Danvers To Review Indoor Mask Order In 1 Week

DANVERS, MA — The Danvers Board of Health responded to more than 90 minutes of public comment overwhelmingly in objection to the town's indoor public spaces mask mandate by agreeing to meet next week to consider rescinding the order if COVID cases continue to decline.

The decision nearly three hours after the start of Thursday night's meeting was a significant reversal from member statements earlier in the night that indicated while the Board of Health considered the mandate "temporary" and would review it "at the appropriate time" it was united in keeping the order in place.

"People do have some valid points I agree," Board of Health Chair Thomas McLaughlin said late in the meeting in suggesting the review in a special meeting next Thursday instead of the next regularly scheduled meeting in March. "I heard some things tonight that I had not considered. There were some very intelligent, well-thought-out reasons to (consider lifting the order)."

Board of Health member Dutrochet Djoko acknowledged a resident petition with more than 500 signatures asking the Board to lift the mandate. McLaughlin initially advised against taking public comment at Thursday's meeting but relented at the request of Djoko and Board member Sheila Laffy, and residents were given three minutes each to speak.

Several residents who spoke argued — apparently convincingly — that not only are cases declining in Danvers, they are declining at approximately the same rate as cities and towns across the state that do not have a mask order.

"If a week from now we convene and the trend continues the way we've seen it I would be comfortable with that," Djoko said of lifting the order, adding that he did not think the Board could do it right then even if it wanted to since a vote on the mandate was not on the official agenda.

McLaughlin allowed that the majority of written correspondence to the Board followed the same pattern of opposition to the mandate but said voice mails left with the Board were more evenly split.

The Board began the night with at least the appearance of being more steadfast that the mandate should remain in place despite the public backlash.

"The Board understands that the discussion and adoption of the mask mandate invoked strong feelings from many members of the community," McLaughlin said in an opening statement. "We believe that masks help. reduce disease transmission. We understood that those who disagreed believe that intervention is unnecessary. ... We don't expect to change anyone's mind."

The Beverly Board of Health was the first on the North Shore to drop its mask order on Monday four weeks after it was put in place on Jan. 5. The Peabody Board of Health opted to keep that city's mandate, but talked about meeting again within three weeks to reconsider it.

"The Board agrees that masks slow down transmission," McLaughlin said. "When the order was discussed (in December) hospitalizations were climbing to dangerous levels and remain high today. Our health care system, in general, has been overburdened. Anything we can do to slow the transmission and prevent even a few hospitalizations is essential."

Djoko and Laffy said early in the meeting agreed that requiring masks was a valid public health initiative, even if the effects of the order were marginal, given the current health care system challenges.

"When we look at the overwhelming evidence it is still the right thing to do at this time," Djoko said.

"If we can prevent even a few cases that's a win in my mind," Laffy agreed.

(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.)