Tag: face masks

HSBC says customers who refuse to wear a face mask will have their accounts withdrawn

HSBC has issued a warning to customers as retailers step up coronavirus safety measures amid a further 1,243 deaths.

The lender – which also owns First Direct and Marks & Spencer bank – said customers who break the law could forfeit their bank account.

Speaking to The Mirror, a spokesman said face masks are mandatory in all branches as per government guidelines.

Those who refuse to comply will be refused service and could have their bank accounts withdrawn.

Jackie Uhi, head of branch network, HSBC UK said: “Our branch colleagues are key workers, continuing to go to work in our branches every day so that customers who need them can access essential financial services.

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Los Angeles County officials are advising essential workers to wear masks at home to avoid further spread of Covid-19

Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household.”Right now, because there is so much spread, we’re recommending that people wear their face coverings while they’re inside the home,” Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a news conference Monday. That’s for people who are either leaving their home every day for work or who are running errands regularly for their family, Ferrer said.Doing so, she said, “will add a layer of protection while we get through this surge.”

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Disabled child removed by police from AMC theater for failing to wear a mask

A video recorded in Jacksonville, N.C. appears to show the manager of an AMC movie theater refusing to allow a reportedly disabled child from entering the theater without a mask, and calling the police to escort her distraught family from the scene.

The child, who was in a stroller at the time of the incident, is reportedly non-verbal and has a condition that precludes her use of a mask or face shield. The child’s family members were all wearing masks.

Police officers were ultimately asked to escort the upset family from the theater. 

The Jacksonville, N.C. Police Department and the AMC Theatres chain did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Public health policy surrounding the use of masks on toddlers and children has become a subject of controversy over the last several months. Throughout the pandemic, there have been countless stories of families being thrown off flights or having flights canceled altogether because a baby was failing to don the required facial covering.

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More than 1.5 billion masks believed to have entered oceans in 2020

For months, we’ve seen face masks in places they shouldn’t be: storm drains, streets, beaches, and parks.

Now, we’re learning just how many could be flooding our oceans.

“Once plastic enters the marine environment, it’s very difficult to move,” said Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research for OceansAsia.

The marine conservation group has been tracking the number of face masks washing up on a remote island south of Hong Kong since the pandemic started.

“About six weeks after COVID hit Hong Kong, so late February, we began finding masks, and lots of masks,” said Bondaroff. “What’s remarkable is we weren’t finding face masks before COVID.”

Masks are made with polypropylene, which Bondaroff describes as thin fibers of plastic.

“The fact that we are starting to find masks that are breaking up indicates that this is a real problem, that microplastics are being produced by masks,” he said.

These tiny pieces of plastic can remain in the ocean for hundreds of years, threatening fish and even polluting the air.

“The question that we couldn’t answer was how many are entering our oceans? We just didn’t know,” said Dr. Bondaroff.

OceansAsia launched a study to find the answer and recently shared its findings.

Of the estimated 52 billion masks manufactured globally in 2020, it’s believed 1.56 billion will enter our oceans this year, resulting in an additional 4,680 to 6,240 metric tonnes of marine plastic pollution

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