Recently, COVID-19 has been exploding nationwide as the country attempts to reopen. The virus has exploded so much in certain states that many are shutting back down and considering mask mandates. The most recent organization to declare a mask mandate is Walmart.
On July 15, Walmart announced that it will require customers to wear masks in all of their Walmart and Sam's Club locations. This mask mandate will go into effect on July 20.
Mask mandates are not necessarily new to Walmart as many locations throughout the country have had to comply with certain state, county, and city mask mandates. Many of those locations, however have experienced push-back from anti-maskers.
As COVID-19 has exploded again, so has a movement of people who have a general disregard for public health and safety. Many of these people believe that the virus is either not as dangerous as it actually is or that it is some sort of conspiracy or hoax. A major belief of this group is that masks don't work and that being mandated to wear a mask is unconstitutional, thus where they get the name of anti-maskers.
Despite clear proof to the contrary of their beliefs, individuals in the anti-masker movement often violate their local mask mandates and then have disruptive outbursts and tantrums when they are refused service. Because of this, many anti-maskers are nicknamed "Karen" or "Kevin", which are the internet's terms for adults who break rules or are generally mean spirited and throw a fit when they do not get their way, often ignoring any attempts at logic in the process.
Recently, many videos of anti-maskers in Walmart and other stores have gone viral. These videos all have similar scenarios; the store is complying with local mask mandates and refuses the service, or even entry, of an anti-masker who then proceeds to make a scene.
With Walmart's mask mandate, the store can expect to see more cases of anti-maskers causing disturbances in their stores. One argument that Walmart will have to prepare for, especially locations in areas that don't have a local mask mandate, is that the store cannot enforce a mask mandate. In truth, Walmart can enforce a storewide mask mandate and one plane to do so is to have individuals with rather threatening demeanors, reminiscent of bouncers at nightclubs, checking for masks at the entrances to the store and refusing entry to those not wearing masks.
Walmart's mask mandate is a good step in the right direction when it comes to protecting public health and safety. The corporation will have to face major push-back from anti-maskers, but it seems to have a plan ready to go into effect on the 20th that will protect public health and avoid major problems.
