Pentagon, Disney Revive Mask Mandates Following CDC Change
July 29, 2021 — It has been 2 days since the CDC reversed itself and said people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus should wear masks again when indoors, and businesses and government entities are already following suit.
On July 27, the agency called for masks in K-12 school settings and in areas of the U.S. experiencing “substantial and high” COVID-19 transmission, even for those who are fully vaccinated.
The new guidance is a significant shift from the CDC’s announcement in May that fully vaccinated Americans could skip wearing a mask in most settings.
In response to the new guidance, the Department of Defense now requires anyone inside its facilities to wear a mask, according to a Wednesday statement.
The announcement “applies to all service members, federal personnel, contractors, and visitors when indoors at all properties owned by the department in those areas, in accordance with updated CDC guidelines,” according to a statement from Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Jamal Brown.
Disney Parks Will Require Visitors to Mask Up
Disneyland and Walt Disney World will reintroduce indoor mask mandates starting Friday.
All visitors 2 years of age and older will be required to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
Guests must wear masks “while indoors and in Disney buses, monorail and Disney Skyliner, regardless of vaccination status,” the company’s website says. “This includes upon entering and throughout all attractions. Face coverings remain optional for all guests in outdoor common areas.”
The parks, based in Anaheim, CA, and Orlando, FL, are both in high-transmission areas.
Costume masks are not considered suitable protection, the website says.
Pastor Threatens to Turn Away Masked Parishioners
Tennessee pastor Greg Locke, who has a large online following, called the highly infections Delta variant “nonsense” during a Sunday sermon and said people wearing masks would be turned away from the Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, TN.
Locke, who has previously called the pandemic “fake,” said, “they will be serving Frostys in hell before we shut this place down.” A Frosty is a dessert sold at Wendy’s fast food restaurants.
He continued, “They’re talking about shutting down this nation for round two. Talking about masking everybody back up, shutting down churches. My hind leg if they think they gonna shut this church down,” Locke said. “Knock on my door, ask me if I got a vaccine? My hind leg. Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.”
