Provincetown will require a COVID-19 vaccine to enter certain public buildings and will reinstate its indoor mask mandate amid an uptick in cases of the virus across Massachusetts, town officials said.
Beginning Tuesday, the mask mandate will go into effect for all indoor public spaces in the Outer Cape town, Town Manager Alex Morse said. Then, on Monday, Dec. 27, adults will be asked to show that they are vaccinated against COVID in order to enter certain buildings, including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gyms and entertainment venues.
The decision comes as COVID cases steeply rise across the state. Over the weekend, Massachusetts averaged more than 4,500 new infections per day, and hospitalizations rose above 1,500 for the first time since February.
The pattern is similar to last year’s case surge following Thanksgiving, which was followed by a small decrease in cases, and then a spike after Christmas. But this year, the country is dealing with the added worry of the omicron variant, which in only the last three weeks has jumped from infections in a handful of states to representing more than 70% of cases in the United States.
As of Friday, Provincetown only had eight reported cases of COVID and a test positivity rate of just under 1%. That is far lower than the town’s COVID cluster of hundreds of cases over the summer, which raised the positivity rate over 15%.
The town’s cases have recently ticked upward, but Morse said more updated data, which will arrive this week, could provide a better snapshot of the town’s current cases and positivity rate.
Going forward, when residents and visitors are required to show their vaccination status, they will be able to display a CDC vaccination card or photo of it, an image of another official vaccination record, or a COVID vaccine verification app, the town said.
The summer COVID cluster in Provincetown came just following Fourth of July celebrations, and was indication of the potential for breakthrough case spread.
“We are entering a new normal. COVID isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Morse said at the time.
While often crowded with tens of thousands of tourists during the summer, Provincetown’s winter population dwindles to under 3,000 year-round residents. The town currently has a limited supply of at-home COVID tests — enough for one per resident.
