Marriott Expands Face Mask Policy For Guests

And what about employees. Staying at a Courtyard this weekend in Maple Grove, MN. Many stay wearing their masks UNDER their nose, not over it. Bartender and Breakfast service (neither of which we used) weren't wearing mask at all, or taking them down to talk.

Almost all guest I saw (hockey tournament so the place was pretty full) were wearing mask. Best that these companies start to train and enforce proper mask edict to their employees.

OH. . .and the desk staff on Friday morning was just rude. Do these people not get that us staying means they have a job!

Like almost all decisions made be large corporations or government organizations, this one is motivated mostly by legal and political concerns. The last thing Marriott wants is a lawsuit from the family of an employee or customer that claims they contracted SARS-CoV-2 at a Marriott property due to gross negligence and then later became seriously ill or died. This is the same story with other hotel chains and airlines. Once the corporation has an official policy on mandatory mask wearing, accountability now shifts to individuals that fail to comply. Now, at best, you have a civil suit against a person vs. one against a corporation with significantly greater means.

Anyone that seriously believes these mask-wearing policies are being implemented in the name of safety and security is delusional.

As demonstrated by the recent COVID-19 resurgences in the mask-wearing Meccas of Japan and Hong Kong, masks are incapable of eliminating SARS-CoV-2. When properly worn by infected individuals, can they slow the spread? Of, course. Are they always properly worn and do we unnecessarily force them upon uninfected people? Undeniably, yes.

But, like a wildfire, slowing the spread does not necessarily result in a commensurate reduction in collateral damage. And, unlike a wildfire, SARS-CoV-2 cannot be so easily escaped or contained (nice try, Australia, but as expected you’re seeing a resurgence now as well). When all the irrationality, hysteria, and, false projections of magnanimity finally subside, we’ll eventually get back to a new normal.

My wife and I are currently staying at The Hotel at Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is a Marriott managed hotel. There are signs in the Lobby, Bar and Registration areas of this hotel that state it is "MANDATORY" to wear a mask in these areas. Mandatory must have a different meaning here in Georgia and to the staff of this hotel. 95% of all persons that enter these areas are NOT wearing maskings or covering their face. There were over a 100 individuals in these areas at the same time last evening without masks or face covering. To gain access to the only elevators that took us to floor of our hotel room we had to pass through these areas. When we asked the hotel staff at the Guest Registration desk who was responsible for the enforcement of their Hotel's stated, written and MANDATORY policy. They shrugged their shoulders. Whether you are for or against masks in a public place. If your Hotel makes the claim that this a MANDATORY policy and you tell someone that masks are required and are MANDATORY to be worn in common areas of your hotel before you book your stay at that hotel. Then your Hotel should enforce this stated policy. SHAME ON THE HOTEL at AVALON and MARRIOTT!

@Roger

Fair enough
Have you tested yourself today? Your neighbor? Did they get a negative result?

Do you have a super power that can (with 100% accuracy) tell if you or anyone else does not have the virus?
Millions of people don't have the virus.
Millions do
Potential millions also have the virus, but have not been tested.
If you have this super power, then by all means don't wear a mask, and help the government identify more cases.

If you do not have this power:

Wearing a mask reduced the chance of transmission.
Even your president now said it's patriotic ;).
I kindly request that you cover your piehole. I am sure you can do it. I believe in you.
Watch a youtube tutorial if you are unsure how to wear one. It's ok, nobody will judge. Nobody that matters that is.

I'm currently an employee at the Courtyard by Marriott located in San Diego Downtown. I'm thankful my GM Ms Bess decided masks will be mandatory for our property 2 months ago. All our guests are required to have on a mask. All our guests have been very respectful with our requirements. They are met with valet who have gloves hands sanitizer and masks on, and once in the hotel greeted by every single employee with masks and gloves. Hand sanitizer is every where throughout the hotel. Each employee has designated areas during each shift to wipe all common areas, all tables, elevators, stair rails, furniture, etc. Our Lobby Market has masks for purchase (made by one of our very own employees) and complimentary masks for those in need. It gets challenging at times but we all understand the severity of this virus, each day we dedicate ourselves 100% to ensure ALL Guests and ALL Staff are safe! #weALLhavetodoOURpart #stopthespread #wearamask #stayhomeifyouresick #hershahospitalitymanagement #ourguestsmatter #cymsd

@Ziggy

I don’t know. Maybe every single person that now leaves their home or travels unnecessarily, has never been tested for SARS-CoV-2, but dons a mask religiously as their only line of defense. I’m really just hoping to spark some intelligent debate on the topic as an alternative to all the politicizing and insulting. It’s simultaneously informative and entertaining.

Anyway, I just watched the Panera Patty video and it alone was enough to convert me to a pro-masker. If that sort of behavior is stereotypically synonymous with an anti-mask sentiment, count me out.

@Jay

Nothing fake and nothing unreasonable.

Let’s analyze the numbers in consideration of a better alternative. As of today, we have about 616,000 deaths out of approximately 15,000,000 reported cases. This means that 4.1% of known cases have resulted in a fatality which means that 95.9% of case patients survive the virus. One of the greatest arguments in favor of widespread mask wearing is that many are carrying the virus, but are asymptomatic. This means the number of undocumented cases must be significant which means the actual IFR must be substantially less than 4.1%. So, it is safe to state that the actual at-risk population for SARS-CoV-2 is much less than 4.1%.

With these statistics, then, why pin all our hopes on a face mask panacea that might work vs. establishing regulations on quarantine and social distancing for the <4.1% of the population that is truly at-risk? With this strategy, active cases will grow exponentially, but fatalities will decline to zero. If we add to this a requirement for those infected with SARS-CoV-2 to wear masks and to wear them properly, the rapidness of spread will be reduced significantly as well. Pro-maskers are opting for a blanket solution that cannot guarantee success while diverting attention from an obvious alternative that is highly unlikely to fail.

@Roger
A lot of fake and unreasonable stuff being posted here.
1. So, the US should also adopt the same measures - wear masks PROPERLY, and get population accustomed to wearing masks. No excuse for Americans sitting still, letting the Coronavirus infect everyone (which, at this pace, is going to happen long before first vaccine arrives.)
2. Virology 101: The SARS-CoV-2 is different strain than SARS-Cov in 2003. So the immune system for the latter does not defend against the former.
3. India would have been named "the next hotspot" already if it were not for the USA. The infection number is climbing really fast. During March and April, media (mostly in Asia) were publishing reports on India, questioning why India stays mostly coronavirus-free even when the country does not do anything. Now we are seeing the result of doing nothing, although very late. And when we talk about Asian countries that handled the coronavirus well, we are talking about those in East Asia (Taiwan, Korea, China, HKG, and to some extent, Japan). South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) is off the table here.
4. RT-PCR molecular test takes at least a couple hours (in best case scenario - assuming the sample gets transported to the lab immediately and gets tested immediately - which simply does not happen in the US) to get result. Not something we can do everytime prior to going out - and we need to get to hospital to take the test anyway.
And on "quarantine for two weeks prior to going out and couple this with an antigen test" - let's substitute "antigen test" which is not yet something officials recognize with "PCR test" and this is close to what most of Europe and New Zealand did and kind of worked. US tried and messed up, for obvious reasons. Looking at the anti-maskers, we will probably see a lot of "essential travels" out of home - comprising mainly of drinking at a bar ("essential emotional support"), dining out ("essential food supply"), and so on...It is far easier to mandate mask than two-week or three-week lockdown...and much less intrusive to a person's freedom too.

@Jk

Of course. Asian countries’ handling of the virus has been different in the following ways:

1. For countries accustomed to already wearing masks as a fashion statement or to combat excessive pollution, the population of those countries is already well-versed on proper mask wearing procedures. Simply put, in Asian countries, masks are worn much more correctly than in those countries not yet accustomed to their regular use. This results in more effective containment where the virus does exist.

2. Over the past several decades, Asian countries have had much greater exposure to and circulation of SARS-like viruses and other coronavirus strands. This exposure has created Asian immune systems that are much more resilient to the current SARS-CoV-2 threat. This is basic Virology 101.

3. In south Asian countries, more specifically, testing per capita has been much lower than in places like the UK or the US. Fewer tests means fewer reported cases, which means an overinflated perception of the proper handling of this virus. It won’t be long, for instance, until India becomes the next hotspot. What will be the argument in favor of Asian countries then?

Also, to add to what Ziggy said, which is obviously true. Let's say you believe the evidence isn't conclusive regarding masks working--that doesn't make the inverse true. There is also no evidence that says definitively that wearing masks is pointless. So is it really that big of a burden for you to wear a mask in (indoor) public spaces, on the chance that it works? Or are you that stubborn and/or selfish?

This whole debate is really quite fascinating to me because it just shows how many selfish people there are that refuse to accept a relatively minor inconvenience if it might benefit the greater good.

@Samo
I wouldn't call any of Iceland, Norway, or Denmark a country that called coronavirus "extremely well". They were better than some of the worst offenders(Brazil/UK/US all of whom were prominently anti-mask) but Denmark and Iceland had far higher infection rate compared to world average - and Norway had similar figures to world average.
I also don't see countries that have terrible numbers despite omnipresent masks(which I understand to be China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam - none of which have infection rate anything close to the world average).
You succeeded in sounding calm but your skill at verifying facts can use quite some improvements.

There are countries that managed pandemic extremely well without masks (e.g. Iceland, Denmark, Norway) and countries that have terrible numbers despite omnipresent masks. From all the data we have, general masking doesn't seem to be the key.

New scientific knowledge also suggests that for spread to occur you need close and/or long contact. You are not gonna get infected by walking around someone on the street or in a supermarket aisle. All the superspread events that have been documented happened in packed, poorly ventilated spaces with lots of physical activity (e.g. factories, mines, clubs).

Some European authorities already reflect this by updating their rules to only require masks in specific settings, where spread's very likely. Hotel corridors would definitely not be such place.

The problem is that in the US, mask use became a political issue and at that point it's "all or nothing" with insults being used instead of arguments and at that point any reasonable solution becomes unlikely. Now it's all about who screams louder.

@1KBrad: "Sorry, I am not going to just accept a bunch of people saying we should wear them with no evidence they are actually effective against COVID-19"

I suspect you're familiar with Alex Berenson and his anti-mask crusade. The author of the study that he cites about masks rejects his conclusion.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/business/media/coronavirus-contrarians-lockdowns-masks.html

"Last week, Mr. Berenson gleefully tweeted about a study he framed as discrediting mask use. . . . I found the study confusing, and emailed its lead author, C. Raina MacIntyre. 'We do not recommend cloth masks for health workers, but believe a protective cloth mask for the community is possible if some basic design principles are followed,' she said. Mr. Berenson had swept the researcher into his anti-mask campaign. But she had been studying medical masks for keeping health care workers safe, and the paper showed that cloth masks did not work nearly as well as medical masks in protecting those workers. It had not addressed the reason that Americans are now being asked to wear masks — to protect others. In fact, Ms. MacIntyre co-wrote a paper in April backing the use of masks to stop community spread."

You seem intelligent, as is Berenson, yet you both ignore vast majority of public health officials and cherry-pick data to support your positions. What gives? I suspect there's an emotional basis for your reaction. At this stage of the pandemic, you will not have a double blind control study on the efficacy of cloth masks in protecting against covid-19. If that's what will persuade you to wear a mask, you never will. At a minimum, I trust you recognize the value in social distancing.

@jk:

"@1KBrad is basically saying that when strict mask rule is applied today, then suddenly there’s gonna be lower cases the very same day (or the next few days). Pls use some basic children common sense."

I said no such thing. What was that about IQ?

Both California and New York City have had stringent mask requirements in place for WEEKS yet their infection rates are spiking. How can that be if masks are required and, for the most part, worn?

Could it possibly be that masks are not effective? Funny how no one can cite to study showing that the common masks being worn, usually improperly, are helpful.

Sorry, I am not going to just accept a bunch of people saying we should wear them with no evidence they are actually effective against COVID-19.

@UA-NYC:

"there are a number of stupid/racist/anti-science/trolling comments on this site"

Mirror?

Was at the Portland Mariott yesterday and there were signs stating that masks must be worn in all common areas. They even placed 6' long tables in front of the check in desks to make sure we kept our distance from the front desk staff. That was fine but I am enrolled in their Bon Voyage program and checked in online and was advised Id have a key emailed to me so I could download to my phone but that never happened. Still had to drop by the front desk first. But it was fine.

@UA-NYC,

"...it is ironic that the “mask freedom fighters” (aka don’t tread on me…’Murica!) probably have a high statistical correlation with being pro-life on the abortion debate (aka the government has a damn right, even a mandate, to control a woman’s body and her choices)."

What's ironic is that you don't agree with "My Body My Choice" not to wear a mask... Would it be different if the government told all women that wearing bra's restricts the ability to breathe and therefore causes a higher potential for contracting Covid-19, so the Government mandate is no more bras for woment (or men, not that there's anything wrong with that). Bra wearers would be shamed and fined...

I stayed at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas last week and the mask police were out in full force. EVERYONE, including staff, guests, and gamblers were wearing masks. The front desk agents even sanitized the counter after serving each guest. Those that weren’t were not allowed into the hotel or casino. The hotel handed out masks and hand sanitizer in the rooms, too. Even outside on the strip in 100+ temperatures I didn’t see any person who wasn’t wearing a mask.

Good for Vegas and the Cosmopolitan. Now if only get the rest to the nation would comply with what in essence is a very simple safety precaution.

As a Titanium elite (and former SPGer), I'm glad that Marriott is taking this step. And, like @GoAmtrak said, I would be completely supportive of it if Marriott did extend penalties for refusal to include confiscation of Bonvoy points, status, property bans, (maybe a ban from all Marriott hotels for the duration of the pandemic). If we see employees who aren't complying, we should report those employees to both the property and the corporate office so that the incidents can be tracked and hopefully Marriott will have something in place to identify properties that are repeat offenders and can hold them accountable through their brand standards.