13th Jan 2021 06:49
(Alliance News) - John Lewis Partnership on Tuesday said it has temporarily suspended click-and-collect services at its department store chain and made face covering compulsory at its Waitrose grocery arm.
The company also will halt its in-home offering, which provides installation services, unless they are "essential" to a customer's well-being.
The tighter restrictions at the John Lewis department store comes as the UK is gripped by a more contagious variant of Covid-19. Latest figures showed that as of Tuesday, a further 1,243 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, which brings the UK total to 81,960.
The government also said that, as of 9am on Tuesday, there had been a further 45,533 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. It brings the total number of cases in the UK to over 3.1 million.
"We are acutely aware that the country is at a critical point in the pandemic and are constantly thinking about how best the partnership and our partners can play our part in limiting the spread and impact of the virus," said John Lewis Partnership Group Operations Director Andrew Murphy.
"We’ve listened carefully to the clear change in tone and emphasis of the views and information shared by the UK’s governments in recent days. While we recognise that the detail of formal guidance has not changed, we feel it is right for us - and in the best interests of our partners and customers - to take proactive steps to further enhance our covid-security and related operational policies."
Waitrose became one of the latest UK grocers to make face coverings compulsory.
"By insisting on the wearing of face coverings, over and above the social distancing measures we already have in place, we aim to make our shops even safer for customers," Murphy added.
Tesco PLC, J Sainsbury PLC and Asda also have cracked down on mask-less shoppers.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
TescoSainsbury's