Tim Cook at the Apple Tower Theatre Opening in LA in June 2021 - Image: Ken Ray
When word went out that Apple was dropping the mask mandate for most stores in the U.S., I sort of assumed that that meant everyone. Apparently not. Apple Insider ran a piece Wednesday saying that the company is considering letting store workers drop their masks.
You know, a statement from Apple would be neat. Then again, they may not want to do that, what with the various restrictions in different areas and given the fluidity of the whole COVID thing. Indications in Wednesday’s Apple Insider story are that customers can go maskless in some areas in the U.S., though not others. Still, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is looking at loosening masking rules for its own employees. In a post on Twitter, Gurman said, “Hearing Apple is considering dropping the mandate for retail employees too in as early as two weeks.” Apple Insider says:
It's not clear whether such a move would only apply to the same stores where customers are no longer required to wear face coverings.
While that is technically true… really? I know that when I went to the Apple Tower Theatre opening in June of 2021, California had just relaxed its indoor masking rules. While most of the customers and a lot of the Apple employees (all the way up to Apple CEO Tim Cook) chose to go maskless, a lot of store workers kept theirs on. Maybe they weren’t vaxxed. Who knows? Whatever the case, even when all of the mask mandates are lowered, it seems likely we’ll still see many for the foreseeable future.
