The Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce is helping local businesses institute mask policies in advance of the controversial traveling religious revival heading to New Ipswich next weekend. And, while the lack of a statewide face covering mandate has made some towns reluctant to pursue townwide ordinances, individual businesses do have the power to deny entry to maskless customers – even those with underlying medical conditions that make mask-wearing dangerous.
“At the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce, while we are an impartial and unbiased organization, the well-being and safety of our members and community is incalculable,” Chamber President Matt McCarthy wrote in an email to the Ledger-Transcript Friday. McCarthy said the state Attorney General’s office reached out to the Chamber about religious group The Last Reformation, which is scheduled to visit New Ipswich and the surrounding towns Aug. 14-23 for a ten-day tent revival on State Representative Paul Somero’s property. Organizers estimate at least 100-200 travelers will make the trip from COVID-19 hotbed Cook County, Illinois. While many of the group’s activities are expected to take place at the spacious Locke Road property, The Last Reformation’s event page suggested visitors stay at local campgrounds, shop at local stores and eat at local restaurants. The group is also expected to spend at least a few days traveling around southern New Hampshire to spread their gospel to “the sick and the broken,” organizer Lars Somero said at Tuesday’s New Ipswich Select Board meeting.
News reports and firsthand accounts from Des Plaines, Illinois, the group’s last stop, indicated that the group eschewed social distancing and face covering requirements, and comments from organizers in New Ipswich and group leader Torben Sondergaard himself confirmed that was likely to continue when they arrive in town.
“While the State of NH has recommended quarantine measures for out of state visitors, recommended facial coverings and physical distancing measures for all large group gatherings, it has come to our understanding that this group may not align themselves with those recommendations,” McCarthy wrote.
While New Hampshire has been largely spared from major COVID-19 outbreaks save those contained to assisted living homes, many in the community have voiced their concerns about the potential of The Last Reformation’s followers potentially spreading the virus to locals and creating a deadly spike. But since New Hampshire’s quarantine, social distancing and face covering guidelines do not include any consequence or punishment for breaking them, town officials in New Ipswich and elsewhere are powerless to enforce them.
Local businesses, however, do have that power. To that end, the Chamber is distributing posters stating that “face coverings are required to enter this business” ahead of the group’s arrival.
“The group has confirmed with local police that they will not attempt to enter any businesses that display “Mask Required” postings and distancing recommendations,” McCarthy wrote. Interested parties can pick up their posters at the Chamber or receive it by email and print their own.
Even without the group’s confirmation, businesses still have the right to deny service to those who do not comply with mask requirements, according to attorneys at the National Law Review. Of course, businesses can refuse service to anybody – except those in protected classes – for nearly any reason, so turning away someone who is not wearing a mask is fair game. The loophole, it has been suggested, is that the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits businesses from turning away potential customers who are violating policies due to a disability. That’s why service dogs are allowed at restaurants, but your family dog is not. The same would seemingly apply to those people who have an underlying medical condition worsened by wearing a face covering.
“In limited circumstances, there could be a situation in which a customer cannot wear a face mask due to a legitimate health reason (e.g., a person with a respiratory condition who cannot have their breathing restricted),” the National Law Review writes.
However, that does not grant the individual access to the business without a mask. The business must simply “attempt to accommodate that customer in an alternative manner that would continue to protect the store’s employees and other customers while also providing service to the customer (e.g., providing curb-side pick-up; no contact delivery; or assistance via online store services),” they continued.
McCarthy urged anyone with questions or concerns to reach out to the Chamber at info@jaffreychamber.com or 532-4549.