Masks are a contentious subject not just in Newtown but across the country, and the Legislative Council chamber became a battleground on the issue after the council was asked to extend an emergency order for indoor masking beyond its initial five days.

The council took up the matter at its Wednesday, September 1, meeting, after First Selectman Dan Rosenthal issued the order that masks be worn by all individuals in indoor public spaces, including businesses, regardless of vaccination status effective Monday, August 30. With the order set to expire on Friday, September 3, the town’s legislative body was left to decide whether to extend the order, which it did in a 9-3 vote. Council members Ryan Knapp, Cathy Reiss, and Phil Carroll voted against.

With the council’s extension at its September 1 meeting, the mandate will continue at least until the council revisits the matter at its October 6 meeting or Rosenthal rescinds it, whichever comes first. Alternately, the mandate could expire when the governor’s emergency powers end on September 27.

How We Got Here

Utilizing the Newtown CODE Red system August 26, Rosenthal instituted a masking mandate in the hope of curtailing the spread of COVID-19 and its aggressive delta variant. On September 2, Newtown remained in the state’s “red zone” classification for new COVID-19 cases, with 16.9 cases per 100,000. Newtown had logged 125 new cases over the preceding four weeks, according to the state Department of Public Health COVID-19 database.

There have been 125 new cases since August 6: 26 the week of August 9, 31 the week of August 16, 32 the week of August 23, and 36 this week. To date, Newtown has logged 2,307 COVID-19 cases that resulted in 67 deaths, however, the last related death occurred months ago.

Health District Director Donna Culbert stated that many people had “hunkered down for the year” and gotten the vaccine, they figured that “now everything was great” and they started going on vacation and “living their lives.” She stated that a lot of the increase was stemming from people traveling and returning from vacations. She said that evidence pointed to most of the new infections originating out of state.

“Their guard was down,” Culbert said. “There are plenty of places people are living their lives and not wearing masks. However people feel about masks, they do work, they do prevent transmission. They don’t work when people don’t wear them.”

Culbert did note, however, that face shields are generally not considered adequate to stop transmission of the virus.

She said that so far, health officials have been able to identify where the new exposures have taken place.

“We’ve been able to identify where the infections have come from and isolate folks,” said Culbert. “I don’t think we’ll see a community spread happen.”

Council member Andrew Clure asked how the current numbers compared to the summer. Things were “quieter in the summer,” replied Culbert, who noted that numbers were “pretty high in the spring.”

“I was surprised that considering our vaccination numbers that there was this much virus, but I wasn’t surprised once I saw the travel numbers,” said Culbert.

Culbert stated that numbers of travel-related infections has already begun to drop, though she was growing concerned about new infections where the source could not be identified.

Culbert was asked how many of the new infections are people who are vaccinated, and she estimated it was about 30%. Approximately 70% of the town is fully vaccinated.

Council member Chris Eide asked how many of the travel-related infections were spreading to families or the workplace. Culbert answered that it was mostly to family, and that was because they were traveling together.

Stating that she “really feels for people [who are infected with COVID] that she has talked to,” she said they are often “upset or angry or frustrated.” she said there is an emotional stigma to getting infected.

“Nobody wants it, nobody thinks they’re going to get it,” said Culbert. “They feel guilty they may have exposed someone. I wanted to share that, because people can be casual when discussing the virus.”

The Legislative Council had a two-hour, at times contentious debate over whether to extend Rosenthal’s order.

About Facts, Not Beliefs

The discussion began with Chair Paul Lundquist stating that the discussion “at its core is not about personal beliefs about masks, or COVID, but about the facts,” which were that Newtown has been designated a COVID red zone.

“We’re at a stage where some government mitigation is important,” said Lundquist. “Based on the hard facts, the decision should be far more mechanical than emotional.”

Rosenthal stated that of all the decisions he’s made over three-and-a-half years as first selectman, “this one was one he was least happy to make.”

He explained that up until three weeks ago, the town had been under a the level the CDC has designated as a concern, which is 10 cases per day. Then numbers jumped above the number where guidelines “strongly suggest masks” and continued to climb.

Rosenthal said he consulted with Culbert and with Danbury Hospital for guidance on not only instituting the order but when would be a good time to lift the order. He was told a two week steady decline and numbers getting below the CDC guideline number.

The ability to make the emergency order arose from Governor Ned Lamont’s executive order that gave the decision to make mask mandates to the individual town’s chief executive.

“The order preempts the charter, but I think it runs counter to the thinking that put it in place,” said Rosenthal. “The thinking is that local mayors and first selectmen know their towns best. But I think it should extend to the local governments. “Wherever the council lands on the issue, it’s important the town act as a collective ‘we,’ instead of just ‘me.’”

Culbert is hoping that, along with increased use of face coverings in public buildings, residents will continue to be vigilant about masking up. She is also urging avoiding contact with others, especially if someone is showing any symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus.

“We kind of abandoned social distancing and minimizing exposure to crowds after state restrictions went away earlier this summer and our numbers of people who were vaccinated increased significantly,” Culbert said.

She asked that those who are symptomatic not mix with others.

Rosenthal and Culbert both expressed optimism that cases would begin falling as summer travel came to an end and people returned to a more normal routine. Culbert stated that the town has already seen a drop in travel-related illnesses. She also noted that she’s been reading about how the virus works and watching how the virus has behaved in other countries where it has been following set cycles of cases rising and falling, and that the disease “may stop being opportunistic” as it heads into a downswing.

“I’m hoping we stop climbing,” Culbert said. “I’m optimistic.”

Concerned About Mandate

Council member Cathy Reiss said that Connecticut is in good shape with vaccinations and questioned the fact that the numbers used to decide if an area was in the red zone haven’t been updated to reflect if an area should be in the red zone if it has a higher rate of vaccinations. She noted that, for instance, that Newtown has a 75% rate of vaccinations while Bridgeport, only showing in the orange zone, has a 47% rate of vaccination. She also noted that Newtown was in the red while Danbury was only in the orange.

She stated she felt that a mask mandate may be “spreading a false sense of fear and panic.”

“Are we keeping people safe or making people fearful?” asked Reiss.

Culbert stated she did “not want to make people fearful,” however, she felt that the numbers showed “a need to do something.”

“I feel an obligation to do something to help,” Culbert said.

Rosenthal agreed that the Centers for Disease Control likely should revise how a town is classified as red.

“I don’t think that 15 cases per day in Newtown makes us red when we’re vaccinated, compared with somewhere else,” said Rosenthal.

He stated that the reason some towns are orange while Newtown is red may have to do with how many people are getting tested.

He said that he listens to the governor a lot, and that Connecticut shows that vaccines work. He said that looking at the hospitals, they are “hanging in there and not exploding” with cases, with an estimated 350 to 380 hospitalizations per week, statewide.

“I think we’re going to see things go down fairly soon,” Rosenthal said. “As it does, it will make sense to take off the mask mandate. I’d rather do this and be wrong then not do this and be wrong, and the numbers go higher.”

Reiss said that there is “a lot of confusion out there” and from what she’s hearing from people outside of the council chambers, “things are unclear.” She also felt that the mask mandate was specifically targeting people who are vaccinated.

“We’re not changing what happens in the schools, they’re already mandated to wear masks,” said Reiss. “People who are unvaccinated are already mandated to wear masks.”

She mentioned a local pastor who expressed concern about the new mandate. She said the pastor gives his sermons from 20 feet away from his congregation but was concerned if he had to wear a mask, that people would have a harder time hearing him, and that those with hearing disabilities would not be able to read his lips. She called the current mandate “more restrictive” than the previous mandate because she thought the pastor did not have to wear a mask under the mandate that ended in May.

Rosenthal said that the town would be very unlikely to take any enforcement action against a pastor giving a sermon from 20 feet away. Reiss then questioned how the mandate would be enforced.

Rosenthal answered that he “never wanted to turn Newtown into a police state” and that a community could “not recover when people feel their neighbors ratted them out.”

“This is not intended for businesses to get into fights with people,” Rosenthal said. “If we go into a business and they are flagrantly violating the mask mandate, we’ll have a conversation with them. I find that most people are reasonable. To have a scorched-earth method of ensuring compliance does not serve anyone well.”

According to Rosenthal, state regulations do allow for a $100 citation for those who violate the mandate. However, he said that would likely only be used if “someone was flagrantly saying, ‘over my dead body.’”

Reiss also mentioned a study published by the International Research Journal of Public Health. The study concludes, “We did not observe association between mask mandates or use and reduced COVID-19 spread.” The study calculated total COVID-19 case growth and mask use for the continental US with data from the CDC. Several websites host the study, including eSciPub and MedRxiv, noting it as “not peer-reviewed.” MedRxiv.com’s posting of the study states, “This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.”

‘Key Is Vaccinations’

Council member Ryan Knapp said that the “key is vaccinations” and that “masking vaccinated people is sending the wrong message.” While he personally chooses to mask, he said the efficacy of vaccinations was proven and that many other people who were hesitant about getting vaccinated were told to “get the jab or wear the mask.”

“The vaccine works, as evident by our dramatically low case fatality rate, something we should be celebrating,” said Knapp. “Every death is tragic and I don’t want to minimize them, yet we need to also consider the lives saved had the prior rates been projected forward. Breakthrough cases are rare and when they do happen, statistically symptoms are much less likely to be severe. The vaccine is available the same day in Newtown for anyone that wants it.”

While he noted some were commenting that “masks were no big deal,” he felt that to many it is a big deal because “removing the mask in May was a symbol of the vaccine’s effectiveness.”

“My concern is that actions speak louder than words, and this casts doubt on the vaccine,” Knapp said. “I think this mandate is a disincentive. We’re talking masks when we should be focused on the vaccine… I don’t want to bolster vaccine hesitancy.”

Culbert acknowledged that as a good point, but she believes that in Newtown, with a very high percentage of vaccinated residents, that anyone who is still resistant to the idea of taking the vaccine is unlikely to change their mind at this point. She said that before, when the vaccination was first released, she was able to convince some people who were on the fence, but that is unlikely to happen now.

Knapp also expressed concern about what “the long game” was, or if the town was going to be stuck in a cycle of having to have mask mandates every few months.

Culbert said she hoped to see the cases go down in the near future. She thought that while there may be small spikes from last weekend being the last weekend before school began and from Labor Day weekend, she thought that a return to routine would help cases go down. She also said that booster shots for the vaccine were becoming available.

“I’d like to get to a place where maybe the virus doesn’t go away, but where it becomes more manageable,” said Culbert. “All we’re asking is for people to wear masks and consider their behavior, we’re not asking for anything more.”

Knapp stated he couldn’t support the mandate extension because he felt it was imposing on vaccinated people to protect the unvaccinated. He said “we should be celebrating because of the low mortality rate which speaks to the efficacy of the vaccine.”

Knapp expressed concern that people who did everything asked of them to get back to normal, who were told to “get the jab or wear the mask,” are finding that to be a “false choice as the goal posts are moved once again.”

“First we cooperated to prevent overwhelming our hospital capacity,” said Knapp. “Then it was to reduce deaths and get the vaccine. Now that deaths are thankfully way down, the new concern is cases.”

Knapp also questioned how if it had been thought out on how mask mandates would work in restaurants.

Culbert replied that the mandate only concerns masks and there is no plans to institute occupancy limits.

“We don’t limit the number of people in crowded spaces and there’s nothing we’re going to do to stop that,” Culbert said.

She acknowledged that sitting in one place indoors for a long period of time increases risk of exposure but that the town does not want to hurt local restaurants.

In a statement following the meeting, Knapp said that, “this was a difficult and emotionally charged issue. I am glad we were not of one mind on it because it shows we are considering a range of perspectives, which all have merit. Hopefully, we are in a better place and this is an non-issue when we discuss this again in a month.”

Council member Phil Carroll stated that while he knew Rosenthal’s and Culbert’s “hearts were in the right place,” he could not support the mask mandate extension “because of the fear factor in place.”

He said he did not like the idea of a continuous cycle of masking and then unmasking. He said that six months ago, he felt he was told that if he got the vaccine, he wouldn’t have to worry, he wouldn’t get the virus and he wouldn’t spread it.

“Now I’m told I need another vaccine because of the variant,” said Carroll. “That can go on forever. They can keep us in masks forever.”

Saying that “some people are deathly afraid,” he stated that he has seen people “who if they see someone without a mask, they think they’re going to die.”

“That’s the kind of fear I don’t want to see,” Carroll said.

Carroll stated that originally the governor said at a 70% vaccination rate there would be herd immunity and “now they’re not saying that.” Each time we reach a goal, the goalposts are moved. It’s not the goal any more, there’s something more. That’s what troubles me.”

Culbert expressed hope that if “everyone pitched in” and helped each other, that sooner or later an innovated way would come up that would keep things at bay.

“That’s how we got this far,” said Culbert.

Businesses can currently require masks for entry, noted Carroll, and most people are willing to follow the rules set by an establishment.

“I don’t like mandates, it should be a voluntary thing,” said Carroll.

Supportive Of Mask Mandate

Council member Chris Eide stated he felt that concerns that the restriction was only targeting the vaccinated was “ingenuous.” He said that while unvaccinated members of the public are required to mask up when entering public indoor spaces, that businesses have a problem enforcing that.

“When someone comes in unmasked, there’s no way to know if they’re vaccinated or unvaccinated,” Eide said. “Unvaccinated people are coming in unmasked because they know there’s no enforcement.”

Eide also expressed concern that as the virus spreads through the community, it increases the chance of viral mutation.

“The conversation has focused on hospitalization rates and death rates,” said Eide, asking for information on the chance of mutation with increased replication.

“The longer it hangs around, the more chance it has to mutate,” replied Culbert. “We may not be able to eradicate COVID, but I hope people will take precautions against its spread.”

Council member Judit DeStefano said she was “OK” with imposing a mandate on the vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated. She noted that children under 12 and people who are immunocompromised or who have other health issues that prevent them from becoming vaccinated would be among those protected.

“That’s the reality,” said DeStefano. “It’s a small sacrifice to make in terms of changes to be made.”

In agreement with the mandate, council member Chris Smith said that he liked the message the mandate sent to businesses: “We’re all in this together.”

Council member Jordana Bloom said that the order was important to help protect people who can’t get the vaccine, and one large part of the population currently can’t be vaccinated — those under the age of 12. Culbert replied that the schools were in pretty good shape and are already under a mask mandate from the state.

“We have amazing people working for us,” Culbert said. “I’ve talked with the school nurses; they have quite a system in place to protect the kids.”

Bloom said that the council had received 45 letters from people supporting the extension of the mask mandate, and none opposing it.

“This is a no-brainer, and I can’t believe [the conversation about the mandate] has gone on this long,” said Bloom.

Referring to the pastor mentioned by Reiss, Lundquist said he was “not prepared to start carving out exceptions.” He also stated that feeling that the “goalposts moving” was just the scientific process of learning about the disease.

“It’s human nature to protect each other,” Lundquist said. “There are people who are immune compromised, and people with other health issues. Even with the vaccine, the virus can be carried and spread. For this reason everyone in Newtown should get on board. It is beyond comprehension that anyone who is serving on this board is not willing to protect the people of Newtown with this very simple act. We are in the red zone and it doesn’t make sense to ignore it.”

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.