California says people must wear masks in restaurants and bars. Will it actually happen?
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide mask directive issued Thursday requires customers to wear masks at restaurants and bars while not eating and drinking. It’s unclear whether that’ll actually be followed.
Sacramento-area restaurants and bars have shown varying levels of adherence to state guidelines aimed at limiting the coronavirus’ spread. Some have taken significant steps to reduce person-to-person contact including removing half their tables, preventing people from congregating at the bar and doling condiments out in individual containers. Others have handed their bartenders masks before letting in dozens of unmasked customers and called that enough.
The Mandarin owner Michael Helmrich doesn’t just expect his customers not to wear masks. He actively doesn’t want them to do so. Staffers, including Helmrich himself, don’t wear masks and they have tossed gloves aside as well, though he said they still disinfect surfaces around the restaurant every 15 minutes.
“This mask thing is just B.S. Look people, if you’re that afraid of (the coronavirus), don’t go out. I don’t want people like that coming into my restaurant because it affects those people who are enjoying their meal,” Helmrich said. “There’s got to be a line drawn. We (restaurant owners) all think it’s really silly, but who are we? We’re only the ones trying to stay afloat here.”
The new state guidelines require people to wear masks when walking through restaurant and bar hallways, not while seated at tables, which are supposed to be six feet apart. That’ll be doable at Burgers & Brew’s locations in midtown Sacramento, Davis, West Sacramento and Chico, owner Derar Zawaydeh said.
Burgers & Brew plans to offer maskless customers disposable face coverings. But if someone comes in without a mask and declines one, there’s not much more to do, Zawaydeh said.
“It could create some kind of uneasy feeling if you try to get someone to put on mask and they don’t want to,” he said. “If a guy says he’s not going to put it on, what am I going to do, fight with him? Kick him out? You’re creating more issues that way.”
Sacramento County’s Environmental Management Department will continue to advocate for people to wear masks but won’t punish those that don’t do so, county spokeswoman Janna Haynes wrote in an email.
The county also plans to temporarily hire 20-25 “navigators” through the Sierra Health Foundation to help small businesses comply with state regulations.
“Our stance in Sacramento County has and will continue to be that of education, not enforcement — for both residents and businesses,” Haynes wrote. “Our Environmental Management Department that regulates many businesses in the County and our soon to be hired navigators ... will work to educate owners and staff on how to best operate their businesses to meet all state guidelines for their industry.”
More than 161,000 California residents have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, including 5,290 fatal cases. Sacramento County has seen 67 deaths and nearly 2,000 positive tests so far, and Yolo and Placer counties both reported record high numbers of new cases Thursday.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 1:14 PM.