SEABROOK, N.H. — New Hampshire’s mask mandate expires on Friday, and businesses across the state are preparing for the change. Businesses and individual cities and towns in the Granite State still have the option of requiring masks.
Durham and Nashua have both decided to extend their local mask requirements for the time being. Others are ready to show the door to the face-covering rule.
Bob Holmes, owner of the Clay Dragon Tattoo Studio in Seabrook, told Boston 25 News he hasn’t been requiring his customers to wear masks all along.
“Somehow, we’ve lost what America was outside this door, but when you come through my front door it’s America still. You do what you want to do,” Holmes said.
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Holmes said he is not alone in disagreeing with the mask mandate that was first issued back in November in New Hampshire.
“It’s time to get back to freedom,” Holmes said. “It’s just moronic. Whoever’s making these rules are idiots!”
Gov. Chris Sununu said the decision to let the mandate end is based on the data, including a seven-day average daily death rate of 0.06%, the lowest since October.
“The governor looks at things from a broad-brush perspective, where we at the local level have to look at what’s happening with feet on the ground,” said Todd Selig, the town manager of Durham.
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Durham, home to the University of New Hampshire, is extending its local mask mandate until at least the beginning of June.
“In May, University of New Hampshire graduations will take place. That puts a lot of people from around the world and the country in Durham,” Selig explained.
However, the state of New Hampshire is planning to continue moving forward. Gov. Sununu said he is also prepared to relax other state mandates that limit capacities and impose other safety policies on businesses and industries.
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