• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Douglas Elliman, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Subscribe
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Public Schools, sponsored by Sexton
  • Camp
  • Kids—swim tryouts Oct. 1
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • Events
  • About us
  • Wellesley snow plowing services
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley municipal building mask mandate ends March 7

February 15, 2022 by Bob Brown 4 Comments

Wellesley’s Select Board and Board of Health voted on Monday to discontinue the mandate in effect since Sept. 1 requiring mask wearing in municipal buildings as March 7. This came the night before the state’s Department of Public Health loosened its face covering guidance, specifying that vaccinated people only need to wear masks indoors under certain conditions or in specific places.

The Wellesley mask mandate decision does not include school buildings, which are also likely to lose their mask mandate come March 7, based on discussion at last week’s School Committee meeting (there will be a COVID-19 update at the Tuesday, Feb. 15 night School Committee meeting as well).

March 7 was chosen because it gives a bit of a cushion following school vacation week next week, and the March 1 election, which will mainly include in-person voting this time around (the usual absentee voting is allowed). None of this prevents any individual from protecting themselves with a good mask if they wish.

Before Board members discussed the issue, several local residents weighed in, and they all urged the town to rescind the mask mandate.

John Goldberg, a resident who serves as chief medical officer at a biotech firm, said he supports lifting the mask mandate at municipal buildings (as well as at schools). What’s more, he pointed out that “every store you enter in Wellesley right now has a sign suggesting you need to wear a mask, and I think that we can look to doing away with that part of the regulations as well, because those masks just increase that fear and anxiety that we’re talking about…”

Members of the boards voted unanimously to lift the municipal building mandate, though were more mixed on how to handle the phasing out of mask signage. The Board of Health recently undertook a big effort to encourage local businesses to post signs regarding a strong advisory for mask wearing, and now is reluctant to say “Never mind.”

Some said the mask mandate signs at municipal buildings should be replaced with mask advisory signs, to phase out of the current regulations. Others suggested the public isn’t going to make a distinction between a mandate and advisory, and that having the signs would do more harm than good in terms of perpetuating fear that the latest COVID-19 numbers don’t support.

“We need to be careful that the policies we adopt whether they are mandates or advisories don’t unintentionally continue to traumatize the community,” said Select Board Member Colette Aufranc. “We’ve got to message that people are really very, very safe. I think this is a really tricky stage in the pandemic…”

Ann Marie McCauley, the town’s public health nurse supervisor, ran through the latest numbers, highlighting a precipitous drop-off in COVID cases (nearly 50 cases a day in early January to the low teens per day last week) against a backdrop of high vaccination rates and rare serious illnesses from COVID. “Things are getting back to normal in the ways the we care about,” she said.

You can continue to read The Swellesley Report mask-free depending on where you are when reading it.

town hall masks sign


  • Subscribe to Swellesley’s daily email
  • Please consider contributing to Swellesley to sustain our independent journalism venture

Filed Under: COVID-19, Government, Health

Comments

  1. Stacy Braatz says

    February 15, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    FYI. Mass DPH just downgraded its mask advisory. Vaccinated people are only advised to wear a mask indoors if they are high risk.

    Reply
    • Bob Brown says

      February 15, 2022 at 3:04 pm

      Thanks Stacy, just updated the post with a link to that guidance…Bob

      Reply
  2. Mary Ann says

    February 15, 2022 at 11:02 pm

    Still we should expect those who are immunocompromised and/or elderly to continue to wear masks for awhile though. If someone wants to wear a mask for a personal reason, they should feel free to do so.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      February 16, 2022 at 11:21 am

      If viruses travel on oxygen molecules and oxygen molecules travel through surgical masks; Why would you expect Seniors and/or immunocompromised to continue to wear a mask? Why should the elderly/immunocompromised be subjected to higher carbon dioxide levels/exposure? Why should the same demographic be told by anyone other than a medical doctor to wear a medical device?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley, Crafts

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep, Wellesley
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Wellesley Scouts
Volvo
Prepped and Polished Boston Tutoring and Test Prep
Tutoring, Ann-Marie MacDonnell
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Mature Caregivers
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Subscribe to our email newsletter

Fill out simple subscription form.

Our newsletter is free, though we appreciate any financial support for our independent journalism venture.

Follow Swellesley on Google News Showcase

The Swellesley Report has been selected to be highlighted on Google News Showcase. Please follow us there.

Most Read Posts

  • Where is Swellesley? We asked 3 AI tools
  • Wellesley residents ready for Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk
  • Don't miss the Wellesley fun—Sidewalk Sale; Crafts for Kids; Car Wash fundraiser; and more
  • Wellesley school community tops off new Hardy Elementary building
  • Wellesley government meetings during the week of Sept. 4, 2023

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Sep 7
September 7 @ 10:00 am - September 10 @ 6:00 pm

Linden Square Sidewalk Sale

Sep 9
11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Wonderful Wellesley free Crafts for Kids

Sep 9
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Coffee & Community in the Commons

Sep 10
11:00 am - 3:00 pm

Wellesley High cross country team car wash

Sep 11
9:45 am - 10:30 am

Sept. 11 observances in Wellesley

View Calendar

Recent Comments

  • Jim Roberti on At chaotic meeting, Wellesley Planning Board votes to put Sisters of Charity article on Special Town Meeting warrant
  • Bruce on A rare peek inside Hunnewell Estate in Wellesley
  • Julia on Where is Swellesley? We asked 3 AI tools
  • Steven Sims on But wait, what about pickleball?
  • Bob Brown on Karma restaurant sneak peek: We visit Burlington version of eatery coming to Wellesley

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group
Call and Haul, Wellesley
Refined Renovations, Wellesley
Deland, Gibson, Wellesley
Rick Cram, leader

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login