Provincetown re-imposed a mask mandate after 551 people tested positive for COVID-19 in, and in connection with, the town.
The outbreak prompted the town’s Board of Health to hold an emergency meeting Sunday, where members voted to put the mandate back in place.
The rise in the popular tourist destination’s cases was tied to Fourth of July festivities.
Nearly 70% of people who have since tested positive were fully vaccinated, according to Vaira Harik, a director with Barnstable County’s Department of Human Services.
She added that many of the people tested were infected with the Delta variant, and that rather than being tied to a single event, officials had determined the outbreak was due to community spread.
Local officials re-instituted a mask advisory on July 19, after more than 130 cases were linked to the town, telling its residents to wear masks indoors — and outdoors when social distancing isn’t possible.
At the meeting, the Board voted unanimously to grant additional authority to Town Manager Alex Morse, allowing him to impose further restrictions such as capacity limits. Board of Health Chair Steve Katsurinis said during the meeting that such delegation recognizes the fact that the coronavirus will require ongoing management in the coming years, and that putting such authority in the hands of the town manager would eliminate the need for emergency sessions like Sunday’s meeting.
“We’re not going through some short-term crisis that is going to begin and end with any kind of predictability,” Katsurinis said. “The town manager, again in consultation with public health authorities and with input from these … boards, would implement or rescind these orders as necessary.”
Morse encouraged anyone with even mild symptoms, and for anyone who has come in contact with someone who has tested positive, to get tested.
“We are entering a new normal,” he said. “Unfortunately, a very small percentage of the global population is vaccinated. … [COVID] isn’t going away any time soon, and I think Provincetown is experiencing what other places will be experiencing, [just] earlier.”
GBH News’ Diane Adame contributed to this report.
