To be honest, I would have thought that most of us would be used to wearing masks by now. While I can attest that they feel uncomfortable and restrictive at first, I’ve found that it takes about 10 minutes before those feelings subside.
And yet, it appears that anti-maskers feel no less aggrieved about business and government requirements to wear them in public places than they were during the emergence of the pandemic.
Last year, we were occasionally treated to scenes of such individuals gathering in stores without masks as an apparent means to stick it to measures put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
But over the weekend, one group’s actions made it clear that this isn’t the kind of behavior that people can simply get out of their systems.
Like most major retailers in the world, the Tesco supermarket chain found throughout the United Kingdom requires customers to wear face masks upon entry.
As a representative from the grocery chain told Metro , “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.”
For reference, the British government’s guidelines regarding their mask requirements state children under 11 don’t need to wear them and they can be lowered if speaking to someone who relies on lip reading.
Those who cannot put on, wear, or remove them due to physical and mental conditions and disabilities are also not required to wear them, nor are those who would experience “severe distress” as a result of wearing them.
If these exceptions seem vaguely defined or provide more leeway than you might expect, they’re likely written to avoid levying unnecessary fines against those who can’t help violating these requirements.
Otherwise, a violator can find themselves paying the equivalent of $274 on their first offense and that fine doubles with each subsequent act to a maximum value equalling $8,783.
Nonetheless, The Daily Mail reported that a group of at least 34 people were prepared to converge on a Tesco location in Chelmsford, England on March 27 in protest of these restrictions.
Those involved were apparently responding to a flyer circulating Twitter that read, “Join us for a spot of maskless shopping. A perfect way to peacefully protest while buying your weekly groceries.”
But a representative from the Chelmsford City Council told The Daily Mail that this disregard of social distancing practices was more dangerous than that flyer would suggest.
As they put it, “This action risked the health of many others: both those who were in the shop at the time and others with whom those people have come into contact since.”
It’s also worth noting that none of the footage from the maskless shopping spree seemed to show participants receiving any pushback.
At the same time, Metro reported that all of this footage was taken by a member of the group, as she could be heard saying “34 today, woop woop!”
This was likely a reference to the number of shoppers involved and this woman continued to film the group as they gathered in the parking lot, saying, “Come on warriors, woohoo! See? Nothing to worry about. No problemo.”
But it was in that lot that the group would be approached by police at about 12:30 pm.
A representative from Essex Police told The Daily Mail that the group were asked by staff to wear masks but refused and then claimed to have exemptions from mask requirements when police spoke to them.
Soon after police told the group to disperse, they did so with only one person involved receiving a ticket for driving while using his phone.
As the representative said, “Enforcement is a last resort for our officers.”
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The representative from Tesco also explained to the newspaper why the maskless shoppers were allowed inside in the first place.
As they put it, staff will encourage customers to comply with the law regarding face masks but are not obligated to put themselves at risk if these customers prove to be intractable.
Despite this, the representative maintained that Tesco won’t let anyone in who isn’t wearing a face covering and that, “To support our colleagues, we will have additional security in stores to help manage this.”
When the clips of the shopping protest reached social media, they received condemnation from grassroots organization NHS Million.
They criticized these actions as being intentionally counterproductive to the efforts of healthcare workers within the National Health Service to control the pandemic.
The Chelmsford City Council representative appeared to agree saying, “Chelmsford has patiently borne restrictions over the past year and residents do not deserve to be let down now by a small, selfish group.”
The council, Essex Police and Tesco have since launched a joint investigation to determine how this was able to occur.
h/t: Metro , The Daily Mail
