Marblehead Drops Indoor Mask Order Effective Saturday

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Board of Health voted unanimously on Friday to lift the town's mask order for indoor public spaces.

The mask order will expire at midnight Friday night.

The Board of Health replaced the mask requirement with an edict "strongly recommending" residents and visitors continue to wear masks while inside businesses.

"Making the strong recommendation is important because it shows that we know COVID is not over yet," Board of Health Chair Todd Belf-Becker said. "We still want people to do the right thing and protect themselves and their neighbors and their fellow community members.

"Recommending it shows that we still take it seriously but it doesn't mean that we're going to have a mandate anymore."

The Board said it will revisit the mask recommendation at its March 8 meeting.

"I would like to thank the community for their cooperation," Board of Health member Heline Hazlett said. "We hope the citizens of Marblehead will be respectful of whatever choice individuals make. I think there will be choices made by individuals in a lot of different ways.

"Some won't wear masks at all. Some will wear them all the time. Some will wear them just going to a doctor's office. Some will wear them everywhere. I would like the citizens to be respectful of whatever choice people and their families make."

(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.)