WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday decided to change its messaging on the use of face coverings in public indoor spaces in response to improving metrics on the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
The board, which never took the step of mandating face masks in town, authorized the health inspector to inform businesses that the board is no longer recommending that otherwise healthy individuals wear face coverings.
"Although the Board of Health has never had a masking mandate, at its March 14 meeting it stated that masking is a personal decision," Jeff Kennedy wrote in a message to local food and lodging establishments. "It is up to each establishment to have its own masking standards (if any), but should not discourage persons who want to wear a mask.
"The incidence of COVID is greatly diminished in Williamstown (and the Berkshires) and there is a high vaccination rate."
Board of Health Chair Ruth Harrison said the panel will continue to closely monitor the numbers for COVID-19 in town, but it is encouraged by the way the community has managed to keep transmission rates down.
"There are certain people who need to wear masks ... high risk people," Harrison said. "And there are still some health care facilities – we’d certainly back those having people wear masks."
And even in the general population, the board recognizes that there are people who might want to choose to take the extra precaution of wearing a face covering in public, Harrison said.
"It wouldn't be an individual thing going into that business," she said. "And people who choose to wear a mask shouldn’t be singled out. … We would hope that people wouldn't be criticized for wearing a mask. They should have that right."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control does recommend using a face covering indoors if you are not vaccinated or have a compromised immune system. Most communities and school district have lifted masking advisories and mandates by this week.
There were 46 positive cases countywide of the novel coronavirus reported over the weekend; Williamstown reported only 15 cases and a 14-day positivity rate of 0.43 percent for the two weeks ending March 5.
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Hancock Town Meeting Votes to Strike Meme Some Found 'Divisive'
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
Hancock town meeting members Monday vote on a routine item early in the meeting.
HANCOCK, Mass. — By the narrowest of margins Monday, the annual town meeting voted to strike from the town report messaging that some residents described as, "inflammatory," "divisive" and unwelcoming to new residents.
On a vote of 50-48, the meeting voted to remove the inside cover of the report as it appeared on the town website and in printed versions distributed prior to the meeting and at the elementary school on Monday night.
The text, which appeared to be a reprinted version of an Internet meme, read, "You came here from there because you didn't like it there, and now you want to change here to be like there. You are welcome here, only don't try to make here like there. If you want to make here like there, you shouldn't have left there in the first place."
After the meeting breezed through the first 18 articles on the town meeting warrant agenda with hardly a dissenting vote, a member rose to ask if it would be unreasonable for the meeting to vote to remove the meme under Article 19, the "other business" article.
"No, you cannot remove it," Board of Selectmen Chair Sherman Derby answered immediately.
After it became clear that Moderator Brian Fairbank would entertain discussion about the meme, Derby took the floor to address the issue that has been discussed in town circles since the report was printed earlier this spring.
"Let me tell you about something that happened this year," Derby said. "The School Department got rid of Christmas. And they got rid of Columbus Day. Now it's Indigenous People's Day.
Town meeting voters will be asked Monday to approve a request to change state law in a way that will preserve education at Hancock Elementary School. click for more
The Charter Review Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to endorse an amended version of the compliance provision it drafted to be added to the Town Charter. click for more
Developer David Traggorth asked the trustees to make the contribution from its coffers to help unlock an additional $5.4 million in state funds for the planned 54-unit apartment building at the south end of the Cable Mills site.
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