By Kayla Santiago and Jackson Moffett | Community News Service
Masks will now be required indoors for people over the age of 5 regardless of vaccination status after the Winooski City Council voted unanimously in favor of the measure at their meeting Monday night.
Masks aren’t required when eating and drinking, however there will be no enforcement of the policy. Businesses had been asking for clarity on this policy, said Mayor Kristine Lott.
“Not every business owner has said they want this, but a lot of them have and this is something I had been hearing about back before the state enacted the statewide mask mandate,” said Lott. “This is more of a carrot methodology of just trying to encourage more people to wear masks.”
Cities, towns, and villages in Vermont were given power to enact their own mandates through a new law passed during a special legislative session last month.
The mandate comes as the Omicron variant spreads, and as an effort to protect the public until more people are vaccinated, specifically children. Children ages five and up are now able to receive a vaccine, but were only allowed to get one recently and many are still waiting for immunization to kick in.
“There are six states in the country who have mask mandates, and five of them have seen a decrease in cases,” said Deputy Mayor Hal Colston. “So it works.”
Council member Mike Myers voiced some concern with the city intervening in what he felt should be a choice of individual business owners and residents.
“Shouldn’t we leave this up to the residents and business owners, there's already business doing this?” said council member Mike Myers.
Other council members rebutted Myers’ concerns, and they noted that the mandate would be revisited soon. The motion will be revisited in 45 days and every 30 days thereafter until April 30, 2022.
The city will provide free masks at several different locations listed on the Winooski government website, with locations including the Winooski Public Library and the Winooski Family Center.
Resources are available in multiple languages on the city website.
This initiative is projected to cost no more than $300 and the city already has a large amount of supplies accumulated.
Communities around Winooski have also approved mask mandates, including in Burlington, Essex, South Burlington and Williston, and others will address the question at coming meetings, according to a map from VTDigger.org.
