The Business Case for Masks

Written By Jason Mathis

Thanks to early efforts to contain COVID-19 – including an early mandatory public mask order and a safer-at-home order – St. Petersburg has managed COVID better than many other cities in the Sunshine State. Our positivity rate remains low and hospitals have had the capacity to manage the sickest patients throughout this pandemic. We shouldn’t take this for granted.  

I applaud city leaders’ early action to stem the most destructive elements of this pandemic.  

In the face of low positivity rates, there are some who may want to abandon the tools that have proven successful in keeping people healthy. But there are many others who only feel comfortable patronizing businesses that insist on masks and other safety precautions. Masks contribute to our low rates of positive cases and also provide a sense of safety for patrons, business owners and employees.  

We all want our economy to open as quickly and fully as possible and I encourage local leaders to keep up the good work. Particularly as the state starts opening bars, a move I wholeheartedly support. Ironically, wearing masks and social distancing is actually a tool for resuming a more normal environment. If we want to open the economy more fully, masks make good business sense. 

Wearing masks is a simple, if inconvenient and sometimes uncomfortable, sacrifice to make to keep St. Pete’s economy moving forward. Wearing masks in appropriate settings and social distancing as recommended by medical professionals and the scientific community is a small price to be able to enjoy a more open economy. And compared to some of the challenges faced by Americans in previous times of national crises, wearing a mask is a trivial nuisance. 

Our organization is a pro-business group who wants more businesses to open and continue to find success in our incredible downtown. Wearing masks until there is a proven effective vaccine is part of that equation. 

Jason Mathis is the CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, a private, nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to championing community prosperity through purposeful, transformative projects. Jason is a member of the Restart St. Pete Task Force.  

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