The trade association for textile shoes and leather goods (BTE) has spoken out in favor of initially maintaining the obligation to wear masks in retail. “It’s the lesser evil,” said BTE CEO Rolf Pangels on Friday. Otherwise, given the currently high incidence figures, there is a risk that shopping will soon only be possible with a 2G or 3G rule. “We would do well to maintain the mask requirement for a certain time.”
The BTE Vice-President Andreas Bartmann said that the employees in the shops are also strongly demanding that the mask requirement be maintained. In the past few months, you have noticed that the masks offer a certain amount of protection against infection.
On the other hand, in a recent survey by the association, 47 percent of the consumers surveyed had negatively rated the obligation to wear a mask when shopping. Many people are tired of the masks, Pangels admitted. (dpa)