Americans grapple with new guidance on masks

Feelings of elation mixed with worries of virus spreading

Soon after the CDC announced its updated mask guidance, Louisville coffee shop owner Billy Sechman took to Instagram.

“Notice,” he posted, “masks are still required!”

Even though most of his staff is fully vaccinated, Sechman said he wasn’t comfortable with customers coming in barefaced.

“The mask mandate dropped so fast it caught us off guard,” said Sechman, 58, who owns Bean. “We have to get the team together and talk about everything.”

His experience highlights the chaos and confusion unleashed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Thursday pronouncement that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks in most cases.

While the relaxed guidelines had some ripping the cloth from their faces, many around the country worried for their health, and wondered whether and how to implement the new guidance, at odds with the local regulations in some states.

Aubrielle Whitis, 23, a vaccinated barista at Bean, said she was nervous about the new guidelines.

“I’m worried that people who aren’t vaccinated will take it as a pass not to wear their mask. I feel pretty safe being vaccinated, but it’s more of a risk with the possibility of variants,” Whitis said.

For others, the announcement brought relief.

At Al’s Cafe in suburban Pittsburgh, a thrilled Rod Ambrogi told his staff Friday that they can take off their masks if they are vaccinated. The cafe was cited by the county health department after it continued to serve meals indoors last December, defying the governor’s shutdown order.

Ambrogi, who wore a mask only in public areas of the restaurant before Thursday, does not plan to get vaccinated. He said he thinks he had a mild case of COVID -19 a few months ago, though he never got tested, and believes he is immune.

“I never did believe in masks,” he said.

Ambrogi, 74, said he could understand the restrictions for the first three months of the pandemic, but “I’ve been done with this coronavirus for the past few months. It’s behind us right now.”

Ambrogi said the CDC guidelines conflict with state regulations, creating confusion. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, is lifting all capacity restrictions on businesses on Memorial Day, but said he will keep a state mask mandate until at least 70 percent of adult Pennsylvanians are vaccinated.

“As it is right now, should we wear masks, or shouldn’t we?” Ambrogi said. “The president says we don’t; Rite Aid or Giant Eagle says we do.”

In Minnesota, local officials grappled with that question.

Last week, Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, announced that all coronavirus restrictions on business and social gatherings would end May 28, but extended the statewide indoor mask mandate until July 1, or until 70 percent of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.

But at a Thursday news conference following the CDC announcement, Walz said he would end the mask mandate Friday, leaving cities and businesses to decide whether to impose their own rules.

At a Friday city council meeting, Minneapolis officials debated whether getting rid of the mask mandate would exacerbate racial disparities. “If the information that you’re giving us is that in more affluent and whiter parts of town, lifting the mask mandate would be a pleasurable fun thing that would probably be safe; and if in other parts of town where people haven’t had access to the vaccine, it means people will get sick and die, I think it’s very clear what the choice is,” said council member Steve Fletcher, who represents an area of downtown Minneapolis.

Ultimately, the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced they would retain their mask mandates for now, saying they needed to consult with city health experts before lifting restrictions.

Jorge Guzman, a James Beard award-nominated chef who owns and oper