David Simon, CEO of Simon Property Group, which owns King of Prussia Mall, believes malls have been treated unfairly during the coronavirus pandemic when they were labeled as breeding grounds for the spread of COVID-19, writes Brian Sozzi for Yahoo Finance.

“The mall is safe,” said Simon during an earnings call last week. “Even though we’re starting to see counties talk about indoors, there’s no science about the mall. I underline that. We’ve been mistreated in this whole 18-month ordeal, but it is what it is.”

During the call, David Simon cited various data on the Delta variant he has been studying around where his malls are located along with reports from the retailers at his malls.

He noted that in Florida, where there has been an uptick in cases, no upticks have been recorded in an enclosed mall among staff.

He also said he is hopeful that people who work at the mall will get vaccinated.

“We’re not going to mandate vaccines,” he said, “we’re going to encourage them.”

And while masks will also be encouraged, Simon is not yet ready to make it mandatory at its malls either.

Read more about David Simon and Simon Property Group at Yahoo Finance.