shopping in large groups have also been raised by health experts.

This comes as the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus has placed pressure on shops to have more protection in-store to ensure their customers and their staff's safety.

One-way systems, one-in one-out counting systems, and queueing protocols have been suggested for shops to reintroduce in a bid to stop the sharp rise of cases in the UK.

Other supermarket chains such as Tesco and Aldi have introduced traffic light systems to limit the number of customers inside the shop at once and ensured hand sanitiser is available for shoppers to use at the entrances and exits.