Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
McDonald's Says Customers Must Wear Masks; Louisiana Mandates Them, Too
USA Today: McDonald's Requires Masks Again For Customers And Employees In Areas With High COVID Transmission
McDonald's is requiring customers and employees to wear masks again at U.S. restaurants located in areas with high or substantial transmission of the coronavirus. The fast-food giant is the largest national chain to add the requirement back for both employees and customers following updated masking guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Tyko, 8/3)
Axios: Target Reinstates Mask Mandate For Employees In High-Risk Counties After CDC Guidance
Target will start to require masks for employees in high-risk counties across the United States starting Tuesday, the company announced Monday. The new policy comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated guidance recommending vaccinated people wear masks in indoor, public settings if they are in parts of the country with substantial to high transmission. (Frazier, 8/2)
CNBC: Facebook To Require All U.S. On-Campus Employees To Wear Masks
Facebook on Monday announced it will begin requiring all of its employees to wear masks when on its campuses in the U.S., regardless of an employee’s vaccination status. “The health and safety of our employees and neighbors in the community remains our top priority,” a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement. “Given the rising numbers of COVID cases, the newest data on COVID variants, and an increasing number of local requirements, we are reinstating our mask requirement in all of Facebook’s U.S. offices, regardless of an employee’s vaccination status.” (Rodriguez, 8/2)
Also —
AP: Louisiana Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate Amid COVID Surge
Louisiana on Monday reinstated a mask mandate in all indoor locations, including schools and colleges, as the state experiences the highest per capita COVID-19 growth in the nation, driven by the delta variant and one of the country’s lowest vaccination rates. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards said the mandate will go into effect on Wednesday and will apply to both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents. Less than three months ago, Edwards lifted a previous face covering requirement amid hopes that the virus was abating. But the state’s fourth coronavirus surge since the pandemic began 17 months ago shows no sign of flattening, Edwards said. (Deslatte, 8/2)
The New York Times: Mask Mandates Are Returning In Many Cities. N.Y.C. Is Holding Back
With the Delta variant of the coronavirus surging, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York on Monday stopped short of reinstating an indoor mask mandate even as more cities and at least one state did so. City officials have been deliberating what measures might be needed to head off a more serious resurgence in New York, the nation’s largest city and once the epicenter of the pandemic. Los Angeles County and Washington, D.C., have recently reintroduced mask requirements indoors; Louisiana did so on Monday, as did San Francisco and several surrounding Northern California counties. (Fitzsimmons and Rubinstein, 8/2)
AP: Central Michigan Orders Masks At Least Through September
Central Michigan University joined the ranks of schools to require people on campus to wear masks when students to return to campus this fall, the school’s president announced Monday. In a letter to students, President Bob Davies said students, faculty and staffers must wear masks in class at least through the end of September. The letter comes as the school said classrooms will return to full capacity and that the vast majority of classes will involve a “face-to-face component.” (8/2)
NBC News: Supreme Court Won't Block Maine's Covid Restrictions On Churches
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from a church in Maine to prevent the state's reimposing Covid-related restrictions. Calvary Chapel of Bangor said the rules were the "most severe restrictions in the nation on places of worship," beginning with a ban on gatherings for religious worship, which was modified later to allow 50 worshippers in the church. The limits violated its religious freedom while making exceptions for other gatherings, it said. (Williams, 8/2)
Los Angeles Times: Bay Area Mandates Indoor Masks Amid Delta Variant
In another sign the Delta variant is upending California’s attempts to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind it, officials in a large swath of the Bay Area announced Monday that residents will again need to wear masks in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status. The move comes several weeks after Los Angeles County became one of the first in the nation to return to an indoor mask mandate, and it greatly expands the number of people in California covered by such rules. (Dolan and Seidman, 8/2)
Oklahoman: Oklahoma Democrats Call For Special Session To Repeal School Mask Ban
A contingent of legislative Democrats is calling for a special legislative session to repeal a new law that prevents school districts from imposing mask mandates unless a state of emergency is in effect. More than a dozen House Democrats want the GOP-led Oklahoma Legislature to undo the law that passed with support from more than two-thirds of state lawmakers. (Forman, 8/2)
