Provincetown Lifting COVID Vaccine Proof And Mask Mandates; 'Zero Active Cases' Among Residents
PROVINCETOWN (CBS) -- Provincetown is the latest Massachusetts community to drop its indoor face mask mandate and proof of vaccination requirement for certain indoor spaces.
Health officials and town manager Alex Morse announced the change Tuesday, citing the latest case numbers.
"The representative number of active cases reported by the Barnstable County public health nurse program has been under 10 in Town since the reporting date of 1/21/22, with zero active cases among Provincetown residents reported 2/11/22," Morse said. "We have not had zero cases since prior to the 4th of July Delta surge."
Provincetown was the site of a Delta variant cluster last summer, and prompted the CDC to advise even fully vaccinated people to start wearing masks again.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health also announced on Tuesday that it was no longer recommending that everyone wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
Provincetown's indoor mask mandate will become a public health advisory. Individual businesses will still be allowed to require masks or vaccine proof.
"COVID will continue to be with us for quite some time, and it's important that people assess their own personal risk as they make the best decision for themselves and the people around them," the health department said. "We are learning to live with, and mitigate, the impact of the virus on our community."
