Palms Springs Mandates Masks For City Facilities; Will Consider Further Mandates

[bc_video video_id="6266283208001″ account_id="5728959025001″ player_id="default" embed="in-page" padding_top="56%" autoplay="autoplay" min_width="0px" playsinline="" picture_in_picture="" max_width="640px" mute="" width="100%" height="100%" ] Starting Monday, the city of Palm Springs is requiring city staff and customers to mask up in city hall and other facilities. Palm Springs City Council is expected to hold a special meeting on Wednesday to decide on whether they will include additional policies in the near future including mandatory vaccines and testing. "It seems to me that the city council should take swift action to do what we can to prevent further spread," said Jeffrey Berstein, Owner of Destination PSP. As Palm Springs reinstates masking indoors at city facilities, looking ahead business owners say they are prepared to mandate masking indoors if need be. "I would like to see the mask requirement indoors reinstated until we get rid of this," added Bernstein. Other business owners say they will abide by county and city regulations, but emphasize we wouldn’t be in this situation if everyone chose to get vaccinated months ago. "This is the first time anything like this has ever happened, I thought we would have it under control, I thought people would be smart enough to go out and get their shots, we all speculated on a lot," said George Kessinger, Co-owner of Crazy Mel’s. Come Wednesday, the city council will be holding a special meeting to decide on what steps and mandates might be put in place moving forward. "Things sometimes change quickly, unfortunately for us right now in this covid environment, things are changing quickly and not in a good way, so it’s really incumbent on us to get together and decide what does this mean, do we continue to promote new guidelines and recommendation or do we make some of those mandates in the interest of safety," said Justin Clifton, City Manager of Palm Springs. Business owners say they’ll do what they have to, to prepare for the fall season when they expect crowded streets and more customers. "I think it’s important to take these precautions now so that we can enjoy the busy season that we are all waiting for, and sometimes you have to bite the bullet a bit and protect ourselves so we can be safe for later on," explained Bernstein. "I left the house, I got my wallet, I got my key, I got my phone, and now I have my mask. I don’t leave home without it, it’s not going to be forever but it is going to be the safest way right now until we can come up with something else," added Kessinger. Again, it’s still set to be decided on whether Palm Springs will mandate not only masks but vaccinations and testing as well. The special meeting will take place on Wednesday via zoom and will be open to the public.