DEERFIELD — As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the town and region, residents and visitors to town are advised to wear a mask when indoors in public or where social distancing is not possible.

Stopping short of a mask mandate, which the town has not had since early summer, Selectboard/Board of Health members urged residents at their Wednesday night meeting to layer up their protection from the virus by getting vaccinated or booster shots, wearing a mask and being “smart about getting together at Christmas.”

“We’re not to the point of a mask mandate,” said Board of Health Chair Carolyn Shores Ness. “We do not feel, at this time, a mask mandate is necessary, only because you spend so much time with enforcement.”

Shores Ness said too much time is taken out of her and Deerfield Health Agent Alex White’s days going to check on reported mask violations and having to confront unruly people.

Deerfield registered 19 virus cases in the two-week period from Nov. 21 to Dec. 4, an increase of five cases from the previous week, according to this week’s Department of Public Health (DPH) data.

Shores Ness said wearing a mask in a store can “protect yourself and your family” and people need to be more “vigilant” when they are out in public.

“At this point we have a steady, low-level spread,” Shores Ness said. “It’s an advisory, but hopefully people will take the initiative.”

White said the town has a high vaccination rate, but has started “seeing community spread.” He said his strategy will be looking at hospitalizations and monitoring high-risk populations, such as children, people who cannot be vaccinated or those with compromised immune systems.

“It’s another added layer for public health,” White said. “It’s a really good idea to have an advisory.”

According to DPH data, 82% of Deerfield is fully vaccinated while 98% of residents have received at least one shot. These numbers do not reflect the full picture, however, as reporting is based on ZIP codes. For example, Shelburne is listed as having 2,695 fully vaccinated individuals, while the town’s population is listed as 1,831.

After the meeting, Shores Ness told the Greenfield Recorder that Deerfield’s positive virus cases are from singular households being infected, but those clusters are identified and contained.

“Our numbers are up, there’s no question,” she said. “Right now our numbers are reflective of households being infected. … Everything is contact traced.”

Shores Ness said the town will host more vaccine clinics over the holidays to continue its push to vaccinate children and to distribute booster shots to those who need them. She added high vaccination rates will help the town’s schools continue to conduct in-person learning.

“We’re going to set up more (Emergency Dispensing Group) activity after the holidays,” she said. “There’s clearly a demand. … Everyone wants schools to stay open.”

Selectboard Chair Dave Wolfram said local businesses are able to set their own mask mandates and people must adhere to those rules.

“Businesses can decide what they want to do,” Wolfram said. “If they want to have a mask mandate for their business, they can.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or
413-930-4081.