Major stores in Texas and Mississippi will still implement mask mandates in stores, despite recent moves from both states to scrap coronavirus regulations.
Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Target, Macy’s, and Aldi announced they would continue to require face coverings amid loosening laws in the two Republican-led states, according to CBS News, citing statements from the corporations. Many of the businesses deferred to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which states individuals “should wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick.”
Target and Macy’s told the Washington Examiner that previous face-covering mandates in stores will not change.
“We require guests to wear masks or face coverings in all of our stores, except for guests with underlying medical conditions and young children,” a Target spokesperson said. “We also require all store team members to wear masks at work and have provided them with reusable and disposable masks. Those who have been vaccinated for coronavirus are still required to wear a mask and follow all social distancing guidelines, in line with current CDC guidance.”
Macy’s will not be deviating from its “current policy,” which requires customers “to wear a facial covering while shopping.”
Maskless customers at CVS will be asked to listen “to the experts” in “heeding the call” to don a face covering, the company said.
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“If a customer is not wearing a mask or face covering, we will refer them to our signage and ask that they help protect themselves and those around them by listening to the experts and heeding the call to wear a face covering,” a CVS spokesperson told CBS News. “For safety reasons, our employees are directed to avoid escalated confrontations with noncompliant customers and to instead help them complete their purchases as quickly as possible.”
Texas and Mississippi decided to do away with state-sanctioned mask mandates and implement policies that promote full reopenings of businesses without capacity limits and social distancing protocols.
“This must end,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said during a Tuesday press conference in Lubbock. “It is now time to open Texas 100%. Everybody who wants to work should have that opportunity. Every business that wants to be open, should be open.”
“I am issuing a new executive order that rescinds most of the earlier executive orders. Effective next Wednesday, all businesses of any type are allowed to open 100%. That includes any type of entity in Texas. Also, I am ending the statewide mask mandate,” he said.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, on the same day, scrapped his state’s face-covering regulations and insisted businesses can “operate at full capacity.”
“Starting tomorrow, we are lifting all of our county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules,” he said. “Our hospitalizations and case numbers have plummeted, and the vaccine is being rapidly distributed. It is time.”
Both states have reported declines in COVID-19 numbers in the past two weeks, but health authorities have advised against such actions.
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“Please hear me clearly,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said moments before news broke of the announcement from the pair of governors. “At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained.”
“Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know could stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close,” she said.
Walgreens, Aldi, and Kroger did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
