NATSO joined with seven trade associations representing a broad array of the retail community in urging federal health agencies to publicly state that the burden of enforcing mask requirements should not be placed on businesses and their employees.
In an Aug. 3 letter to Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rochelle P. Walensky, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, and James Frederick, Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Human Services Health Administration, the groups said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, some local ordinances put the onus of mask enforcement on retail businesses.
Requiring retail employees (who are trained not to confront shoplifters and focus on the safety and well-being of employees and customers) to enforce mask mandates “put employees in perilous situations as mask wearing became a heated and politicized issue,” the groups said.
The letter was sent as a number of state and local governments reinstate mask mandates. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards reissued an indoor mask mandate statewide Aug. 2 after dropping it several months ago. This marks one of the first states to do so amid a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across the U.S. linked to the delta variant.
Nevada reinstated a mask mandate indoors regardless of vaccination for counties and cities in the state with high transmission. Additionally, some counties and cities have also reinstated mask mandates including Los Angeles County, San Francisco, New Orleans, St. Louis and Atlanta.
The CDC recently updated its mask guidance and now recommends that people, regardless of vaccination status, wear face masks indoors again in certain situations.
NATSO in July 2020 encouraged the truckstops and travel plazas nationwide to adopt a policy requiring customers to wear face coverings or masks to protect the health and safety of employees and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The health and well-being of the industry’s employees and customers is the No. 1 priority for the truckstop and travel plaza industry.
NATSO was joined in signing the letter by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), Energy Marketers of America, FMI, The Food Industry Association; International Franchise Association; National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS); National Grocers Association; National Retail Federation; and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America.
[NATSO Encourages Travel Plazas and Truckstops to Require Masks]
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