THETFORD — Upper Valley communities are taking mixed approaches to adjusting COVID-19 mitigation measures as numbers of cases and hospitalizations grow across the region, overwhelming hospitals and delaying surgeries.
The Thetford Selectboard voted, 4-1, to implement an indoor mask mandate in public spaces at its Monday night meeting, though town officials are still working out the specific language of the measure, which they expect to finalize by next Monday. The Norwich Selectboard is slated to take up a similar measure on Wednesday and mandates have been in force in some Upper Valley municipalities in New Hampshire, such as Lebanon and Hanover, for months. Hartford rejected a mandate last week and Weathersfield opted to require them only in town buildings.
But mask mandates were not on Monday’s agendas for the selectboards of two communities on the New Hampshire side of the Upper Valley, Newport and Haverhill, which have among the highest rates of COVID-19 incidence in the region.
“We have a lot of skeptics here as to the value of masks and people who feel uncomfortable wearing a mask,” said Jeffrey Kessler, chairman of the Newport Selectboard.
As of Friday, Newport had had 183 new cases in the previous two weeks for a rate of 2,879 per 100,000 people. Haverhill had had 77 new cases in the previous two weeks for a rate of 1,678 per 100,000 people.
Both Thetford and Norwich had 400 or fewer cases per 100,000 for the two weeks ending Dec. 1.
Haverhill officials closed the town administration office and sent the highway crew home the week of Thanksgiving due to COVID-19 cases, according to Assistant Town Manager Jennifer Boucher. All except one employee have recovered and returned to work, she said.
“One of our board members is on the ambulance” squad, Boucher said. “He just said that he sees (COVID-19) almost daily.”
Public health and hospital officials have said that masks, in addition to social distancing, vaccination and staying home when sick, 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. It also recommends masks for fully vaccinated people with weakened immune systems and those in areas with substantial or high rates of transmission, which includes the Twin States right now.
Both Newport and Haverhill officials encourage people to wear masks in town buildings.
“If a person feels comfortable they’re safe, they don’t need a mask; (we’re) just asking them to consider their fellow citizens,” Kessler said. “Look out for their health and well-being, too.”
Newport also is taking steps to distance town employees from the public, such as allowing car registrations to take place in the parking lot of the town office, said Kessler, who spoke by phone from isolation after having tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated and boosted and has no symptoms, he said. He expects to be out of isolation by the weekend.
Newport’s measures aim to “keep staff as isolated as possible,” Kessler said. “We can’t afford for people to be out.”
Masks also are “strongly recommended” in the Haverhill town office and they are available for visitors there, Boucher said. In addition, members of just one household are allowed inside offices at a time and staff disinfect the counter after people leave, she said.
“There’s really not much more we can do,” Selectboard Chairman Fred Garofalo said. “(We) have to manage it the best way we can.”
In addition to having signs out encouraging mask use and masks available for use in town buildings, chairs are placed 6 feet apart at board meetings, he said.
In contrast with most schools around the Upper Valley that require masks indoors at all times, Newport and Haverhill schools require masks only when three or more people in an individual school test positive for COVID-19.
That protocol doesn’t seem to be in question in Newport, according to Superintendent Brendan Minnihan. But a November survey of 218 parents in Haverhill showed more than 50% of the parents surveyed from each of the district’s three schools said they would prefer full-time masking until COVID-19 cases in the district return to zero. As of Tuesday, there were 23 active cases in the Haverhill School District.
“The parent surveys reflect the parents’ increased concern for COVID and an increased sentiment of more mask wearing in all three schools,” SAU 23 Superintendent Laurie Melanson said. She predicted the board will discuss the issue at it’s meeting next week.
Thetford’s planned new requirement comes following the passage of a law last month that granted Vermont municipalities the ability to enact such mandates. The law, signed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott, was a compromise between Scott and Democrats in the Legislature. 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.
Several Thetford townspeople expressed support for a mask requirement ahead of the board’s meeting. Several also expressed concerns about enforcement being left up to owners of the town’s small shops.
Others said they would rather see a statewide approach to masking.
“I am in favor of indoor mask wearing in public locations, but I remain very concerned on how this is implemented and, if a mandate, enforced,” Mariah Whitcomb, Thetford’s emergency management director, said in an email to the board ahead of Monday’s meeting. “It is not fair to hardworking store owners, assistants, etc., to expect them to enforce this and put up with the inevitable abuse from those who disagree.”
Meanwhile, some other Thetford residents said they have started shopping outside of Thetford in order to find shops that do require masks.
“Those of us who are now avoiding buying groceries at the stores in town in favor of Hannaford’s in Bradford, the Co-op in Lebanon and other places who do require masks, will be much more likely to patronize local businesses in the future if we knew that people in the narrow aisles of these stores would be masked,” Thelma Thompson, a Post Mills resident, said in an email to the board ahead of Monday’s meeting.
Thetford Selectboard Chairwoman Sharon Harkay, reached by phone on Tuesday, said the wording of the signs to be placed around town to urge compliance with the mandate is still being worked out.
She hopes it includes something at the bottom such as “thank you” or “masks help the whole community.”
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
