The Welsh Government has updated its rules regarding the sale of non-essential items during the 17 day lockdown after confusion turned to anger yesterday when a woman was told that she couldn’t purchase sanitary products in a Tesco store as they were deemed non-essential.
The Welsh government also said in a statement that a “sensible system should be introduced whereby customers can ask to buy non-essential items by exception under the regulations”, but did not set out further details about how this would work in practice.
From now on, ministers say the following products can be sold:
- Food and drink
- Products ancillary to the sale of food and drink, primarily disposable items used for the preparation and storage of food (such as kitchen foil, food bags and cling film) but also basic products necessary to prepare and eat food and drink
- Products for washing clothes and for cleaning and maintaining the home, including batteries, light bulbs and fuel
- Toiletries and cosmetic products, including toilet rolls and sanitary products
- Pharmaceutical products
- Baby products including equipment, clothes and nappies
- Newspapers and magazines
- Stationery and greetings cards
- Pet food and other pet supplies
- Products for the maintenance of bicycles and cars
The Welsh government said: “Only selling essential items during firebreak is to discourage spending more time than necessary in shops. It should not stop you accessing items that you need.”
