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Executive Order Allows New York Businesses To Deny Service To Maskless Customers

Updated September 8, 2021

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order allowing businesses in the state to refuse service to any customers who aren't wearing face masks, Business Insider reported.

This major political move comes in the wake of increased confrontations between companies that require masks, and patrons who refuse to follow such new policies, as more and more businesses begin to reopen across the country.

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On Thursday, Cuomo tweeted about the executive order and made sure to summarize it simply for his followers.

"Today I am signing an Executive Order authorizing businesses to deny entry to those who do not wear masks or face-coverings," he wrote, adding in plain terms, "No mask - No entry."

The governor later followed that tweet up with another one explaining what people's rights are when it comes to their health, and the health of others.

"We're giving store owners the right to say 'If you're not wearing a mask, you can't come in'," Cuomo said in a press release. "That store owner has a right to protect themselves; that store owner has a right to protect other patrons in that store."

He continued, "You don't want to wear a mask? Fine, but you don't have the right to go into that store if the store owner doesn't want you to."

New York has suffered the worst effects of the coronavirus outbreak, reporting 23,282 deaths as a result of the virus at the time of writing.

Unsplash | Daniel Lee

In recent weeks, the state has reported increasingly promising statistics about its fight against the deadly disease.

According to NPR, the number of daily hospitalizations has dropped to 163, and deaths have also significantly dropped, with 74 fatalities reported on Thursday.

Cuomo said this new executive order is intended to change the culture so people see wearing a mask as protecting everyone's health, and not just their own.

"I've been working to communicate this message about masks and how effective they are," he said in the press release. "They are deceptively effective, they are amazingly effective. And we've made them mandatory in public settings, public transportation, et cetera."

In the same release, Cuomo announced that New York State will distribute 1 million masks to New York City's hardest-hit neighborhoods, in addition to the 8 million that have already been distributed.

h/t: Business Insider, NPR, Governor Cuomo

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