Jul 20, 2020 - Health

Supermarket chain Winn-Dixie will not require face masks

Fadel Allassan

A Winn Dixie store. — Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The parent company of Southern supermarket chain Winn-Dixie will not require face masks to be worn in its roughly 500 stores, saying it doesn't want to "put [its] associates in a position to navigate interpersonal conflict," reports the Washington Post.

Why it matters: The announcement underscores the political partisanship that has surrounded face mask requirements, despite scientific evidence suggesting they have been effective in stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

Winn-Dixie's stores are located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi — all states President Trump won in 2016.
28 states and the District of Columbia have issued some form of mask mandate.

What they're saying: "Our associates have seen that mask mandates are a highly charged issue with our customers," Joe Caldwell, director of corporate communications and government affairs for Southeastern Grocers, told the Post via email.

"We do not want to put our associates in a position to navigate interpersonal conflict or prohibit customers from shopping in our stores."

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Supermarket chain Winn-Dixie will not require face masks

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