With Mask Mandates Expiring, Businesses Bet On Their Own Policies

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Come Tuesday, Connecticut's mask mandate ends, though not within the four walls of Staci Glazier's hair salon.

"Because I'm a private business, it's my rules," says Glazier who will continue requiring clients to mask up. "It doesn't matter what the town or the state does; it's my rules."

Glazier left her former salon and opened her one-woman shop, Glaze, in Hamden during the pandemic. She figured it was safer because she could limit exposure for herself and her clients. Plus, she was tired of missing out on work and money, every time another stylist got exposed.

"I don't want to have to close my business again, and I do not believe we're out of the woods," she says. Most clients understand; she's parted ways with those who don't.

The CDC relaxed its mask guidance Friday, advising that nearly 70% of Americans live in a place where it's OK to skip face coverings. Much of the country had already moved on from mask mandates. As of March 1st, indoor mask mandates will remain in only three states — Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. (Oregon's mask mandate will end March 19; Washington's will end March 21, according to statements from those states' governors.)

By Yuki Noguchi
Source and Complete Article: npr.org
February 27, 2022