Businesses urged to maintain masks as mandate expires

Even with Friday’s expiry of mandatory mask wearing in enclosed spaces with public access, business owners and operators say they will proceed with caution, with several saying the announcement was made prematurely.

That conclusion is in sync with the opinion of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, whose president, Dr Mindi Fitz-Henley, has described the decision as ill-timed.

Answers Gifts & Homes supervisor Michelle Richards told The Gleaner on Thursday that while she would prefer customers to keep their facial coverings on while browsing through the store, she felt powerless in preventing them from doing otherwise.

With increasing fears of a resurgence of COVID-19, particularly after the Easter and summer holidays and the possibility of a fifth wave of the virus, Richards believes the prime minister’s decision came too soon.

She said that although workers would not be required to wear masks, some would insist on continuing to do so.

Richards’ sentiments were echoed by a supervisor at Supermed Pharmacy at Mall Plaza who requested anonymity.

The supervisor said it was hard enough trying to enforce the wearing of masks when the practice was compulsory, with many Jamaicans going about their daily lives with their face uncovered.

“From the beginning ... some people definitely don’t want to wear mask to come inside, no matter what the circumstance is, [and] although the date don’t come as yet, they are coming in without their mask,” the supervisor said on Thursday, the eve of the mandate’s lapse.

That is a source of concern for many business operators who wish to keep their environments as sterile and safe as possible to prevent the spread of the virus. At the height of the pandemic, businesses suffered from severe productivity losses. Others were wary of a drop in patronage if their business was cited for deep-cleaning.

Supermed would not be establishing regulations that would deter customers from visiting, said the supervisor, but employees have been encouraged to continue wearing masks for their personal safety.

Although sanitisation upon entry is to be maintained under the Public Health Enforcement Measures, Richards told The Gleaner that the decision to remove the mask mandate was illogical, especially because the virus is not transmitted only through touch, but by inhalation in the proximity of an infected person.

“I would believe that keeping the mask is even more crucial than asking to be sanitised. Me just nuh see it a make sense,” Richards said.

The owner of Tropical Appliances and Furniture, Sunil Harisinghani, asserted that mask wearing was “people’s choice”.

He also believes that the Government is loosening its restrictions in order to attract more foreign investments and business, which will help the economy recover.

“If they want a life, they will wear it; if they don’t want a life, they won’t,” said Harisinghani.

President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, John Mahfood, is in stride with most business operators. The consensus: the mask pullback was done too early.

“I recommend that companies should continue to require mask wearing by employees indoors. In addition, I believe that supermarkets and shops should continue to require customers to hand-sanitise and wear masks,” Mahfood, who is also CEO of Jamaican Teas and owner of the Shoppers Delight supermarket, said.

With main tourism markets the United States and United Kingdom still battling with surges of the virus and Jamaica having a low vaccination rate of under 25 per cent, Mahfood argued that the island was not in a position to withdraw the mask requirement.

Another businessman who requested anonymity has criticised the Government’s approach, noting instances in the United Kingdom where mask mandates were removed, resulting in an increase in COVID-19 infections.

And David Wan, president of the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, has also suggested that businesses observe the wearing of masks as a best practice until the pandemic is reclassified an epidemic.

Though he described the Government’s decision as “an understandable move given the current COVID statistics”, he warned that another surge could be on the way and that Jamaicans should be prepared for a reimposition of strictures.

“I think some basic infection-protection measures should be carried out by businesses until the virus comes under very good control,” Wan said.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com