At about 1pm on Monday, October 5, my wife and I were about to leave the Tesco store in Musselburgh when it was invaded, to put it no higher, by approximately 100 Musselburgh Grammar School secondary school pupils, who completely swamped any security arrangements which Tesco might have had.

None of the children stopped to sanitise their hands, hardly any wore a mask and there was no social distancing – two inches rather than two metres was the norm!

I assume this invasion occurs daily, possibly spreading Covid-19 as it goes and contributing to the rising number of new cases reported virtually every day.

It must surely be up to Tesco’s management and those in authority at the school to combine to produce a more orderly influx of pupils and reassure other users of the premises?

GW Burnet

Rose Court

Inveresk

 

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Since the schools returned in August, Musselburgh Grammar School’s headteacher Colin Gerrie has visited the store every day to monitor pupils’ behaviour in the queue to get in the store and within the shop itself to make sure that pupils are adhering to the current guidance.

“This is because he, and the MGS team, are committed to ensuring pupils are responsible members of our community. Mr Gerrie has worked closely with the store’s management team on a daily basis to support them to safely manage the school lunchtime trade alongside their other customers. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend on Monday and we are disappointed to hear this feedback given much of the good work achieved.

“Members of our protective service team routinely visit businesses within East Lothian to discuss their Covid controls and management systems, especially during school break times. Officers will work with Tesco and the school to discuss what other measures the store can put in place to encourage safe shopping for all concerned.”

 

A Tesco spokesperson said: “The safety of our colleagues and customers is our top priority and we are closely following all Scottish Government guidance. We have implemented a range of social distancing measures in our stores to protect our customers and colleagues and ensure that everyone can maintain a safe distance.

“We have colleagues at the entrances of our larger stores to remind customers about the safety measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face covering. We are also introducing a new traffic light system at store entrances which will tell customers when they can safely enter.”