HOLYOKE — The Paper City has become the latest western Massachusetts community to implement a mask mandate for all public indoor locations.
On Monday, Holyoke’s Board of Health voted to implement a mask mandate beginning on Thursday, Jan. 6. The mandate comes amid a massive wave of infections that has swamped local hospitals, driven largely by the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Local hospitals continue to see record-shattering hospitalizations and municipalities are recording all-time highs for COVID-19 cases.
In Holyoke, there were 618 COVID-19 cases during the two-week period ending Dec. 28, according to state data. The test positivity rate was 11% over that two-week period ending Dec. 28.
Holyoke’s mask mandate comes after several other nearby communities have taken similar steps. Springfield, for example, began its own mask mandate Monday. Northampton has had a mask mandate since August, and Easthampton and South Hadley also have mandates in place.
Gov. Charlie Baker, however, has resisted calls for a statewide mask mandate, leaving it up to municipalities to tackle the matter themselves.
During a Dec. 16 press conference, Baystate Health system CEO and President Mark Keroack — himself an infectious disease specialist by training — said that such mandates were a good idea, even if they only increased mask-wearing by a small amount.
At that time, Baystate Health was reporting 128 COVID-19 patients across its system and Keroack said that strain had put the hospital system “in a crisis state.” On Tuesday, Baystate reported it had 249 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
In an email Tuesday, Holyoke Director of Health Sean Gonsalves said that the city is seeing pandemic highs in COVID-19 cases. Gonsalves said he expects those numbers to increase over the next couple weeks “at least.”
“COVID-19 infections take some time to spread from individual to individual and I don’t think the impact of New Year’s Eve gatherings has fully materialized,” Gonsalves said. “Our volume of cases has definitely not slowed in these first few days of January.”
In particular, Gonsalves said the surge has hit hospitals and schools particularly hard in Holyoke. Those institutions are facing immense staffing challenges, and wait times for emergency rooms, urgent care centers and testing sites has become a concern, he added.
Holyoke’s mask mandate applies to all indoor spaces open to the public such as restaurants, fitness clubs, indoor workplaces, common areas of multi-unit buildings, retail stores and shopping malls.
The mandate also applies to outdoor public events where physical distancing is not possible.
The Board of Health’s order says that the mandate is not intended to encourage residents to “act as an enforcement authority.”
“Residents should not take it upon themselves to approach people in violation of this order,” the mandate says. “Residents are urged to focus solely on their personal compliance with this order.”
Those who control an indoor public space are obligated to enforce the mandate. They can be fined up to $300 per day for violations.
Exempted from the order are children who are either under the age of 2 or cannot wear a mask for health or safety reasons, employees in shared offices who can practice social distancing, performance artists at an event where they can keep 10 feet from the public, and those swimming or taking part in “water-based activities.”
Gonsalves said that reaction to the mask mandate has been positive so far.
“We’ve had several businesses and members of the public reach out directly and advocate for a mandate in the last few weeks,” Gonsalves said. “The policy does not go in effect until Thursday, to give businesses time to prepare, and I expect we’ll get more feedback then.”
The city has partnered with Cataldo Ambulance and the Holyoke Mall to offer four COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the mall on Saturdays in January, beginning Jan. 8 with appointments “encouraged, but not necessary.” Gonsalves said the city will have several more announcements about vaccine clinics later this month.
“The Holyoke Board of Health encourages people to get vaccinated, as it is the best available defense against COVID-19,” Gonsalves said.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.