Workers worry as mask rules eased in Texas, Mississippi, other states
Public health experts have warned that lifting restrictions too soon could lead to another lethal wave of infections.
Â
Â
Leo Carney, kitchen manager at McElroy s Harbor House in Biloxi on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, said the removal of coronavirus restrictions will disproportionately impact Black residents â many of whom are essential workers. [ ROGELIO V. SOLIS | AP ]
Updated Mar. 7
JACKSON, Mississippi â Leo Carney worries that bigger crowds and mask-less diners could endanger workers at the Biloxi, Mississippi, seafood restaurant where he manages the kitchen. Maribel Cornejo, who earns $9.85 an hour as a McDonaldâs cook in Houston, canât afford to get sick and frets co-workers will become more lax about wearing masks, even though the fast food company requires them.
JACKSON, Mississippi Leo Carney worries that bigger crowds and mask-less diners could endanger workers at the Biloxi, Mississippi, seafood restaurant whe
â Europe struggles as infectious variants power virus surge
â Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama gets coronavirus vaccine
â CDC Study: Mask mandates helps slow spread, indoor dining precarious
âââ
HEREâS WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
CHICAGO â The first case of the Brazil variant in Illinois has been detected in a Chicago resident, health officials say.
City and state public health officials say Northwestern University researchers found the so-called P.1 variant in a test sample from a Chicago resident who came down with the disease. The infected person told contact tracers they hadnât recently traveled outside Illinois.
The P.1 strain was first found in Brazilian travelers who arrived in Tokyo in early January. It appeared in Minnesota later that month and has since been identified in several other states.
As more jurisdictions join Texas, Mississippi, and other states in lifting mask mandates and easing restrictions on businesses, many essential workers including bartenders, restaurant servers, and retail workers are relieved by changes that might help the economy but also concerned they could make them less safe amid a pandemic that health experts warn is far from over.