Coronavirus: Shoppers berate woman for not wearing face mask inside store
A group of shoppers was seen on video shouting at a woman in a Staten Island ShopRite for apparently not wearing a facemask amid the coronavirus pandemic, reports said.
In a video posted on Facebook over the weekend, customers can be seen shouting at a woman who is not wearing a facemask in the store.
They appear to gesture for her to leave the store and scream a number of expletives at her during the footage.
New Yorkers are now required by law to wear a face-covering when out in public in a situation where social distancing measures cannot be put into effect following New York governor Andrew Cuomo‘s executive order in April.
The video went viral on social media after being originally shared on Facebook with the caption: “What happens in Staten Island when you don’t wear a mask in ShopRite!”
A spokesperson for ShopRite told CBS News that the incident had occurred two weeks ago and that it had been reported to the authorities by store management.
The supermarket chain said that if customers notice someone not complying with the face mask order they should notify a member of staff and not attempt to handle the situation themselves.
“Preventing the spread of Covid-19 is a shared responsibility. At ShopRite, we continue to adhere to our sanitation and social distancing protocols to ensure our stores remain a safe place for associates and customers to work and shop,” the company told CBS News in a statement.
“We are all in this together and we ask for everyone to be patient and understanding during this difficult time.”
(Warning: Video below contains explicit language)
New York state, which became the epicentre of the epidemic in the US, has over 360,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and a death toll of more than 23,000. More than 199,000 of the confirmed cases are in New York City, the hotbed of the outbreak.
Gov Cuomo announced an “exciting new phase” in his reopening plans earlier this month saying parts of the state can begin to open on Friday in accordance with Centres for Disease Control guidelines.
The number of new coronavirus cases per day in New York state is at the lowest they have been since the outbreak began, Gov Cuomo said on Friday.
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