A Danville bowling alley says it won’t enforce the indoor COVID mask mandate

A Danville bowling alley is pushing back against the latest mask-wearing mandate.

In a statement posted on social media Tuesday, Danville Bowl said the mandate requiring masks be worn in any public indoor setting will not be enforced at their facility. The bowling alley is located on Boone Court.

The mandate was put into place by health officers in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties and went into effect Tuesday.

“The Danville Bowl is well aware of the mask mandate that goes into effect,” the social media statement read. “With that being said, we will NOT be enforcing it. We believe everyone has the right to freedom and not constant retracting restrictions from the government.”

Health officers called for the mandate after a gradual surge in COVID-19 cases and cases involving the delta variant. The region had more than 8,200 cases last week, a 32% increase from the previous week.

“If you would like to wear your mask inside while you bowl, feel free,” the Danville Bowl statement read. “If you don’t want too, that’s okay. The choice is up to YOU, as it always should have been. Not to mention if you’re vaccinated you should have nothing to worry about anyways.”

Almost all of the seriously sick and those who are dying are among the unvaccinated, but health officers said more and more of the new cases include those who have the vaccine. Those latter cases include older and sicker people who are suffering as the virus becomes more rampant.

Health officers said at a news conference Monday that they can think about easing restrictions if the case and hospitalization numbers return to where they were in June.