Major retailers are hesitant about removing their mask mandate measures, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxing its COVID-19 protocols.
Walmart, Target, and Starbucks are among companies aiming to hold out on making changes until they review the updated guidelines that lift the mask mandate for fully vaccinated people.
Target will review the updated CDC guidelines while keeping its practice of masking and social distancing in place for customers and staff, according to a statement.
Trader Joe’s will not require that fully vaccinated customers wear masks, according to its website.
KROGER TESTS GROCERY DELIVERY BY DRONE IN OHIO
Walmart, which said masking has helped mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in its stores, will allow its fully vaccinated employees to remove their masks starting on Tuesday, a company spokesman told the Washington Examiner.
The company said it will also offer a monetary incentive to its employees if they get vaccinated, offering a $75 bonus to those who show proof of vaccinations.
Kroger and Home Depot will also keep mask mandates in place for employees and customers.
A spokesman for Dine Brands Company said IHOP and Applebee’s will also keep their mask mandates in place while it reviews the updated guidelines by the CDC.
“While we review the update issued by the CDC yesterday, we are going to keep our current mask policy for a little while longer. We’re working closely with Franchisee Leadership across our system as we monitor updates and determine best next steps; learning from outside experts, and understanding the research and science. Our Franchisees and restaurant teams are ready to welcome guests back and focused on serving great and safe experiences when they choose to dine with us,” the spokesman told the Washington Examiner.
Local establishments in some states celebrated the CDC determination as a big step toward normalcy.
“I think it’s something we’ve all been waiting for … for such a long time,” Chris Cusack, general manager of La Grange, a Houston-based bar and grill, told ABC 13. “Through all the restrictions, close-downs, to-go-only, and all the things we’ve tried to roll with. People will adapt to the news and lifting the restrictions, and I think it will probably take some time, but I’m excited. It’s going this direction and not the other way.”
Others expressed hesitancy in moving too quickly into normalcy.
“That governor’s announcement, I think it causes me a bit more stress right now,” Joe Galati, who owns the Commune, a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch.
On Thursday, governors in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as mayors in Washington, D.C., and New York City, which upheld some of the strictest lockdown measures during the pandemic, said they would take the CDC guidelines into consideration.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Washington Examiner reached out to Starbucks, Target, and Walmart and several chain restaurants but did not immediately hear back.
