Sainsbury's shopper wearing face mask shocked after being mocked and 'coughed on' by customers

Robert Holmes has taken to wearing the protective piece of equipment during his large shops at Sainsbury’s in Broadcut, Fareham, to prevent him from contracting Covid-19.

However, the 29-year-old claims to have faced a torrent of abuse from fellow shoppers over his extreme safety measures.

Mr Holmes, of Eastfield Avenue, Fareham, said: ‘It’s shocked me how people have reacted. It’s just been ridiculous.

‘I am trying to protect myself against coronavirus but people are just acting ridiculously.

‘As I was leaving Sainsbury’s, someone rolled the window of their car down and coughed at me. I had another young guy walk past me and pretend to sneeze and was sniggering like it was some big joke.’

Mr Holmes, who is a Type 1 diabetic, added people have also made snide comments about his face mask, which he would ordinarily use in his job.

He claimed he has even been mocked in his local Co-op store for wearing a smaller dust mask when picking up groceries.

He added: ‘I’m trying to time my journey for when there are the least amount of people, when I’m in someone like Co-op, there might only ever be five people in there at any one time so I can use my smaller dust mask but Sainsbury’s will be busier so I wear my bigger mask just in case.

‘I’ve got an even bigger mask that covers my eyes too, that I could use if things get really bad. But seems a bit over the top right now – but it’s definitely something that is on the cards in the future if this all gets out of hand.’

On Saturday, medics working at Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Cosham, announced 13 more people had died after becoming infected with Covid-19, the deadly disease produced by the coronavirus.

The nine men and four women were aged between 51 and 91 and all had underlying health conditions, Portsmouth NHS Hospitals Trust said.

The news brings the city’s death toll to 31.

Mr Holmes added he would continue to wear his mask shopping and said: ‘It’s so important that we keep ourselves protected.’