Published in the April 24, 2020 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD – Starting tomorrow, if you enter a store or restaurant (for takeout) in Wakefield or Melrose and you are not wearing a mask or some other form of face covering, you could be fined $50 for a first offense, and up to $300 for subsequent offenses. The unmasked will get the benefit of one warning before an initial fine is assessed.

That was the unanimous edict of the Wakefield and Melrose Boards of Health, who met in a joint meeting via Zoom teleconference last night. Each board voted separately to enact substantially the same order in both communities.

Wakefield Board of Health chair Laurel Gourville supported the order, but thought the fines might be excessive. She said that she had talked to a lot of store owners who said that they favored the order because they didn’t want to be the ones to tell customers that they have to wear a mask in the store.

Gourville maintained that if the board really believed that face coverings diminish risk, the board should issue the order. She felt that just issuing another advisory would not be enough.

She noted that the town has gotten better at getting masks into the hands of people and stressed that any face covering will do, such as a scarf or a bandana, if a mask is not available.

“People are just begging for this,” she claimed, saying that she had only heard from on person who was opposed to it.

Wakefield Board of Health member Elaine Silva agreed.

“I think we have to do it,” she said. “A lot of people have told me that they like the fact that most people have a mask on.”

Silva acknowledged that masks might create a false sense of security, but said that given the level of anxiety out there, that might be a good thing.

“Maybe we need to be a little stricter for a while,” she said. She wondered, however, how enforcement would be handled.

Ruth Clay, Health Director for both communities, said that the enforcement part was mainly for people who go out of their way to refuse to wear a mask.

Wakefield Board of Health member Candace Linehan wondered if it would make sense to ask stores to provide masks to customers that enter the store without one. She was concerned about denying anyone the ability to get food or other necessities because they don’t have a mask.

Still, Linehan felt that the order was “not unreasonable.”

Clay said that the Health Department would be getting another 25,000 masks in the next few days. She said that some of those could be offered to businesses that want to offer them to customers.

Wakefield Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio also participated in last night’s meeting and said that he “completely supported” the order.

Maio wanted to also include a strong advisory that when outside for exercise or other purposes, people should have some kind of face covering with them. Both boards agreed to include that advisory in the order.

The order calls for a $50 fine for a first offense, a $100 fine for a second offense and $300 for the third and subsequent offenses.

Linehan wondered if store owners would have to call police on customers without masks.

Clay said that calling police would only be a last resort if a store employee feared for his safety. She said that with most other Health Department orders, enforcement has not been an issue because most people comply. She reiterated that the fines would mostly be for those who go out of their way to violate the order or who become habitual offenders.

Clay said that she didn’t see enforcement consuming a lot of the Health Department’s time. She said that she anticipated it being an issue with staff at certain businesses resisting the order mare than customers.

The only significant pushback against the mandatory mask order came from Melrose Board of Health member Maurine Garipay.

“I’m not sold on this,” said Garipay, a registered nurse.

She said that she had called both supermarkets in Melrose. One was OK with order, she said, while the other saw no need for the mandatory order.

Two of the three pharmacies that she called expressed concern that it would be harder to enforce the new order than to leave things as they are. Most of the people not wearing masks, according to the pharmacies, were seniors who said they could not get them, Garipay reported.

She said that one pharmacy manager didn’t want to have to tell an elderly person that she can’t get her prescription because she’s not wearing a mask.

Another pharmacy told Garipay that they would have a problem enforcing the order because they have no security staff.

With the advisory currently in effect set to expire on May 4, Garipay advocated using the next week to strongly urge voluntary use of masks before making it mandatory.

But Melrose Health Board member Frank Brinchiero favored the mandatory order, saying that the advisory hadn’t produced the level of compliance that he wanted to see. The mandatory mask order was needed to get stores and customers to comply, he said.

Clay said that the Mayor’s Office and the Health Department Office get multiple complaints every day about people not wearing masks.

In an email to the board, Mayor Paul Brodeur signaled his support the order.

“Having spoken to mayors and other local officials across the state,” Brodeur wrote, “I can tell you there is a great deal of support for this measure among them. I also think it gives customers a higher degree of confidence that the venues covered by the order are safe for them to do business with. If my memory is correct, Malden and Medford have also taken this step. Having a consistent approach across the region makes the policy more effective. I hope you will adopt it this evening.”

Ultimately, Garipay said that she would “go along with” the mandatory order.

Both the Wakefield and Melrose boards made the mandatory mask order effective Saturday, April 25. Clay said that the order would remain in effect as long as the state of emergency is in effect.