Baker: More To Come On Masks In MA Following New CDC Guidance

GLOUCESTER, MA – Gov. Charlie Baker said the state will soon have its own updated guidance on mask-wearing in schools and other indoor spaces after his office reviews updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance released this week.

Calling any new mask requirement a "big decision," Baker touted the state's relatively low coronavirus hospitalization and vaccination rates as he appeared to strike a contrast to steps that might be necessary in low-vaccination states currently experiencing a spike in cases of the Delta variant, and counties re-instituting indoor mask advisories and mandates.

"Massachusetts is in a much better position than the vast majority of states in this country with respect to how we deal with and how we're prepared to deal with COVID," he said while in Gloucester to discuss state funding for seawall and dam restoration projects Wednesday afternoon. "We have the second-lowest hospitalization rate for COVID in the United States. We've had the second-lowest rate for weeks. We have the second-highest vaccination rate."

Vermont ranks first in the nation in both categories.

"These things factor in how we make these decisions," he said. "And they should. Because the vaccines work."

The CDC on Tuesday recommended that all students, faculty and staff in kindergarten through high school wear masks while indoors for the upcoming school year regardless of vaccination status. It also said that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should wear masks indoors and in crowded spaces in areas with substantial or high COVID transmission rates.

Currently, in Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Bristol and Suffolk counties meet the "substantial" criteria.

But Baker said the CDC guidance will only be one factor on whether he pushes for renewed school or indoor business mask rules. The state lifted all coronavirus-related business restrictions on May 29 and current Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidance does not suggest masks or social distancing in schools for the academic year that begins in about a month.

"We have a lot of experts in this community," Baker said. "They have many different opinions on this stuff. We're talking to many of them.

"I think the most important thing we should all do is read the CDC guidance, look for them to provide us with information and data that supports the recommendations, discuss what it means to be a state like this one vs. some of the other states they have to worry about. They have 50 states they need to consider when they make these decisions."

Baker said he has no plans to institute travel restrictions between Massachusetts and any other state – or any travel restrictions involving Provincetown after a cluster of coronavirus cases among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents and visitors reached 833 on Wednesday.

"I would argue there are many different opinions in Massachusetts among the experts about what the right thing to do with respect to what these issues are," he said. "From the beginning, there have been multiple collections of opinions on practically everything associated with COVID among the experts. People tend to find the expert they agree with and that's the one they listen to. Or the group of experts they agree with and they are ones they listen to.

"I like to listen to all of them. And many of them in many cases have not only slightly different points of view but contrary points of view."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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