COVID

One South Shore town lifted its new mask mandate within 12 hours after a flood of complaints

The new mandate went into effect at 8 a.m. Monday, only to be lifted that evening.

Pat Greenhouse/Globe staff, file

By Arianna MacNeill

1 minute to read

One South Shore town attempted to instill a new mask mandate this week that would require people to wear them in all businesses as the state continues to grapple with the super-contagious delta variant of COVID-19.

However, the measure only lasted about 12 hours due to the amount of pushback Kingston’s Board of Health received.

The new mandate went into effect at 8 a.m. on Monday, and masks were required in all businesses. It was lifted just hours afterward due to frustration expressed by businesses and residents, according to Boston 25. Now, masks are encouraged but not required.

“We may have overreached initially; it got an awful lot of feedback,” Joe Casna, chair of the town’s Board of Health, told Boston 25. “It certainly got the community talking. We hope moving forward that this will work.”

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Some said they think leaving masking up to local business owners makes the most sense. But others said they think masks should be mandatory, according to the news station.

“A friend just recently passed who was vaccinated,” Kim Goggin told the news station. “It made it more real.”

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