Waitrose yellow hi-vis vest with a graphic on the back reading ‘please keep a 2 metre safe distance', from Waitrose & Partners, Finchley and of the type used in Waitrose shops during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, designed in Devon

Staying at least two metres apart and not socialising with anyone you did not live with was the strictest version of social distancing in England. People were reminded of the rules by signs and by staff. It is estimated that spending more than 15 minutes within two metres of a person with COVID-19 can pass on the virus.

Supermarket workers were considered key workers - designated by the United Kingdom government as “critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and EU transition response". One scientific report concluded that supermarkets were one place where people could catch COVID-19 with people working there at higher risk.