Unmasking Hilton Head’s mask drama: If feasible, consider it, if you desire | Opinion
Our art director set out for Hilton Head Island Tuesday morning to get a picture for this column.
He was looking for people wearing face masks.
He went to a busy area, but left because nobody was wearing one. He finally found what he was looking for at the farmers market.
This during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that, as I write, has led to 90,432 deaths in America.
To mask or not to mask has turned into a big drama on Hilton Head, particularly for those expecting restaurant servers to be masked.
But here’s the inconvenient truth: The servers don’t have to wear masks.
Yet, they should.
Or not.
It depends on who you want to listen to — and that’s part of the problem. A lot of droplets of free and contradictory advice have been coughed up since this pandemic began.
So, in a good faith effort to avoid deputizing citizen Mask Police, let’s review the facts.
Pulling a gun
Some jurisdictions have tried to mandate masks in certain circumstances,such as while waiting in line at a restaurant.
Here’s how well that went in Stillwater, Okla., according to the Restaurant Business publication:
“In the first three hours that restaurant dining rooms were allowed ... to reopen, employees were ‘threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse’ after informing patrons that a face mask was required for entry, according to Mayor Will Joyce. In at least one instance, an irate customer pulled out a gun.
“ ‘Many of those with objections cite the mistaken belief the requirement is unconstitutional, and under their theory, one cannot be forced to wear a mask,’ said Joyce, who had imposed the requirement under his emergency mayoral powers.”
So there’s that.
The non-maskers are constitutional experts.
Which makes you wonder how things will go in Miami, where masks are mandatory.
On Hilton Head, as far as I can tell, neither restaurant servers or diners have to wear a mask by local, state, federal or industry mandate.
Contrary to popular belief, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines do not say servers must wear masks.
CDC guidelines for reopening restaurants and bars say this:
“Promote healthy hygiene practices such as hand washing and employees wearing a cloth face covering, as feasible.”
As feasible is a pandemic-sized loophole.
South Carolina
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster covers it in an executive order this way:
Restaurants “should consider and incorporate industry guidelines ... such as those prepared and published by the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, in addition to undertaking and implementing all reasonable steps to comply with any applicable sanitation guidelines promulgated by the CDC, DHEC, or any other state or federal public health officials.”
And here’s what the Restaurant and Lodging Association says in its “South Carolina Strong Guidelines for Reopening our Hospitality Industry”:
“Employees should be allowed to wear gloves and masks if they so desire, even in front-of-the-house positions and in the restaurant environments when a six-foot social distancing area in the kitchen and front counter area would be difficult to maintain.”
These are great pandemic words: “As feasible,” “should consider,” and “if they so desire.”
If the Mask Police are going to make any citizen arrests, pray that they have a good lawyer, a bullet-proof vest, or both.
The CDC
But that’s not the whole story.
To add to the confusion that has swirled since a few people started coughing in Wuhan, China, last November, here’s what the CDC tells citizens about cloth face masks:
“In light of new data about how COVID-19 spreads, along with evidence of widespread COVID-19 illness in communities across the country, CDC recommends that people wear a cloth face covering to cover their nose and mouth in the community setting. This is to protect people around you if you are infected but do not have symptoms.”
It tells us when to wear our masks:
“A cloth face covering should be worn whenever people are in a community setting, especially in situations where you may be near people. These settings include grocery stores and pharmacies. These face coverings are not a substitute for social distancing. Cloth face coverings are especially important to wear in public in areas of widespread COVID-19 illness.”
I don’t see anything in there mandating restaurant servers wear masks.
But do the guidelines include me and you?
Yes.
It’s the right thing to do.
If feasible, you should consider it, if you so desire.
