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Date: 9/7/2021
EASTHAMPTON – During an Aug. 31 meeting, the Easthampton Board of Health unanimously approved new COVID-19 protocol that mandates masks for people ages two or older in all indoor settings and certain outdoor settings, regardless of vaccination status.
The mandate includes all indoor spaces where members of the public are “invited or otherwise allowed to enter a building or structure to interact with any persons in order to or transact any public or private business, including all public indoor spaces.” These spaces include, but are not limited to, restaurants, bars, indoor performance and event venues, hotels and motels, gyms, fitness clubs, salons, places of worship, indoor workplaces and common areas of multi-unit buildings. Restaurant workers must wear masks while serving customers indoors and outdoors, as well.
Masks will also be required while driving in city vehicles with more than one occupant.
The order also requires all people ages two or older to wear a mask in outdoor gatherings of 100 or more people, where six feet of social distance may not be achieved. Masks will also be required in dugouts, benches and sidelines during moderate to high-risk sporting events. According to the mandate approved during the meeting, moderate-risk sporting events include – but are not limited to – baseball, softball, track and field, volleyball, running clubs, team swimming, dance class and soccer.
High-risk sports; sports that can lead a high transmission rate; include, but are not limited to, football, wrestling, rugby, basketball, lacrosse, ice hockey, competitive cheer, martial arts, ultimate frisbee, boxing and pair figure skating.
“Local cases have consistently risen over the past five weeks in both Easthampton and surrounding counties,” said former Public Health Nurse Amy Hardt, in a letter to the Board of Health. “The delta variant is now estimated as causing 98.6 percent of new infections in the Northeast region.”
According to Hardt, Easthampton’s vaccination rate has not reached the necessary threshold of 80 percent, and it is believed that an even higher percentage of vaccination coverage is needed to contain the spread of the delta variant. “We continue to see a significant portion of newly infected people who do not experience any symptoms, or have only minor symptoms similar to allergies,” continued Hardt, who added that, because of this, many people are not feeling the need to get tested.
Eichstaedt reported 25 COVID-19 cases in Easthampton between the week of Aug. 24 and 30, which-as of press time-was the largest number of cases in a one-week span for Easthampton between June and August. According to a news release from the town of Easthampton, the delta variant is two times more contagious than previous strains, and some data is saying that the variant can cause more severe illness in unvaccinated patients than with other variants.
“We’re dealing with a different beast than what we were dealing with last summer, where we were dealing with just the original variant,” said Eichstaedt.
Masks will not be required for people who have underlying medical conditions, when people are seated eating and drinking in restaurants and bars, or in shared office spaces where six feet of distancing can be maintained. Performers who are singing and/or playing a brass instrument are not required to wear masks during these performances but must maintain at least 10 feet of distance from others. Face coverings will also not be required when people are competing in water-based activities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently recommending masks be worn in indoor spaces in all areas experiencing substantial or high transmission. According to the Board of Health mandate announcement, Hampshire County has gone from moderate transmission to high transmission, which is the highest threshold from the CDC.
The next Board of Health meeting will be Sep. 8, and they will continue to look at the mandate during future meetings as the COVID-19 numbers fluctuate.