Mask up, Morristown: Mayor orders masks inside all businesses and venues, starting on Christmas Eve

Mayor Tim Dougherty models anti-viral mask on the Morristown Green, April 3, 2020. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Don’t forget your mask if you’re planning any last-minute Christmas shopping in Morristown.

Effective at noon on Friday, Dec. 24, 2021– Christmas Eve–masks are required for all “staff and customers (or visitors)” in “all businesses and venues” in town, per an executive order issued Thursday afternoon by Mayor Tim Dougherty.

The order comes amid concerns about the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19. Fifty-four new COVID infections were reported in Morristown since Wednesday.

“With cases rising sharply in the last few weeks, it’s important we all do our part to help ease the spread of transmission, which helps to lessen the strain on our hospitals and health care workers. Masking up is something we can all do to help our community,” Dougherty said in a statement.

The order, in effect “indefinitely,” does not specify how it will be enforced, or what penalties violators may face.

Masks must be worn when in the presence of others, within six feet. Masks may be removed when eating or drinking inside establishments that serve food or beverages.

Other exceptions are children under age 2; persons whose disabilities prevent them from safely wearing a mask; and persons for whom masks would create work-related risks, as determined by governmental regulations or workplace safety guidelines.

Here is the mayor’s statement:

Mayor Dougherty Issues Executive Mask Mandate Order

Mayor Timothy P. Dougherty today signed an Executive Order amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant. The Mayoral order goes into effect tomorrow, Friday, December 24 at Noon.

Under the Executive Order, all businesses and venues located in the Town of Morristown that are open to the public shall require both staff and customers (or visitors) to wear face coverings, unless eating or drinking inside an establishment that serves food or beverages.

“With cases rising sharply in the last few weeks, it’s important we all do our part to help ease the spread of transmission, which helps to lessen the strain on our hospitals and health care workers. Masking up is something we can all do to help our community,” said Mayor Timothy Dougherty.

The Mayor encourages everyone to protect themselves and others when out in public and gathering over the holidays. Everyone is encouraged to mask up and get tested if needed.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. Rick Watson, you need to buy a sense of humor. O-m-n-i-c-o-r-n.
    (I picked that up on Matt Walsh’s show).

  2. Thank you Jeff for assisting in getting my message out-Jen Psaki never gives it to the people straight-always making circling back promises. I’ve been busy at the beach fetching bones with Commander and watching the Coast for incoming nukes.

  3. Fed UP, come on, man! Those masks serve a very important purpose: They make it look as though we are doing something even as omnicorn infection rates skyrocket.
    Corn Pop was a bad dude. Today he wears a mask.
    We gotta slow the spread. Just two more weeks and we will have it all under control. I promise.
    And make sure you mask up when driving alone with the windows rolled up.
    🙂

  4. Dear Fedupflyer

    Please show your studies that your cloth/paper mask has any preventive effect on aerosolized particulate in relationship to covid-19. You must have a wealth of scientific studies to prove your point since you complain often here – why don’t YOU provide the proof.

    Or maybe you just want to hide your pretty face.

  5. Happy New Year to all you ‘non-maskateers’ and the band of blind mice dancing to and following the self-congratulatory mutual appreciation society tune of the Pied Piper of ‘non-evidentiary-science’…

    Being ‘dismissed’ by Jeff is even more amusing than the proverbial Monday morning quarterback trying to rewind the Sunday NFL games to turn an ‘L’ in to a ‘W’. Shouting, bleating and complaining at the team who has already left the field with the actual ‘W’ result in the books does not change the outcome. We’ve patiently listened to you, and grabbed the second Yorkshire tea of the day already to no avail…

    Bringing this full circle, and referring to the content of the article, if anyone wants to post research that show masks do not work, then please do so. I’d be delighted the next time you have an operation or medical procedure that you intend to ensure the surgeon(s) or dentist remove any masks to prove their lack of efficacy to your satisfaction…

    See you next Monday…more bluster, ‘alternative facts’ and opinions without supporting evidence to the contrary will continue to result in the same ‘L’ outcome. No matter how many times you come back here and say you are ‘winning’ and patting each other on the back. Pavlov’s dog anyone?

  6. Robert C, you are right, of course. I know better but was was drawn into an impossible argument with that one guy here before I dismissed him. I have to remember to not get into a war of wits with an unarmed adversary! I did, however, didn’t engage with Ms. Brady. Some people worship at the Alter of Fauci and wait for his latest flip-flopping directives to come down from on high. 🙂

  7. Jeeez Margret lol – Fauci fan club knows no ends I guess.

    Jeff its not even worth it arguing with these people. They will accept no amount of science, evidence, or facts against what Fauci has told them. Its truly unbelievable.

  8. I know at least 10 people who have or had covid in the last month. Every single one of them has either been double vaxed or boosted. But those unclean and morally contemptible anti-vaxers are ruining it for the rest of the righteous. I’m a little surprised that I’ve yet to see the standard “putting the lives of children at risk” comment.

  9. Why not pay attention to Linda Stamato’s common sense views instead of changing the subject to an entirely different topic.

  10. @Jeff, You’re back already!!! How was the back of the sofa search? I guess you got 5c in change so wanted to come back here for more? Let me know If I can supplement your latest Newsmax search. Mypillow not working out for you? Any more conspiracy theories? Turn up any real research you want to post? No? As pediatric units fill up you continue with the rhetoric…

    Let’s make sure people know the real you – just so we can put this in right context once and for all…
    Morristown Green posts a story about a crime in the community:

    https://morristowngreen.com/2021/12/23/morristown-man-charged-with-sexual-assaults-against-four-victims-three-of-them-juveniles/comment-page-1/#comment-600694

    Your response:
    Jeff December 25, 2021 at 1:10 pm
    I don’t know if they mentioned Morristown as much as they could have in this article. More importantly it would be good to know if Mr. Gonzales is here legally.

    Kind of says it all unfortunately and despite my two attempts to have you comment you have failed to do so. Nothing to say on this? I’m still waiting…

    You seem to have plenty to say on the pandemic?

  11. Linda Stamato, you are incorrect. While 800,000 have died, many have died WITH the virus. Also, many more of those deaths were a result of people who had serious health problems and were already in fragile health. It is also a fact that many people don’t take care of themselves by eating poorly (standard American diet) and a lack of exercise – factors which weaken the body’s ability to withstand viruses and other health problems.
    I said it before and I will say it again: If you are worried about Covid, get vaxxed, I mean, it works, right? If so, that’s where it should end. If not, why are people getting jabbed? If people decide not to to so, that is THEIR choice and they know the risks.
    Masks are mostly theatre, and there are plenty of folks who would be wearing purple striped ones if Flip-flop Fauci suggested that. Plenty of sheep.

  12. I see that the thread of responses to the mayor’s statement began with your’s, Jeff, as an opportunity to make fun of a virus that has killed more than 800,000 people in your country. I don’t see how you can find the efforts to contain further illness and death as hysteria. And, what makes your commentary worse is that you seem to think the mayor’s mandate will prompt hysteria; I think your response—if shared by many—is what may cause it because, in denying how serious this virus is, you influence others to believe otherwise and so they may fail to act to protect themselves and others. You must have been so pleased that Rick used your comment to make fun of Anthony Fauci. But, after that, it’s been downhill all the way for you as citizens came to the defense of the wise action by the mayor to ask about the sources of the information on which you base your opinions. So far, I’ve seen nothing but, then again, I’m hardly surprised. We may have been experiencing a learning curve since Covid first hit hard but we have learned how the virus is transmitted, that’s for sure, and so we do know, even if you don’t, that wearing masks can reduce transmission. That simple, that defensible.

  13. Unfortunately David, @Jeff has dismissed anyone from this thread who presents any facts or helpful information at this point, so won’t be contributing any further…

    He’s probably searching under the cushions of his sofa at this very moment looking for evidence about why masks do not work. Hey, perhaps he will find some if he digs deep enough nestled together with the voter fraud paperwork the world is still waiting on…

  14. “The overall community benefit of wearing masks derives from their combined ability to limit both exhalation and inhalation of infectious virus. Similar to the principle of herd immunity for vaccination, the greater the extent to which the intervention—mask wearing in this case—is adopted by the community, the larger the benefit to each individual member.”

    file:///Users/davidnoonan/Downloads/jama_brooks_2021_it_210006_1631033869.97869.pdf

  15. Fedupflyer, I would agree with you, but then we would both be wrong.
    I can explain something to you, but I can’t understand it for you.
    We’re done. You’re dismissed.

  16. @Jeff

    Let’s do this one last time. The only person adding drama and hysteria to this debate is you. I’m not the one attaching demeaning names to masks and making wild, inaccurate and uninformed accusations about how others ‘feel’ or go about their daily activities around Covid. Repeating and projecting thoughts and the same words many different ways does not make them true [insert favourite go-to election conspiracy theory here].

    ‘Sir’, [I’m British, so let’s do this], and with all respect, I was very specific about my ‘issue’ so do not intend to repeat it again. Feel free to keep posting your emotive narrative if that makes you feel better and to vent your frustration – perhaps you normally get away with it? Godwin’s law anyone?

    Just in case you have forgotten [I have not], I’m really looking forward to the next installment of the also brilliant, well argued, unbiased insight in to crime, surnames and immigration status…

  17. Fedupflyer, first, the word you were looking for is “concern” or “problem” – not “issue.”
    But I digress.
    Sir, I see you are very upset and defensive about this. I can’t help but wonder if you were needlessly in an hours-long testing line recently for the cough-and-sneeze,
    The hysteria about a variant that has much milder symptoms and far fewer hospitalizations is rather amusing. Omnicorn is less of a concern than delta. It’s also interesting how there is almost no talk about Paxlovid, which is 90% effective. Very interesting indeed.
    Gets vaxxed, wear a face nappie, get boosted, 6-foot distancing, and tremble in terror.

  18. @Jeff, As expected, more straw man arguments….

    If you asked me do I prefer summer or winter, and I said winter, you’d state why do I hate summer? I’m not going to defend why I do not hate summer as that is not the issue unless I let it become the debate. It is exactly the same discussion around the efficacy of masks – based on published peer reviewed research, masks reduce the likelihood of Covid retransmission and spread.

    I didn’t say people wearing masks live in fear.
    And
    I never implied or stated I want or need anyone to tell me how to live my life.
    Also
    There was no inference I was waiting for ‘my next orders’.
    Or
    I never said I wanted people to wear mask alone in cars.
    And
    Certainly didn’t ask people to wear masks walking alone.
    Finally
    Who tremors when seeing someone without a mask?
    ANSWER
    You, @Jeff, incorrectly stated all of the above. Just another straw man argument being used to avoid the issue at hand, devoid of any actual information other than the usual ‘I have nothing left on the bench’ playbook so will resort to distraction, misinformation, assumption and emotive headline grabbing overreaction soundbites.

    The CDC has openly summarized published mask research (both positive and marginal/negative) and the majority of papers show masks provide protection whether you @Jeff like it or not. We can argue about the exact figures, but published research supports the premise that masks do reduce retransmission and Covid spread.

    These are complex times – the best we can do is review and respect the current research and especially any employees asked to try and comply with local mandates. Perhaps, and most importantly for the employee, their business has likely asked them to request patrons wear masks. The staff in these most difficult of positions deserve our support, not disdain and disrespect.

    My biggest issue is with people who feel that store workers and other employees et al are open season for abuse and harassment as they try to navigate very difficult times. I am not including you in this generalization by the way, as I get the feeling this is not something you would do. Other posters on this thread however, have openly admitted to this clearly unacceptable behavior.

    Using phrases like ‘face diaper’ is more demeaning to you @Jeff instead of what is clearly an intended slur on most reasonable, intelligent and thoughtful people trying to navigate these difficult issues, and instead just undermines any credible argument you may have had.

  19. FedUpFlyer, Man, I get it. You are not alone. We have gone so soft. There are a lot of people who don’t take care of themselves, they are out of shape, they live in fear over a virus that most survive, and they are all out of sorts if someone isn’t telling them how to live their life. They compliantly wait for their next orders. Those are the folks you see wearing a face diaper when they drive alone with the windows up, of course. They walk alone, masked.
    They tremble in terror when they see someone without a mask. It’s so sad to see what has happened to us.

  20. @StuckInNJ

    Your kids will be so proud and I’m sure will reminisce in the years to come [conversation below]…

    Hey, do you remember the times you belittled and bullied the minimum wage UPS, supermarket and other store workers over the mask mandate in Morristown? Wow – it was so great to see you in action, dealing with people who couldn’t argue back as they may lose their jobs if they did. Treating them with such disdain and disrespect? Yeah, it was a true sight to see you in action, showing those ‘people’ who were just doing their jobs who was boss and making them have an even worse day than normal. I can’t tell you how proud and happy it made me feel that I could also act like that in the future so long as they were minimum wage and required no respect…

    The best part is, and, let’s be honest, my proudest moment was seeing the depth of your beliefs when visiting the doctor…mask fully worn, eyes down, cowering should the doctor dare to call you out for not having the nose below the mask and throw you out of the waiting room…truly priceless moment…

  21. @Jeff

    Post some peer reviewed research supporting your arguments and I will critically review it.

    Otherwise you aren’t ‘schooling’ anyone, just providing more opinions and background noise, and in your case and as with @StuckInNJ, I place little value on them.

    Keep patting each other on the back and self-congratulating each other each time you make the daily job of employees in places like UPS more difficult than they already are, but yet don’t have the same level of conviction to take on a doctor’s office…

  22. The mayor is a twit and did this only to virtue signal. I shopped maskless in Morristown yesterday and was only told by a single baffoon in the UPS store to mask up. I ignored her request and went about my business. The lack of critical thinking skills of these people is horrifying. Why would an insidious Al think a mayor has the right to enforce such a rule when the CDC doesn’t say to implement them?

    I am vaccinated and was sick with COVID for 3 days. I ignore all masks rules expect for when I am in a doctors office. My children only wear a mask in school.

    I will continue to shop in Morristown maskless and will ignore the mayors decree as should everyone else.

  23. Fedupflyer. “Didn’t think so?” Get rid of the “so” and add an “I” to the beginning of the sentence and you would be right. I’ll school you.

    Most masks are worn incorrectly and are of too low quality to help much. None of the hype, restrictions, and warnings make any sense if the vaccine works. We hear the illogical comment that the unvaccinated are putting the vaccinated in harm’s way. What??? The message seems to be that the vaccines work, and you should trust them. But if you don’t get the vaccine, vaccinated people will get sick and it’s your fault. So get the vaccine because it works, and because other people are vaccinated, but they will die if you don’t get vaccinated, too. Even though the vaccine works. And you should get it so that you don’t kill other people who are vaccinated.

  24. C’mon man. We wouldn’t even have a vaccine-let alone three-if it weren’t for me. I haven’t seen convincing scientific data supporting mask prevention of COVID. What’s with the “Lets Go Brandon?”

  25. @Jeff, @JoeBjr

    Feel free to show real scientific research refuting the science, medicine, and facts around this subject?

    Seems to me, you are the people bringing emotion in to this debate by using straw man debates in to a clear cut argument. Care to post research to defend your emotional arguments with actual research?

    No, didn’t think so…

  26. Truth, I agree with you. But that hatred of science, medicine, and facts is everywhere. No place is immune. Instead it’s all about emotions, fear, and control. It doesn’t serve us well.

  27. Don’t “hate” science-I’m concerned about propaganda masked as science. Ane yes-there are “deplorables” right here among the elite.

  28. Sad that so many hate on science, facts, medicine and science. I would expect that in certain parts of the country, but not Morris NJ.

  29. As Fauci tries to protect all our lives, others would rather put all our lives at risk than accept practical advise.
    If we had begun protecting ourselves from the start, we all be safer today.

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