Some Triangle businesses reinstate mask mandate as COVID cases surge
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Signs are popping up again outside of Triangle businesses that face coverings are a must to step foot inside the establishment.
The CDC recommended Tuesday that fully-vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors as the Delta variant becomes more prevalent. On a local level, North Carolina continues to wait and see the state-issued guidance.
Still, businesses like Beauty World in south Raleigh are making the call themselves and reinstating a mandate. One manager cites the increase in COVID-19 cases as a cause for concern.
The company that owns the Carolina Ale House chain is meeting Thursday and coming up with its own game plan.
"Whatever we can do as a restaurant group to take care guests and staff and keep our business open, we want to take those steps now before it gets to the point where the government has to go even further to shut us down. That's our worst-case scenario," said Katherine Goldfaden, the spokesperson for the Carolina Ale House.
The last year and a half has been hard on restauranteurs -- owners had to deal with closures, partial reopenings, food price hikes, and staffing shortages.
Goldfaden says her company is trying to roll with the punches.
"If a mask is what that means, we'd rather take that step than to go all the way back to closures and layoffs," she said.
