Indoor masks are required again. What to expect from restaurants, stores around Fresno?

On Wednesday, California reinstated a statewide mandate requiring people to wear masks when indoors at public places.

The mandate runs through Jan. 15 and comes amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus and increase in COVID-19 cases in parts of the state following Thanksgiving.

In Fresno, it wasn’t clear exactly how much will change as local businesses worked through the mandate.

There was no clear signage greeting people at the entrances at Fashion Fall mall Wednesday morning, or any indication that the mandate was being enforced.

Though most of the customers were wearing masks, a visible number were not.

Inside the mall, the messaging was present. Just about every store window had a sign reminding guests to stop and mask up.

There were multiple signs at clothing retailer H&M, including a poster-sized stand at the store entrance, though a maskless shopper could be seen looking through the racks of clothes.

PACSun didn’t have a sign about masks, but was limiting the number of customers inside at any one time, as were several other stores.

There was some mixed messages, too.

A sign outside Spencer’s said fully vaccinated customers were not required to wear masks. The new requirements are in effect for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

Trader Joe’s

Even across town at Trader Joe’s, the grocery store that was a centerpoint of the mask debate early in the pandemic, there was little evidence of any big change. A small paper sign was posted by the front door; just one sentence to let people know of the state requirement.

Inside, several people were shopping without masks.

Many counties already had masking rules in place prior to Wednesday.

In Sacramento County, for example, health officials issued an indoor mask mandate in late July, after the state lifted its previous universal mandate.

Fresno County rules

That’s unlike in Fresno County when, back in August, officials with Department of Public Health declined to address whether they were even considering a universal indoor masking order for residents, as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations surged. A spokesperson at the time said in an email that the agency “is working with all our partners to look for ways to increase masking as a way to ‘flatten the curve with this surge, which is definitely taking advantage of non-masked individuals to spread.’”

Fresno County did issue a mask order back in May 2020, only to quickly amend it to say residents “should” wear masks, changing the guidance from a requirement to a recommendation.

In a statement on Wednesday, the county said that within the organization, “employees and members of the public will be required to follow the state’s requirement and Cal/OSHA guideline,” but made it clear that the current mask mandates came from the state’s Department of Public Health.

“The position of the County of Fresno continues to be one of voluntary compliance with the safety recommendations issued by the California Department of Public Health to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and curb a winter surge.”

The city on Wednesday, said that some people are not yet aware the monthlong requirement is in place, and is working to educate the community.

The California Restaurant Association also encourages its restaurants to follow public health mandates, but what independent businesses actually do will vary, said Raul Gutierrez Jr., owner of Papi’s Mex Grill and president of the Fresno chapter of the restaurant association.

He expects some restaurants will try to enforce the rule.

Some won’t.

Some businesses have already posted on social media that they plan to comply, and are asking customers to join them in masking up, like The Revue coffee shop in the Tower District and Sunnyside Deli.

Others, like Big Papa’s Deli in Exeter, have posted that they don’t care if customers wear a mask or not, and won’t comply with the mandate.

Restaurant scene

“The city and the county have already said they’re not going to enforce it, so that takes quite a bit of the bite out of the enforcement to begin with,” Gutierrez said. His restaurant will require employees to wear masks, and provide them for customers, but won’t force diners to do anything.

The last thing anybody wants is to go back to the days when workers had to enforce mask-wearing with customers who didn’t want to, he said.

If he required customers wear masks at his restaurant, he’d probably lose 30% to 40% of his business, he said.

“Throw in the problem of arguments and confrontations and all that? My staff (are) not police officers.”

Gutierrez said he hopes people will respect each other, regardless of whether they’re wearing a mask or not.

“The biggest thing for us is tolerance, respect, and encouraging people to do the right thing.”

That sentiment is echoed by Scott Miller with the Fresno Chamber of Commerce. He hopes people will have a level of kindness right now, especially when dealing with service employees.

“In no circumstance, is it the person behind the counter who made the decision,” he said.

On Wednesday, Miller said he had yet to hear from any members about the mandate one way or another.

“I assume that is because people are used to this scenario,” he said. Many businesses have been requiring masks this whole time, he said, and because business aren’t being closed or otherwise limited, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

“People are kind of used to it.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 3:36 PM.