Peabody Drops Indoor Mask Order Effective Immediately

PEABODY, MA — Peabody became the latest North Shore community that had reimposed a mask order for indoor public spaces amid the omicron COVID-19 surge to drop that mandate Friday morning.

The Board of Health order, which was enacted on Dec. 22, was lifted effective immediately on Friday.

The Board vote was unanimous following a period of public comment.

Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt spoke at the start of Friday's in support of dropping the order.

"I feel very optimistic," Bettencourt said. "And feel this will be a big step forward for the city."

Health Director Sharon Cameron also endorsed lifting the mandate with her recommendation that masks remain encouraged in crowded indoor spaces as long as Essex County is still a region of "high transmission" of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cameron said all the city's virus metrics showed a "significant decline" in recent weeks.

"Based on these positive developments both in terms of case counts and positivity rates, and our high vaccination rates, I do feel it's appropriate at this time to make a recommendation to you that we lift the mandate," she said. "However, we need to continue putting out the appropriate public health messages."

Cameron noted that Peabody's mortality rate from the virus is higher than surrounding communities based at least partially on an older population. She said nearly 400 city residents have died from the virus-related conditions since March 2020.

The special meeting of the Board of Health was moved up to Friday from its originally scheduled date next week.

Board of Health Tom Durkin commended those who spoke during for the "tenor and civility" of the public comment during the Board's recent meetings — which he allowed was a contrast to some of the meetings in surrounding North Shore communities in recent weeks.

(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.)