Graham, Donna
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From: Travis Tripodi <tttripodi326@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2020 5:50 PM
To: Board of Aldermen
Subject: Board of Public Health Recommendation
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.
Dear Aldermen,
I am writing this as a concerned resident of Nashua. My understanding is that during yesterday's meeting on
Wednesday, May 13th, 2020, the Nashua Board of Public Health decided to propose a city ordinance to the
Board of Alderman to require restaurant patrons and customers in retail and grocery stores to wear face
coverings as the COVID-19 pandemic persists.
I am disappointed in the conclusion that the Board of Health has come to and even more so disappointed that
the representatives of the Board of Alderman that were present at the meeting endorsed the recommendation. I
was not able to attend the meeting and the minutes are not yet posted to the city website, so all I have to go on is
the Union Leader article written in response, but the quotes in the article were concerning to say the least.
There is simply no conclusive evidence to suggest that wearing masks in public will decrease the number of
deaths that occur as a result of COVID-19. "Social" distancing and wearing masks have only ever been a
method to slow the spread of the virus. The logic behind this guidance from the federal and state governments
was to ensure that we have sufficient capacity in our hospitals to ensure that individuals that need care are able
to get it (Le. flattening the curve). It is increasingly evident that the population of individuals that are at risk of
being hospitalized and potentially dying from this virus is incredibly small and far below the capacity of our
healthcare system. We are seeing this number shrink rapidly as we increase testing for asymptomatic
individuals across the nation. All evidence suggests that individuals that are not at risk have very little to fear
even if they do contract the virus. Evidence also suggests that as more healthy individuals contract the virus,
recover, and develop immunity, the safer the at risk population will be (i.e. herd immunity).
A remedy or a vaccination is likely 6 months away at minimum, if they are successful at all. By continuing to
mact policies designed to slow the spread at this point we are simply imcreasing the amount of time that at risk
individuals will be at risk. If the goal is to save as many lives as possible, it is arguably counterproductive. |
think that there was a time that these policies were prudent, as we did not have the data on the virus we have
now, but as data is gathered, policies need to adapt.
Our focus, as a community, both private and public, should be towards encouraging at risk populations to stay
isolated and to dedicate the resources we have to enabling them to do so as comfortably and safely as possible
until it is no longer necessary. Our focus should not be on what we can or cannot legally do to control the
behavior of citizens.
It is still unclear at this time what the specifics of the proposed ordinance will be, but it is my belief that any
ordinace that makes the wearing of face coverings for patrons and customers compulsory is misguided.
‘That being said, | fully support any private business that determines that wearing a mask is a requirement to
enter their premises. We as customers or patrons have the right to determine if we would like to comply in order
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