Coronavirus: Hingham To 'Strongly Advise' Face Coverings

HINGHAM, MA — A week after the Hingham Board of Health issued an order imposing fines on those deemed essential workers who do not wear a face covering while dealing with the public amid the new coronavirus health crisis, Executive Health Director Susan Sarni announced on Friday that everyone in town is "strongly advised" to wear the masks while in public where there is a chance they could come within 6 feet of another person.

"All members of the public are strongly advised to wear a cloth face covering when a social distance of 6 feet cannot be maintained in a public setting," Sarni said in a release.

The advisement, Sarni said, is based on a the Center for Disease Control's determination that the virus can be transmitted from asymptomatic people while speaking, coughing or sneezing. The release said that the new coronavirus poses a present, real and imminent danger to the public health, safety and welfare of the Town of Hingham.

On Sunday, the Hingham Board of Health announced it had imposed fines, and potential closing of businesses, for those who fail to wear protective face coverings while dealing with the public and when coming within 6 feet of coworkers. In its emergency face covering advisory issued on Thursday, Weymouth Board of Health officials said the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has told towns that they "may only advise or recommend the wearing of face coverings."

The fine was to be $50 for the first offense, $150 for the second offense, $300 for the third offense and a possible closure of business by the Hingham Board of Health.

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