Ford Reinstates Face Mask Requirements for Employees in Florida and Missouri

The Ford Motor Company (NYSE: ) is reinstating mask requirements for workers and visitors at its facilities in Florida and Missouri, two states where new cases of COVID-19 are spiking. 

Additionally, the automaker is ordering its US employees to get vaccinated against coronavirus prior to international business travel, The Detroit News reported.

In a statement to the newspaper, a company spokesperson said, “Ford continues to encourage all team members who are medically able to be vaccinated.”

Ford’s move comes amid a surge in cases that public health experts have attributed to lagging vaccination rates and circulation of the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.

It also comes less than two weeks after the United Auto Workers and Detroit Three automakers ended mask requirements for fully vaccinated union-represented workers in the US. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis opted to rely on an honor system with employees rather than require proof of vaccination. 

According to Bloomberg News, General Motors Company also returned to a mask mandate last week at a factory in Missouri. 

On Tuesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance, recommending that fully vaccinated people start wearing masks indoors again in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates.

The CDC had said in May that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks, except in a few circumstances. 

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Source: Equities News