Burlington Mask Mandate To Be Discussed Again

BURLINGTON, MA — Nearly a month after deciding against voting on a mask mandate, Burlington's Board of Health will consider the possibility again.

Tuesday's agenda has a discussion on a mask mandate, a measure many communities in Massachusetts are instituting one way or another but that Burlington has so far proven reluctant to.

Burlington — and the rest of the country — has seen an explosion of COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant. According to last week's public health data, the town reported 571 cases in the previous two weeks — 15 percent of Burlington's total since the start of the pandemic. The positive test rate has surpassed 15 percent.

The Board of Health met in mid-December and, after some discussion, the vote was not brought before the members. At least six people present did not wear masks during the meeting.

Some towns have taken varying approaches to mask mandates. While many have instituted total indoor mandates, others have taken a more focused approach. Stoneham for instance recently approved a mask mandate for grocery stores and pharmacies only.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Burlington Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook