America's Largest Grocery Chain Is Changing Its Mask Rule

With the Delta variant affecting different regions of the U.S. with varying degrees of severity, one major grocery chain is asking certain groups of people to mask up again. Here's what to know if you shop at any of their nearly 3,000 stores.

According to a report from Grocery Dive, effective last week, Kroger is now requiring all workers, including Kroger employees and outside contractors, to wear masks inside the chain's stores, office buildings, and other facilities. This is regardless of each individual's COVID-19 vaccination status, and it reportedly makes this the first significant masking mandate the chain has made since May. At that point, only unvaccinated employees were required to wear masks.

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It's said the updated Kroger mask policy occurred based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kroger's Chief Medical Officer, Marc Watkins, M.D. in response to the increased spread of the Delta variant since mid-summer.

How does this affect your grocery trip? Hopefully, it will cut down on your risk of COVID-19 exposure. Also, as Grocery Dive reports, Kroger released a statement with the following: "We continue to strongly encourage customers to wear masks to protect themselves and others, and to curb the spread of COVID-19. Where there are local and state mandates, we will continue to abide by those."

Our source suggests Kroger has asserted some of the strongest policies and promotions around COVID-19 in comparison to its competitors.

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