Retail NZ fears aggression over mask rules will continue

Wednesday, 23 March 2022

Masks are still to be warn in retail stores.

Retail NZ wants the Government to tighten, or remove, its mask rules as part of wider changes to the Covid-19 framework.

The Government has abolished all outdoor gathering limits and doubled the indoor gathering limit from 100 to 200, from midnight on Friday.

QR code scanning will also no longer be a requirement, and vaccine mandates will be narrowed to cover only health, aged care, corrections and border workers, from midnight on April 4.

Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford welcomed the news that vaccine passes and QR code scanning would no longer be required in cafes and close personal services like hairdressers and beauty services.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced vaccine passes will no longer be needed. (Video first published April 1, 2022)

* Covid-19: Mask exemptions proving 'impossible to manage', Countdown says

* Southland seaside business shuts temporarily after anti-vaxx abuse**

“Moving to a greater sense of normality, is a good thing for the retail sector, including shops, cafes, hairdressers and beauty services. Many customers have been reluctant to get out to the shops over the past several months, out of a fear of Covid,” he said.

“However, the continued requirement for customers to wear masks, while effectively making them optional via an incredibly loose self-exemption process, creates significant tension, and a flashpoint of aggression for many customers.”

Masks will no longer be required at outdoor venues, but will continue to be required indoors unless a person has a valid medical exemption.

“We need a new process that requires exempt people to get authorisation from a doctor, and to carry evidence when shopping,” Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford says.

Reported rates of abuse towards retail workers doubled between 2019 and 2020, and have doubled again over the last year, Harford said.

Countdown spokeswoman Kiri Hannifin said, while the 'vast majority' of customers were kind to workers and respected mask wearing protocols, workers have experienced hundreds of incidents of verbal and physical abuse since masks became compulsory.

'We have continued to ask that the mask exemption process be strengthened to address the aggression issues we are seeing in our stores and tried to work with the Ministry of Health on this.

'We understand that they are still looking at a solution, but are disappointed that action has not happened sooner, particularly given masks will continue to be required in indoor settings like our stores.'

She said that mask exemptions were impossible to manage.

Retail NZ has been campaigning for the Government to introduce a proper process for managing mask exemptions, including official medical certificates.

“If the Government truly believes masks remain important, then it needs to tighten up significantly on the exemption process,” Harford said.

“Equally, if masks are no longer required as an effective tool to manage Covid-19, then the Government should simply make them optional.”