Salem Sticks With State Of MA On Rescinding Mask Requirement

SALEM, MA — Salem will align with the state and rescind the city's indoor mask order for businesses effective Saturday.

The Salem Board of Health voted 4-1 Monday night to eliminate the mask requirement for stores, restaurants and other businesses. Several downtown business owners spoke during the hour-plus public input time and asked the board to consider extending the city's ordinance another two weeks until June 15 to help ensure more employees and tourists are vaccinated before the universal order is lifted, but the board opted against that, determining that picking another date at this point would be largely arbitrary.

"I can't sit here and say this is gone for good and everything will be fine," Salem Health Agent David Greenbaum said. "But there has to be a starting point. I feel this board would be ready to react (and reinstate restrictions if conditions change)."

The board also voted unanimously to rescind restrictions on personal-care businesses that cannot maintain social distancing as of Saturday, and rescind the city's health emergency declared on March 22, 2020, effective on June 15.

While Salem held back from advancing one step in reopening in the early fall due to concerns about overcrowding and a second wave of infections, board member Paul Kirby said Halloween presented a situation unique to the city that does not exist in the spring.

"I agree with pretty much everybody that the early date was a surprise," Kirby said of Gov. Charlie Baker's announcement last week that a stated Aug. 1 date for lifting all restrictions was moved to May 29. "I like June 15 better. I wish Gov. Baker would have said June 15. The problem with me is having Salem be in variance with the state. We've done that before in October. But if feel there was a compelling case in October.

"I feel that less now. Yeah, we have tourists and shops. But so does everybody around Boston."

Among the points of discussion was that Boston — which had been three weeks behind the state in lifting orders all throughout the reopening process — is planning to allow reopening on Saturday in accordance with the state.

"If their experts are feeling this is an OK move going forward that suggests to Salem this is an OK move forward also," board member Sara Moore said.

One issue the board voiced with the delay is how pushing it back a few would make a significant change in the numbers of those vaccinated as shots have slowed in recent weeks. Greenbaum said the Salem State vaccination sites opened two weeks ago with the capability of giving 1,000 shots a week, but had only administered between 250 and 275 over that time.

He said of 500 shots available on Tuesday, only 22 were administered.

"Why would June 15th be that much better than Aug. 1 or than May 29?" board member Jeremy Schiller asked. "The concern in delaying is problematic unless there is a metric we can use."

"Probably there is not going to be a distinct difference other than in our minds and comfort levels between now and 20 days from now," Moore added.

Stores and other businesses will be allowed to keep their own mask mandates, or ask that unvaccinated people continue to wear masks while indoors, but board members allowed that vaccination verification is extremely challenging on a business-to-business basis.

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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.)

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