Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2021 Page 10
Chuck Cappetta, MD
Hello, my name is Chuck Cappetta. My address is 2300 Southwood Drive. I've prepared some talking to bring up.
Good evening Mayor Donchess, President Wilshire, Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen. Thank you for taking the
time to convene this emergency meeting around the short term re-establishment of the mask mandate, especially
during this busy holiday season. I've been a full time pediatrician at Dartmouth for the last 31 years, and a proud
member of the Nashua Board of Health for seven, and physician of record for the Nashua School System for 28. I'm
here to fully support and recommend without hesitation or reservation or oppose mask mandate. I'm not here to
debate the science or the real facts around the serious pandemic we've all been in for the past 22 months. For me,
there's no debate. As a physician and a scientist who took a lifelong professional oath to protect, defend, educate,
and support all who | serve each day, COVID is real. COVID makes you sick and COVID can lead to death anytime,
anywhere, and even in fully immunized healthy kids and adults. My position, however, on the Board of Health is a
unique one as | represent a population, often without a voice, and a seat at the grownup table. Nothing matters more
to me than the lifelong health and well-being of the pediatric age group that now, too, is under siege from the silent
executioner.
This virus is of equal opportunist, a killer, that doesn't care about what street you live on, how much money you make,
how you voted in the last election, and what age you are. These statements are fact not opinion and are not up for
debate in the medical community in which | live, and serve, and breathe. The COVID vaccine works. There is no
doubt and it's an amazing blessing that we can now offer it to the youngest among us and that there still remains
those less than five for now who are still vulnerable, still at risk, and still need to be protected. Mask wearing in public
places is one such proven method of protection. You should all have in front of you the indisputable medical statistics
presented by my wonderful colleague Dr. Stephanie Wolf-Rosenblum who's online and hear from her next from last
week's Board of Health meeting upon which our recommendations were made.
Since then, you've just seen the scary statistics from Director Bagley and her amazing dedicated team of
professionals on how our local cases continue to rise. Hospitalizations are up and our infectivity rate is through the
roof. I'm only here to reiterate the indisputable fact that our hospitals, intensive care units from Berlin to the Nashua,
Keene to the seacoast are overflowing with people on ventilators if you can find them. People in the hallways waiting
to be seen as all of our local ERs and urgent care facilities struggle with this unseen vector and we had two deaths in
Nashua last week from this disease. This is our reality and in the pediatric world as we just learned, one death is one
to many.
Why is the National Guard and an emergency response team being called into the Granite State to support our
medical nursing colleagues if we're not in a crisis? With the arrival of the Omicron variant, we're faced with even more
unknown and more anxiety about what may happen or may not happen. It's only a matter of time that this new enemy
will take over the Delta variant if it hasn't already as the predominant strain in our hospitals, nursing homes, schools,
places of worship, places of business, and our homes.
Unknown Female Speaker
BTC cares. Ban cigarettes.
Chuck Cappetta, MD
As Dr. Storace had mentioned, the pillars of defense against this ruthless and unforgiving virus remains the same -
social distancing, handwashing, vaccination, and wearing a mask for that droplet infections and the spread to
everyone else. You and all the Board of Health members have heard from all of our constituents and many of them
via e-mail and in person over the last few weeks. | thought (inaudible) public forum so | apologize but we'll hear more
later. I'm not here to challenge the right or freedom of personal choice around the wearing of masks. This is not on
the table as | truly respect everyone who speaks their mind and shares their thoughts. My physical presence here
tonight only shows that | too cherish and value this access to freedom of speech and choice but every ounce of my
being. I'm not here to defend the politics of healthcare that somehow seems to permeate into so much discussion
around what we now do in our personal and professional lives and the decisions each of us make. But | am here to
say is the Board of Health is not political. We have no agenda, ego, or aspirations for fame or glory. We're just here
to serve as an advisory group to the Mayor and the Board of Alderpersons by three dedicated health professionals
with over 100 years of serving the Nashua and greater Nashua community. Dr. Storace is older than |. So that's
where most of this comes from.
From babies, to grandmas, and everyone in between on all things related to public health matters. All we care about
is how to keep the citizens of greater Nashua, our friends, and families, and loved ones safe and well as we continue
