Working on the doorstep of a company in Texas that still requires Covid-19 masks can be harmful to health – and not just because of the virus, security experts said on Thursday.
Governor Greg Abbott’s sudden decision this week to suspend the mask’s mandate and other restrictions on the coronavirus undermined these companies’ ability to enforce their own rules for protecting employees and customers, they said.
“This approach to circumventing Band-Aid is not a good one,” said Brian Higgins, a security consultant who also teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “This puts companies that try to apply masking rules in a difficult situation. They used to tell customers that they were just following the state’s rules. Now they can’t say that. “
Then there are Texas gun laws, which allow licensed gun owners to bring their guns when they shop at most stores.
“I’m a Second Amendment guy, but I wouldn’t want to be that person working at the door and having to tell someone to dress up in a legal transportation state like Texas,” said Higgins, a former county police chief. from Bergen, New Jersey. “Yes, things should be getting better, but as we get out of this (pandemic), there are still a lot of people on the edge, irritated, angry.”
A few days ago, Higgins said, a police office working on the safety of a high school basketball game in New Orleans was shot and reportedly killed by a man he had escorted out of because he refused to wear a mask.
“There are a lot of stressed people,” he said. “It can put people in danger.”
Chris Dorn of Safe Havens International, a nonprofit organization specializing in helping school systems safely, said Abbott’s move “definitely makes it harder for store operators to apply their own mask rules.”
“It muddies the water and gives the customer who refuses to wear a mask a means of challenging the store manager, saying, ‘Well, the state is not demanding that,'” he said. “It also makes it more difficult to enforce masking rules in other places, such as schools. While I hesitate to say that it can lead to violence, it has the potential to turn entrances to these places into trigger points. “
In response, Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said the governor had repeatedly urged Texans to act prudently during the pandemic.
“Just like ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’, companies have every right to require their customers to wear masks on their properties,” she said. “Both Texans and Americans learned and mastered practices last year security measures to protect themselves and their loved ones from Covid, and there is no need for the government to tell them how to do this. “
The previous Thursday, Abbott insisted that “the move in Texas was not much different from where we were before for some reasons.”
“First, we are still strongly advocating that all Texans follow best practices,” the governor told Fox News. “We still strongly recommend that people wear a mask.”
Companies in Texas that continue to maintain their own masking mandates include well-known national brands such as Starbucks, Target, Macy’s, Costco, Walmart and the Kroger supermarket chain.
NBC News contacted these companies to find out how they plan to apply their masking mandates, now that Texas no longer requires them.
Starbucks responded with a statement from spokesman Jory Mendes.
“Based on guidance from CDC and other public health experts, Starbucks will continue to require all partners and customers to wear a mask while inside our stores – continuing the requirement we instituted in July 2020,” said part of the communicated, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We will continue to make decisions based on facts and science, and we are committed to fulfilling or exceeding public health mandates.”
When pressed to explain how the company would continue to comply with the mask requirement, Mendes said in an e-mail that employees were trained “how to refuse services with respect and kindness”.
“In addition, as they have been doing since July, all stores operated by the company continue to have clear signage on the front door that clearly indicates that customers are required to wear a mask, regardless of state / local mandates,” wrote Mendes.
Target also responded with a prepared statement. But it did not address the question of application.
“Those who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus still need to wear a mask and follow all the guidelines for social distance, according to the current CDC guidelines,” the document said.
Manufacturing companies that employ thousands of Texans, such as Toyota and General Motors, also continue to demand the use of masks in the workplace, according to published reports.
Abbott’s decision was heavily criticized on Wednesday as “Neanderthal thinking” by President Joe Biden and some of Texas’s top doctors warned it could trigger another outbreak of coronavirus infections and deaths.
“Now is not the time to release all restrictions,” warned the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.