Coronavirus: No Mask, No Service In East Providence

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — East Providence businesses will have the right to refuse service to any customer not wearing a cloth face covering starting Wednesday. Mayor Bob DaSilva issued the executive order on Saturday, which is an extension of Gov. Gina Raimondo's order requiring all employees of customer-facing businesses to wear coverings at all times, and saying all customers should wear them, but as of Sunday still falling just short of the right-of-refusal-of-service bar.

"Unequivocally, for sure, every customer who goes into a store of any kind — a pharmacy, a grocery store, essential retailer, liquor store — must wear a mask," Raimondo said late in her Sunday news conference before qualifying, "what I haven't said — yet — is that a store can throw you out if you're a customer who doesn't have a mask. There are some mayors who are thinking of that, and are free to have a more stringent set of guidelines."

Barrington imposed fines for employees and customers not wearing masks in public buildings last week.

DaSilva's order for those over 2 years old, and who can tolerate a mask, states: "If an individual is in violation of the order, the business or non-profit organization has the right to refuse entry or service to the individual on the grounds of protecting the health and safety of all individuals within the business or non-profit organization."

The difference may be largely a question of nuance. Raimondo has repeatedly said that residents should be less interested in exploring possible exemptions to state orders, and instead follow the spirit of them as much as possible. But DaSilva's order leaves no ambivalence and gives authority to businesses to act as they see fit. It goes into effect on Wednesday and lasts at least until May 8.

"East Providence has an elderly population and we need to not only protect that population, but we need to — together as a community — use all resources available to us to protect the entire population from contracting COVID-19," DaSilva said. "While 90 percent of the population who are out in public in our city are wearing some sort of covering, there is still a percentage of people who are not wearing a covering."

Updated poster with an older looking toddler so as not to confuse people. Also medical disclaimer listed at bottom of poster. Feel free to print and post at your front door. pic.twitter.com/x8Cvtd8pcV
— Mayor Bob DaSilva (@_bob_dasilva) April 20, 2020

Raimondo said Sunday that the state conducted spot business checks of about 200 stores in the state and found compliance was "excellent" on the first day the order went into effect on Saturday. She said the one area where it needs to be better is for customers using the drive-thru of restaurants, coffee shops and pharmacies where drive-thru pick up is an option.

"All the employees in the drive-thru windows were wearing them but many of the customers who drove up to the window for drive-thru did not have a mask," she said. "Let's do the right thing and keep them safe."

Dr. James McDonald, of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said the face coverings are especially important for those who are not feeling sick, but could be an asymptomatic spreader of the virus.

"What you don’t know is what you don’t know," McDonald cautioned after modeling the proper way to have a mask cover both your nose and mouth.

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