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© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
Message from Mayor Joe Curtatone:
To help reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Board of Health and I have issued a new order to require face coverings to be worn at all times in public. This order applies to anyone age two or older when in any public indoor or outdoor space. This will go into effect on Wednesday, April 29, but there will be a one-week grace period to allow time to comply.
I understand that this step may feel strange or burdensome. But this is necessary to help stop transmission of this disease. Not everyone who has COVID-19 shows symptoms. You can be carrying the virus and infecting others without knowing. No one wants to be the one who infected the grocery store clerk, or the bus driver, or the family out for a stroll. Wearing a face covering is one way to avoid that.
An appropriate face covering is clean and covers your nose and mouth. In a pinch, a scarf, bandana, or any clean cloth will do. You can also find information on making your own face covering under the “Prevention and Preparation” section of somervillema.gov/coronavirus.
Again, this order applies to indoor public spaces like stores or the shared entrances of multi-unit homes. It also applies to outdoor areas such as sidewalks, streets, paths, and squares. All persons including joggers and cyclists must comply.
Please remember that it is up to the Somerville Police Department, not residents, to enforce this order. The police are committed to compassionate policing and will aim to first educate violators and issue warnings. However, persons who willfully refuse to comply may be subject to a $300 fine.
Exceptions will be made for persons with certain medical conditions, and we certainly understand that some may struggle to comply, such as persons living with a mental illness or parents trying to keep masks on young children. Understanding will be shown in such cases.
More information can be found at somervillema.gov.
Thank you, Somerville. Together, we will get through this.
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She looks like that woman from “The Office”.
About time. I’m not happy about it but this needs to be done. Thank you Mr. Mayor!
Where do we pick up our free masks? City Hall?
Free masks? Rampant socialism.
How will this be enforced in retail settings where there is no police presence?
Great. Now with everyone wearing masks I need something new as a basis for my righteous indignation. Instead of railing against people standing 20 yards from anyone with no mask on I think I’ll start complaining about the quality of people’s masks. “hey! that fabric looks too flimsy to do anything!!!”. Better start working on my email rants now.
Completely necessary and much appreciated. Thank you.
I don’t get why people have to complain about these kind of things. Is it such a huge deal to cover your face in public or stay as far from someone as you are able to?
People should study some history, and find out what it was like during other pandemics. I’m willing to bet that if all those people had to do was what we have been asked to do to stop the spread of those diseases, they would be more than happy to do it.
Put this in perspective, folks. This is not permanent, it’s temporary. Death is permanent. Be thankful that you are still alive to be inconvenienced.
It’s uncomfortable and an inconvenience for all of us. Quit your whining, be an adult, and put on your mask.
Any suggestion as to where people can get masks? It seems with the medical community and compromised citizens there are none to be found.
I’ve had good success with eBay. Got pretty much everything I needed fairly fast. Masks, gloves, hand sanitizer. Forget Amazon. Everything comes from China and it can take weeks, if not months.
This order is significantly broader than CDC guidelines. According to cdc.gov, the “CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
The CDC’s guidance is aligned with the WHO guidance that the COVID19 is *not* airborne and 1 meter social distancing is sufficient to prevent infection.
The Somerville order covers *all* sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. Yes, many of Somverville’s outdoor spaces are crowded, and I sure put on a mask in the Market Basket parking lot, but there are other places where social distancing is easy.
When I take my 3 and 5 year-olds to a deserted parking lot to ride bikes, we have no difficulty maintaining social distancing. When my wife goes running down quiet side streets she raise her mask when anyone is on the block, but most blocks are empty.
When we start legislating based on fear, not scientific evidence, we undermine our ability to sustain citizen’s effort on the prevention methods that work. We also force parents of young kids like me to choose between breaking the law or indefinitely locking our three-year-olds (who will not keep a mask on) inside.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1243972193169616898/photo/1
Studies have shown that Covid-19 absolutely is airborne as droplets from a person coughing or sneezing can linger in the air for hours after that person has since left the area.
Put your mask on.
@ Bob Ross – Spot on!
This is an over reach and should be challenged in court as unconstitutional. The State Attorney General has stated the Face Masks can be advised and encouraged but no fine or punishment.
If you have any regard for your fellow human being you should be doing everything you can to respect them with your life, the same they should be doing for you. I could care less what this mayor says or political powers. I will do what I have to for my fellow person. Go watch or listen to a person dying from this. Trust me you would not want this. I only listened on the phone with my friend and that was more than enough. Even though I have been trying to do the right thing as the info came in.