SOUTH HADLEY — Town health officials are moving forward with the process of implementing a mask mandate in South Hadley.
At a joint meeting of the Board of Health and Select Board on Tuesday, town officials discussed the benefits and challenges of implementing a mask mandate. Currently, the town has a mask advisory in effect, though Town Administrator Lisa Wong said that 56% of the nearly 70 South Hadley businesses who responded to a recent Chamber of Commerce survey said they do not currently require masks.
The town also received input from many other residents, almost all of whom supported a mask mandate, Select Board member Sarah Etelman said.
“What most of them boil down to … residents in South Hadley who are in favor of a mask mandate are very quietly not shopping and not doing business in South Hadley,” Edelman said. “They are going where they feel safe.”
The two bodies discussed the difficulties with enforcing a mandate, given that Gov. Charlie Baker has lifted a state of emergency and state mask mandate. Some said that enforcing a mandate could put more work on town police, officials or businesses. Others, however, noted that the town had very few enforcement problems previously and that cases in Hampshire County and neighboring Hampden County have soared lately.
Ultimately, the decision whether to implement a mask mandate rests with public health officials, who were mostly in support of the mandate.
Health board member Christine McKiernan, who is a pediatrician, said that there are still enough vulnerable people — those under 5, for example, who are not yet eligible for vaccination — that the community should act to protect the public good.
“Masking is such a simple thing to do,” McKiernan said. “I just don’t see it as a hardship on people.”
Johanna Ravenhurst, who chairs the Board of Health, was the board member who offered the most skepticism of a mandate.
A doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who also works as the lead epidemiological data analyst for the UMass Amherst Public Health Promotion Center, Ravenhurst noted that much of the recent transmission of the coronavirus was linked to households, social gatherings and workplaces. She said it would make more sense to focus efforts on high-risk settings in town, centering on the safety of those most vulnerable.
“I’m not convinced that a blanket mask mandate for all businesses in South Hadley is doing that,” Ravenhurst said.
Ultimately, Ravenhurst abstained from the vote, with the remaining four Board of Health members voting in favor of proceeding with a mask mandate.
The health board will now hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. to decide on the final language of a mask mandate.