GEORGE NEWS - Since when is a face shield not enough to cover your nose and face when you go out during lockdown? This was the question Gerrit Roon Jnr asked when he was stopped from entering Builder's Warehouse at Eden Meander on Friday 7 August.

 It was the first time since the beginning of lockdown that he was told he could not enter a store, specifically Builders, wearing only his face shield. 

"This was the first time Builder's Warehouse told me that they only allow people with cloth masks or buffs on. This was a surprise to me. I felt discriminated against."

Roon asked to speak to management and while waiting, he Googled the latest Covid-19 regulations. According to him it does not say that one option is safer than the other. The gazetted regulation states that a cloth face mask, a homemade item or another appropriate item that covers the nose and mouth is mandatory for every person when in a public place.

Builders' management explained that this was a newly instituted rule intended to keep their clients safe.

Refilwe Boikanyo, communications manager for Builder's Warehouse owner company Massmart, says in line with local and international public health advice, which has developed as collective understanding of transmission has improved, face masks are regarded as the most effective covering to prevent transmission.

"We have therefore adopted this position in the interest of customer and staff safety," she said.

Aqeela Saffodien, a customer service agent for Builder's Warehouse, said one should note that it is a Builder's rule that customers and employees should wear a face shield with an additional fabric cloth. "The reason for this is simply that the face shield still leaves space between the shield and a person's mouth and nose."

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