A Costco worker has been hailed a "hero" on social media after having a showdown with an angry shopper over the retailer's facemask policy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The incident took place after Costco implemented a new policy that requires all employees and customers to wear facemasks in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

However, one customer decided to film himself waiting in a Costco line and being berated by an employee named Tison after he refused to wear a mask.

This is the moment the Tison stood up to the customer who refused to wear a mask:

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"I'm not doing it because I woke up in a free country," the customer said after threatening to put the Costco employee on his "3,000-follower Instagram feed."

"You're no longer welcome here in our warehouse," Tison said. "You need to leave, thank you very much."

In response to this, the man suggested that his partner pay for their cart which was full of toilet paper, detergent, and other items while he left the store, but before she had a chance to do so, Tison had left with the cart full of goods.

"He's a p**sy little bitch," the customer proceeded to rant. "I'm not a f**king sheep."

After the video emerged on social media, people took to Twitter to praise Tison for his actions.

Busy Philips wrote: "Tison. You're a hero."

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Another Twitter user wrote: "@Costco please give Tison a raise."

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Kim McDonald wrote: "I love it when the good guy wins."

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Dana Piccoli remarked: "Just bought a Costco membership thanks to Tison."

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Tison himself responded to the praise he had received on social media, writing: "People of Twitter thank you for all of the support. I was just trying to protect our employees and our members."

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He then shared a picture of himself making a thumbs-up:

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Per the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, at the time of writing, there have been 5,014,943 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide, and a global death toll of 328,462.

Costco worker hailed a 'hero' after showdown with angry shopper over face mask policy