NJ Mask Update: More stores require them

Masks are back in New Jersey.

After 14 months of mandatory mask mandates, Governor Phil Murphy lifted those rules on May 28. It was heralded as a key step in the return to normalcy. Now, barely two months later, masks are back in many locations across New Jersey.

Here are the latest businesses to implement new mask mandates:

Wegmans

All employees are required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. All shoppers are being "strongly encouraged" to wear a mask, but it is not required.

ACME

All employees are required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. Customers are encouraged to wear a mask, but it is not required. That has drawn criticism from the union representing ACME workers. In a statement, UFCW Local 152 demanded ACME make masks mandatory for all shoppers, and the failure to do so "exposes our members and thier families to the Delta Variant and is completely unacceptable."

Wawa

All employees are required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. Some Wawa stores have begun posting signs on entrance doors informing customers they are required to mask up before entering.

ACME, Wegmans and Wawa join a growing list of retailers, food stores and restaurants requiring masks for employees and recommending them for customers, including Walmart, Home Depot, Starbucks and McDonalds now require all employees to mask up, regardless of vaccination status.

Governor Murphy has not announced a return to a state wide mask mandate. Murphy is instead letting businesses make that decision, for now, but has said all options are on the table when it comes to crushing the spread of the COVID Delta Variant.