HARTFORD — The cluster of Upper Valley municipalities with indoor mask mandates in place is growing.
The Hartford Selectboard adopted an indoor mask mandate for people 2 and older at its meeting on Tuesday night with a vote of 6-1. Thetford did the same on Monday in a 4-0 vote, with one absence. Norwich adopted a similar requirement last week, and both Hanover and Lebanon have had mask requirements in place for several months.
Hartford’s vote for a mandate, which took effect immediately, marked a reversal from a 5-2 vote rejecting a mask mandate two weeks ago. It came amid the largest surge of COVID-19 the Twin States have seen since the pandemic began.
Some board members said they supported the measure, at least in part, because several residents and business owners in the community asked them to implement a mandate. Joe Major, the board’s vice chairman, said in a recording of the meeting that the feedback he’d received had been “10 to 1” in favor of masks.
One such resident, Becky Chollet, spoke up via Zoom during the meeting. She said that community members ought to wear masks to protect themselves and their community, but also to protect health care workers who she said are risking their own well-being to care for people with COVID-19.
“Masking is a critical way to slow the spread of this disease; this virus,” Chollet said. “We owe it to front-line workers to put on masks in public spaces.”
Hospitalizations have soared in the Twin States in recent weeks. There were more than 470 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Hampshire and 70 in Vermont on Wednesday. As a result, hospitals have had to delay procedures and some patients in need of critical care have had to travel long distances to find an appropriate bed, if one can be found.
Hartford Selectboard member Mike Hoyt said he changed his vote from no to yes this time because he likes the revised language of the rule. He supported its exceptions for children under 2, those with disabilities that make it difficult to wear a mask, workplaces where they create a hazard and while people are eating or drinking in places that serve food and beverages.
He said he would have opposed including an enforcement mechanism — the version that was approved has none — saying that when people come into a place where others are wearing masks they will “enforce themselves psychologically.”
But Selectboard member Lannie Collins, who cast the sole no vote and was the only member without a mask at the meeting held at Town Hall, said he opposed a government mandate. Pointing to the high rate of vaccination in Vermont, he said, he didn’t think it was fair to punish those who have gotten vaccinated by requiring them to wear masks.
People “have to make choices” and “live by the consequences of those choices,” he said.
With Tuesday’s vote, Hartford became the latest town on the Vermont side of the Upper Valley to enact a mask mandate following the passage of a law last month that granted Vermont municipalities the ability to enact such rules. The law, signed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott, was a compromise between Scott and Democratic legislators. Scott has said he doesn’t think mandates will be effective in increasing compliance with mask wearing, while Democrats have sought a statewide mask mandate.
Meanwhile, public health and hospital officials have said that masks, in addition to other mitigation strategies such as vaccination, are key to reducing transmission of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend masks indoors in public places for all people age 2 and older who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. The CDC also recommends masks for fully vaccinated people with weakened immune systems and in areas with substantial or high rates of transmission, which includes the Twin States right now.
Hartford will revisit the mask mandate in 45 days, as required by the state’s law, which is slated to sunset in April 2022.
“I hope we can rescind it at that point,” Major said in a Wednesday phone interview.
The Thetford Selectboard on Monday enacted its own mandate in its 4-0 vote, said Selectboard Chairwoman Sharon Harkay. Board member Nick Clark was absent.
The board had previously indicated it would support the measure, but had to firm up the language, which is similar to Hartford’s and which the board will revisit in 45 days.
The town has a PDF of a sign on its website that reads: “Face masks required. Help keep our community healthy.”
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
