Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/17/2022
NORTHAMPTON – Northampton health officials lifted the city’s mask order on March 11, a move that was made effective immediately.
As a result, face coverings are no longer required in indoor public spaces, including bars and restaurants, entertainment venues, gyms, and museums, though individual business operators reserve the right to implement their own masking requirements.
The Board of Health’s decision does not apply to schools and, as of this writing, face coverings are still required in school buildings and school transportation. While the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education allowed its statewide mask mandate to expire at the end of February, Northampton Public Schools has maintained their face covering requirements. The School Committee has scheduled a special meeting for March 17 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the matter.
The Board of Health made the announcement after a unanimous vote, citing “key metrics” that illustrated the community’s continued improvement in the “prevalence and severity” of cases of COVID-19. Northampton Health Director Merridith O’Leary did not respond to Reminder Publishing’s request for comment.
According to the March 10 report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MassDPH), Northampton’s 14-day incidence rate from Feb. 20 to March 5 was 14.9 per 100,000, down from 18 as reported on March 4. The city’s 14-day percent positivity rate was 0.54 percent, a drop from 0.69 percent reflected in the previous week’s report. In the first report of 2022 on Jan. 7, Northampton had an incidence rate of 137 and a 5.4 percent positivity rate.
Hampshire County’s incidence rate remains the highest in the state at 25 per 100,000, however the percent positivity rate of 1.54 percent trails only Suffolk County’s 1.53 percent among the best in the commonwealth. In contrast, neighboring Hampden County’s 2.67 percent positivity rate is one of the state’s worst, but it is reporting nearly 15 fewer cases for 100,000. MassDPH also reported that as of March 10, 81 percent of eligible people 5 years of age and older in Hampshire County had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 70 percent were fully vaccinated. Sixty-two percent of those eligible to receive a booster had done so, the highest mark in the state.
Per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, masks are still required on public transportation and at transportation hubs, including airports, bus terminals and train stations. Masks are also still mandatory, regardless of vaccination status, in healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care settings.
Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have been exposed to COVID-19 are required to wear masks at all times when around others while within their 10-day quarantine or isolation period, after meeting criteria to leave strict isolation or quarantine on day 6 to 10.
The town of Amherst also rescinded its mask mandate on March 11. On Feb. 24, Hadley’s Board of Health did away with its indoor mask mandate for the town effective March 1 and for the schools on March 7. The Easthampton Board of Health lifted its indoor mask requirement on Feb. 23 and the Easthampton School Committee voted to make masks optional effective immediately at its March 8 meeting.