Worcester Board Of Health Votes To Drop City's Indoor Mask Mandate On February 18
WORCESTER (CBS) – Worcester's Board of Health voted Monday night to rescind the city's indoor mask mandate on February 18.
The vote was narrow, with a count of 3 to 2 in favor of dropping the mandate.
Worcester Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh made a request to the board to consider rescinding the mandate. Hirsh said COVID cases have been plummeting on the tail end of the Omicron surge and, in some cases, masks are a challenge to business owners.
"The daily number went down to 135 a day last week after being 250 the week before, 550 the week before," Hirsh said.
Still, board members were split on the issue. Some felt it was too soon to make this decision, while others were ready.
"Most of us have reached a point where we are very, very tired," said board member Gary Rosen.
Bill Bourbeau, general manager at the Boynton Restaurant, says he welcome an end to the mandate, which he says has caused some stress for his staff.
"We're asking restaurant people who aren't medically trained to police people on a medical issue, so it's a little bit difficult," Bourbeau said.
However, the board voted not to rescind the mask mandate for schools on February 28, which would have been in line with the DESE's mask mandate.
They will review the school mandate at its next meeting in early March.
Worcester's decision to drop their indoor mask mandates puts them in the same group as communities like Beverly, Lowell, and Mansfield, all of which dropped their restrictions.
Mansfield's indoor mask mandate was initially scheduled to be in place until the end of February. But as of Monday, it is no longer in effect after the Board of Health voted last week to end it. The town now is "strongly encouraging" everyone to continue wearing masks indoors at public locations.
Masks are also still required in Mansfield municipal buildings.
