Mecklenburg considers ordering customers to wear masks when retailers reopen
As stay-at-home restrictions are likely to be eased at the end of this week, Mecklenburg County officials said Monday they are considering whether to require face masks for customers in retail stores.
Business executives and county officials discussed the idea during Mecklenburg’s new business roundtable, which is charged with advising the county on how to gradually reopen the economy as the state begins removing some restrictions.
But some business leaders expressed concern about whether there will be enough supply of cloth masks to support a mandate.
Gov. Roy Cooper is set to announce details in the next day or two for phase one of his reopening plan, which would allow parks and some retailers to reopen. Cooper has a three-phase reopening plan.
“I do believe it’s going to be critical for us as we move into phase one and on into phase two and three that we are able to expand the testing that we do in our county. We just need to make sure that we’re doing it in a way that the folks who need it most have access to it,” county health director Gibbie Harris said.
Face covering mandate
The Mecklenburg County-led business group initially met behind closed doors. But after pressure from the Observer last week objecting to holding the meeting in secret, county manager Dena Diorio said Monday’s meeting would be open to the public and live streamed.
Jesse Cureton, executive vice president and chief consumer officer at Novant Health, told the group that in order to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, everyone needs to wear a mask. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“We’d just really like for us to come as close to a mandate on retail face masking as we can,” he said.
Several retailers already require customers to wear face coverings, including The Fresh Market, and others have mandated that employees wear them. But the local government has so far only recommended that residents wear masks.
Harris said the state is going to suggest that people wear face coverings anytime they leave the house.
Still, many businesses are having trouble finding face masks for their employees, said Rocio Gonzales, of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce.
To help address that shortage of face masks and other materials, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and a Winston-Salem economic development group are launching a platform that will help connect businesses and healthcare providers with Personal Protective Equipment manufacturers. That’s according to Janet LaBar, the president and CEO of the alliance, who spoke about the initiative on the call.
Sam Judd, of real estate firm Asana Partners, said restaurants fear that a mask requirement will force them to stay closed. Restaurants are not slated to start to open until phase two of the statewide plan.
“They don’t believe that people will go out dinner and wear a mask,” he said.
The county is preparing guidance for businesses as the restrictions start to ease, said Diorio.
Diorio said the county is looking to the plan the governor outlines for phase one. If the county were to mandate face masks, it would be stricter than the state’s rules, she said.
“I think we can wait and see what those recommendations look like before we draw a pretty hard line in the sand,” she said.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 3:48 PM.
