All enclosed places in our state continue to require masks—never stopped. People mostly wear them—correctly. About 95+%.
There are still some protesting masks and VAX but the very loud but small minority.
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Glad we did not go to that one; it did not have the part we needed! Had to go further south. The HD in Bellevue had a sign that said “masks required.” The only two unmasked folks we saw were their employees, and the cashier had his mask hanging below his nose (once again suggesting that this is a Y-chromosome linked trait). Ugh.
And thank you for donating blood!
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**@4kids4us - this is sort of random, and not really mask related, but the Ohio i’ve seen is mostly agricultural; not mountains - so I did a quick search on the Appalachian mountains, and saw their range across so many states. Learned something new today. 
@bgbg4us I need to edit my post - I meant to say SouthEAST OH, not southwest! Sorry for confusion.
But yes, I never really thought about that part of OH as being part of Appalachia until I took my son to visit what ended up being the university he is now attending in Cincinnati. Looking at the map before we left, I realized most of the drive was going to be thru Appalachia. Growing up in suburban MD and taking frequent road trips to Cleveland where my father is originally from, a good part of the trip (thru NW MD and SW PA) is in the mountains. Going to Cincinnati takes us further west, thru WV, and the very southwest part PA and southeast OH. Very rural, and agricultural, but much of it also in the mountains as well as the foothills/valleys. It is a scenic and interesting drive.
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Mask update in Washington, a statewide mask mandate will go back into effect on Monday regardless of vaccination status.
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Effective today, masks are mandatory at the store I run in Fairfax County, VA. We re-instituted masks (as a polite request) after the county’s advisory notice on 8/3. We had an elderly couple who refused masks on Tuesday, so, we’re back to mandatory. It’s a small business. If we get sick, we need to close to the public. We are just trying to keep our employees healthy.
And tonight one employee notified me that his girlfriend has a student who tested positive so both he and his girlfriend need to be tested.
We’re all vaccinated but we are cautious.
Boston just implemented masks for everybody indoors (gyms, bars, etc.) regardless of vaccination status.
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Same is here in WA. Our governor is bringing back mask mandates. About time.
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Two major doctor and hospital associations are asking the county to reinstate indoor masking and proof of vaccine mandate for indoor patrons of bats, restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues.
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We had BBQ take out in Hartford CT last week and the city had a mask mandate according to the sign on the door. I think so far in NYS masks are recommended for the vaccinated indoors and required for the unvaccinated indoors and outdoors if they can’t socially distance. The new governor announced today that all schools will have mask mandates.
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Mask wearing is still pretty low in my part of MA. I visited three places this weekend:
Chipotle: most employees masked, no customers masked
Staples: all employees masked, no customers masked
BJs: about half employees masked, maybe 20% of customers masked.
People in Portland Oregon are complying with the indoor mask mandate at about 98% (there’s an occasional mask below the nose). As to the outdoor “in places you cannot socially distance” mandate, well that’s a tough one to define. Just around town, I’d say about 25% of people are wearing masks everywhere outside and another 50% are taking them off and on. Not sure that doing that is very helpful to prevent spread. But not sure except for outdoor concerts and similar events that we know when we are supposed to wear them. I had lunch with a friend who had just travelled from northern IN to Portland and was stunned by the extent of mask wearing here.
I live in a Boston suburb and spend about a week per month in NYC (ahead of our full move back down there when our S22 finishes school). Lots of indoor mask wearing in both places, though it remains spotty in restaurants — no one (including me) is putting masks on and off while sitting at the table, though many wear them when walking around.
Enforcement of NYC’s vaccination mandate for indoor establishments is also spotty. I went twice to a venerable Midtown bar and grill, where none of the staff is masked, and I was asked for vaccine proof the second time but not the first (two different bartenders). Took my daughter out for dinner in Brooklyn, and while we were going to be sitting outside, I waited indoors for her since I’d had a hot walk to the place. The host asked me for vaccine proof, but I noticed he didn’t ask some people who arrived shortly after to join friends who were already seated.
Back at home, mask wearing was about 100% when I went to Whole Foods near me today, but when I dropped off a tennis racquet for stringing yesterday at a shop in the next suburb over and picked it up today, none of the staff were wearing masks. Struck me as a bit odd, but I wasn’t annoyed or fearful.
Overall, I find the current wave of increased restrictions much more manageable than earlier ones. I’m sure it’s because I and so many around me are vaccinated, meaning even a rare breakthrough is likely to be mild. Also, we’re not going back to some of the interventions that were largely silly and meaningless, like outdoor mask mandates and unidirectional aisles in stores.
staff at the places I go wear masks but not everyone is covering their noses, which negates the idea of masks. AT our rescue we have asked that adopters and staff wear masks again. For a while in May-July we were mask free. I went to a “party” at a food bank yesterday, and noone was wearing a mask.
I hate that I am back to wearing masks all the time and feeling scared and I am fully vaccinated. I also went to a friends housewarming party with about 20 people and I stayed outside as much as possible. My H on the other abhors masks now that he is vaccinated, and will only wear when necessary.
I will say that my behavior though is based on numbers. If our cases start to decline and are back to where they were in May/June, I would be much more easy going, but as a fully vaccinated person I am living my life, but in a mask.
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I was out and about a bit this weekend here in Northern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan. Mask wearing inside is still definitely the minority - I would say well under 50%.
It’s the rare local store that requires masks. None of the chain stores do. Sure I WANT to be someone enjoying the facial freedom of no mask. But I still suit up as extra security in what our rates are showing are trying times.
I was proud of my mom age 88 who without me prompting her put on her mask at the big box grocery store.
Our rates are exploding, mostly among the unvaxed that are filling our hospitals and morgues. Because of this, I’m back to being a hermit and wearing the most protective masks I can find. I like Airgami and Savewo, both of which are supposed to filter 98-99% of everything per evaluations by Aaron Collins, the independent mechanical engineer who evaluated hundreds of masks and made a spreadsheet and shared it all on YouTube.
I am at high risk as is my H and nearly 92 year old mom.
I went to a roof top bar few days in NYC. I was asked for proof of vaccination. The wait staff all wore masks.
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At the Jersey Shore…mask wearing minimal. Restaurant workers are masked. Most places have outdoor dining. OC boardwalk was very crowded last night, but the weather was beautiful. We are hoping it’s a little less busy from now until Friday mid day.
No one has asked for proof of immunization, and we haven’t seen anyplace that requires masks indoors.
at the end of hte month I am going to a large event and we need to wear masks all the time and proof of vaccine.
Dallas county has a mask mandate now but compliance is poor and I’ve seen no efforts by retail stores to enforce it.