Peabody Likely To Lift Indoor Mask Order On Friday: Mayor

PEABODY, MA — The Peabody Board of Health will hold a special meeting Friday morning where it appears likely to lift the city's mask order for indoor public spaces.

"The city's mask mandate is the only item on the agenda and it is expected that the Board will vote to lift the mandate effective immediately following the vote," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said on Wednesday morning.

The Peabody Board of Health last met on Jan. 27 when it opted to extend the order put back in place amid the coronavirus omicron surge in December, but discussed meeting before the scheduled date at the end of February to consider lifting it if virus metrics continued to improve.

As of Tuesday the statewide positive test rate, which reached a high of 23.5 percent in early January, was down to 4.53 percent. Statewide hospitalizations have fallen from a January high of more than 3,200 to 1,253 as of Tuesday.

"I do commiserate with some of those comments about how 'It needs to end. It's time to end it.'" Peabody Board of Health Chair Thomas Durkin said following public comment at the last meeting. "I really wish it too. From the bottom of my heart, I do."

Since the Peabody Board's last meeting, the mask order has been lifted in Beverly, Salem and Swampscott. The Danvers Board of Health will meet on Thursday with the likelihood it will rescind that town's order as well.

The Salem Board of Health on Tuesday night also voted unanimously to end its proof-of-vaccination requirement to enter bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters, museums and other entertainment venues just three weeks after the order went into effect.

On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state was lifting its indoor mask requirement for K-12 schools as of Feb. 28. Individual communities will have the choice of extending the mask mandate in schools or making them mask-optional.

The Peabody Board of Health's vote on Friday will not apply to Peabody Public Schools.

(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.)