Fed, Walmart shares momentum for #maskup

YORK, SC / LEVELLAND, Texas / CHICAGO (Reuters) – Ask a Federal Reserve official what the most important step is needed for the economy to follow the course of the body bump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and it is likely you get a short reply and quick reply: wear a mask.

It is a message that is now being spread with greater repetition and urgency by the most influential economic actors in the US, both in the public and private spheres, as the first signs of a rapid recovery have begun to fade between of a resurgence of the disease in most states and the increase in deaths. (Open tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters interactive)

In the absence of a uniform national Trump administration policy regarding the use of face covers in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Fed officials have made the mask a centerpiece of their public appearances. And on Monday Walmart Inc (WMT.N), the nation’s largest retailer and private employer, began requiring masks for shoppers at all of its stores, including approximately a third of its 5,000 U.S. locations in non-state or local mask mandated areas.

“In general, what we are seeing is that customers meet the requirement to cover their faces,” said a company spokeswoman. “As we have seen in stores located in areas under a government mandate, customers are shown with a face covered or putting one on when requested.”

Federal Reserve officials have used their particular hanger to try to spread the word. Presidents of regional reserve banks maintain a constant rhythm of appearances before local service clubs like Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.

In addition to discussing the complexities of Fed programs and monetary policy, they have become default hygiene trainers at a time when success in overcoming a global health crisis may hinge on small steps of personal responsibility.

“I place too much emphasis on my public comments wearing a mask because it is a message that everyone who hears can act,” Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan told Reuters in an interview.

Kaplan, whose Fed district encompassing Texas and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana has been hit hard in the latest stage of the outbreak, continued: “I am not the only one, but I am one of several, that if I constantly emphasize this period and connect it to the economy … and unemployment, maybe we can get more widespread adoption and maybe help fight this virus. ”

THE WALMART EFFECT

Walmart’s move is perhaps the largest micro-level experiment yet to drive behavior in that direction, one that economists at Goldman Sachs say is associated with “significantly better” coronavirus outcomes. According to his model, a national mask mandate would be as effective as a total closure and without the impact of 5% on economic growth associated with restrictions on total activity.

In York County, South Carolina, a state where the governor, Republican Henry McMaster, has refused to issue a mask mandate, there were some early indications of Walmart’s influence.

Before the company’s mask requirement went into effect, signs at the Walmart store in York said that masks “are recommended while you shop.” During a 30-minute window on Friday afternoon, about a third of shoppers were not wearing a mask when they saw them enter the store.

On Monday morning, the sign had changed to say that masks were required and compliance seemed to have improved. Of those who entered the store for another half-hour period, 119 had masks before entering. Only 16 did not, including three young children with their parents.

The vast majority of shoppers also wore masks at two stores around Atlanta, where the Democratic mayor has imposed a mask mandate and the Republican governor has sued to stop it. Fewer than 30 shoppers out of about 300 observed over a 30-minute period at a store in McDonough, a Republican-trending suburb, attempted to enter the store without a mask on Monday afternoon, and most of those who accepted one offered by staff from the store at the Entrance. Only three refused and left.

‘I ONLY HAVE A BIRTH’

At the Walmart store in Levelland, Texas, a conservative city of 13,500 people sitting on the plains in the sun 30 miles west of Lubbock, most people wore masks when they entered on Monday, but the few who refused entered the store without problems or confrontations. . Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has ordered the use of masks in all counties with at least 20 cases, including Hockley County, where Levelland is located.

In a 30-minute window around noon Monday, 112 people entered the store wearing a mask while only seven entered without covering their faces. A Walmart employee at the door said nothing to those who were not wearing a mask.

A client without a mask was a middle-aged woman wearing a red shirt with the words “NO FEARS” stamped in black letters. The woman, who agreed to speak only if Ashley quoted her by her first name, detailed several reasons for refusing to cover her face, but said most boiled down to one: “I’m stubborn and I don’t like people telling me what to do.” .

Meanwhile, mask compliance was nearly 100% at various Walmart stores observed in areas that have had mask mandates for weeks or longer, such as Danbury, Connecticut, and Chicago.

“I’m surprised that Walmart has to tell people to wear masks; it’s ridiculous, “said Amy Arenson, 54, a housewife who shop regularly at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood.

“What’s the problem? It’s like wearing pants. You have to wear pants when you go shopping and then you can take them off when you come home. No one has to force you to wear pants and they shouldn’t force you to wear a mask.”