Wellfleet – Wellfleet town officials have voted to return town buildings to their normal hours after being reduced in response to the latest COVID surge, as well as to rescind indoor municipal building and town-wide mask requirements.
The change will go into effect February 28. A mask advisory will remain, encouraging individuals who are not fully vaccinated to continue to wear protective facial coverings when indoors, and not in their own home.
As case numbers have declined significantly and many municipalities relax their safety guidelines and mandates, Select Board Vice-Chair Michael DeVasto said that the time is now for Wellfleet to do the same with its buildings.
“I think it’s just time to open the building back up. We’ve been through a large surge and the trajectory of cases is downward and we have a highly vaccinated population. I think at this point it would be prudent to move things back,” said DeVasto.
Board Member Helen Miranda Wilson said that the town should look into adding air purifiers to the town hall in order to maximize safety as the community returns to business-as-usual, but also supported the moves.
“It might be something we could spend a few nickels on just to make the staff’s workplace be safer and make it so that if people go into town hall they also feel safer,” said Wilson.
Director of Community Services Suzanne Grout Thomas also was in favor of relaxed rules, saying that town staff have had extra responsibilities due to having to enforce the mandates.
“It will reduce the need for staff to be the mask police. After two and a half years of the pandemic, if you don’t understand why you should mask or why you don’t need to ask, then there’s nothing that we can tell anyone,” said Thomas.
After some discussion on the issue, the select board also said that the town will transition to hybrid meetings and away from virtual in April.
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