SWAMPSCOTT — Residents going to the few “essential” businesses still open — such as grocery stores and pharmacies — will have to cover their noses and mouths.
They will also have to wear the masks as workers at those businesses, or when walking or exercising in public places, or picking up food from a restaurant, and stay at least 6 feet away from others, after the Swampscott Select Board and Board of Health passed the order during an “emergency” meeting Friday afternoon.
The order becomes effective this Sunday.
The masks people should wear are explicitly “cloth face coverings” that are either bandanas or other homemade cloth masks that cover the nose and mouth. The masks should not be “surgical masks or N95 respirators,” which should be reserved for first responders and medical professionals, Board of Health Chairwoman Marianne Hartmann said.
According to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19, which has infected more than 16,000 in Massachusetts, is most easily spread among people via respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes that can either be ingested or inhaled. Gov. Charlie Baker has recommended — but not mandated — masks be worn in order to stymie the spread of disease.
Swampscott already made the governor’s stay-at-home advisory mandatory last week, and the Swampscott Police Department and Board of Health may enforce the town’s orders with fines of up to $1,000 per offense.
“I would like to see everyone staying home unless you absolutely need to go out,” Hartmann said.
Violators of the new order can be fined, and people who throw gloves, masks, or other protective equipment on the ground can also be fined up to $55. According to Hartmann, there have been numerous latex gloves littered outside of grocery stores and other essential businesses.
“We are going to take this seriously. This is not a game. We are seeing people throwing gloves all over the parking lots and I have no understanding of that,” Hartmann said. “It is disgusting, it is ignorant, and there is no tolerance for it.”
Also mandated in the order, businesses must reduce staff to ensure everyone remains at least 6 feet away from one another, and take employees’ temperatures. Those with a temperature of more than 100 degrees will be banned from entering the business’ building. Businesses need to post the building’s “maximum occupancy” on a sign at the entrance, and those who must wait outside have to do so while standing at least 6 feet away from others.
Hartmann said town officials are aware that it is difficult for business to obtain thermometers right now to take employees’ temperatures, and said the Board of Health “will follow up” and help businesses obtain them.
There are 46 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Swampscott. Town officials are conducting investigations to determine who has been contacted by an infected person, and telling them to self-quarantine. Information on who is infected will not be released.
“Don’t ask for names. We’re never going to tell you that, and we’re not going to tell you where they live or who they are,” Hartmann said.
Hartmann said the number of cases in Swampscott is likely much higher than 46 in reality, because some people — around 25 percent — can contract the virus and not show symptoms, and others may be symptomatic but haven’t been tested.
According to Select Board Chairman Peter Spellios, the town hasn’t had to do much enforcement when it comes to its COVID-19 orders. Spellios said residents have shown “overwhelming support and compliance” for the town’s response to the pandemic.
“Most unfortunate of all would be the need to enforce, which would distract and take away from other efforts,” Spellios said.
Spellios said the town is currently following the state’s guidance that May 4 could be the date restrictions are lifted. The town’s election has been postponed to Tuesday, June 2, and the annual Town Meeting has been postponed to Monday, June 22.
For a full reading of the mandatory face covering order, as well as the town’s previous stay-at-home order, visit the town website at www.swampscottma.gov.
David McLellan can be reached at [email protected].
