Can you wear a mask to go into a bank in South Florida? We get your trepidation
Now that even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing some kind of homemade face mask — like a bandana or other cloth covering you can make — we’re seeing more people doing so at grocery stores and out walking their dogs.
But, not surprisingly, there remains trepidation as to whether or not you should wear a mask into a bank — lest you be mistaken for Bonnie or Clyde.
Can you wear a mask into a bank in Florida during the coronavirus pandemic and enforced social distancing rules?
What Florida statute says about masks
Technically, no.
Florida Statute 826 forbids anyone over the age of 16 from wearing a mask that conceals one’s identity and entering any public establishment “or in any place, any exhibit of any kind, whatsoever.”
There are exceptions, such as Halloween, or people who work in trades where a mask — like a gas mask, for instance — is worn for physical safety or in theatrical productions or masquerade balls.
But these statutes were written in normal times and not during a pandemic.
What the reality is in a virus crisis
Now, when many municipalities, like Miami Beach have made the wearing of handmade face masks mandatory for entering public places that are deemed essential and open during the COVID-19 crisis, the rules seem different.
But ... a bank?
The answer is almost this: It’s a moot point.
Banks changed their policies
Most banks in South Florida — including City National Bank, Wells Fargo, TD Bank, Suntrust, Tropical Financial Credit Union, Chase and others have closed their lobbies. The banks are operating their drive-thru lanes and all of them recommend using their apps to conduct online banking.
Of the banks that allow people into their lobbies, it’s by appointment only and strictly limited. City National Bank, for instance, is booking about one in-lobby visit appointment a day, said a representative at a South Miami-Dade location.
The banks also reserve the right to ask you to remove your mask while doing business with them so they can see your identity, such as in the drive-thru, the City National Bank rep said.
This should not cause you trepidation given you would have no direct physical contact with the teller, anyway.
Bank robbers have taken advantage of the situation, with suspects wearing medical masks to pull heists in several states, The Hill reported.
So, if asked, dip your bandana, wrap, bra cup or whatever else you are wearing to protect your face during this new uncertain era, do your business, and be on your way.
