Best Buy Co. BBY 1.51% will require customers to wear face coverings inside all U.S. stores to protect against the new coronavirus, including in places without mask mandates.
Best Buy said its mask rule, which goes into effect on Wednesday, will “help protect not only our shoppers and communities, but also the tens of thousands of Best Buy employees working to serve our customers each day.”
It joins a handful of national chains, including Starbucks Corp. SBUX 0.11% and Costco Wholesale Corp., with similar mask requirements as businesses seek to protect staff and patrons amid a surge in coronavirus cases in many parts of the country.
There is widespread scientific and medical consensus that face masks are critical in slowing the virus’s spread. Questions over wearing them have fueled heated political debates in the U.S. and led to sometimes violent confrontations between retail workers enforcing mask rules and customers who refuse to cover their face.
More than 135,000 Americans have died from coronavirus and the number of new cases have hit highs in recent days, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California’s governor this week reversed plans to reopen businesses amid a rise in the state, ordering indoor dining and malls to close again.
