SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts city is re-imposing a mask mandate for all public buildings.
Starting Monday, Salem is requiring all employees and visitors entering a public or municipal building to wear a facemask, regardless of vaccination status. That includes buildings like City Hall, the library, police station, and fire station.
“We are coming into the Christmas holiday, I am guessing there is going to be a rise in cases, whatever we can do keep people safe and keep people from dying,” one person said.
Some say they believe the decision to mask up should be left up to the individual or business in the Witch City.
“I think you leave it up to the people, let them make the decision or store owners, you know,” one man said.
The city’s board of health will then meet Tuesday to consider expanding the mandate to all buildings. It’ll also weigh imposing other requirements such as a vaccine mandate for city workers or vaccine proof to enter businesses in the city.
The historic coastal city 20 miles north of Boston had an indoor mask mandate in place from August through November.
Data shows that 70 percent of people who live in Salem are fully vaccinated but, there have been more than 350 cases reported in the city in the last two weeks.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)