As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, CVS and Target are joining the list of retailers that will require customers to wear face coverings in their U.S. stores.
CVS’ new policy will go into effect on Monday, while Targets will go into effect on August 1.
Target said the move to make masks mandatory at all of its locations “builds on the more than 80% of our stores that already require guests to wear face coverings due to local and state regulations.”
Target said customers who don’t already have a mask will be given a disposable one at store entrances.
Retailers increasingly take up mask requirements
Earlier this week, Walmart, Kroger, Best Buy, and Kohls all announced that they would be requiring all shoppers to wear a face-covering in stores to prevent the spread of the virus. Dacona Smith, Walmart’s COO, said wearing a mask “is a simple step everyone can take for their safety and the safety of others in our facilities.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that everyone “should wear a face cover when they have to go out in public” to prevent the virus from spreading from person to person.
To date, more than three million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19. Studies have found that mask-wearing is a highly effective way of mitigating the spread of the virus.
“Up to this stage, we do not have a safe and effective vaccine. What remains practical is still either social-distancing measures or wearing masks,” said researcher Dr. Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist from Hong Kong University.
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