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Grocery store owners say mask policy protects both shoppers and employees

Pennsylvania residents will have to wear a mask when shopping amid the coronavirus pandemic.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Every resident in Pennsylvania will have to wear a mask if they plan on shopping amid the pandemic.

It's one of the newest orders put into place by Governor Tom Wolf, which mandates that every commercial building that serves the public now has to make sure customers are wearing face masks, and if not, they will not be allowed to go inside.

Store owners at Gerrity's and Schiff's in Scranton say the new rule doesn't just protect you but protects their essential workers who are risking their lives every day.

"If they get sick and can't show up to work, or if they're afraid and don't show up to work, there's no food on the shelves," said co-owner of Gerrity's Joe Fasula. "There are no people to check you out at the checkout counter; we need to keep them healthy."

"They've worked very hard, they've put a lot of long hours in some of them even put six and seven hours in a week and um they've done a fantastic job," added Mark Resse, president of Schiff's.

Many people, like Frank Hedglin, said they're OK with having to wear a mask in public places.

"I know the governor wants us to do this, you know to keep your distance and stay safe," Hedglin said. "Trying to help everyone else by doing it, unfortunately, some people aren't paying attention, but hopefully, they will."

And others who aren't wearing masks are just soaking up every last minute before they have to.

"Really we don't have to, I know it starts tomorrow. I do have two of them that I can wear, but I figured one last day with fresh air," Carol Romanowski said.

Both the owners of Gerrity's and Schiff's say while the governor's mandatory mask order doesn't affect them on Sunday, come Monday morning, they have no problem turning away anybody that's not following the proper protocol.

"We do expect some people to many have a little pushback, some people who don't want to wear masks, but we are going to mandate it for everyone," explained Fasula.

Although not everybody is going to follow the new protocol, both owners say by wearing a mask you're protecting yourself and the people you come in contact with.

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