Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is the latest national chain to require all customers to wear masks.
The change will start next week. Starbucks said last week that it will require customers to wear facial coverings or masks in all 9,000 of its company-owned US stores beginning Wednesday. Best Buy announced Tuesday that it will also require all shoppers coming into its approximately 1,000 stores to wear face masks. Costco began requiring its members to wear masks in stores beginning in May.
Although no federal mandate to wear a mask exists, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says everyone "should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public." The CDC said "face coverings are meant to protect other people."
Most major retailers and grocers initially hesitated to enact their own mask mandates for customers during the pandemic, partly over fears of antagonizing shoppers who refuse to wear them. Retailers have said they are reluctant to put their employees in the position of enforcing mask requirements.
But the ground in the retail and restaurant industries has shifted in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. More than 3.3 million people have now tested positive for the coronavirus nationwide and more than 130,000 have died. Cases are climbing in much of the country and many cities and states are reimposing restrictions to contain new outbreaks, including mask requirements in public settings.
"As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face covering mandates being implemented," Walmart said in a news release Wednesday. About 65% of its more than 5,000 stores, including its Sam's Club locations, are located in areas where there is government mandate on face coverings.
"To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, July 20. This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols," the company said.
Industry groups and unions have also stepped up their calls around mask requirements for customers.
Last week, the Retail Leaders Industry Association, an industry trade group, called on the nation's governors to pass statewide mandates requiring citizens to wear masks in public. The United Food and Commercial Workers' Union also urged government officials and business leaders to require masks for customers in an advertisement over the weekend.
A guide to pandemic pastimes with staying power
A guide to pandemic pastimes with staying power
Reading a classic
UpdatedWhy: Checking âWar and Peaceâ and âMoby Dickâ off your bucket list will give you smarty pants bragging rights at your next Zoom happy hour.
How hard is it: These classics are rated as âreadableâ by high school students, so it shouldnât be that tough.
Will it last: They may discover a vaccine before you get to the last page of one of these tomes. Itâs just too tempting to take a short cut, like the Disney-produced âMoby Dickâ graphic novel, with Scrooge McDuck as Captain Quackhab. Or the Cozy Classic version of âWar and Peaceâ which boils down Tolstoyâs 560,000+-word epic to just 12 âchild friendlyâ words, accompanied by needle-felted illustrations. (Spoiler alert: âSoldier. Boom!â)
Baking bread
UpdatedWhy: What can beat the smell of fresh baked bread?
How hard is it: Itâs a bit like conducting a chemistry experiment. The results are best when you follow instructions, are precise in your measurements, control the temperature and master your technique.
Will it last: Will you really have time to keep your sourdough starter alive, not to mention all that kneading, proofing and shaping? Besides, will anyone still want to eat all those carbs when weâre trying to lose âthe COVID-15â?
Solo exercise
UpdatedWhy: Exercising outdoors by yourself or in the privacy of your home is a comparatively safe activity during the pandemic. And because we need to work off all that fresh baked bread, thereâs been a boom in biking, inline skating and home workouts.
How hard is it: You never forget how to ride a bike, but be prepared for some aches and pains if you overdo it. Oh, and dumbbells are as hard to find as Clorox wipes.
Will it last: Definitely. Youâd never let that expensive new treadmill become a clothes rack, would you?
Playing puzzles and games
UpdatedWhy: With the kids home from school, you want a family activity that doesnât involve screens.
How hard is it: The hardest part isnât finding all the edge pieces, itâs finding a puzzle. Booming sales have led to shortages. If you want to try a new board game, boardgamegeek.com has an encyclopedic listing of games organized by genre and popularity and with complexity ratings.
Will it last: If your family is competitive, thereâs a good chance puzzles and games will be part of your future.
Feeding backyard critters
UpdatedWhy: Sales of bird seed and feeders have taken flight as people stuck in their homes try to liven up the view outside the window. Squirrel feeding has also become popular, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, with cooped-up homebodies getting social media mileage out of videos of the antics of the urban rodents.
How hard is it: Itâs easy to buy bird seed. But it helps to have some video editing skills if you want to be like Mahtomedi resident Randy Lindorff, who got a quarter-million TikTok views on a slow-motion video of a crazy squirrel hanging from on a spinning bird feeder.
Will it last: As long as the coronavirus doesnât jump between humans and squirrels, weâre good.
Learning to sing or play an instrument
UpdatedWhy: You saw those videos of Italians applauding musicians serenading their neighbors from balconies. You want to be one of those musicians, donât you?
How hard is it: Every musician thinks their instrument is the hardest of all to play. And theyâre all right. But places like MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis are offering live, online music lessons. âHereâs a great chance to learn something new while you shelter in place,â according to the schoolâs website.
Will it last: Donât quit your day job.
Learning a new language
UpdatedWhy: Being stuck at home is probably making a lot of us eager to see foreign lands someday.
How hard is it: Apps like Babbel and Duolingo make it cheap and easy to get started in an abundance of different languages.
Will it last: Itâs hard to say which will come sooner, fluency in a new language or other countries allowing Americans to enter.
Backyard farming
UpdatedWhy: Weâve all acquired a bit of a prepper mind-set since the pandemic hit. The idea of starting a vegetable garden and keeping chickens sounds better than masking up and facing shortages at the grocery store.
How hard is it: You can weed, water and fertilize, but you may find it hard to beat supermarket quality and prices. Also, youâll have to wait a while for your first cucumber or egg to arrive.
Will it last: Maybe, if knowing that you grew it makes it taste better than store-bought.
Sewing
UpdatedWhy: Youâll feel like youâre making a difference in a difficult time if you volunteer to churn out a few dozen cloth masks.
How hard is it: You might have to drop a few hundred dollars to get a decent sewing machine. And thereâs a bit of a learning curve. Thread tension? Bobbin winders? The Singer Start 1304, a beginner model, has a 73-page manual and a 30-item troubleshooting guide.
Will it last: Well, someone will have to turn all those cloth face masks into quilts once this is all over.
Decluttering
UpdatedWhy: Now that youâre home a lot, you may look around and wonder, âWhy do I have all this stuff?â Especially as your house fills up with board games, jigsaw puzzles, musical instruments and sewing paraphernalia.
How hard is it: Closings and high demand during the pandemic made it hard to find a place to donate stuff. But the garbage service hasnât stopped. Or maybe you can try to host a socially distant garage sale.
Will it last: Depends on if all the stuff you acquired for your lockdown hobby continues to spark joy.
Cardboard cat architecture
UpdatedWhy: Instead of recycling all those boxes from Amazon, you can create an elaborate, multilevel, cardboard dream house for your cat.
How hard is it: All you need is tape and a box cutter. Which you can have delivered from Amazon.
Will it last: After you finish the mansion, your cat will probably also want a cardboard pirate ship, a cardboard plane, a cardboard convertible âĻ
___
Š2020 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
