Close non-essential retail businesses during Covid-19 crisis. · petition

What the petition asks

Please mandate closure of non-essential retail outlets to protect workers and their families. The government has promised 80% of wages to be covered if closure is due to the current corona virus but this only applies to businesses mandated to close, so employers are still forcing workers to attend.

We are being told to practice social distancing, yet are unable to do this whilst still using public transport to work, or by serving the public with non-essential items. A large number of high street retailers have taken the sensible decision to close their shops in order to protect their staff and their customers. Small independent retailers may not have the financial backing to do the same, so are remaining open during this crisis, putting their employees at risk of infection.

Why it was rejected

The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/

Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

21 Mar 2020	Petition opened for signatures
31 Mar 2020	Rejected by the Petitions Committee