Mecklenburg wants retailers to require masks amid COVID-19. That may be hard to enforce
Mecklenburg County wants to encourage retailers to turn away customers who don’t have masks during the novel coronavirus pandemic, county manager Dena Diorio said Monday. But some business leaders say that could be difficult to enforce.
Gov. Roy Cooper launched the first of three phases to reopen the state this past Friday, allowing retailers to reopen as long as stores were at 50% capacity and allowed for cleaning and social distancing.
But the county has received reports that not enough people are wearing masks, Diorio said. She did not specify the number of complaints the county received.
She said the county is not going to mandate that people wear face coverings, but wants to encourage businesses not to allow customers in without wearing a mask.
Diorio presented the idea at a roundtable of business leaders she convened to advise the county on reopening the economy. The advisory group was previously meeting in private but announced it would open its meetings to the public after pressure from the Observer.
Some industry officials cautioned that businesses that already have been hurting financially because of the COVID-19 crisis may be hesitant to restrict who can come into their stores.
Andy Ellen, president and general counsel for the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, pointed to the boycott over Costco’s mask policy as an example. The store is requiring customers to wear face coverings, a policy that has led to some backlash.
“Some of the smaller businesses especially, just getting back open and having bad economic times, some of them are not going to want to get put in that position,” Ellen said.
‘Very worrisome’
Although a cloth face covering does not completely stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, it can help reduce transmission rates.
Rocio Gonzalez, executive director of the Latin American Chamber, said it’s important to provide training for employers. She said when she visited supermarkets, she noticed no one was monitoring how many people were in a store at one time and whether people were wearing masks.
“It was very worrisome how relaxed everybody is,” she said.
The county, along with members of the roundtable, put together a toolkit for businesses with signs and guidance for customers and businesses. One of those resources is a sign that reads: “Caution: no entry without a face mask.”
Diorio said the next step for the roundtable is to work on ideas for guidelines for businesses that open in Phase 2 of the governor’s reopening plan, such as personal care facilities and gyms.
Phase 2 can start next Friday at the earliest, depending on certain metrics around the number of coronavirus cases and testing.
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
