ToplineTarget is the latest American company to reinstate mask requirements for employees living in high-coronavirus infection areas. This follows new guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations rise sharply in the United States, Target is not the only one.Target will now require high-risk employees to use face masks starting next week. LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe Key FactsTarget announced Monday that all employees of its stores will have to wear masks starting Tuesday in high-risk areas for the transmission of coronavirus. Target stated that the shift won't apply to customers but it will encourage high-risk shoppers to use face masks. Walmart and Sam's Club announced similar policies on Friday. They will require employees to wear masks and encourage shoppers to do so by posting signs at the entrances of the stores and asking customers to use them. The company announced last week that employees at Florida's Publix grocery stores would be required to wear masks starting Monday, regardless of their vaccination status. Apple announced that it would require both customers and staff to cover their faces in high-risk locations, the day following the release of new CDC mask guidelines.Important BackgroundAfter the CDC declared it safe to wear a mask in public, many big-box retailers have dropped mask requirements for shoppers and staff. Many entities have had to reconsider their policies due to a recent rise in new infections and an increase in hospitalizations that could be attributed to the more delta variant. U.S. cities have reintroduced mandatory masking in certain spaces and companies such as Disney and Facebook announced that they will require coronavirus vaccines to all employees.Continue readingCDC recommends masks again, including for fully vaccinated in certain places. Worrisome new science about Delta Variant (Forbes).Facebook is the latest company to require workers to get vaccinated in the midst of the Covid Surge. (Forbes)
