Politics & Government
Salem Drops Outdoor Face Mask Order Downtown
The city, which made mask-wearing a cornerstone of its coronavirus mitigation last spring and summer, will follow eased state guidelines.
SALEM, MA — Salem will join most of the rest of the state in making face coverings optional outdoors when social distancing can be achieved.
The Board of Health voted unanimously after about an hour of public discussion Tuesday night to drop the mandate for downtown areas and all city parks and beaches. Gov. Charlie Baker allowed the statewide mandate to expire on April 30, but Salem's Board of Health had issued a separate ordinance last spring mandating them in certain areas of the city.
This was the first time the Board of Health had met to consider rescinding the mandate.
Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
While there were some concerns expressed during the hour-long meeting that letting the outdoor mandate go would put more pressure on store owners and service workers to enforce it when tourists walked indoors, declining coronavirus rates and increased vaccinations were deemed sufficient to move in line with state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
The indoor mandate remains for now.
Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The state this week eased restrictions on road races, amusement parks and indoor singing, among other changes. As of May 29, restaurant patrons will no longer have to order food with alcohol and those bars and breweries that do not offer food will be allowed to reopen.
Baker set an Aug. 1 date to remove all remaining business restrictions, but has repeatedly said that date may be moved up if virus metrics continue to improve and vaccinations are on pace to clear the 4.1 million threshold.
As of Tuesday, the state had fully vaccinated 3 million people and recorded no coronavirus-related deaths for the first time since June 30.
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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
More Patch Coverage: Downtown Salem Outdoor Mask Order Stays In Effect
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