El Paso businesses grapple with mask policies amid CDC guidance

EL PASO, Texas -- Three stores, three different policies.

El Paso businesses have been thrown in the deep end after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announcement Thursday that fully vaccinated people can take their masks off in indoor settings. 

Texas lifted the state mask mandate months ago, but many businesses in the Borderland still require patrons and employees to don masks. 

The guidelines coming down from the CDC have many businesses now relaxing what they're doing.

“That gives us more confidence,” said Paul Novoa, owner of Birkenstock Attitudes. “At the same time we’re still trying to protect people that are not vaccinated, still trying to protect our staff as well so we’ll keep on encouraging it.”

Novoa told ABC-7 they will still be recommending their guests wear masks but they will not be requiring it, staff however will still need to wear a mask. 

Gesuina Legaspy, owner of Maximus, a men’s clothing store in West El Paso, told ABC-7 they haven’t been requiring masks for about a month now - but the announcement from the CDC is welcoming to say the least.

“We’re all just trying to stay alive and survive and be relevant and continue our business,” Legaspy said. “We’ve just been grateful we don’t have to push it and make it such a big deal because it was very stressful last year.”

Sandra McCord, owner of the Cake Boutique, will still be requiring masks in her store despite the CDCs new recommendation, in part because there’s no way of knowing who has and has not been vaccinated. 

“We need it,” McCord said. “Everybody hasn’t got the vaccination and I don’t know who has gotten the vaccination and who hasn’t, so I think we need the mask.”