Amid spiking cases in the ongoing health crisis, Apple has started urging its employees to wear masks in retail store locations once again, and is mandating it in some areas, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
/article-new/2021/03/apple-store-palo-alto.jpg?lossy)
Apple stopped requiring fully vaccinated customers and employees to wear masks at Apple Store locations in June, but with the Delta variant spreading across the United States and impacting even those who have been vaccinated, Apple is being more cautious.
Apple is now strongly urging retail store employees to wear masks again and is once again requiring it in some regions. Apple had dropped mask requirement for store employees in June. https://t.co/AfixiW5PIy — Mark Gurman (@markgurman) July 20, 2021
In Santa Clara County where Apple's headquarters are located, local health authorities have begun recommending that masks be worn in indoor public locations, but it is not a mandate. In Los Angeles County, masks are once again required, so Apple employees in this area will indeed be wearing masks.
All Apple stores worldwide are still open at this point in time, and it is not clear if there will be further shutdowns in any areas.
Apple had planned to have its corporate employees return to work in September, but yesterday said that those plans have been delayed until October at the earliest. Corporate employees will be given at least a month's notice before they have to return to work.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Top Rated Comments
There's plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that they do work; people just need to stop thinking about themselves and mask up.
Why would everyone have to wear them if vaccines work?
The issue is a lack of vaccinations. We started well, but now have hit a wall, states like MO aren't helping with 40% or so vaccinations. Also, Florida accounts for 1 in 5 cases across the country
Masks help, vaccinations are the answer
* https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449
* https://files.fast.ai/papers/masks_lit_review.pdf
* https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent
* https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20201119/how-much-does-wearing-a-mask-protect-you
* https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-face-masks-what-you-need-to-know
* https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/masks-save-lives-heres-what-you-need-to-know-2020111921466
* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33087517/
They're not a perfect solution; nobody said they were. Hell, even vaccines aren't 100% effective, but they work. They reduce the spread and that's what we're trying to do here. Obviously if you want to avoid risk, it's better to stay at home or if you have to go out to practice social distancing and sanitize regularly.
Not sure. Before COVID, I still saw the occasional traveler wearing a face mask as a precaution (I think the trend started with SARS, but I could be wrong).