The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Mask mandates edging back into state venues
Keeping customers safe has been the main priority for Stew Leonard Jr. throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You put that on the mirror in the morning when you’re shaving,” the Stew Leonard’s supermarket CEO said Thursday.
For the time being, Leonard can skip the razor on the occasional day, with a renewed mask mandate in place for employees at Stew Leonard’s stores throughout Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
The supermarket confirmed Wednesday it is unilaterally reinstating mandatory face masks for employees while on the premises. The company has its flagship store in Norwalk and two more in Danbury and Newington.
“I’ve talked to a lot of customers in the store, and even though they are double-vaccinated,they still are wearing masks — I’d say 70 percent of the customers,” Leonard said Thursday. “But there’s some people in the store that shop here, they’ve been double-vaccinated and they don’t have any desire to wear a mask ever again.
The city of Norwalk is weighing reimposing mask mandates. The city continues to offer free vaccination clinics, including on Wednesday at the Maritime Aquarium — Christie’s Quilting Boutique donated free masks to all getting shots — and with a series of popup clinics in August at Columbus Magnet School and other locations that are being run by th eCommunity Health Center.
Masks are still optional for fully vaccinated visitors to the Maritime Aquarium, but staff and volunteers are wearing them in public areas of the attraction. Spokesperson Dave Sigworth said the aquarium is having “a busier than normal summer” with a new seal pen and 4D movie theater among the big draws.
The Westport children’s store Age of Reason flipped back to a mask mandate this week, after giving vaccinated customers the option for several weeks of going without. Owner Dina Berger said she decided to make the change after new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for vaccinated adults wearing masks in
doors.
Berger added she is looking forward to the day when she can remove the mandate and allow people to make their own choice.
“I think it’s very confusing to everybody because the advice changes,” Berger said. “Most people are very compliant — if they don’t come in with the mask on, they have it with them and if they see a sign they put it on.”
Fairfield County remains just below the threshold for COVID-19 transmission, at which point the CDC has recommended mandatory mask use.
Several of the nation’s largest retail chains relaxed mask mandates only in May as infections dove to lows nationally, with most experts crediting vaccinations but now keeping close tabs on the newest surge.
Costco, the first major chain to institute a face mask requirement last year, on Monday updated its policy to state it will adhere to any statewide mandates, without making any blanket policy change on its own. The warehouse club has Connecticut locations in Norwalk, Brookfield, Milford, Waterbury, New Britain, Enfield and East Lyme.
The delta variant of COVID-19 is triggering new concern, both for a rapidly escalating infection rate among people who have skipped getting shots, as well as small but growing numbers of infections among those who have been fully vaccinated.
‘Coming back with masks on’
The SoNo Collection mall in South Norwalk will hand a face mask to any shoppers who ask for one, with no mandatory policy in place at present. The mall has been holding an ongoing SoNo Music Fest outdoors this summer on an open-air deck.
Other entertainment venues in Norwalk like Bow Tie Cinemas, Bowlmor and the Pinstripes bowling bistro at the SoNo Collection continue to make face masks optional for guests.
Rowayton Market relaxed its mask mandate for customers this summer, but has kept it in place for employees who deal with them directly despite some asking for a change, according to managing prtner Margaret Poidevin. She added all employees have received vaccines for COVID-19.
“We did that out of respect for customers who do come with a mask,” Poidevin said Thursday. “The majority (of customers) do not wear masks, but we’ve noticed that some people who had stopped wearing masks are coming back with masks on ... maybe the past two weeks.”
At Palmer’s Market in Darien, employees marked the end of mask mandates with about the same gusto as the store’s commemoration of 100 years in business, according to owner Greg Palmer, though some continue to choose to wear them. He added the store will adhere to state guidelines for masks, asking that anyone who is not vaccinated don a mask on the premises.
“Mask (use) ... went down quite a bit when they first recommended that people didn’t have to wear them indoors,” Palmer said. “I still see quite a few people wearing them, maybe just under 50 percent . ... I’ve thought about it myself.”
Gov. Ned Lamont has yet to signal any change to Connecticut’s mask policy, except to say his administration is keeping a close eye on infection rates nationally.