Can shops still insist on customers wearing face masks?

They can and will until they lose custom because of it - and then they’ll decide a mask doesn’t need to be worn.

The optician asked me to wear one. It's because they have to get so close to your face.

My DH had a Specsavers appointment yesterday, we had same phone call about masks, so we just wore them, as did the audiologist we saw.

Our local pharmacy asks that masks still be worn, so I put one on when I go in there, also wear one for Tescos, but nowhere else.

I don’t suppose they can enforce it, but as with many things in life, so much less hassle to go with the flow and simply do as requested.

Even if omicron isn’t as dangerous as previous viruses it’s still important that we protect everyone who are exposed to the virus on a daily basis and not only would have to take time off work if they caught it but might pass it on to their customers/ patients. I’m due an eye test soon and very much hope that I’m expected to wear a mask.

I would have thought it was eminently sensible to wear a mask for something like an optician's appointment where you are going to be in such close contact with another person.

Just wear it. Specsavers will have good reasons for this. Personally it would make me more likely to choose them, as they are behaving responsibly.

They can refuse to admit you to their premises if they ask you to wear a mask and you refuse. Their premises are private property and there is no automatic right to be admitted.

Well thank goodness they do insist . I’m vulnerable so wouldn’t be able to go to spec savers. Spare a thought ! Omicron might not affect most people too much but it would be life threatening for me. Or should I just be locked away ?

My hairdresser is also asking customers to wear a mask, as is my optician and pharmacy. I have no problem with doing this.

No way Lucca. It would be dangerous for me too, for different reasons thankfully. I don’t feel safe with the wholesale abandonment of masks. Take care.

When I went to the opticians recently, there was a notice, similar to the one in the dentist and chemist, saying that for NHS services, masks are compulsory. As many eye tests are NHS, it is correct, and also wise, as it is a service involving close contact.
Hairdressers are not NHS and it is up to them. Some do request masks, others don’t.

I understand why an optician would insist on a face mask, as stated up thread, they work in very close proximity to the person undergoing the eye test. I would expect to wear one there and at the hairdressers.

I am glad certain shops are insisting on wearing a mask,especially as covid is on the rise again,well it is in my area.

An opticians isn’t a shop, it’s a health premise.

Dentist, doctors and anyone connected with health should keep to mask wearing. Also public transport and airports. Why not ? Better safe than sorry and if you don’t like it don’t go.

Germanshepherdsmum

They can refuse to admit you to their premises if they ask you to wear a mask and you refuse. Their premises are private property and there is no automatic right to be admitted.

This.

And when I last visited Specsavers, not long ago, they were still keeping the door locked, so you certainly couldnt have just wandered without a mask.

My local church has a sign up saying masks must be worn. A lot of older people go there so it makes sense.

I'd have thought that businesses have the right to set the rules for their own establishments and we can choose to go elsewhere if we don't want to follow them. In the case of an optician, or anyone else who has to get up close and personal, it seems only sensible and considerate to wear a mask if you can, even if they don't ask you to.

Lucca

Well thank goodness they do insist . I’m vulnerable so wouldn’t be able to go to spec savers. Spare a thought ! Omicron might not affect most people too much but it would be life threatening for me. Or should I just be locked away ?

I'm still wearing mine wherever I go, and yet - after all this time, it's finally caught up with me! Thankfully I'm not vulnerable, although I do have very vulnerable in-laws, but it's not pleasant at all. I will still be wearing mine once I can venture out and about again. Some people only think about themselves - not those who are vulnerable like yourself.

I wore one when I went to the optician recently, and so did he. I also wear one to the hairdresser's, in Tesco and other shops and on public transport. As Devi Sridar points out, it is an easy thing to do, won't do you any harm and could well do some good in protecting other people (and yourself perhaps).

I always wear a mask when shopping but notice that in some well known supermarkets I’m very much in the minority.

No they never have been able to insist they have only ever been told to advise we had that in writing right at the start of lockdown and we have never been able to insist only ask but since last lock down finished there has been no directive to wear masks at all
I would say there’s very few people in my area still wearing masks The only time that it’s insisted on is doctors, hospitals dentists and opticians the rest is up to the sh and up to its customers The same on transport

I'm not currently wearing a mask. I'm about two weeks post covid - I can't be infecting anyone, and if I re-catch it this quickly I'll be in the Guinness book of records.

I still carry one with me, I've been a staunch mask wearer, and would put it on without question if any establishment asked me to. Like the dentist tomorrow. Though as I'm having two fillings, I can only wear it up to a point.

Any health establishment has to be careful. Infection is not a good thing. I continue to wear my mask and it's not a problem for an appointment, especially in any health setting. There could be people in the waiting rooms with health issues, Covid is not a mild illness for everyone. As far as I am aware it hasn't vanished and no Epidemiologist has said we are at the Endemic stage.