Newburyport, Amesbury announce mask mandates

Dec. 31—In a week that saw COVID infections in Massachusetts top 1 million, the latest data from public health officials showed a sharp rise in infections in Newburyport and Amesbury, prompting officials in both cities to issue mask mandates on Thursday.

Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove mandated all city employees and residents in municipal buildings wear masks, effective on Saturday, Jan. 1.

Newburyport's Board of Health voted Thursday to require people to wear masks in all public indoor establishments and venues in the city. The mandate goes into effect immediately and will be revisited on Feb. 1, according to a statement from the board.

"A vaccine is a layer of protection, a mask is a layer of protection, and what you do is you layer them," said Dr. Sam Merabi, a member of the Board of Health. "Society cannot function if our hospitals are overwhelmed, that is just the basic fact. If our own hospitals are overwhelmed, society shuts down. So it won't even be about masking at that point, it will be shut down. That is what is at risk."

Dr. Glenn Focht, MD, vice president and chief medical officer at Anna Jaques Hospital, spoke at the meeting in support of the mandate. He said Anna Jaques is continuing to see the number of patients with COVID-19 increasing, with 25 critically ill patients there now. At the end of November the hospital's daily census of COVID-19 patients was only five or six.

AJH "is stressed and stretched to be able to continue to meet the needs of all of its patients" he said.

The state Department of Public Health's weekly release of data on Thursday showed coronavirus infections in Newburyport going up by 126 cases, from a total of 1,511 reported Dec. 23 since the pandemic was declared an emergency in March 2020, to 1,637 cases recorded as of Dec. 30. Amesbury's total rose from 1,680 on Dec. 23 to 1,759 on Dec. 30.

Newburyport has reported 55 COVID-related deaths since March 2020, including four during the month of December, according to the city website.

Amesbury's website reports 46 COVID-related deaths since the health emergency was declared statewide.

Statewide, health officials said there were 21,137 new cases, pushing the total to 1,038,566. A total of 1,817 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state, with 382 of them in intensive care units. The DPH said 36 people had died, bringing the statewide total to 19,773 confirmed COVID deaths and another 448 probable deaths from the virus.

The rise in cases prompted the city of Newburyport to change plans for Monday's inauguration of Mayor-elect Sean Reardon to limit the number of people allowed in the City Hall auditorium. In addition, swearing-in ceremonies for the City Council and Newburyport School Committee will be live-streamed on the web, but only a limited in-person audience allowed.

In Amesbury, Mayor Gove, who will also be sworn in Monday night to her second term, announced the mask requirement for all city employees and residents inside any municipal building.

Gove said the decision was made in coordination with Amesbury's public health team and current data and DPH guidance.

Elsewhere in Greater Newburyport, the latest DPH numbers show COVID-19 infections reported in Georgetown hitting 1,085 since the pandemic began, up from 1,042 on Dec. 23; 810 infections in Groveland, up from a total of 775 recorded as of Dec. 23; 688 in Merrimac, up from 655 the week before; 541 in Newbury, up from 515; 687 in Rowley, up from 653; 1,012 in Salisbury, up from 985 on Dec. 23; and 336 in West Newbury, up from 314 the week before.

At the state level, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday the federal government was "struggling to deliver" on commitments it made to states. Baker said he has been "very aggressively" pushing the Biden administration to make more COVID-19 tests available to states.

Baker again urged Bay State residents to "be patient" amid widespread reports of long lines at testing sites and hard-to-find rapid tests in stores, praising Massachusetts as having "more testing infrastructure than just about anybody else."

The Baker administration previously purchased 2.1 million rapid tests directly from a California-based lab and distributed them to 102 communities with the highest percentages of families living in poverty. On Wednesday, officials announced another program that will allow municipalities and other entities to buy tests from manufacturers at state-negotiated prices and a separate effort to provide schools with at-home rapid tests for employees.

"The federal government is struggling to deliver on a number of commitments that they've made to states already and I take a lot of pride in the fact that we do have one of the largest testing infrastructures in the country," Baker said.

For more on DPH data released Thursday: www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting

In Newburyport, more information can be found at www.cityofnewburyport.com/covid-19 or by calling the Health Department at 978-465-4410.

Information in Amesbury is available at

https://www.amesburyma.gov/home/news/covid-19-updates-and-information

Information from State House News Service was used in this story.

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