New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu on Tuesday issued an executive order requiring masks to be worn at scheduled meetings of more than 100 people. The order will be put to the test August 22-30 at the annual Laconia Motorcycle Week, which typically draws thousands of people to the state.
It is a smaller version of the 80s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day event that began Friday in South Dakota. Organizers expect about 250,000 visitors from all over the country – about half the number of previous years, but enough for locals and a few cyclists to worry about virus outbreaks.
“Sturgis was a clear warning sign for us,” Sununu said. “I do not think anyone saw the pictures from Sturgis and thought, ‘That looks safe.'”
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Participants in Sturgis are encouraged, but not required, to wear masks. A few appeared to have done so.
“I’ve been here since early July,” one person in Sturgis told CBS News. “People are tired of being home, you know. This is where this rally started about is freedom.”
The New Hampshire mandate will not apply to large workplaces or schools unless students gather for a meeting or other major event, Sununu said. But it would apply to meetings such as a traveling religious revival that went to New Ipswich next week, and it will be maintained, he said.
The Department of Justice is still working on the details, but enforcement will be aimed at holding hosts and organizers accountable, rather than individuals.
“I’m not a big fan of ‘drop a dime and snitch on your friends,'” he said. “We’ll have our enforcement teams there … we’ll have people in the field and work one-on-one, so we do not rely on people to send us their sneaking Facebook photos.”
Sununu, a Republican, has opposed calls to mandate the use of face masks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, and the new requirement falls far short of the mandates in the other five states of New England, which generally require that masks be worn in public if social distance is not possible.
While public safety officials are likely to address enforcement of the mask requirements, state licensing authorities will increase efforts to prevent the spread of the virus at bars, Sununu said. Under current guidelines, patrons cannot sit or stand at bars; instead, liquor should be delivered to tables. Bars and restaurants that break the rules could lose their liquor rights.
“These are just common sense enforcement measures, to make sure we don’t close the large scale of restaurants and bars like you see in other states,” he said.
As of Tuesday, 6,861 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 21 from the previous day. The death toll remained at 419. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases dropped over the past two weeks from 33 cases per day on July 27 to 29 cases on August 10.
For most people, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and the impact, it can cause more serious illness and can lead to death.
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