Waltham Declares Public Health Emergency, Requires Face Coverings

WALTHAM, MA — As Waltham continues to see an uptick in coronavirus cases the state has designated it as high risk for the COVID-19 virus for the past two weeks. In response, Waltham's Board of Health issued an emergency health order requiring face coverings.

Those who do not adhere to the order face getting slapped with a $300 fine.

"All residents and visitors shall wear a face covering over their mouth and nose when they are in any place that is open to members of the public," according to the order dated Oct. 14, and signed by Michelle Feeley, Waltham's director of public health.

Parties and gatherings, lack of mask wearing and people not physically distancing or properly isolating all contributed to the need for the order, said Feeley.

The order applies to both indoors and outdoors and both public and private property, regardless of size.

"It shall not apply to walking bicycling, running, or hiking, as long as individuals are maintaining a distance of six feet from other individuals," reads the order.

The watch-city is among 63 communities across the commonwealth that has been designated high-risk, up from just 23, two weeks ago. Waltham now falls in the red zone with an average rate of 11.8 cases per 100,000, up from 9.2 cases last week and 4.5 the week before according to state data.

State officials have said that high-risk communities, along with those considered high-risk in the past two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high-risk, or red, if they reported more than eight confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.

Wednesday 518 people tested positive for the coronavirus and officials reported 16 deaths associated with the virus across the state. There have been 9,429 deaths and 138,083 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached the Bay State in March.

In Waltham 1,520 people have tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday according to the state. The city website said the number was 1,516 Thursday. City data said of those, 79 people in Waltham have died.

Waltham's percent positivity is .67 percent up from last week's 0.53 percent. Compare that to neighboring Newton's, which was 0.26 percent. Newton had hovered in the yellow zone for the past two weeks before it just dipped back into green two weeks ago and stayed there this week. Statewide, the positive test rate was 1.7 percent, up from 0.8 percent in early September.

The order does not apply to walking, bicycling, running or hiking as long as 6-foot social distancing is maintained.

The public health emergency order will be in effect until Waltham moves into the yellow, or moderate risk category.

Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions.

Statewide, there were 8.7 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, putting the state above the high-risk threshold for the first time since the metric was introduced.

Previously:

Waltham's Coronavirus Risk Level Rises To High

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