So, despite Cooper’s multiple health conditions and fears of re-infection due to the long-term effects of COVID-19, an old sign read in mid-June that “masks are recommended but not required.” replaced by the one that was cut.
“I kind of felt like giving up,” said Cooper, who wore a white KN95 mask in the store last week.
This change marks another departure for Million Year Picnic from the increasingly thin group of small businesses in the Boston area. Customers are still required to wear masks as a public health precaution. almost fell by the roadside Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline.
Massachusetts’ seven-day average of new coronavirus cases was just under 80 on July 11, but the cities of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville have enacted citywide mask-wearing mandates in most indoor public spaces. Compared to about 825 people in early March 2022, when the lockdown was lifted, the number was just under 80.
“The more lonely and island-like you feel, the less comfortable you are,” says Davis.
Since the mandate was withdrawn, it’s up to private companies to decide whether they want their own masking requirements. Relatively few small shops are still open, including Somerville’s bookshop, Cambridge’s Central Square piercing studio, and Hyde Park’s acupuncture clinic. (Medical settings were the last spaces in Massachusetts to mandate masks, with most medical facilities and hospital systems rescinding mask mandates in May.)
There are various reasons for a hold. Some businesses are worried about the cost of shutting down if there is an outbreak among their employees. Some companies are trying to follow employee preferences or accommodate immune-compromised customers.
Theory aside, business owners say the decision to make masks compulsory was not an easy one.
took Gather Here, a handicraft shop in Inman Square, lifted its mandatory mask-wearing requirement in May after workers were forced to enforce rules on uncooperative customers.
“It was really exhausting for the whole team to have people arguing about masks with people seven days a week,” said owner Virginia B. Johnson.
Currently, shops only require face coverings. “Mask Monday” Customers with compromised immune systems will be given designated times to browse the selection of fabrics and threads in the store, and will voluntarily wear masks for the rest of the week.
“Also, many of our customers thanked us last year for continuing to mandate mask-wearing as the public health emergency neared its end,” Johnson said. said. “For those people, we didn’t want to be completely like, ‘Oh, you guys are all alone.'”
The feminist bookstore All She Wrote Books on Assembly Row is considering a similar approach. Owner Cristina Pascucci Ciampa sees masks as an important part of building a business that prides herself on inclusion, and has enforced mask-wearing requirements since the store opened in July 2020.
“Without this, I don’t think we’re meeting that mission,” she said.
But Pascucci Ciampa said, “Masks have never gotten cheaper,” adding that supplying many customers who don’t bring their own masks could cost them just over $100 a week, “clearly an economic burden.” will be,’ he said. She is weighing whether to rescind a policy requiring masks only on busy days.
But like Gather Here, many of All She Wrote’s customers expressed appreciation for the continuation of mask-wearing mandates, Pascucci Ciampa said. This also applies to the second-hand craft store Make & Mend near Bow Her Market in Somerville. Owner Emily Tyrrella said positive feedback from customers was a “major determinant” to continue the mission. She likes that her customers see her store as “something of an oasis” in a world largely mask-free.
Tirella says it’s expensive to keep supplies for customers who don’t bring their own, but how this requirement keeps small threats from snowballing and driving up costs significantly. He also said that he had seen A staff member recently contracted COVID-19, and “if everyone wasn’t wearing masks in the common areas, we would have closed,” Tyrrella said.
Tyrrella added, “Now I can’t even imagine going to Target and they being able to force it.” “But we’re small and we can do it, so we’re going to do it.”
the mask is Controversial Elements of the Pandemicargued by many Americans. Obligation violates individual liberties, or masks are ineffective For infectious disease prevention. (While this data has been a source of controversy, many public health experts argue that wearing masks properly helps individuals minimize their risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. (There are.) Mandates often devolved into culture war battlefields, left retail workers in the crosshairs.workers affected screaming fits or assault.
Indeed, most of the stores that maintain mask-wearing requirements are located in azure areas such as Cambridge and Somerville, which are likely to attract a mask-tolerant customer base, and many are progressive. creating a trend. It’s not uncommon to see customers and staff wearing masks even at stores where it’s not mandatory. Some executives say the situation has allowed them to continue their missions with little drama.
“No one had a tantrum about it,” said Nick Lawson, manager of Lucky’s Tattoo & Piercing in Central Square. Either way, piercing spaces still need to be masked as much as possible. “In people’s noses and mouths, the pierced side is a little higher.”
Oren Pillinger, who runs the Boston Acupuncture Project in Hyde Park, also said of the policy, “No one said anything bad.” Because the clinic offers group treatments, he is obligated to ensure that even those with compromised immune systems can receive acupuncture, and to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus himself. is continuing.
“As the only employee, it would be very difficult to keep the business running if I got sick,” Pillinger said. “In order to be accessible, we have to keep it open.”
And at Pandemonium Books and Games in Central Square, the decision to lift mask requirements has sparked backlash. Owner Tyler Stewart looked to wastewater tracking data to determine when it was safe to lift the requirement.when he finally announced his plans Rollback to May 1sthe said.
Stewart said he was certainly concerned about customers with compromised immune systems.
Now the question is, when will that “someday” be for the rest of the holdouts? At least Make & Mend says they can’t answer it right away.
“It feels like one catastrophe after another,” Tyrrella said. “It’s easier not to have to make that decision.”
Back at Million Years Picnic, the air-filter system completes about four air changes an hour, but Cooper said business has picked up since the store lifted mask mandates. . She said only a few customers were wearing masks now, despite black surgical mask signs and boxes at the front counter. She stopped asking people to wear it.
“I just feel a sense of duty to the community, and it’s a little sad that it’s been eroded,” Cooper added. “Or maybe it never happened, or maybe I just didn’t notice.”
Dana Gerber can be reached at [email protected]. follow her on her twitter @danagerber6.
